Does the book explain how The Kidnapper and The Person Who Texted Kindapper initially connected? Perhaps I missed…
It’s different in the novel.
Novel spoilers ahead.
In the novel, Sim Gyu Jin is the mastermind. The real BSE regained his memory while he was in jail and contacted her. She manipulated Park Do Jae into working with them, although the novel doesn’t go into much detail about exactly how she did so.
Wait in the novel is fake Saeon a real Baek like in the show? Because now I see a way that he can keep his position…
Novel spoilers ahead.
Yes, in the novel, the male lead is Baek Jang Ho's illegitimate son. Baek Jang Ho never told the male lead the truth, but the male lead figured it out shortly before Baek Jang Ho died.
The male lead had no interest in retaining BSE's name and position. He wanted to expose the Baek family's sins and wanted to cut ties with them completely.
Novel spoilers ahead.In the novel, HIA was rendered deaf by the car crash that killed her brother and she genuinely…
Novel spoilers ahead.
No, no one loses their memories near the end of the novel. The male lead disappears and HHJ is distraught. The male lead starts calling HHJ from an international number, but never says anything. Only HHJ speaks on those calls. Eventually HHJ tracks him down to Argan (this story's version of Afghanistan) where he was previously a war correspondent. They reconnect there.
Can someone explain the eye operation thingy, who got that? The current Sa Eon? What does that mean, he also had…
Baek Eui Yong (the presidential candidate / the biological father of the real Baek Sa Eon) was born with heterochromia (different coloured eyes), but when he was young, he had surgery to change his eyes so they were no longer different colours. The fact that he was born with heterochromia like the kidnapper helps the female lead realize that the kidnapper is Baek Eui Yong's biological son, the real Baek Sa Eon.
The real Baek Sa Eon does not have a twin, and neither does the male lead / the replacement Baek Sa Eon. Park Do Jae had an older twin brother. The twins were orphans and grew up in the same orphanage as Ji Sang Woo. Park Do Jae's twin brother was one of the four orphans who was killed by the real Baek Sa Eon.
according to the document, pjd is one of the twins. apparently his brother is one of the victims of little psycho…
You're not mistaken. Four orphans went missing / were killed by the real BSE, and the four graves match up with that.
Early in episode 6, JSW told NYR that several orphans went missing shortly after they were adopted, and that he learned this information when he was an adult. He told her that he was the orphan who "discovered" the Baek family mansion in the countryside, and that he suggested to the other kids that they go visit that mansion.
Later in episode 6, while looking at the group photo, SJW pointed out and named three of the orphans who went missing.
(1) Shin Yeong Seok
(2) Lee Jin Yeong
(3) Park Min Woo
Then orphanage director said that she heard that four orphans went missing. She pointed out "one of the twin brothers" as the fourth orphan who went missing.
In episode 9, the male lead's reporter friend acted on NYR's tip and confirmed that the twin orphans were Park Do Jae (originally named Yun Min Seong) and his older twin brother, who went missing / was killed by the real BSE.
The Baek family secretary (Mr. Min) mentioned that a “Mr. Baek” had surgery. There have been a lot of comments…
My understanding was that when Mr. Min told HHJ that “Mr. Baek” had eye surgery to correct heterochromia when he was young, he was referring to Presidential Candidate Baek Eui Yong. Not the male lead (the replacement BSE) or the kidnapper (the real BSE).
My reasons:
First, Mr. Min refers to the current male lead by his title (“the spokesperson”) on one occasion and to the 15-year-old version of the male lead by his full name (“Baek Sa Eon”) at another point in that exchange. IMO, it would be unlikely that he would also use “Mr. Baek” to refer to the male lead in the same short conversation.
Second, Mr. Min was asking HHJ what the male lead knew about the kidnapper and his heterochromia. It wouldn’t make sense for Mr. Min to ask if the male lead knew about a surgery that *the male lead himself* had when *the male lead* was young.
Third, I have seen some viewers speculate that Mr. Min was fooled by the Baek family into thinking that BSE suddenly didn’t have heterochromia anymore (because the male lead, who didn’t have heterochromia, replaced the real BSE, who does have heterochromia) as a result of BSE undergoing surgery. However, Mr. Min recalled what the male lead was like when he originally joined the household and replaced the real BSE. Mr. Min knows that the male lead is not the real BSE. Since he told HHJ about what the male lead was like when he arrived at the Baek household, after he left the room when HHJ was speaking with Baek Eui Yong and Sim Gyu Jin, Mr. Min might have overheard enough of what HHJ said to realize that she already knew that the male lead is not the real BSE and that he replaced the real BSE around the age of 15.
Fourth, Mr. Min said that "Mr. Baek" used to have heterochromia when he was young, before he underwent eye surgery. After the eye surgery, his eyes were no longer different colours. The kidnapper / the real BSE still has heterochromia (his eyes are still different colours), so obviously Mr. Min wasn’t referring to the real BSE.
Fifth, the purpose / impact of this information lends additional clues. At the beginning of episode 9, HHJ learns that the male lead is not the real BSE because a DNA test shows that he is not Baek Eui Yong’s biological son. HIA also commented that everyone knew that Baek Eui Yong had a son, but no one (including HIA, who lived next door to the Baek family) ever saw him before the age of 15 and HIA speculated that perhaps there had previously been a biological son who was replaced by the male lead. HHJ also knows that the kidnapper has heterochromia, that he is targeting the male lead, that he said that ‘the one who knows BSE best’ is him, and that he wants everything to go back to the way it was before. By telling HHJ that Mr. Baek Eui Yong was also born with heterochromia (like the kidnapper), but that it was corrected through surgery when he was young and that most people don’t know about it, Mr. Min helped HHJ realize that the kidnapper is Baek Eui Yong’s biological son (the real BSE) that the male lead replaced, and that is why the kidnapper has been targeting the male lead. The male lead also recently figured this out (thanks to the fisherman’s tip that “he’s alive”), but if he hadn’t then Mr. Min’s hint would have allowed the male lead to figure it out too, if HHJ passed the information on to him.
The fact that Mr. Min mentioned that "this is a little known fact" also helps the audience understand why the male lead did not realize or even suspect that the kidnapper was the real BSE even after HHJ told him that the kidnapper had heterochromia. In addition to thinking that the real BSE was dead (until the fisherman advised him otherwise), the male lead also didn’t know that both the real BSE and the real BSE’s biological father (Mr. Baek Eui Yong) had heterohromia from birth.
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The secretary and HHJ had the following exchange:
Mr. Min: Excuse me. How much does the spokesperson know about the person making threats?
HHJ: What do you mean “how much”? Everything he told the police.
Mr. Min: So nothing more about the heterochromia?
HHJ: What should he know?
Mr. Min: When Mr. Baek was young, he had eye surgery. It’s a little known fact. Since then, his eyes were no longer different colors.
…
Mr. Min: When Baek Sa Eon first came to this house, he was like a scared, stray cat. I’ve never seen him smile comfortably in this house. I’ve always felt sorry for him.
-----
As HHJ recalls Mr. Min’s words in her car, HHJ thinks of the kidnapper and the things he said. She realizes that the kidnapper is the real BSE / Mr. Baek Eui Yong’s biological son and she realizes how much danger she put the male lead in by collaborating with the kidnapper and not immediately reporting the kidnapper to the police or giving the police her testimony + the phone as evidence to help find the kidnapper. So, right after going to see the male lead in the hospital, she goes home to get the phone and brings it to the police station. Of course, the male lead stops her from going inside. During her exchange with the male lead in front of the police station, HHJ tells the male lead that she knows who the real BSE is (i.e., he’s the kidnapper with heterochromia, like his biological father, Baek Eui Yong, had before it was corrected through surgery).
The Baek family secretary (Mr. Min) mentioned that a “Mr. Baek” had surgery. There have been a lot of comments and questions about which Mr. Baek he was referring to.
My understanding of which “Mr. Baek” he was referring to is set out below.
Baek Eui Yong is not the President of South Korea. He's going to run as a candidate for President in the upcoming…
Idk what's typical in South Korea. Maybe he'll get some kind of extra security when the election cycle actually begins in July 2024? As of episode 9, it's still only June 18, 2024 in the drama.
But really, this type of K drama becomes less enjoyable if we focus too much on illogical points like this. We have to enter "suspension of disbelief" mode. ^^
Which part? If you are referring to ep 9's ending pls see below:⚠️⚠️⚠️SPOILER AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T…
Please use the spoiler tag for any comments with spoilers!
And for comments with novel spoilers, please include an extra text warning so that drama viewers who want to avoid novel spoilers can avoid reading them.
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Novel spoilers ahead.
In the novel, Sim Gyu Jin is the mastermind. The real BSE regained his memory while he was in jail and contacted her. She manipulated Park Do Jae into working with them, although the novel doesn’t go into much detail about exactly how she did so.
Yes, in the novel, the male lead is Baek Jang Ho's illegitimate son. Baek Jang Ho never told the male lead the truth, but the male lead figured it out shortly before Baek Jang Ho died.
The male lead had no interest in retaining BSE's name and position. He wanted to expose the Baek family's sins and wanted to cut ties with them completely.
No, no one loses their memories near the end of the novel. The male lead disappears and HHJ is distraught. The male lead starts calling HHJ from an international number, but never says anything. Only HHJ speaks on those calls. Eventually HHJ tracks him down to Argan (this story's version of Afghanistan) where he was previously a war correspondent. They reconnect there.
The real Baek Sa Eon does not have a twin, and neither does the male lead / the replacement Baek Sa Eon. Park Do Jae had an older twin brother. The twins were orphans and grew up in the same orphanage as Ji Sang Woo. Park Do Jae's twin brother was one of the four orphans who was killed by the real Baek Sa Eon.
Early in episode 6, JSW told NYR that several orphans went missing shortly after they were adopted, and that he learned this information when he was an adult. He told her that he was the orphan who "discovered" the Baek family mansion in the countryside, and that he suggested to the other kids that they go visit that mansion.
Later in episode 6, while looking at the group photo, SJW pointed out and named three of the orphans who went missing.
(1) Shin Yeong Seok
(2) Lee Jin Yeong
(3) Park Min Woo
Then orphanage director said that she heard that four orphans went missing. She pointed out "one of the twin brothers" as the fourth orphan who went missing.
In episode 9, the male lead's reporter friend acted on NYR's tip and confirmed that the twin orphans were Park Do Jae (originally named Yun Min Seong) and his older twin brother, who went missing / was killed by the real BSE.
Edit: Thank you! ^^
My reasons:
First, Mr. Min refers to the current male lead by his title (“the spokesperson”) on one occasion and to the 15-year-old version of the male lead by his full name (“Baek Sa Eon”) at another point in that exchange. IMO, it would be unlikely that he would also use “Mr. Baek” to refer to the male lead in the same short conversation.
Second, Mr. Min was asking HHJ what the male lead knew about the kidnapper and his heterochromia. It wouldn’t make sense for Mr. Min to ask if the male lead knew about a surgery that *the male lead himself* had when *the male lead* was young.
Third, I have seen some viewers speculate that Mr. Min was fooled by the Baek family into thinking that BSE suddenly didn’t have heterochromia anymore (because the male lead, who didn’t have heterochromia, replaced the real BSE, who does have heterochromia) as a result of BSE undergoing surgery. However, Mr. Min recalled what the male lead was like when he originally joined the household and replaced the real BSE. Mr. Min knows that the male lead is not the real BSE. Since he told HHJ about what the male lead was like when he arrived at the Baek household, after he left the room when HHJ was speaking with Baek Eui Yong and Sim Gyu Jin, Mr. Min might have overheard enough of what HHJ said to realize that she already knew that the male lead is not the real BSE and that he replaced the real BSE around the age of 15.
Fourth, Mr. Min said that "Mr. Baek" used to have heterochromia when he was young, before he underwent eye surgery. After the eye surgery, his eyes were no longer different colours. The kidnapper / the real BSE still has heterochromia (his eyes are still different colours), so obviously Mr. Min wasn’t referring to the real BSE.
Fifth, the purpose / impact of this information lends additional clues. At the beginning of episode 9, HHJ learns that the male lead is not the real BSE because a DNA test shows that he is not Baek Eui Yong’s biological son. HIA also commented that everyone knew that Baek Eui Yong had a son, but no one (including HIA, who lived next door to the Baek family) ever saw him before the age of 15 and HIA speculated that perhaps there had previously been a biological son who was replaced by the male lead. HHJ also knows that the kidnapper has heterochromia, that he is targeting the male lead, that he said that ‘the one who knows BSE best’ is him, and that he wants everything to go back to the way it was before. By telling HHJ that Mr. Baek Eui Yong was also born with heterochromia (like the kidnapper), but that it was corrected through surgery when he was young and that most people don’t know about it, Mr. Min helped HHJ realize that the kidnapper is Baek Eui Yong’s biological son (the real BSE) that the male lead replaced, and that is why the kidnapper has been targeting the male lead. The male lead also recently figured this out (thanks to the fisherman’s tip that “he’s alive”), but if he hadn’t then Mr. Min’s hint would have allowed the male lead to figure it out too, if HHJ passed the information on to him.
The fact that Mr. Min mentioned that "this is a little known fact" also helps the audience understand why the male lead did not realize or even suspect that the kidnapper was the real BSE even after HHJ told him that the kidnapper had heterochromia. In addition to thinking that the real BSE was dead (until the fisherman advised him otherwise), the male lead also didn’t know that both the real BSE and the real BSE’s biological father (Mr. Baek Eui Yong) had heterohromia from birth.
-----
The secretary and HHJ had the following exchange:
Mr. Min: Excuse me. How much does the spokesperson know about the person making threats?
HHJ: What do you mean “how much”? Everything he told the police.
Mr. Min: So nothing more about the heterochromia?
HHJ: What should he know?
Mr. Min: When Mr. Baek was young, he had eye surgery. It’s a little known fact. Since then, his eyes were no longer different colors.
…
Mr. Min: When Baek Sa Eon first came to this house, he was like a scared, stray cat. I’ve never seen him smile comfortably in this house. I’ve always felt sorry for him.
-----
As HHJ recalls Mr. Min’s words in her car, HHJ thinks of the kidnapper and the things he said. She realizes that the kidnapper is the real BSE / Mr. Baek Eui Yong’s biological son and she realizes how much danger she put the male lead in by collaborating with the kidnapper and not immediately reporting the kidnapper to the police or giving the police her testimony + the phone as evidence to help find the kidnapper. So, right after going to see the male lead in the hospital, she goes home to get the phone and brings it to the police station. Of course, the male lead stops her from going inside. During her exchange with the male lead in front of the police station, HHJ tells the male lead that she knows who the real BSE is (i.e., he’s the kidnapper with heterochromia, like his biological father, Baek Eui Yong, had before it was corrected through surgery).
My understanding of which “Mr. Baek” he was referring to is set out below.
And no worries! Thank you for editing the comment to tag it for spoilers! ^^
But really, this type of K drama becomes less enjoyable if we focus too much on illogical points like this. We have to enter "suspension of disbelief" mode. ^^
And for comments with novel spoilers, please include an extra text warning so that drama viewers who want to avoid novel spoilers can avoid reading them.
Edit: Thanks for hiding it!