As our twins settle into their new roles, they experience things from the other person’s perspective and learn more about themselves and each other.
Our lawyer faces some challenges as well, on both work and romance fronts. He’s constantly attracted to the girl before him, yet he finds it perplexing. How could he be drawn to a girl after loving her sister for so long? Little does he know, they are the same girl.
Bunny S. watches Our Unwritten Seoul on Netflix
Our Unwritten Seoul Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights
“If a person’s heart is a door, I know the moment when that door gets closed.”
Unsurprisingly, Pretend Mi-rae denies she is Mi-ji. But she crosses the line once again and hurts Ho-su by spewing harsh words. Sad, Ho-su walks away, and it doesn’t seem he will approach Pretend Mi-rae (or any of the two sisters) again, at least if they didn’t reach out to him first.
During high school, Mi-ji was the only one who could get Ho-su to warm up. If anything, he was the only one who opened his heart to her. Mi-rae was focused on her studies, and Mum was fixated on Mi-rae. Eventually, Mi-ji developed feelings for Ho-su, but it was for naught.
Back then, Mi-ji urged Ho-su to watch the competition and cheer on her, arguing she had something to tell him after winning. Probably, she wanted to confess her feelings. But spotting Ho-su together with Mi-rae, Mi-ji lost focus, sprained her ankle, and had to quit running after taking the cast off too soon and exhausting her leg. (From afar, it might look like a hug, but Mi-rae probably fainted, and Ho-su helped her.)
It is a pity that, because of a misunderstanding, Mi-ji lost both her dream and love in an instant. Flashbacks reveal Ho-su liked her too. Yet, she was so mad at him that she thoughtlessly accepted another guy’s confession, though we don’t know if she dated the guy. Before getting injured, everyone wanted to befriend Mi-ji, but after that tragic incident, they ignored her, making her lose her self-confidence and turn dim.
“I am losing every battle because I don’t know anything about her.”
Back to work, the granny, Kim Ro-sa (Won Mi-kyung), refuses to sell her property. Yet, the company won’t take no for an answer, pressuring Pretend Mi-rae to get the job done. Getting caught following Mrs. Kim, Pretend Mi-rae is worried about being sued. Turning to Ho-su for legal advice, he recognizes Mrs. Kim as a famous poet who graduated from his school and sponsors scholarships to college students raised by single parents. As one of those students, Ho-su has always wanted to thank Mrs. Kim but never got to.
Approaching Mrs. Kim, Pretend Mi-rae tries to get on her good side by doing some cleaning. But she gets rather mad. From the bites we get, Mrs. Kim doesn’t hate Pretend Mi-rae but the company for using junior employees to do their dirty work and throwing them under the bus if something goes wrong.
Moving up the deadline, the company expects Pretend Mi-rae to schedule a meeting with Mrs. Kim by next week. How could she do it when Mrs. Kim told her not to come again? Pretend Mi-rae plans to kill time and then go back. But a call from an annoying classmate sends her running to the restaurant.
Running into her high school classmate, Pretend Mi-rae felt embarrassed about her work situation and lied that Mrs. Kim was her relative. Ignoring Pretend Mi-rae’s pleas, the annoying classmate plans to use her connection with Pretend Mi-rae to seal a deal with Mrs. Kim. As expected from someone who leeched off Mi-ji during her glorious days, yet turned coats and tried to befriend Mi-rae after the accident. That shameless girl even claims Mi-ji kept her distance from her.
Pretend Mi-rae tries to send the annoying classmate away before Mrs. Kim spots them. But it is too late. Surprisingly, Mrs. Kim plays along and even agrees to drop by the company and make her stance clear. Pretend Mi-rae is baffled as to why Mrs. Kim helped her, but we guess her sincerity reached Mrs. Kim.
“I am more clear-headed than ever, and I don’t regret my decision.”
Meanwhile, Ho-su faces some work-related problems as well. His superior, Lee Chung-gu (Im Chul-soo), plans to cut him off after Ho-su helps a pitiful victim who got brutally assaulted by a wealthy and powerful chairman who wanted to get away with it without paying a penny in settlement money.
Looking up to Mr. Lee, Ho-su deliberately joined the company to work under his guidance. But it seems like a conflict of interest might tear them apart. Warning to get Ho-su transferred to another team, Ho-su ends up quitting after struggling for too long between his principles and what his job entails. Wishing to thank Mrs. Kim, Ho-su drops by the restaurant. And guess who else is there? It is Pretend Mi-rae who is shocked to hear Ho-su quit his job.
For a workaholic person like Ho-su, doing nothing feels stifling. So, he starts applying for jobs almost immediately. But no company agrees to take him, no thanks to Mr. Lee blocking his way out of retaliation. Sharing his worries with Pretend Mi-rae, Ho-su argues he wants to get into a bigger company and prove he is right. But now he is scared that he might fall even deeper.
Assuring him his job doesn’t define his worth, Pretend Mi-rae urges Ho-su to stop overthinking, as it will only bring on useless thoughts. Ho-su should use this chance to take a break and then get back to work. Shopping together for yarn balls, Pretend Mi-rae teaches Ho-su how to crochet. This way, he will meditate and make some scrubbies too.
Real Mi-rae wasn’t the type who could comfort others. So, yet again, poor Ho-su is confused. He catches himself thinking about Pretend Mi-rae and keeps denying those feelings. He only thought of Mi-rae as a friend, so why is his heart skipping a beat because of her? Just tell the poor guy the truth already.
Likewise, Pretend Mi-rae gets jealous when their annoying classmate invites Ho-su to a reunion and skips her. Grabbing the phone, Pretend Mi-rae asserts she will be there too with Ho-su. The mood turns sour when the other classmates gossip about Real Mi-ji. And it is Ho-su who steps up and calls them out for backbiting her, oblivious that Real Mi-ji heard all that nonsense. On the way back, Ho-su looks mad, but he claims it is because “Mi-rae” didn’t defend her sister. But actually, he is jealous of the guy trying to make a move on her.
“We agreed to work on it together. So, I am responsible too.”
Meanwhile, Pretend Mi-ji and Se-jin decide to join hands after a rocky start. Apologizing for his outburst and thanking Pretend Mi-ji for her efforts, Se-jin acknowledges her as his partner. She has been away for long, yet Pretend Mi-ji has some expertise in farming. Her persistence might be the perfect balance for Se-jin’s quirkiness. After getting new seedlings and picking what remained of last year’s harvest, Se-jin gifts Pretend Mi-ji strawberries to share with her sister. Yet she claims “her sister” has no friends, as she only cares about herself.
Through flashbacks, we learn more about our twins and how things turned out like this for them. After quitting sports, everyone at school spewed nonsense about how Mi-jin is done, getting her depressed. She holed up at home and didn’t take a step outside her room. Mi-rae had to cut her hair and pretend to be Mi-ji to help her meet the minimum attendance requirement and graduate. But Mi-ji’s depression went on for a whopping three years. During this, nosy people kept grilling Mum and Grandmother about where Mi-ji was.
Fed up, Mum got into a fight with Mi-ji, who rightfully counters Mum never cared for her before she got into sports. She should now return to her usual self, caring only for Mi-rae and ignoring Mi-ji. Craving Mum’s attention and being neglected has always been an issue for Mi-ji while growing up. Instead, it was Grandmother who supported Mi-ji all along and got her to take baby steps toward pulling herself together.
Sadly, Grandmother had a stroke soon after and was transported to the hospital after the golden hour, as Mi-ji, the only one home, struggled to get help. Which explains why Mi-ji devotes herself to looking after Grandmother. The poor girl blames herself for Grandma’s illness and deems herself the reason she got bedridden.
In the present-day timeline, our twins get into a fight after Real Mi-rae asks Real Mi-ji to drop by to trim Grandmother’s hair, and the latter argues she can’t make it that day because of work. The role reversal is ironic as they spew the same words they used to hear before switching places. The same lines are conveyed, but the sender and the recipient are reversed.
“It wasn’t until I lived as someone else that I realized my worst enemy was myself.”
As we approach this week’s ending, Pretend Mi-rae prepares for the meeting but can’t reach Mrs. Kim. Getting anxious about being ghosted, Pretend Mi-rae drops by to check on her. Good thing she did because Mrs. Kim had fallen and sprained her back. The sight of Mrs. Kim triggers flashbacks from the time Grandmother was lying on the floor unconscious. Luckily, Ho-su (who now acts as Mrs. Kim’s legal advisor) comes by, too. He helps soothe Pretend Mi-rae’s panic and takes Mrs. Kim to the hospital.
Contacting the company, Ho-su gets the meeting rescheduled. So, work-wise, all is well. But Pretend Mi-rae gets reminded of the past and blames Mi-ji/herself for what happened to Grandmother. Reiterating his accident, Ho-su points out no one was at fault there. Pretend Mi-rae wonders why Ho-su keeps defending Real Mi-ji, only to be shocked by his answer. He likes Real Mi-ji, and Real Mi-rae knows it too. Real Mi-ji is his first love.
Our Unwritten Seoul Episodes 3 and 4 Musings
Hooray! We have a confession here, but it will be pointless unless Ho-su learns the truth. We appreciate how the drama tries to keep things relatable, but our twins aren’t making any effort to act like each other. The villagers are already starting to notice something is off about “Mi-ji”, oblivious that she is Mi-rae. And given how little our twins know about each other, it won’t take long before the ruse is up.
Instead of telling Real Mi-ji to stay put and do nothing, Real Mi-rae should have given her some basic intel about what happened at work because the higher-ups conspire to use Pretend Mi-rae/Real Mi-ji and steal her thunder if she succeeds or shift the blame on her if she fails. At this rate, they might get their way, and poor Real Mi-ji will blame herself again. Some coordination between our twins is urgently needed here. And more than anything, we need them to be more honest with each other and stop saying hurtful things they don’t mean.
It is compelling how profound the drama is, tugging at our heartstrings and taking us on an emotional roller coaster ride while showering us with precious life lessons. Real Mi-ji might have envied Real Mi-rae’s life and thought she had it easy, only sending money home without showing up even once. But after stepping into Real Mi-rae’s shoes, Real Mi-rae grasped how hard her sister had it at work. Likewise, after living with Mum, Real Mi-rae realizes how cruel Mum can be and how her words must have cut through Real Mi-ji.
Each of the twins has their distinct struggles. But one thing they share is loneliness. Things are getting better now with Ho-su and Se-jin entering the picture. But our twins, especially Real Mi-rae, need to stop holding it in and become more expressive. Also, with Real Mi-ji acting as the narrator, we can access her thoughts. So, we need more of Real Mi-rae’s perspective.
One of our favorite scenes this week was Ho-su’s mother (Kim Sun-young) using strawberries as a metaphor to show Pretend Mi-ji/Real Mi-rae that just because someone is a misfit in one place doesn’t mean they are useless. Sometimes life turns bitter, but it doesn’t mean we didn’t experience any happy moments. It is also moving how Ho-su’s mother can see through Real Mi-rae and knows how warm she is beyond her solemn exterior. Real Mi-rae cares about her family the most but doesn’t express her feelings openly.
If anything, Ho-su’s mother acts like the perfect foil for the girls’ mother. Ho-su’s mother might brag about her son and give Real Mi-ji some bitter advice. But she is warm-hearted and genuinely cares for her son and those around her, unlike Mum, who isn’t just misguided but quite toxic. She didn’t bother to look at Mi-ji once and had the nerve to criticize her after being forced to quit sports.
Those scenes make our blood boil, so we hope the drama isn’t springing a rushed redemption arc on us to boost the family and forgiveness theme. If the drama wants to redeem Mum’s character, we want it to be done satisfyingly.
Photos and Videos: tvN Drama
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