We’re already at the halfway mark in “Wedding Impossible,” but things have surprisingly slowed down. The frenetic pace with which the initial third of the show progressed has eased as one particular character finds himself in the middle of an existential crisis and proceeds to deal with it by putting his foot in his mouth. All in all, rather poorly. Lee Ji Han (Moon Sang Min) has had to deal with shock after shock the past couple weeks, from the fact that his brother Lee Do Han (Kim Do Wan) has no intention of living the life Ji Han has planned for him since childhood to the fact that his brother’s fiancée Na Ah Jung (Jeon Jong Seo) is the last person in the world he wants him to marry and to the fact that he’s somewhat warming up to said fiancée. But this weeks brings yet another realization. And here’s every time Ji Han utterly fails to handle it properly.
Note: spoilers for episodes 5-6 below.
1. Messed up: when he antagonizes her in her parents’ house
For someone who just professed that he likes Ah Jung enough to get angry when someone insults her, Ji Han proceeds to do a lot of insulting himself. He wakes up in the home of Ah Jung’s family after passing out. She tries to take him home, but he drunkenly enters the wrong code multiple times and sets off the burglar alarm to boot. So she drags him to her place where she, her mother, and her sister all try to wrangle him into staying in bed, while filming his drunken antics to ensure that he can’t blame her for everything he’s done under the influence. And when Ji Han attempts to do just that, Ah Jung whips out the video as proof.
She’s tired of all this. It’s bad enough that she’s marrying into a dangerous chaebol family, but she also doesn’t have the bandwidth to deal with Ji Han’s sudden intense dislike of her all over again (where did the guy who seemed to care go?). She promises to delete the video if he stops this game of seducing her away from his brother. He immediately jumps to the conclusion that she’s trying to blackmail him. And things only get worse when Do Han shows up at Ah Jung’s door.
2. Messed up: when he blows up at Do Han
Do Han has no idea of the mind games his brother has been playing with Ah Jung, or about the fact that Ah Jung has reluctantly begun liking Ji Han’s company (before he accused her of blackmail anyway). He’s too tied up in the fact that his ex Jung Dae Hyun (Shin Yong Beom) has a grudge against him for how Do Han treated him at the end of their relationship. The details still aren’t too clear, but it seems that Dae Hyun was injured as a consequence of Do Han’s status as a scion of LJ Group, or injured when Do Han was trying to hide that he was gay, and Do Han never apologized or bothered to do anything to help him. Dae Hyun is understandably hurt, especially when he finds that Do Han is now engaged and living quite the rich privileged life while Dae Hyun bears the scars of knowing that he wasn’t even worth a farewell or apology in Do Han’s eyes.
Do Han’s so worried that Dae Hyun might do something (here’s hoping that Dae Hyun doesn’t because making a gay man a villain is such a tired trope!) that he plans on hiding Ah Jung’s identity even after she’s married. He’s made plans to that extent with LJ’s PR people. And has he told Ah Jung any of this? Nope. For someone who was trying to sell this marriage as Ah Jung finally getting to be the main character, him going to hide her identity and not telling her isn’t looking good. So when Ah Jung doesn’t answer her phone all night, he gets understandably worried for her safety. He goes over to her place to check, and hell breaks loose. Ji Han finds that Do Han and Ah Jung are planning on eloping to New York, and Do Han finds that Ji Han and Ah Jung seem to be hanging out without him. He isn’t suspicious, but Ji Han blows his top again. Because how dare Do Han not enter a loveless marriage and live the way Ji Han wants him too. Got to say, Ji Han’s not holding himself well. Do Han’s finally had enough of this controlling behavior and threatens to cut ties with him if he keeps this up. And that finally makes Ji Han shut up.
3. Messed up: when he disses Ah Jung to Chae Won
Yoon Chae Won (Bae Yoon Kyung) has been getting a teensy bit suspicious of Ji Han and Ah Jung’s relationship. There’s the time when Ji Han decked a drama staffer for talking about her behind her back and the time that Ji Han ditched their dinner to race after Ah Jung to make sure that she was safe when his awful acquaintance showed up to her blind date instead. And there’s also Ji Han piggybacking Ah Jung while being drunk last night. She’s seen all of it and suspects that Ji Han might have feelings for Ah Jung. But he quickly puts a stop to that. He goes on a merciless tirade, twisting everything about Ah Jung into a litany of deficiencies. By the time he’s done, there’s nothing he hasn’t shredded of Ah Jung’s character, and that’s when Ah Jung throws the clothes he left at her place at his head. It turns out that she’d come by to make peace, ask why he’s in such a snit, and drop off the clothes. But she has no interest in the former two anymore. If he really thinks of her as a villain, then she’ll be one.
Chae Won doesn’t see Ah Jung as competition. In fact, after her marriage with Do Han didn’t go through, she’s already asking Ji Han’s grandfather Hyun Dae Ho (Kwon Hae Hyo) to marry Ji Han instead. In exchange, she’ll help with the construction of LJ’s newest shopping mall. And the deal is done without Ji Han even knowing that he’s been bought and sold. But he will soon.
4. Messed up: when he ran from his feelings
Ah Jung meets with Do Han’s family again on the anniversary of his mother’s death. The mood is somber, especially as Ji Han and Do Han’s half-siblings don’t really see them as having a right to mourn. There’s still much we don’t know about that night, but it appears to center around reporter Kang Ik Joon (Shin Moon Sung) having tricked a very young Ji Han into bringing him home. Something must have happened there because the next thing we know, Ik Joon is chasing Ji Han, Do Han, and their parents’ car down the road. The fatal crash occurs (eerily similar to Princess Diana’s), and Hyun Dae Ho (who was also on the scene) had to choose between saving his daughter and saving Ji Han. He chose Ji Han and seems to have made him pay for it ever since. Ik Joon has the gall to show up at the death anniversary and grows pissed when Hyun Dae Ho understandably doesn’t roll out the red carpet. So he decides to join with Dae Ho’s much-ignored granddaughter Choi Seung Ah (Park Ah In) to tear into the family once more. His target this time is also a woman. Ah Jung.
Ah Jung has no clue about all of this, but she sees through Ji Han’s emotionless facade into how much Ik Joon and the day’s events have hurt him, and she decides to forgive him. She has no idea why he’s acting the way he is, but she’ll cut him the slack. Add her unselfishness to seeing her at his mother’s grave earnestly promising to take care of Do Han, and Ji Han finally, finally realizes why he’s been so standoffish to her. He has feelings for her.
Naturally, he proceeds to avoid her for days. He engages in every activity he can think of to purge her from his system: confession at a church, running, cleaning, overwork, language lessons, and she’s still everywhere. And not in the dramaland sense of imagining your crush everywhere. No, she’s literally everywhere. All the part-time jobs she took means that her face is on random billboards, in the backdrop videos in karaoke rooms, and on the cover of Ji Han’s textbook. Ah Jung’s more irritated than ever when he sees her and keeps running in the opposite direction. So when it comes time for their families to meet, she grows angry upon learning that he has no intention of being there. Until the day arrives.
5. Did right: when he gave his blessing and gave up
Ah Jung’s family more than holds their own in a dinner/face-off with LJ Group. Seung Ah and her siblings are determined not to make the experience easy, but Ah Jung got her fire from her family, and they refuse to be stepped on.
But trouble rears its head when Ah Jung discovers that Do Han’s been putting plans in place to hide her identity after the marriage. She and her family ask why she needs to be treated like some kind of dirty secret. Do Han doesn’t even apologize for not asking Ah Jung’s permission before making a decision that’ll shape the next three years of her life. Ji Han had no clue, but he’s the one who speaks up. He’s strangely gentle when he tells her that this is to protect her from the media vultures that’ll jump on her after marriage. He’s perfectly well-mannered throughout dinner, and Ah Jung has no idea who he is anymore.
Afterwards, she stays back to thank him (even when her family leaves! How no one suspects anything at the inordinate amount of time these two spend together is beyond me), and that’s when he tells her that he’s given up. No more mind games, no more attempts to get between her and Do Han. She wins. He’ll give them his blessing and not interfere. And he walks away.
It was frustrating seeing Ji Han put his foot in his mouth for the better part of two episodes here, but he seems to finally be wising up with both Ah Jung and his brother. Insulting, disliking, and running away from her as a response to his own feelings was nothing short of childish. And his obsession with having his brother adhere to his plan for him was ridiculous. It’s a relief to see that he’s abandoned both. But with the game of seduction now ended so quickly, what lies next for our soon-to-be in-laws? What could bring them together now that this last obstacle is done away with? Could it be Chae Won’s announcement of her marriage with Ji Han that does the trick? Next week will tell!
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Shalini_A is a long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she fangirls over Ji Sung, and spins thrillers set in increasingly fantastic worlds. Follow her on X and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!
Currently watching: “Captivating the King,” “A Piece of Your Mind,” “Doctor Slump,” “Flex x Cop,” “Queen of Tears,” and “Wedding Impossible.”
Looking Forward to: “Ask the Stars,” “Sweet Home 3,” “Gyeongseong Creature 2,” and “Connection.”