K-Drama Reaction: Familiar Wife

This entire episode focused on how Joo-hyuk (Ji Sung) managed to drastically change his life after that trip with the time machine. He now lives an affluent life with his new wife, Hye-won (Kang Hanna). Not only that, Hye-won is apparently the only daughter of a rich corporate chairman, which makes her a chaebol heiress! This explains Joo-hyuk’s massive lifestyle change from having a mansion-like house to owning a car to having his own gaming console. Everything that he wished for came to life and he is exhilarated!

We also learned that in this alternate life, Joo-hyuk still works as an assistant manager at KCU Bank. Though he is still living the same day job, the attitude of his immediate superior towards him also changed. Since he is a son-in-law of a prominent family, he is treated well and even favored most of the times by his boss.

But of course, these changes came with a price as we also learned that Jong-hoo (Jang Seung-jo) is now living as a flirty bachelor (which is really funny after seeing him as a dedicated father in Joo-hyuk’s reality). His dongsaeng Joo-eun (Park Hee-bon) also happened to marry his other BFF Sang-sik (Oh Eui-sik) in this alternate life! Hilarious! So they exchanged futures? Sang-sik is now the dedicated father and husband, while Jong-hoo is the happy-go-lucky single man.

I like everything in this alternate life so far because it’s a perfect avenue for Joo-hyuk to at least experience everything he longed for in life. His wife takes care of him really well. He can do everything he wants to do. Nobody nags or yells at him. I know it’s a bit off but all his “what ifs” were solved in this universe, which makes it conducive for personal reflections later on in the story – that everything he wanted came true, but is he really happy? Is this what he really wanted in life?

I know it’s too early to reflect on that, but I can’t wait see him take that journey himself. I hope the drama would give us a compelling character development for Joo-hyuk – the road to this painful realizations, especially when we saw how he apologized to his “original” timeline’s children for being selfish.

Now for the not so pleasant parts, Joo-hyuk also started to see some of Hye-won’s ugly side. Her shopping habits, “rich girl” upbringing, and spoiled brat personality. I hate her for not even adjusting to Joo-hyuk’s family, when she demands so much of her husband when it comes to dealing with her own parents!

And the hell, how could she flirt with that college kiddo when she’s already a married woman? Did I see it correctly? Did she hide her wedding ring???? Thiz bish iz starting to stir me up!

Lastly, Woo-jin’s new life isn’t so pleasant as well. Yes, she is now a career woman and a health aficionado. She is back to her old cheerful self, as how Joo-hyuk sees him before. But she is still single, has lucid dreams about her “real” present that she’s unaware of, and her mother (Lee Jung-eun) still has dementia. What’s worse is that I think her mom’s condition is worse than the one in their “original” version. Or am I wrong?

Anyway, as Joo-hyuk explained it, one can never dictate our own destiny. Joo-hyuk may be successful in changing his wife and future, but he is bound to cross paths with Woo-jin anyway. No matter the circumstances, their fates are still intertwined, and it’s hard to go against it. I wonder how would Joo-hyuk control his own emotions now that his “real” wife works with him all day? At least in his “original” timeline, he spent the entire day away from her, but now, he had no choice but to see her every time.