Heo Jun episode 8 The Wedding
Heo Jun and Da Hee finally meet up again and get married. But is it a mistake for them to get married? Da Hee has trouble adjusting to life as a poor man’s wife. Ye Jin helped Heo Jun find Da Hee again, but she may regret this later! Do Ji finally manages to get back to work after throwing a wobbler over failing the state medical exam.
Heo Jun’s workmates are clearly not satisfied with almost getting him killed in the mountain, because now one of them, Young Dal, gives Heo Jun extra ‘herbs’ to put in his basket as he ‘hasn’t collected very many’. Of course it’s another trick and Heo Jun gets told off for collecting WEEDS. This pushes him over the edge and he grabs Young Dal by the collar and punches him! (Good. I like this feisty side of Heo Jun. And those idiots are getting on my nerves.) The others grab tools as weapons and side with Young Dal, but Heo Jun is fuming now and ready to fight them all! The head of the gang recognises this and backs down. (He must know that if they get in to a fight, they will all lose their jobs. Or can he see the fire in Heo Jun’s eyes? 😉 )
Heo Jun loses patience with his workmates who seem determined to trick him
Finally there’s some good news for Heo Jun thanks to Ye Jin, because later when he’s busy laying out the herbs to dry, she comes to tell him about Da Hee. ( I was quite surprised that she told him about her) Da Hee came looking for him and is about to leave by boat. So he had better hurry to the port!
Heo Jun sprints as fast as he can to the port, but the boat has already left and he sinks to his knees in disappointment probably convinced that he will NEVER see her again. 🙁 But luckily she wasn’t on that boat and Heo Jun’s despair turns to joy when he hears his friend Yang Tae call out his name. Da Hee and Heo Jun run to each other and hug. Now that they have been reunited they want to get married, but back at the house they get a cold reception from Heo Jun’s mum who is furious with Da Hee for going against her wishes. In the pouring rain Heo Jun begs his mother to accept Da Hee but his mother merely says she knows what it’s like to marry someone from a different class – it’s heartbreaking. Da Hee and Heo Jun kneel outside in the pouring rain until his mum gives up and accepts their relationship.
Heo Jun and Da Hee kneel outside in the pouring rain waiting for his mum to accept them
Ye Jin gives Heo Jun back the rings that Da Hee gave her before. Then she watches in the background when they have a small wedding ceremony. Later Koo Ilsu and Yang Tae peak in on the newlyweds through the paper doors and laugh their heads off at Heo Jun who is just sitting there deep in thought! (When he should be getting down to business 😉 ) He tells his new wife that she has made a MISTAKE marrying him and that she will have a hard life from now on. (Shouldn’t they have had this conversation BEFORE they got married?) She replies that she doesn’t care if she has to live in poverty. And they embrace. (But does she REALLY know what life will be like from now on?)
Heo Jun thanks Ye Jin for helping him to find Da Hee. They soon get married
A month passes by and Do Ji is still coming home obnoxious and drunk. His mum wants to baby him and orders honey water for him. But his father is angry and scolds him for making a racket outside the hospital adding that he deserved to fail – he must become a decent man before he can be a doctor! (ouch!) This hurts and in a drunken rage Do Ji grabs all his books and throws them outside ripping them up before setting fire to them. Ye Jin rushes in to put out the fire and save the precious books. (Do Ji? What an idiot.)
When he sobers up Do Ji tells Ye Jin again the reason that he wants to be a royal doctor is because he doesn’t want to make her the wife of a lowly country doctor! (So it’s ALL for her, is it? And anyway, has he not noticed that she seems to have 0% romantic interest in him?) His mother overhears their conversation and doesn’t look pleased. She prepares to go and see a matchmaker…
A drunk Do Ji decides to burn his books but is soon back working in the clinic
Da Hee wakes up happy on the first day of married life, but she soon feels miserable when her new mother-in-law still can’t address her appropriately. (She’s uncomfortable with the class difference) And Mum tells Da Hee that they only have oatmeal for breakfast because Heo Jun doesn’t earn enough to support them so Da Hee will have to work too. (Again, this conversation should have been had before they got married.) She tells Da Hee to change out of her fine clothes. (But has she got any ‘poor’ clothes?!)
To make matters worse Koo Ilsu’s wife wants Heo Jun and his new family to MOVE OUT of their house as there are now 4 people living with them. (This is fair enough and at this point I agree with Heo Jun’s mum that he should NEVER have married Da Hee. They don’t even have anywhere to live!)
Lots of patients turn up at the clinic pushing and shoving to get in. The workers accept bribes for people to jump the queue but Heo Jun refuses to get involved. (making himself even MORE unpopular 🙂 ) Finally Do Ji comes back to work. But Oh Gun feels sad that Dr Yoo treats his own son differently to the other trainees – he starts teaching Do Ji again as soon as he comes back to work, but he never bothered to teach Oh Gun. 🙁
Patients pile into the hospital but Heo Jun refuses to join in accepting bribes
Heo jun is sent to tidy up Do Ji’s room and finds it FULL of books. He stops to read, but is interrupted by Ye Jin. He’s embarrassed to be caught nosying through the books, but she is understanding and even gives him a book. (Maybe she knows how he feels) She seems to want to help him. Do Ji walks in and ‘catches them’ chatting and he seems unhappy that Ye Jin is with him. He angrily orders Heo Jun to leave. (the good rapport they had on their trip is forgotten).
Ye Jin gives Heo Jun a book as he’s so interested in studying but Do Ji isn’t happy
The good news is that Yang Tae has found a house for the family to live in. The bad news is it’s a complete wreck. But it’s the only empty house in the area. (I’m confused here. so people can just move into any empty house, like squatters?) Yang Tae can’t understand why Heo Jun wants to live a poor life when he could simply become a smuggler and have plenty of money. (But this reminds us just how much Heo Jun has changed. He’s a different man now and wants to start a new life. But it’s also another reason why he shouldn’t have married Da Hee.)
Dr Yoo’s wife comes looking for Koo Ilsu’s wife and tells Da Hee rudely to come and work at the clinic too (since her husband is working there). But Da Hee doesn’t know her place and replies like a yangban would reply. (She doesn’t understand that she’s tied to her husband now – which means that she has to obey his boss too! Ha. 🙁 ) Dr Yoo’s wife is shocked. But Heo Jun’s mum is mortified and apologises for not instructing her daughter-in-law properly. And this is only the beginning. Da Hee can’t see that she is married to a lowly man and that her life will be pretty grim from now on …
Da Hee has trouble settling in to a commoner’s role. Dr Yoo’s wife turns up to see Koo Ilsu’s wife
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I understand Heo Jun’s mum a lot more after this episode. She was right – Heo Jun should NEVER have MARRIED Da Hee. Heo Jun’s (and his mother’s) speech to Da Hee (about her having a hard life of poverty) should have been done BEFORE the wedding! I am not impressed with Heo Jun at all right now. What is he doing marrying a woman like Da Hee when he has NOTHING to give her? He’s being totally selfish. On the first morning after their marriage when Da Hee gets up early (while her husband is still in bed) to prepare the breakfast, we can see the cold reality of their life. Da Hee doesn’t really understand what she’s getting into. She doesn’t realise what it’s like to be low class and how people will treat her. She said she didn’t care about that but she didn’t know what it would really be like and Heo Jun and his mother haven’t properly prepared her for it. Heo Jun shouldn’t have married her.
But, to me, this aspect of his character is one of the strong points of this drama, because unlike Dae Jang Geum, or many other leading sageuk roles, Heo Jun is NOT perfect (or squeaky clean – he’s broken the law in the past). He has a very selfish side – I seem to remember that he neglects his family later in the drama too. 🙁 But his flaws make him human.
However, I still don’t know what Ye Jin is thinking. She keeps stepping in to help Heo Jun but for what reason? And why does she come to watch their wedding? Does she find it romantic that they have been searching for each other and that Da Hee has had to give up her yangban status to marry Heo Jun? Does Ye Jin admire Heo Jun for working so hard and being so keen to learn? This is still not clear. And so she is a mystery at the moment.
