Bridal Mask E20

Suddenly this drama has more meaning and made me sit up and take notice and I am sure it’s cuz I am a woman. Now I am fully invested in what Gaksital is doing and I almost leaped out of my chair to cheer him on. 20 episodes later and I finally get why this guy is so important. What he did tonight made him more of a hero in my eyes than anything else he has done so far. I feel like I just watched a whole different drama. This is going to end up being the best episode yet cuz it tugs at your heart in a way most of us never knew it could.

Thanks to Semi-fly for torrents, Sparkskey for written preview translations, and Yanna for video link.

Ep 21 preview
Murayama is furious at the police failure to transport the comfort women. When he realises that Kangto was missing during the transport operation, he mercilessly steps on Kangto. Shunji thinks that it is odd how Kangto is just enduring the endless scorn and injustice of the police station. He goes to find Lala and wants and exact account of her losing Gaksital and figures there is something not quite right, as if she was hiding something. The news that Damsari will be coming back to the capital bringing teacher Yangbaek reaches Kangto…

written before it aired: Since we might not be seeing him in this attire for much longer, I plan on screencapping as much as I can for as long as I can. I used to make fun of my sister for falling for guys in uniforms, but now I get what she saw in them. It’s not just that a uniform transforms a guy’s entire exterior image, but it’s what putting on the uniform does to the guy inside. It seems to alter his mentality as well. Before K became Gaksital, K’s police uniform just gave him a warped sense of belonging and purpose, but that uniform never got to him like the one he wears now for Gaksital.  This outfit carries more significance so every time he puts it on, K becomes Gaksital through and through. It’s like the outfit gives him an elevated sense of being and his emotions run high as well. He has become more loyal towards Korean with each passing day as he sees with his own eyes the lengths they will go to in order to achieve independence from the Japanese.  As he witnesses more acts of patriotism, I really hope it will feel less like a burden to don the Gaksital outfit and more like a privilege.

Thank you so much bbblue73 for taking the time to make this for me and all those OB memorabilia – your talent has no limits and we all appreciate everything you do for us.  

Now I know what I missed out on last year when my birthday didn’t coincide with a recap. This special feeling you get just from reading all the incoming birthday messages that keeps making you smile is something for the records. If I knew years ago that blogging would entail receiving so many warm greetings from friends all around the globe, I would have done this sooner.  

Thanks to SS – we get to revel in all of JW’s white dress shirt glory. There is also one where the heat and humidity got to him and made this shirt and his pants somewhat see through from the back. Out of false modesty (cuz I stared at that photo till there was a hole in it), I wont post that picture here cuz no one will be able to focus on the episode tonight then.  (As I looked at it, for a brief second I was thinking “please dear lord –  dont tell me I have been staring at some stunt double’s backside this whole time)

Thank you so much for your outpour of well wishes on my birthday, but I hope you will go back to commenting on the show cuz I love reading what everyone thinks about the episodes and what’s coming up. I am going to count on you guys who are live streaming to fill me in on what I missed. Tonight’s episode is going to be amazing so I really hope I make it home in time to catch some of it.

I dont know why, but he looks like prince charming here.

E20

Starts from yoshi firing K for being incompetent, losing gaksital, and being Korean. leave this precinct now. He orders S to drag K out now. But K says even though you could demote me, you cant fire me -how can the truth of me being Korean be grounds for firing me.  Yoshi mutters about how K is not following his order.  K asks yoshi to take back his order cuz he wont step one foot outside. So yoshi goes berserk and hits K and kicks him saying you should have gotten lost when I told you. he pulls his gun on K so S holds yoshi back saying please hold it in. But yoshi pushes S away. yoshi yells out insulting stuff about koreans and how he cant trust what K says. how koreans  lost their land to another. S says I will take care of this and orders officers to drag K away outside. Yoshi says what taro said is 100% correct about how K cant be controlled. Don’t let him come around here again.

Officers throw K out. lackey goes and laughs at K. he says don’t show up in front of me again cuz if i see you again, i wont be able to hold back. He orders other officers to not let K in again. He is forbidden to enter.

But K goes in and yells at S to block the order to fire him- I will take any other punishment but please stop the order to fire me. but S goes into his office. so K gets dragged away. Abe cries for K.

Lackey goes in to see S and how good he feels now. S asks did you hate K that much. lackey says since that guy has been fired now I can feel at ease and tell you but the truth is kenji killed K’s mother. S: what? what are you talking about? why would hyung kill K’s mother. Lackey says how kenji suspected that fool – K’s hyung- was gaksital and held a gun to the mother. S: that lee kangsan was gaksital? lackey says kenji guessed really incorrectly. Thankfully the Koreans set fire to the home so it looks like they killed the mother and hyung. S yells why are you just now telling me that. lackey says cuz you treat that guy like a friend. if you knew that truth I thought you would take better care of him. and I dont think that guy knows about that incident.  S asks are you sure K doesn’t know that. lackey says of course K doesn’t know. if he found out, with his temper would he sit still.  he would have tried to kill kenji 12

times over. S remembers that day when gaksital killed kenji and thinks “was that gaksital who killed hyung K? if K knew that my hyung killed his mother, if he knew and acted like he didn’t know.” S orders lackey to hurry and catch K and they go outside to look for him. S tells the lackey to get K. S offers to go check where K is staying. lackey asks why but S tells him to hurry

K goes to see H but Jun opens the door. K asks if H is inside. he goes in and she asks what is going on. why does your face look like that. he says the new chief fired me. H: fired? you mean you were let go? K: he wouldnt have been able to do unless Taro allowed it. If it’s you- I think you can get taro to rescind his order. H thinks in her head : cuz I said I wanted to accept K into kishokai, they fire him. do these guys want a war with me. K: do you know what the reason was for firing me?  cuz I am Korean. She says don’t worry I was about to ask the chairman to let you become a kishokai member. K thinks in his head so that’s the name of the organization-kishokai. He asks if he can become a kishokai member after being kicked off the police force. She asks where all his confidence went to become some higher job titles. He smiles and says he has overflowing ambition.  she says that is what the chairman wants – something like that. so he asks what kind of person the chairman is like. H: someone who values people with effort/drive more than talent. he will like you for sure. K asks when he can meet that person (the chairman.)

She steps closer and touches his shoulder and says “soon.” He thanks her.

K walks her out and she says if you are curious about the outcome,  come to kumwhajeong around 7pm (that place where they fought). K agrees to be there by 7pm. Jun stares at them and has a silent moment of jealous fit and forgets to close the door after her. K leans in and says see you later and smiles at her

S told taro how kenji killed K’s mother so taro repeats that. Taro: you are saying kenji killed that mother. then K might have put on the mask and killed your hyung. S: I cant say for certain yet cuz K might not know that kenji killed his mom. taro: what if he knows and pretended not to know.  then the chance of him being gaksital increases. S: that is why you cant chase him out of the police force.  you have to convince yoshi. Taro gets a call for him and yoshi to go see UH.

Taro and yoshi go to see UH. UH says what’s going on in beijing. and asks if at a time like this it makes sense to have division among kishokai and not work together. taro denies any division. H says to taro -I heard you fired K.  as soon as you heard me saying let’s accept K as a kishokai member -what is the reason for that. Taro says how K has a high chance of being gaksital. but H tells UH that taro is mistaken. she says to taro: cuz your son S told me that he is sure that K is not gaksital for certain. yoshi says anyway we cant accept a korean as a member when he has suspicions. H starts to say good things about K like being loyal to the japanese, but UH says let’s act like nothing happened about K becoming a member. UH gives them different orders to prepare for the recruiters that are coming tm to gather comfort women. H glares out of anger.

S and H meet. S says I wish you would stop dropping by suddenly starting from today. H: I came to ask you a favor and if possible it would be nice if you followed it. I wanted to make K a kishokai member but your father opposed so I didnt get what I wanted. He asks why she wants K to become a member so much. She says K is unlike others so it’s a waste to throw him away. He says throw him away even if it’s a waste. you cant make K (a member).  H: why? isnt K your friend. You are not suspecting K of being gaksital like your dad are you. cuz you said loudly with your own mouth he wasnt and that you had clear evidence.  S says a new truth has been revealed . thanks to that, the possibility that K might be gaksital went up higher. she asks what that new truth is. He says you don’t need to know cuz I am going to catch him. she says I want to kill gaksital as much as you so what happens if I catch him first

K is getting treatments for his arm from baek. Baek says it turned out well. quit being an officer now cuz I didnt feel at ease even a day after hearing S suspected you. but K reminds him how DS said  “no matter what happens – to endure” (and remain an officer). it was cuz he needs the help of a japanese officer. So even if I die I have to stay next to those guys. baek says since taro is acting recklessly will it be easy for K to be chosen. K: I dont know the extent of Lala’s power in kishokai but she said she would recommend me to the chairman so I have to wait.  Baek asks after you go into that organization what do you plan to do. K says once he is in, he should get rid of the leader. baek says K cant do that alone. K says I cant deal with all of those guys just by myself so wouldnt killing off the head first hurt them.  He tells baek not to worry. I will be back.

H remembers S saying he found out a new truth about K. She asks jun when you slashed gaksital’s arm and leg where was it. he says the right arm and leg

So H puts something in K’s drink and waits for him. She is going to drug him.  K comes in and sits. H:what to do – no one has voted for you as a member yet. K: it’s too bad. H: wait a little longer and I will convince the chairman somehow. He asks if the chairman is the same person who made her into a singer and raised her like a daughter. otherwise-how could you become a kishokai. She asks are you curious about me or curious about kishokai. K: both. H: are you really curious about me? when you didnt even remember me? Cuz in your heart right now there should only be D. I’m the woman who -at the age of 9 when I lost my parents, I walked in with my own feet to become a gisaeng. when men are troubled, I look into their eyes and I know. I know you approached me to become a kishokai member but don’t lie that you are curious and want to know about me. K: since I made you say those things, I am a bad guy. But it’s true that I was curious about your life.  when I saw you wear mourning clothes and crying in front of the japanese, I was really curious how you became Lala. living as sato hiroshi now, if the same thing happened like 5 yrs ago I would save you again. Whether you are Lala or a young gisaeng. She cries and says should we make a toast. To you sato hiroshi. They drink. Suddenly his eyes close and he passes out. she goes over to him and says if you are gaksital you saw me trying to kill the woman you love. even if the same situation like 5 yrs ago happened, you say you would save me again. why do I want to believe that obvious lie so much. she unbuttons his jacket and checks his right arm. There is a bandage. She is shocked. she covers up the wound by rolling his sleeves back down and leaves quickly.

H goes out for air and tells herself: Come to your senses. You saw that K is gaksital. you cant help him or go easy on him anymore. what are you hesitating for. she calls out for Jun. she says call masoku (that gisaeng that K is friendly with).

*So H chickened out and couldnt betray K’s truth. it’s written all over her face that she is too much in love to let him go. in a way, she loves him more than D cuz now H has to keep saving K’s life with each lie she tells to keep his identity a secret and therefore endangering her own life along he way. if you judge the extent of love based on actions alone, I would say H wins over D anyday. I bet later on K is going to regret using her love and actually cry real tears for H if she dies protecting him.

Governor is meeting with yoshi and taro and them. he tells him how he was contacted this morning – how there is a war spreading. governor says what they should do but taro says they cant and suggests selecting clean healthy young girls and sending them to the army (to become comfort women) Governor specifies that no one can know this truth that they did this. taro says of course we will hide it well. yoshi says even if this truth is revealed later,  there wont be any evidence that we were involved. governor says pay special attention so this cant come back to us. so yoshi says we will choose only poor and healthy girls. governor laughs and says that’s good. (I  suddenly wish there were some extra bombs from DS’s armory robbery to throw into this room right now to wipe those smirks off their faces. translating this made my skin crawl.)

Some recruiters go to the circus. spy girl asks who are you. the lady starts to compliment the girls looks and says there are so many of them.  leader jo asks who they are. The man says you must be the leader. these days with the bad economy even if you hold shows, you wont earn much. Jo yells I asked who you are. lady asks didnt you see the newspaper. an article to get nurses  to go to china. see for yourself. Spy girl talks about the high monthly pay. another girl asks we dont have an education so how can we be nurses. The lady says all they have to do is take care of soldiers who have been injured in the war – to feed and wash them so there is nothing else to learn.   The man asks are you selecting just women cuz I can do that well too. the lady says it’s just for female nurses. D asks why they are recruiting here for nurses to take care of soldiers over there. Leader jo says there are no people here who want to work there so leave. The recruiter guy asks just for them to write down their names and they can start earning money.  The recruiters get pushed out and one of the girls pick up the article (once they sign their name it becomes binding and they have to go so that’s why they kept insisting on the girls just signing their names)

*trust me, I didnt call this woman “lady” out of respect. the only reason why I referred to her as “lady” and not “woman” is I didnt want anyone to mix up the other one from the circus who died recently. out of respect to her I didnt want to use what I called her for this “lady” since the only name I wanted to call this one was “heartless monster.” I really dont get how this lady could do this kind of work. how does she live with herself.

K wakes up and asks the girl masaku what happened last night. What about Lala. she gets jealous and says you are looking for Lala as soon as you wake up. so he yells I asked what happened. She says as soon as you fell asleep Lala left and told me to take good care of you. K: she left right after I fell asleep? he remembers making a toast and then passing out. K says in his head I’m certain I only drank one shot. He grabs his jacket and leaves.

H hears from Jun that inside the hotel, K followed Jun here. Jun: it’s certain that he approached you (meaning to use her). she says I know that too.dont worry. K knocks outside and says Lala you are inside right? Open the door Lala. She ignores him. He keeps calling out her name so she calls S. she asks him to get rid of K. S asks:what are you saying? K is at the hotel? I will go right away. She hangs up and stands. K: are you not inside. I have something to say so I came. Lala.

S drives up to the hotel as K comes out. S says I looked everywhere for you. you’ve been reinstated.let’s go. K: you want me to go to work. S: yes you are late so get in

Leader jo says this is big trouble cuz it looks like they are all going to leave to become nurses. D thinks it’s strange cuz they are giving so much salary to young women with no experience. cuz even men who graduated from college cant earn that much easily. Jo says the more he thinks about it, he feels uneasy about sending young girls away like that to the war. D offers to look into it

K puts his uniform back on and Abe asks if he is feeling ok. K smiles at him and pats his arm. Other officers give K funny looks. K gets a call. D says it’s me. K: nothing much is going on right. She says some people came this morning to look into recruiting girls to become nurses. our group wants to agree but are they trustworthy. He says I will look into it. where are you now. she says with the circus. I wont be staying at sunwha’s home and will be staying at the motel so call me there. He promises to contact her soon

The officers stand at attention in front of yoshi again. Yoshi tells them how they have an order starting from today to transport comfort women. we have to help the recruiters. we have to be careful not to let news of this spread.  the rebels (koreans) cant know the truth that officers are helping the army. He gives the lackey a promotion that taro ordered. Then he looks at K and takes his stripe away and demotes him. do you have a problem with it. K: No i dont. After yoshi leaves others congratulate the lackey. S goes over to K and pats him on the shoulder.

They meet in his office and S tells K to sit. S: you just heard what kind of person yoshi is. I was afraid he would suspect that you are special to me so yesterday I pretended on purpose not to know. what kind of person ignores his boss. my dad was opposed to firing you. we were barely able to keep you as an officer. be patient for a short time and I will make sure you get your position back. K thanks him. S tells K to stay at the place S gave him from today on cuz S checked there yesterday and K hadnt been staying there all this time. There is a call and S says esther. So K stands to leave but S says “wait” to K. S: right now? I will go quickly. He hangs up and says D wants to see me so you drive

In the car K thinks in his head. You kept me on as an officer to keep me next to you. what are you planning. are you starting to suspect me again. S says in his head: K- if you really are  gaksital- just wait and see -I will reveal who you are

Circus girls meet with those people and sign their names in the book. one girl asks if there are a lot of people signed up. the lady says of course and shows the thick books filled with lists of names who signed up. guy says there are 2000 in the capitol alone.  lady says to fill in their age.(it’s like a contract so they have to go once they sign) S and K walk by them and K takes notice of the situation. Girl asks if they are really going to be paid timely. Lady says yes –if you do well you could get paid more. how good will it be cuz you will earn money and learn skills.

S yells out the name of the officer who has his weapon (along with the rest of the officers) aimed at D and the rest of the circus people. S: what are you doing?  the guy says how the group was complaining saying how they will perform. D says how they have to perform to earn a living. who will come to a circus who is being guarded by officers. leader jo asks how much longer do we need to be watched/guarded. What crime did we commit. D says how there are a lot of people who need the circus -do you need to take the circus away from those people who dont have much to laugh about.  So S orders the officers to back off. S tells the people they wont be watched anymore. you can feel free to go about your work. S asks to speak to D and walks out first. (K walked up and stepped behind S during their conversation and K sort of bowed his head to leader jo)

D walks out to follow S and K says to her “don’t let them go and hold onto them. they arent going to become nurses-they will be used as comfort women for the army.” D: ok

D and S are on the road and K stands at a distance. S looks at K and suddenly hugs D. S: I will trust you. I wont even guard you anymore but you have to give me a little of your heart. she tries to pull away and says-let go. don’t do this. S looks at K and says to D: do you have anything you are hiding from me. If you are hiding something from me I will find out what that is and crush it. he said that looking at K and let’s go of her. he calls out to K and says follow me.

K walks by D and they hold hands for a second. D watches him go and cries

In the car, S says I will catch gaksital who killed my hyung but why are you not catching the culprit who killed your mother and hyung. If it was me, I would have done that first. Didn’t you tell me that you couldn’t die leaving behind those who did that to your family and making you like that. But after saying that you dont look for the guy who killed your hyung and mother.

suddenly K brakes and pulls the car over and grabs S out of the car and says you know something don’t you. you know who killed my mother and hyung. Tell me. tell me. S: if I knew I would have told you right away- would I just be like standing here like this. sorry for bringing up something painful for you. let’s go. (S said that without meaning a word of it)  he gets in the car and K thinks in his head. You found out your hyung killed my mother. Ok let’s see this through

H is massaging UH’s legs. He says how KP (the guard who killed Goji) remembers K. wasnt he that Korean who rescued you 5yrs ago. she says I am not recommending him to become a member cuz of that father. He asks her to be in charge of the group of comfort girls leaving the capitol so she says I will.

Lee and his wife are meeting with that elderly couple again. Lee and his wife are encouraging the couple to send their students to study abroad so the woman asks how many should we send. Lee’s wife says it’s better to send a lot. The woman says they will tell the girls about to graduate that there is a chance to study and will like it. Lee’s wife and Lee says that’s a great idea. They make a toast. (this elderly couple do not realize they are sending away their students to become comfort women)

A young girl tells her grandmother (S’s nanny) how she will work as a nurse. during the day she will nurse the soldiers and at night she will study. since she will be studying in another country so it’s like studying abroad. grandma asks if she has to go so far away. girl says dont worry. my teacher said only students who study hard are being sent.  I will study hard and work hard and be sure to become a doctor and take care of you and live happily for a long time together. grandma hugs her and calls the girl her baby. Taro arrives and grandma introduces her granddaughter. She says my granddaughter was chosen at her school to be a nurse so will it be ok for her to go. He looks and sees she is pretty so he says don’t worry and send her. they thank taro

D tells the circus girls who signed up that they have to leave the capitol quickly.the girls cry and apologize to the leader and say we will be going. Leader jo tells them to be careful of their health. officers dressed in plain clothes show up. the recruiter asks where are you going. he calls them by name and says you promised to become nurses. D says you deceived them and made them promise. they said they wouldnt go so if you do this, isnt it kidnapping. They drag the two girls out and spy guy says drag that one too so they take sunwha as well. he holds his gun at D and Jo so they cant move or leave the room

As they drag the girls away, D runs out and knocks them down. Leader jo tries to help and gets beaten. D gets kicked and beaten too by K’s spy guy. He says you would be dead if it wasn’t for S. (I hope S kills him for beating up D and taking those girls away.man this drama is making me so violent. )

Grandmother sends her granddaughter away and says go and come back well. stay healthy. girl says dont worry I will write letters. grandma tries to give her some money. but the girl wont take it and tells the grandma to buy something good to eat. I will be going. as she walks away, grandma cries.  (and my heart is breaking)

Officers are dressed in plain clothes and they pick up the girls and take them away in a truck. The girl waves bye to her grandma. Grandma says go well and come back.

In the truck the circus girls and sunhwa are on it. H and Jun are waiting for the girls with that lady that recruited them. H tells the lady to confirm the names. Lady says how pretty the girls are. She calls out names. Suddenly gaksital runs out into the middle of the road in front of another truck full of girls. The lady and H and jun hear gunshots ring out. gaksital is fighting off the officers. The officers run away and K looks up at the truck full of girls.

Then in another part of the woods, Gaksital jumps in front of the truck with the circus girls and K fights the officer who used to spy on him. An officer tries to shoot gaksital but sunwha and them bite the officer’s arm and hit him with a suitcase. Sunwha says to other girls -we have to run away cuz it’s dangerous. Gaksital beats up the recruiter guy and hopefully killed him.

suddenly a gunshot goes right by gaksital. he turns and looks. H shot at gaksital but missed on purpose. they look at each other. she still has her gun aimed at him. H says in her head: please. Don’t make me regret saving you.

End

No preview

you know what breaks my heart even more? supposedly there were 2000 girls who signed up and those few trucks that Gaksital stopped didnt have even a fraction of that number of girls onboard. just imagining all those other trucks he wasnt able to stop just tears me up. we need more gaksitals to make a difference.

even though 2000 was a number the writer came up with, now in my mind that number has faces like those young girls on the backs of those trucks and they are no longer just a fictitious number. they have actual faces and just imagining the brutality they endured makes you sick in your stomach. that was the moment this stopped being just a drama for me.

for the first half of this ep, I sort of liked H for following her heart and conscience instead of her brain and duty. but then she had to go and agree to help with transporting these girls and I lost all respect for her as a woman and a human being. I no longer care if she loves K if she is going to be the type of woman who helps innocent girls lose their lives like this – slowly and painfully so that they are never whole again. this kind of cruelty deserves a whole other special kind of punishment. I dont want Gaksital to just hit them with the flute anymore to kill them. quick deaths are too good for people like taro, UH, yoshi, and the governor. they need to reside in those nail crates for the rest of their lives and driven around on rocky roads on the backs of those trucks all over Korea.