Case 10: Holding Hands Can Wait.
The episode starts with a young man named Yang Jeong-il getting arrested after being chased by two detectives in a subway in front of Young Woo. Jeong-il says he did nothing. Young Woo is scared and says it is an illegal arrest and says the suspect should be notified even if it is an emergency arrest. The detective asks if she is a lawyer or something and to everyone’s surprise she says yes and introduces herself. One of the detectives notices that the public is already taking videos of them so they un cuff the man and do the procedure of letting him know about the crime and that he has the right to call his Attorney and the crime is a “Quasi-rape of a person with disabilities”. The public and Young Woo get shocked.
In the detention centre, Young Woo and Attorney Choi go to meet Jeong-il and he is excited to see Young Woo there and says he begged his parents to appoint Young Woo as his Attorney. He says she is a celebrity and mentions an article about her being the first autistic attorney in the Republic of Korea and calls her Kayak, deed (he picked it up from her introduction). Young Woo says her name is Young Woo. He asks if he can call her Attorney Kayak, deed as he wants to in a deceiving voice (I already don’t like this guy). Young Woo strictly says no and Attorney Choi asks if it is important as he is charged with quasi-rape of a person with disabilities and asks if he knows how severe the judgement can be. Jeong-il says he did not do anything bad and says he had an HN with FFY but why they are saying rape as he did not force himself on her (so what? Did he think as long as the girl says yes he won’t get caught?).
They ask what is FFY, HN and he explains that it is a pet name Hye-yeong (the victim) gave him and it is “Fool For Yang Jeong-il” and HN is “Hot Night”. Attorney Choi asks what kind of name it for someone is who is intellectually disabled. He says she also calls him FHY- “Fool For Hye-young”. Young Woo says that if they are trying to match up then it should be FFS as her first name is Shin. Attorney Choi cuts her in the middle and asks if it is important right now. Young Woo goes silent. Jeong-il says they love each other truly. Young Woo explains that they understand that he did not force him on her but by the law, it can still be reported as “Quasi-rape” and the prosecutor claims that he took advantage of her intellectual disability for sexual intercourse. Attorney Choi says Hye-yeong spent millions of won for the date expenses all by herself with her credit card. Jeong-il asks if it is wrong for the elder one to pay for all the expenses when she is well-off (look how shameless he is).
She then asks why he did join Eoulrim (a group for disabled people) as he does not have any disability. He says it was for a good cause as he wanted to be a volunteer and says that is how he met Hye-yeong and says it was love at first sight with a smile. Both Attorneys give him a look. He asks why it is difficult to believe it and says people with disabilities are kind and innocent and says they deserve to be loved and says Young Woo would understand it better. (Throughout the conversation all he did was to try and earn Young Woo’s sympathy)
In Attorney Jung’s office, Jung asks where she picked up such a troublesome case. She innocently replies that she picked it up on subway line two. He says he can clearly imagine what she must have done and says she must have shown off by talking about illegal arrests and warrants and would have revealed that she is an Attorney. He asks her not to say she is Attorney when in public. She agrees that it was troublesome to reveal herself. He then asks if they want to represent him as it would be unpleasant for them. Attorney Choi says they should give up now and it would be best for Jeong-il’s parents as well. Jung agrees and asks Young Woo for her opinion. Young Woo emotionally says she wants to defend Yeong-il and says she wants to believe what he said about loving the victim truly so Jung asks to take the case and Young Woo leaves. Jung says Choi by now, knows what happens when Attorney takes the case personally and asks her to “whoa whoa” Young Woo as she is taking the case personally.
Ra-mi meets Young Woo at Ra-mi’s workplace and Young Woo says Jun ho confessed that he likes her. Ra-mi and her boss are excited and Ra-mi asks her to explain everything including the air, sunlight, clouds, speed of the wind, temperature and humidity. Young Woo explains what exactly happened and Ra-mi and her boss are drenched with cheesiness that the boss says they should call for 911 of love and both laugh. Young Woo says the problem is after that and asks what she should do now. Ra-mi asks how did she reply to him.
Young Woo says she just ran off as her mind went blank and says she was rude. They say it is weird than rude. Ra-mi asks to forget it and just start dating him. The boss asks how she can start dating just after his confession and asks Young Woo to go on a few dates and asks to get to know each other. Young Woo asks what the date is and he explains it is simple like having food together, watching movies, singing karaoke and says if she looks up, there will be a lot. Ra-mi teases him saying he must have been going on imaginary dates. Young Woo remembers Attorney Choi and says she will set up a blind date for the boss. Ra-mi asks then what about her and Young Woo ignores her.
The trail day. Jeong-il sees members of the Eoulrim group and asks Young Woo to defend her instead of Attorney Choi (he knows how to take advantage of people). Jung agrees with him and asks her to begin with the statement she said on her first trial. Young Woo is not prepared for this and roughly says she has autism and excuses herself. She then starts her statement by saying that the defendant is denying all the charges as consensual intercourse happened out of love. The people in the courtroom disagree with her. Young Woo continues to say the victim and the defendant used an app for chatting. On March 13th, the two chatted on the app and shows the conversation. She then explains their pet name and doesn’t miss the point that they did not match the pet name right (lol, I am so in love with her) and explains the abbreviation in the chat making Attorney Jung, and Choi fight their smile. She asks if the conversation doesn’t look like the couple is in love and says she was chatting with him until his arrest.
Hye-yeong’s mother gets furious and says that the gigolo-like bastard seduced Hye-yeong and took her to a motel and says he was just enjoying himself. The Judge warns her not to talk without permission in the courtroom. Jun ho, who has come to the trail, sees Young Woo getting nervous.
In a restaurant, Attorney Kwon meets with the reporter who took picture of Tae su mi in Gwang-ho’s shop. The reporter asks if he knows anything about Young Woo. He says someone wrote on an anonymous billboard about her recruitment process. The reporter is disappointed and asks if he knows anything about her and Tae su mi and says Young Woo seems to be su mi’s daughter. Attorney Kwon is in complete shock and is speechless.
At EOD, Jun ho leaves home. Young Woo waits for him outside the building and asks “Do you still like me?”. Jun ho fights his smile and says yes and that he was hurt when she ran off that day. She stammers and apologises. Jun ho smiles without holding back. Young Woo says if he still likes her what if they get to know each other before becoming an official couple. Jun ho smiles and says it is a good idea. She smiles and then pulls out a file and gives it to him saying she researched a lot and came up with those ideas. Jun ho chuckles and says there is a lot but “taking home” is missing and asks if he can add it. She smiles and says he can.
They then start walking. Jun ho asks if “holding hands” is also not on the list. Young Woo says holding hands is not easy for her and she could hold his father’s hand only for 57 seconds when he asked her to and after that it was unbearable. Jun ho says then it is okay. Young Woo asks if he wants to hold hands even if it is for 57 seconds. Jun ho asks if she is okay and Young Woo extends one hand to him and opens the stopwatch in her phone with one hand. Jun ho shyly holds her hand. But Young Woo could tolerate it for only around 30 seconds and pulls her hand out and apologies to him. Jun ho says it’s okay and that he will just take her home and says holding hands can wait.
The trail day. The prosecutor asks the doctor, who diagnosed the victim’s statement, what is the victim’s mental state. The doctor says she has the development age of 13-year-old, a 6th grader. The prosecutor asks what she thinks about the statement she gave in the police station. The doctor says it has credibility by highlighting the victim’s emotion in the statement “When the sex began, I started to feel bad. I was scared. I did not like it because I thought I would get in trouble with mom.”. The prosecutor asks then why she could not resist him. The doctor says the answer is in the statement as well and reads “I said no and he got upset. He was about to cry. He said it was not true love” (such a b**** he is). The doctor further explains that he took advantage of her emotion as she does not know how to say no.
Attorney Choi starts questioning the doctor. She says that according to the prosecution The defendant raped the victim on March 12th and shows her the conversation they had that night which says “I love you. I miss you. Let’s be together forever.”. Choi asks the doctor what she thinks about it. The doctor says it is awfully heartbreaking. She says everyone wants to get love and be loved and it’s harder for them to get the attention or affection they want from others. She says the problem is the victim misunderstood an impure motive towards her as pure affection and says it is hard to say that the victim has sound decision-making capabilities when it comes to sex. Choi says she just said that her statement from the police station has credibility but now saying she doesn’t have decision-making capabilities when it comes to sex and calls it a vague diagnosis. The doctor says she is talking about the ability to protect oneself. She says most people can protect themselves from violence, fraud and deception and try not to make the same mistake twice but it’s different when they have a disability like the victim. She says the victim has the capacity to give statement with credibility but doesn’t have the ability to protect herself.
Outside the courtroom, Hye-yeong meets Young Woo in private and before she could say something her mom finds her. Without her mom knowing, she says she is alone when she goes to BA and leaves. But Young Woo doesn’t understand what that means.
Attorney Choi comes to Young Woo and says Jeong-il already has a history of the same crime but he compensated with the victim as it was not sexual harassment but the issue of spending a lot of money from the victim’s credit card and that is why it was not in his criminal record. Both are disgusted and angry.
In the detention centre, Young Woo and Choi ask if it is true and he says he is in truly love with her but that doesn’t have to be his first love. They say if the defendant does not love the victim as he claimed then they won’t defend him and leave.
In the evening, Jun ho walks Young Woo home. They walk in the walkway and Young Woo asks if he knows that there is a belief that the couple walking down that walkway will break up. Jun ho panics and says they should not walk then. She laughs and asks if he believes it and says there was a Seoul family court end of the walkway so the couple who is getting a divorce would walk down the walkway and that’s why they used to say it but now the court has been relocated.
And as she is explaining some of Jun ho’s friends (including the woman who thought Jun ho is doing voluntary work when seen with Young Woo). The woman asks if she is? And Jun ho cuts her and says he already told her it was not like that and says he is on a date right now while smiling. Young Woo also says they are on a date and introduces herself. His friends are a bit taken aback. Young Woo reads the wording in the coffee the woman is holding which says “Ask doctor about medicine and baristas about coffee” and her whale fly. She gets distracted and says what Hye-yeong meant while saying BA must be “Barista Academy” and runs saying it ends at 9 PM and the time is almost 9 now.
Outside the academy, they find Hye-yeong and she says she loves Jeong-il and asks them to not let him go to jail. Young Woo asks then why she gave the statement in the police station. Hye-yeong says her mom asked her to as her mom doesn’t like men. Young Woo says Jeong-il is a bad guy and Hye-yeong says she knows it and asks if the people like her can’t love a bad guy. Young Woo gets emotional and says she can. As Hye-yeong pleads, Young Woo asks if she can testify in court. Hye-yeong asks what if her mom says no. Young Woo says she is a 27-year-old adult and she can testify even if her mom says no. She says Hye-yeong can’t let her mom or the court decide whether it was sexual harassment or love.
On the other side, Attorney Choi is frustrated about why the guys she is meeting are interested in her salary, deposits and savings and talks to her friend. Her friend says she should hit the club instead of blind dates.
She then arrives at the restaurant where Young Woo arranged a date for her. Inside, the boss is dressed up neatly and introduces himself as Kim Min-sickly prickly and laughs while Choi does not find it that funny but laughs along. He continues to make food jokes and it turns off Choi completely. She then flies saying her house is on fire (lol. Now I know why he is friends with Young Woo and Ra-mi). Boss realises and wonders if he got ditched already. Furious Choi, asks her friend to come out for clubbing. In the club, a guy shows interest in her and the night ends.
The next day is trail day. Young Woo notices Attorney Choi is in the same dress and asks if she did not go home last night and asks how did the blind date go. Attorney Choi says it did not go well and asks her to be quiet. Jeong-il thanks them for not abandoning him and they ask him to thank Hye-yeong as she was the one who requested them.
The trial starts and the prosecutor asks for the defendant to leave while Hye-yeong gives her statement. Jeong-il gets removed from the courtroom and while leaving, he looks at Hye-yeong all the time.
Young Woo starts questioning Hye-yeong. She says she doesn’t want Jeong-il to go to jail as she loves him but says nothing when Young woo asks if her mom asked her to give statement in the police station. She ends the questioning as Hye-yeong gets uncomfortable and starts scratching the back of her hand.
Now the prosecutor starts questioning. She asks if she knows the difference between sexual intercourse and sexual harassment. Hye-yeong gets nervous and scratches the back of her palm. The prosecutor changes the question and asks why she sat in the corner and scratched the back of her palm on March 12th night. Hye-yeong hesitates. The prosecutor shows the picture of Hye-yeon’s hand from that day to the courtroom. Hye-yeong reaches her limit and screams “mom, I don’t want to do it” and runs to her mom.
Outside the courtroom, Hye-yeong’s mother stops Young Woo and starts yelling at her for saying her daughter can date a bad guy and that it is her right. Young Woo gets scared and repeats after her. Attorney Choi tries to calm her.
In a restaurant, Jun ho is drinking with his friends. He is drunk and one of his friends asks if he is okay with dating Young Woo and asks if he can tell their parents about her. Jun ho gets annoyed and tries to leave. His friend stops him and says what he has is sympathy and not love. Jun-ho gets furious and grabs his friend’s collar clumsily and both fall down aggressively. Their friends try to split them up. Jun ho asks what he knows about her to talk like that and aggressively reaches for him.
On the other side, Attorney Kwon meets one of the seniors and learns that Tae su-mi did take a break but is in the middle of her studies and that is why rumours spread like that. He says it is the year 1996 which is likely to be Young Woo’s year of born.
The verdict day. The Jury’s review comes out not guilty, but the judge announces 2 years of imprisonment and a 40-hour sex offender treatment program and says he is restricted from employment for 5 years as he is taking advantage of disabled people by enrolling himself among them. Jeong-il is in shock that he is going to jail and Hye-yeong starts crying loudly and her mom tries to calm her down.
Later that evening, Young Woo takes Jun ho home. In the corridor Jun ho says Attorney Kwon will be late and asks if she wants to stop by. Young Woo says she is tired and wants to go home. Jun ho says yes she should and offers to take her home. Young Woo says that would be inefficient and Jun ho says that is how dating is no efficiency, no meaning, foolish and smiles.
Young Woo says if she has a disability then merely liking someone is not enough as even she says it is love, if people around her say it is not love, then it seems to be not love. Jun ho asks if she is talking about the case. Young Woo says she is not sure whether she is talking about the case or herself. Jun ho says it is love if she says so. Young Woo says loving her is difficult. Jun ho smiles and says that is what it seems like. She asks if he still wants to do it. Jun ho says yes sincerely. The sensor light above their head goes off and Jun ho approaches Woo but they get distracted as the sensor light goes on again. Jun ho carefully takes a step back.
Woo looks at him and bravely takes a step forward. She places her hand on his shoulder and goes in to kiss him. Jun ho kisses her back. They again get distracted and Woo pulls away and asks in a soft voice if teeth usually knock each other while kissing. Jun ho says no nervously and softly. She asks then what she should do. He laughs softly and says she should open her mouth a little and it would be better if she closes her eyes as well. She learns and they start kissing. The episode ends here.
Epilogue:
The day when Tae su-mi went to meet Gwang-ho. Gwang-ho is shocked to see Tae su-mi. She enters and sits in a chair across from him. She says Young Woo should transfer to a branch of Teasan which is in an overseas office in Boston. He asks how dare she say that when Young Woo is not even working in Teasan. She asks what about the promise he made and asks if he and CEO Han made this plan together to bring her down. Gwang-ho says the world does not revolve around her and says Young Woo is talented and that is why she is working in Hanbada. She asks if Young Woo has a mentor and says she will get a mentor in Boston. He is furious and asks why she is acting as if she cares. She says he did not do it because he can’t afford it but now she will help. She asks if he wants to take revenge or wants money from her. He gets furious and knocks everything down from the table and asks her to get out. She leaves and Gwang-ho breaks everything around him.
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