“Who lives in this Joseon you’re trying to save? Will butchers live? Will slaves live?”
Eugene tells Ae Shin to leave first, since they could no longer walk side by side. Ae Shin slowly turns around, and starts walking back. Shooken and shocked, she slips and tips over onto the ice. Eugene walks over and helps her back up. She turns around once again, and slowly walks away.
At the glory hotel, Lee Se Hun’s mistress appeared in Hina’s room. She was the one who took the gold from Se Hun, and was plotting a plan on running away. She asks to buy one of her western dresses for a disguise. She offers a bar of gold, and Hina opens up her closet. She says she was allowed to pick 3 out, and the mistress excitedly thanks her. But Hina negotiates further, one bar of gold for the dresses, the rest for her life. The mistress tries to dispute the deal, but Hina explains that being discovered as the minister’s mistress would cost her life, so it was either hand over the gold or pay her own life.
Later, Hina meets Minister Lee Jung Moon at an abandoned home of Se Hun, and she offers the whole bag of gold for the house.
The minister and Hina talk, and the minister asks if Hina has visited her father yet, but Hina cuts in and says she doesn’t have a father, and the minister drops the subject.
Jung Moon says he was still looking for Hina’s mother, but Hina claims that that was all he ever tells her. He seemed offended by her tone and thought that Hina may think he’s lying.
Hina prompts him to ask anything, and he asks about Eugene, naming him as the “black-haired American.” Hina explains he was an ideal customer and paid his fees right on time. Rather than explaining him as a customer, she explains that whenever something goes wrong with America, he’s labeled Korean.If something goes wrong with Joseon he is labeled as a American. “He’s simply a lonely foreigner.” she says.
He asks if he has any family, and Hina assumes no since there were no pictures of any specific family in his room. He asks about visitors, and Hina says most visitors were letters from an missionary (Joseph), another American Soldier (Kyle), and a New York friend (Ae Shin).
He then asks if he has any connections with Joseon, and Hina says Hui Sung and him seem to know each other, but it doesn’t seem like a pretty history. Hesitating, she also adds that Ae Shin and him interact often. The minister thinks that’s a weird pairing, but he doesn’t inquire anymore.
Inside her hideout, Ae Shin wraps her wound. She thinks about her conversation previously with Eugene, and also thinks about young Dong Mae. “You’re just a noble fool who lives in the luxuries.” She then walks out, and finds Seung Gu waiting for her. He asks about her injury and doesn’t believe it when Ae Shin acted like it hurt really bad, more than it actually should.
Ae Shin laughs, then asks something in a serious tone. She asked who the leader of the Righteous Army was and if they were noble and who lives in the Joseon that they’re trying to save.
Seung Gu finds it out of character of Ae Shin since she usually does tasks when she was asked. She explains she was asked this question and the inquirer was hurt. Seung Gu confirms that Eugene had framed Se Hun for the treason, and that he helped So-a escape to Shanghai. Ae Shin asks why Seung Gu was suddenly disclosing this now when he explained it was better for her to not know anything. Seung-gu answers that it seems important to Eugene that she knows and asks if it’s also important to Ae-shin. She confirms that it is.
Seung Gu then gets down on his knees and speaks to Ae Shin as she was supposed to be. He explains that if people find out their relationship and the way he speaks to her, he would be sentenced to death for talking to a high demand person disrespectfully. It was the law, and therefore her and Eugene’s relationship must come to an end. Ae Shin tears up and couldn’t talk.
Gui Dan, at the Glory Hotel, rummaged through Eugene’s room to find what Dong Mae might be looking for, frantically worrying. She finds nothing and makes her way out, just to find Hina was right in front of her. Gui Dan gasps and explains she was cleaning Eugene’s room. However, Hina explains she never asked, and how suspicious it was to “clean” one’s room without any cleaning supplies. She summons Gui Dan into her room, and says that she better have a good explanation. She cuts to the chase and asks what she was looking for, but Gui Dan denies she was ever looking for anything. Hina traps her in a wordplay, and Gui Dan explains she was doing Hina’s strategy of biting instead of crying, but Hina disapproves deeply. She explains that she needed to know where she needed to bite her opponent. She then turns around due to annoyance of Gui Dan crying, and strictly tells her to leave. Gui Dan gets on her knees and begs for forgiveness, but Hina does not budge.
Domi hangs Eugene’s coat as he walks in, and greets him. Eugene explains that Glory Hotel was hiring, and that his sister should try to work there. He thanks him for the news, and Eugene asks for a favor in return. He asks for Domi to help him write Korean, and he agrees.
A few minutes later, Domi teaches Eugene about the alphabet in Korean, and how to write his name. Eugene then asks what this said, and tries to remember what Ae Shin wrote to him previously with his photography memory. He sloppily writes down “I missed you” and asks what that meant. Domi tries to read it, and finally understands. “I missed you! It says I missed you!” He excitedly says. Eugene is surprised, and silently says, “Me too.”
At the Glory Hotel, Sumi was working for her first day, and she turned around to see Dong Mae right behind her. She got frightened, and Dong mae recognizes her when his gang searched for the banknote at Logan Taylors house, where Sumi worked as the caretaker for the baby. Dong Mae then sees a swaddle for a baby, and he claims that the swaddle was used for the day they first met. Sumi explains that she wanted to repurpose the cloth for her younger brother to make a vest.
At first he doesn’t think much about it, but then realizes he didn’t search the house thoroughly enough. He assumes that the banknote was in the baby swaddle (which it was) and threatens to kill Sumi if she doesn’t tell who she gave the banknote to.
She leads the way to where the person she gave the banknote to stays, before she makes a run and bangs on a window of a bookstore where Ae Shin was. She looks up to find Dong Mae throwing Sumi on the ground. She comes out and scolds Dong Mae for hurting his people, and worse, hurting a little girl. He grabs Sumi’s hair and asks if this was what she was talking about, and smiles until Ae Shin slaps him in the face. Furious, he turns his head around scowling, “I hope you live through times like that as well.” she says, also furious. She orders Haman Daek to grab Sumi, and keep her away from Dong Mae. Dong Mae explains he lost a huge sum of money because Sumi gave the document to someone else, and Ae Shin offers to pay the amount of money he lost, and he agrees. He orders her to bring it by the end of the month, and does not answer how much money she owes him and tells her to figure it out on her own.
They both walk away, and as Dong Mae was walking with Yujo, he smiles and that startles Yujo. Dong Mae asked what the matter was, and Yujo explains that he was smiling after a big incident. Dong mae smiles again and explains that Ae Shin wanted him alive to experience different lives, when days ago she wanted him dead.
At the Hotel, a trio enters, Eugene on the right and Dong Mae on the left, and one covered figure in the middle “limping.” Dong Mae and Eugene drag him and Hui Sung lifts a cover over his head to reveal he was in the middle, and the other two drag him up to Hui Sung’s room. Dong Mae first tries to settle things with Eugene explaining he’s seen this person at Jemulpo. Hui Sung asks about it since he didn’t know, and Eugene doesn’t reveal anything about it but Dong Mae was irritated he wouldn’t kill their secret. Hui Sung asks if their conflict will be resolved quickly since he was the one limping. Dong-mae says that the three of them shouldn’t be fighting over this, and Eugene adds that the three of them shouldn’t be consulting each other on this either. Eugene suggests they address this in their separate ways, since it seems that they all have different information.
Hui Sung then offers a drink, but both deny. “If I drink anytime today I think I will kill someone.” says Dong Mae, and Eugene adds on that he might be the target. Hee-sung tries to deescalate the situation by ensuring the men that this suit will be the new fad since he wore it that day, and Dong-mae switches his target.
The next day, at the American Legation, Eugene finds Gwan Su and Kyle back from traveling to escort So-a to Shanghai, and greets them happily.
Kyle unloads all his gifts and all of them seemed to be for Domi, and Eugene is butthurt that there was none for him. Gwan Su explains that they were robbed, but Eugene doesn’t believe the fact the “robbers” only took his own gift. Gwan Su throws Kyle under the bus to explain, and Kyle explains more about the robbers, but Gwan Su mutters that they’d need a Plan B since they were busted. Eugene was already pissed, so Kyle offers some chicken soup at the inn.
When their chicken soup came out, Kyle points out that their chicken was bigger this time, and thoughts run in Eugene’s mind. Ae Shin buys bowls from Eun San; Seung Gu is her teacher; Eun San and Seung Gu are very close; One must ride the boat from the innkeeper’s dock to get to the Eun-san’s kiln; The innkeeper ripped him off last time and gave him a smaller chicken and gave him a bigger one this time; he saved So-a; that’s why the chicken was bigger. Out loud, he explains how sloppy this organization was (heosul meant sloppy) and Kyle heard “sul” which meant alcohol in Korean, and immediately ordered drinks.
As Kyle drank, he went onto the frozen lake, slipping around kind of drunk. Eugene watched and heard him say that Eugene must have played like this when he was young, but Eugene briefly denies and says he only worked when he was young, so Kyle says he should play now. He slips onto the ice, and yells “I LOVE YOU JOSEON.”
Eugene stares afar and remembers the time he and Ae Shin walked, and says out loud how he wanted to remember this place but now that was ruined.
When Eugene returned to the Hotel, Hina escorted him to the restaurant where King Gojong was sipping a cup of coffee. Eugene greets him, and Gojong asks if he could become the instructor of the Joseon Military Academy, as he showed that he was suitable for the job. However, Eugene turns down this offer, and explains he used Joseon to get his revenge, and that he was planning to leave Joseon soon. Gojong asks if someone has done something, but Eugene explains that he was leaving to avoid hurting someone. Since Eugene wasn’t a Joseon Citizen, he couldn’t stop him.
Few days later, Eugene arrives at Eun San’s home, and faces him. “Please put me to sleep for a day, I have nowhere else to go.” he says it as he said it 30 years ago. Eun San smiles and redirects him to the inn across the lake, but then brings him over when Eugene lures him with a whole bag of beer.
As he was drinking, Eugene once more asks if he will house him for the night, but Eun San jokes around and says he should afford somewhere to stay if he was an American Soldier. Eugene then points out he never gave a proper thank you to Eun San for saving his life, and thanks him heartily, but Eun San explains that he paid him by all the deeds he has done in Joseon. Eugene was putting on his shoes when Eun San said this, and then Eun San explains he will house him for the night, but Eugene ends up crying on the doorstep.
Ae Shin stares at the snow falling while studying english, learning about the letter “S.” Ae Shin tells Namjung that there was “Sad ending” and also says that a communication between her and a stranger might have a sad ending. Namjung is confused but Ae Shin says that Stranger was also a word that starts with “S.” Namjung also says that there was “Sunshine.”
As Ae Shin walks behind her servants holding her carriage, she thinks about the words she learned, and repeats them in her head. “Moonlight, miracle, mister, stranger.”
The train passes by her and she remembers the first time she and Eugene first met, and after the train passed by, she found Eugene standing on the other side of the train rack.
“Mister, Sunshine.”
My opinion:
This episode explained a meaning why it’s called Mr Sunshine, which I love. It was a rather “lovely” episode, it was more sad than usual. It wasn’t a very “happy” episode from what I’ve seen.
