My Happy Ending – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of My Happy Ending starts with Soon-young and Jae-won coming back home after dinner with Mr Kwon and his family. At home, Jae-won notices Soon-young still texting someone and accuses her husband of cheating on her when he asks to go out to meet a friend. Jae-won accuses Soon-young of dating Yoon-jin, as well as of assuming the identity of his deceased twin brother – Chi-young.

Just then, something changes in Soon-young and he immediately asks Jae-won for a divorce. He reveals that he used his brother’s name and adds that he purchased a property under Jae-won’s father’s name to keep his affair a secret. Soon-young claims that he would like Ah-rin’s custody which causes Jae-won to break down. She refuses to divorce Soon-young, however, he tells her that he is now in love with a different woman and would like to move on.

The episode then moves to Jae-won standing in her closet, looking at a bottle of pesticide. She recalls how her mother used to drink the pesticide to run away from her financial troubles when she was younger. Jae-won spends the night at her psychiatrist Su-kyeong’s house to stop herself from being consumed by her suicidal thoughts. She recalls how Soon-young had always protected Ah-rin from the time of her birth. She also recalls how Ah-rin was extremely close to her father.

Jae-won wonders how she can protect her marriage after failing to protect her mother. The following morning, Soon-young meets law professor Nam-cheol and asks him to proofread the divorce papers. Nam-cheol asks Soon-young to think over his decision but the latter claims that he is done being recognised as Jae-won’s husband.

Later that day, Soon-young goes to meet Jae-won’s stepfather and chats with him for a bit. Chang-seok is thankful to Soon-young for always making time for him and for caring for him. Soon-young apologises to Chang-seok and asks him to keep his visit a secret from Jae-won.

Meanwhile, at the office, Tae-oh notices how stressed Jae-won is. He gives Yoon-jin a visit and confronts her about dating Soon-young and pretending he was Chi-young – his dead twin brother. Yoon-jin comes clean and states that Soon-young had asked her to pretend like he was Chi-young until he got a divorce from Jae-won.

Yoon-jin adds that Tae-oh should be happy now that Jae-won is going to be single again. On the other hand, Reporter Choi talks to the coffee shop owner and discusses the incident in which Jae-won showed up there and injured herself. The cafe owner says something about that night that leaves the reporter shocked. Jae-won meets a lawyer and discusses her chances of gaining Ah-rin’s custody if she were to get divorced from Soon-young.

The lawyer claims that the only way to stop Soon-young from getting Ah-rin’s custody is if Jae-won found evidence of him being a bad person. Jae-won goes home and snoops through Soon-young’s laptop finding a video of him hooking up with Yoon-jin in his email. She is shattered to see her husband in bed with her best friend. At the same time, Soon-young shows up at Yoon-jin’s house for the first time dressed like his normal self. He tells Yoon-jin that the act is all over now and hugs her.

Meanwhile, IT Admin Yoo and Tae-oh look through Seung-gyu’s phone records to find a clue about the ongoing mess in Jae-won’s life. At home, Jae-won wakes up dreaming that she had poisoned Soon-young’s drink for attempting to divorce her. She gets up and empties the bottle of pesticide in the sink, fearing that she might end up poisoning her husband for real.

The next day, Reporter Choi meets Mr Nam Tae-joo and shows him the video of Jae-won slicing her palm with the broken glass at the cafe. The reporter wonders if Tae-joo knew anything about Jae-won’s mental health and reveals that he had asked the Cafe owner to delete this video of Jae-won. In exchange for the original video file, Choi asks Tae-joo to give him more information about Jae-won.

Tae-joo follows after Choi and knocks him out in the parking lot, stealing his laptop. At the same time, Chang-seok drops Ah-rin back home where Jae-won welcomes her daughter. Chang-seok senses something wrong with Jae-won and notices her bedroom is in a mess. He talks to her and notices the injury on her palm. Chang-seok states that he is worried about Jae-won and wonders if she is feeling sick again.

A flashback from the past shows Chang-seok talking to Jae-won’s teacher and reprimanding her for asking Jae-won to be transferred to a different school for her mental health struggles. After finding out that Jae-won was being bullied by her classmates, Chang-seok tells Jae-won that he will help her transfer schools and adopt a new name so she can start afresh.

Present-day Chang-seok sobs as he worries about Jae-won’s declining mental health. That night, Mr Kwon scolds Yoon-jin for being an incompetent artist and mocks her for not being as good as Jae-won. Yoon-jin tells her father that she is going to marry someone she loves and will start her new life on her terms and not that of her father.

At home, Chang-seok shows up to drive Ah-rin to school while Soon-young and Jae-won bid her farewell. After Ah-rin leaves, Soon-young asks if Jae-won is ready for the divorce yet but the latter refuses to divorce him. Yoon-jin shows up at school to see Ah-rin. On the other hand, Jae-won goes to work and is panicky all day. She meets Tae-oh and starts having a panic attack but distracts herself with work.

When she is about to leave, Jae-won meets Tae-oh and realises he was the waiter who had seen her suffer from another panic attack years ago. A flashback from a few years ago shows Tae-oh as a waitstaff who had helped Jae-won hide her pills from Mr Kwon during a business event. Back then, Tae-oh had talked to Jae-won and helped her calm down.

Tae-oh tells Jae-won about his mental health struggles and reveals how he had fought hard to overcome them. Present-day Jae-won thanks Tae-oh for being there for her when she needed him in the past. Tae-oh wonders how Jae-won did not recognize him when she recruited him to work for her.

Tae-oh goes to his studio and fondly reads Jae-won’s high school nametag that he had kept in his wallet for all those years. Jae-won worries about Tae-oh knowing the truth about her health for so many years. Just then, she gets a call from Ah-rin’s teacher. Jae-won learns about Yoon-jin’s visit to the school and the conversation between the two.

According to the teacher, Yoon-jin had told Ah-rin that she was soon going to marry Soon-young. Jae-won is shattered by the news and calls Tae-joo to meet her. She hands a flash drive to Tae-joo with the intention of him publishing the contents in the video. The next day, Tae-oh goes to the police station and talks to Detective Lee about Seung-kyu’s accident.

The cop brushes Tae-oh off and calls Tae-joo, informing him about Tae-oh’s visit. Mr Kwon learns about Seung-kyu’s accident and learns that the employee had likely died by suicide. He asks for the CCTV footage from the office building from the night to determine the truth. That night, Soon-young and Yoon-jin have a date at her house.

Yoon-jin tells Soon-young how she was worried about Jae-won harming them. She asks to move away with Soon-young and Ah-rin once they are married. Soon-young asks Yoon-jin to calm down and take things slow, celebrating her big night. Yoon-jin prepares for the unveiling of her painting at the Dereve lobby.

A flashback from some time ago shows Jae-won talking to her friend about how talented she was. Jae-won claims how jealous she was of Yoon-jin’s drawing skills. Present-day Jae-won calls Tae-joo and asks him to continue as per their plan. Tae-oh shows up and tries to boost Jae-won’s morale but the latter brushes him off.

The unveiling celebration starts as planned and Jae-won is asked to give a speech for Yoon-jin. Jae-won offers Yoon-jin a return gift in exchange for the painting. Yoon-jin is embarrassed to see Jae-won handing her a bag full of cash. Jae-won splatters paint over the portrait in front of the audience, telling Yoon-jin how she sees herself in the painting and that she does not want to be manipulated anymore.

The episode ends with Soon-young being booked for leaking classified information about Jae-won’s company. Jae-won calls Soon-young from the unveiling party in front of Yoon-jin and tells him he is getting what he deserves.

The Episode Review

As interesting as this show is, it is getting a little confusing with all the flashbacks cropping up out of nowhere. From what we know so far, Jae-won is suffering from serious mental health issues and needs help. However, her accusing Soon-young of leaking information just to make sure he does not get Ah-rin’s custody is red flag behaviour. 

There is a lot of gaslighting happening on the show to the extent that the audience itself is being gaslit into believing that Jae-won is the victim. It could be very well possible that Jae-won is not the victim but the one who ruined Yoon-jin’s life and not the other way around.

With that being said, it is also clear that Jae-won and Tae-oh have been childhood friends and Jae-won most likely does not remember him. We will have to wait and watch more of the show to see what the makers have in store for us as the episodes progress.