Flames of Desire Episode 23

I love this screencap. There’s just something about it, ne?

Shrewd Threats. Early Assumptions. Mutual Agreements. 

I’m such a loser. Yep, I know. I did try to finish this series but I don’t know… many things happened. It’s way too complicated to talk about. The more important thing is that Episode 23 is here. Tadaaa!

Episode 23

The cats are out of the bag. Yes, CATS (with S, in plural form). Media people learn about Atlantic Ocean’s secret funds. And they are, literally, swarming at President’s place. President, however, has a very good diversion plan. He covers the true issue with news that the three brothers are fighting each other. Good thing, people are more interested in the family feud than the corruption itself. 🙂

And guess who finally stepped in to save the day? It’s YoungJun. Hooray!

YoungJun’s all geared up for battle. He’s determined to take care of everything.YoungMin, volunteers to help, but YoungJun won’t let him. It’s not his problem to solve. Everything happened BEFORE he came to work for Atlantic Ocean. And besides, President doesn’t want to involve him in this mess. This is all part of President’s calculated plan. All YoungMin could do is take the President to Ulsan and stay there. And as a favor, YounJun asks YoungMin to finish constructing JungSook’s nursing home.

Whether President admits it or not, it’s visibly clear that he finds YoungJun’s presence quite comforting.

President: Do it properly, if you’re ready.

YoungJun lures the reporters. He’ll be giving a press conference at Atlantic Ocean’s office, providing President Kim a quiet exit.

Hardheadedness sure runs in the blood. No matter how President Kim and YoungJun tell YoungMin to back off, he just can’t let them do all the dirty works. He won’t let YoungJun go to jail! Besides, he’s the one in-charge of the shipyard project, so in a way, he IS involved.

NaYoung tries to convince hubby not to interfere. Can’t he  figure it out? YoungJun will inevitably go to jail. That is bound to happen. They’ll just have to survive this crisis if they can. With that lengthy speech, YoungMin still didn’t budge. He warns NaYoung not to involve herself with matters of Yang InSook or her sister. It’s about time she stop causing these people pain.

NaYoung is riled up. Why? Does he really think she’s not in pain too? Ha! YoungMin is sickened by her dramas. That’s not pain, that’s karma! Okey then, if that’s what he believes in then fine with NaYoung. But she reminds him that she’s doing those things becoz of him. He’s equally guilty.

YoungDae is freaking out. Ulsan is too close, President should go abroad! YoungJun calmly explains that it’ll just make things worse.  YoungDae, however, ain’t buying it. President handles the secret funds all by himself! It’s logical and proper that he take full responsibility of all his actions. Truth be told, he has no affection towards their father. He wouldn’t even take a risk of telling a simple lie for him. Tsk!

Right then, YoungMin arrives. They’ll be having the press conference together to clear up allegations that they are turning against each other.

The wives are also in frantic mode, especially SoonJa. It’s unfair that YoungDae is being blamed for everything! If you’ll get on the bottom of things, it’s Ae-ri and her family’s fault. Ae-ri laughs. Hah! SoonJa may accuse her of anything but betraying the Kim’s. It’s YoungDae who supplied the information not her. Defeated, SoonJa walks off.

NaYoung takes SoonJa’s side. The family is already in serious peril. Ae-ri should at least take it easy on SoonJa. Ae-ri concedes. There’s nothing to worry about anyways. YoungJun will solve the problem. NaYoung sarcastically asks how when the prosecution is pretty serious about it. Ae-ri can’t possibly answer that so she diverts the topic and wonders what will YoungMin do when he learns she already had a child even before they were married. NaYoung plays it cool. He already knows. And if she were Ae-ri, she’ll refrain from babbling. That’s if she doesn’t want to lose the President’s confidence.

 Ae-ri is pissed. NaYoung may act as if she really has nothing to lose but she’ll make sure she won’t die first.

At the press conference, YoungJun states their stand. It’s true that enormous some of money was used to finance the shipyard project. Some parts may have been recklessly misused. But it’s normal for a company which is still novice in the shipyard business. But nevertheless, he’ll be responsibility for the consequences since he ordered the go-signal. As for rumors that there is disagreement among brothers, it’s not true. They are united as ever. Until the investigation is over, the three brothers will run the company.

And the arrogant baboon just couldn’t stop himself from being the ultimate “baboon” and announces that he’ll be the one to lead the pack since he’s the Vice-President and the eldest son. Booo! He can’t even clean his own mess!

NaYoung prepares to live for Ulsan. First, she makes sure that InKi’s schedule is filled and instructs her manager to give a call if she skips even one activity. She then calls YoungMin. And to her horror, he is completely resolved to stay. And when he hangs up, she calls MinJae, who is sitting right across Dad. MinJae reconfirmed that Dad ain’t going anywhere.

Dad and son had a nice talk. MinJae is quite happy that he could spend moments like this with Dad. He has so many things to say. YoungMin is pleased and promises that when this issue is resolved, they’ll go on a vacation.

The prosecution raids Atlantic Ocean’s main office again. This time they get a hold of a secret book containing lists of people and embezzlement transactions. YoungJun remains relaxed though. The President isn’t that careless. They’ll just have to take as many blows as they could then fight back. A colleague then asks why he returned. Everyone knows the President favors his younger brother. YoungJun admits he feels upset about it, but President Kim is still his father. Aw!

Now that a secret book has been confiscated, YoungMin starts to worry. YoungJun assures it ain’t a big thing. The book is over 10 years old. It won’t affect the investigation. It’s President’s plan. He left the book on purpose as a warning to those who are indebted to him. If they still don’t get the message then he’ll be giving another warning and another.

YoungMin is rendered speechless. He’s disappointed at his old man. He can’t figure out what kind of person his dad is anymore. YoungJun guarantees that their father just wants him to inherit a good company. His means maybe bad but his intentions are good. Thought it sounds crazy, President is actually scared.

YoungJun: Until the day you die, you won’t understand father. However, you can trust his love towards you.

NaYoung arrives at the Ulsan villa and immediately reports that the three brothers joined forces to solve the issue. President, however, is quite frustrated that YoungMin got involved. But since everything has been done, he tells NaYoung to take care of YoungMin. After all, YoungMin is his favorite son and he can’t be ruined by this. She must protect YoungMin at all cost!

NaYoung is pretty hyped up and calls YoungMin. President is sure to give Atlantic Ocean to him. YoungMin doubts that. Isn’t that too early to assume? But NaYoung insists it’s already a 100% confirmation.

YoungDae passes by the President’s office and catches YoungMin at the President’s chair. YoungDae mockingly comments that YoungMin looks great in there. As expected, President’s chair is different.

At this point, he starts to talk gibberish. Right from the start YoungJun doesn’t have a chance. But when YounMin returned from America, his dream of being the next President is ruined. But then again, their father can’t ignore him anymore. For the past ten years, he has been running the company. Atlantic Company has become this successful becoz of him. Even Father has no match for him now. Told yah it’s full of crap!

NaYoung is still not giving up. She demands that JungSook stop dating YoungJun. JungSook had it! She’ll stop only if YoungJun says he doesn’t like her. She can die if NaYoung wants her to, but until YoungJun says she doesn’t want her then she can’t break up with him. NaYoung is horrified. Is she that naïve? No matter how NaYoung puts it, JungSook is just happy that someone like YoungJun exists in this world.

As a last resort, NaYoung tries to bribe JungSook. Yeah, like that would work! Of course, it didn’t. Before NaYoung leaves, JungSook confesses that HyeJin is not dead and she found her. NaYoung is taken aback. But in the end, she can’t lose focus. NaYoung: That child has nothing to with me, even if she’s alive.

NaYoung: I’m almost there. I can’t become weak when I’ve come this far. Regardless of who they are, I won’t let anyone stop me. Never!

YoungJun pays Ae-ri a not-so friendly visit, telling her have a good nice chat with her family and stop the ruckus already. His sacrifices should be enough. If they are still not contented with this, he’ll be forced to take actions. Ae-ri is irritated. Why don’t he tell them personally since they think she’s taking his side. He’s probably happy about this though! Seeing that she’s falling apart.

YoungJun takes the bait and snaps. Is that all she can think of? Have she ever thought of his feelings just once? He’s been suffering too. The problem with her is that she lived her life believing the things she sees.

InKi calls MinJae and asks if he’s okay. Yay! And the call just brighten up his day. He’s actually nervous looking from the sidelines. He’s sorry for bothering her often. It’s not a big deal for her though and shares she already found her adoptive mother. MinJae is happy for her. He invites her for a Christmas get-together bu then she’s too busy.  Aw!

YoungMin surprisingly drops in to check on InSook. He convinces her to undergo medical treatment to cure the tumor. But InSook is at peace with everything. She doesn’t want MinJae to see her in a sickly state. She’ll appreciate it if he let her live the life she wants. Besides, she knows too well that he’s just doing this for NaYoung.

InSook: You sure changed a lot. At one point, you said you’ll take care of me.

She read that he’s going to be the President of Atlantic Ocean. She’s happy for him. Too bad for NaYoung though, she won’t be living long enough to see him get that position. She just can’t bear seeing that happen.

YoungMin wonders if that’s the reason she’s getting close to MinJae. InSook laughs. Of course not. She’s just saying empty threats. How could she stop NaYoung? All she can do is watch her get everything she wants. YoungMin admits that he’s the one who made his wife like that.

InSook holds his hand for comfort. And this is when MinJae walks in to witness the intimate gesture. Yay!

MinJae is drunk and he’s getting a little talkative. He’s actually having a hard time with his cousins. He’s been trying to earn their favor but it doesn’t work. Maybe becoz he’s too comfortable living alone abroad. Dad is lucky to have Mom around. MinJae even teases Dad for falling in love with Mom at first sight. Ha! If only he knew.

YoungMin laughs. This son of his is making fun of him for being a submissive husband. Haha! But MinJae is quite sincere. If he was Dad, he would marry Mom right away too. Mom has great passion (or more like greed). Whether its people or things she likes, she never misses out. And then silence. YoungMin tries to give reasons for getting caught with InSook.

MinJae: Dad, I don’t want to know the things I can’t understand at all. The more Mom loves me, the more lonely I get. I don’t even know why. That is something I can’t know bcoz Mom won’t tell me. You’ve always been far away. When I caused trouble in America, Mom came to see me. Dad, you never came even once. Sometimes, I really want to cause trouble, so grave that it’ll make you come instead of mom. If it was you, you would have told me the reason the more love I receive, the lonelier I become. I thought you would know the reason.

YoungMin perceives this as part of the awkward adolescence phase and suggests that they go home, continue drinking and talk like men.

InSook calls NaYoung for some taunting, feigning nervousness becoz MinJae saw her with YoungMin. Ha! That ruins NaYoung’s early celebration.

MinJae informs dad that when he was in America, he went to the hospital where he was born to see his birth records. He thought that the reason they left them there was becoz they’re not his real parents. But when he saw their names written on the birth certificate, he was really glad. They even have the same blood types. Mom is type A and Dad is type B. He inherited a mix of both. Remember he’s AB? And before they could continue, NaYoung calls.

MinJae excuses himself and tells Dad to forget what he said. He was just going through a lot. But then again, that pained look on his face after he walks out of the room is unsettling. He knows something!

YoungMin confirms what happened earlier.

NaYoung: Don’t you think I won’t be able to kill you the second time.

Dun..dun…dun.