My Lovely Liar (2023) Episode 14

My Lovely Liar episode 14 starts with Deuk-chan informing Do-ha that Jae-chan is on his way to Haekcheon to turn himself in for the murder of Eom-ji. Sol-hee listens to their conversation and signals Do-ha that Deuk-chan is not lying. Deuk-chan apologizes and says he chose Do-ha over his brother. He persuaded Jae-chan to surrender and is hoping Do-ha will forgive him. Obviously, it was not an easy decision to make, and he leaves after saying his piece. 

In the meantime, given the ongoing internal investigation into Jin-hyuk and Yeon-mi, the Hakcheon murder case has been transferred to the Seoul Police Department. Jae-chan is transported back to Seoul and is hoarded by reporters as Gang-min walks him into the station. The news of Jae-chan’s arrest reaches Eom-ho, who is in prison. He finds it ironic that the culprit was never Do-ha, yet he tried to kill him. He is overwhelmed and starts laughing. 

Sol-hee watches the news at her place and feels relieved, but that is short-lived. He gets a message from Do-ha asking for her help. Do-ha is having a hard time coming to terms with the truth. Sol-hee asks him to focus on his happiness and let go of the guilt consuming him.  

The next day she returns to work, and everyone congratulates her for getting through the rough patch with Do-ha. Cassandra informs her that she has a lot of pending cases, but she opts to focus on throwing Do-ha a party, as suggested by Bo-ro. She wants Do-ha to be happy and celebrate with his new friends from the Yeonseo-dong neighbourhood. 

Elsewhere, things are looking grim for Yeon-mi, given her corruption scandal. She gets a surprise visit from Do-ha. Do-ha is there to hash out their differences. Yeon-mi accuses him of causing confusion, which forced her to bribe Jin-hyuk. Do-ha reminds her that he always stated he was innocent and that he threw his ring away. He finds it odd that his mom thinks supporting him unconditionally would make her pathetic. He says he was desperately hoping for someone to believe him. 

Meanwhile, at J Entertainment, Deuk-chan is being accosted by a journalist who wants to know his relation to the culprit. The business is also suffering as many of its sponsors pull out of upcoming events. Deuk-chan tries to remain strong and find solutions to the company’s problems. One of the staff members suggest he show the public that he is on good terms with Do-ha. She argues it will go a long way to restore the company’s reputation.

Deuk-chan calls the sponsors and explains the situation. Syaon also confronts him about what is happening. She finds it strange that he is focusing on work instead of fixing things with Do-ha. She threatens to leave the company, but he promises her that he has already apologized to Do-ha. He reminds her of their struggle to build the company and asks her to rethink her decision. In turn, Syaon promises to come back if Do-ha forgives Deuk-chan. She remembers Deuk-chan and Do-ha were the only ones who believed in her when she struggled. 

Back at Yeonseo-dong, the party to celebrate Do-ha is held at the Oasis Jazz Club. Do-ha is surprised and touched to see the people rally behind him.  Tears flow freely as they give him thoughtful gifts. On the other hand, Ch-rok and O-baek start getting more suspicious but refuse to admit they once dated. Do-ha thanks his friends and confesses his love for Sol-hee before them. They use this opportunity to get the couple to kiss, and they are all excited for the couple. 

The following day, Do-ha goes back to his old house. He finds an old picture of him, Deuk-chan and Syaon on his computer. The picture prompts him to call Deuk-chan and ask for a meeting. They meet in Deuk-chan’s office and talk. Do-ha asks when he first knew Jae-chan was the killer. Deuk-chan explains he only found out recently after Eom-ji’s body was found. He apologizes again and asks if Do-ha believes him. 

He admits it has been hard and would appreciate it if Do-ha at least believed him. Everyone has abandoned him, and Do-ha can understand what he is going through. He went through the same when everyone thought he killed Eom-ji. The only one who remained on his side was Deuk-chan. Deuk-chan gets a call from his lawyer, and he informs Do-ha he is getting a divorce. Do-ha feels bad to see his friend going through a lot and asks what he can help with. Deuk-chan invites him to the company’s upcoming vision proclamation ceremony. Do-ha is hesitant and promises to think about it.

At the police station, Gang-min finds an inconsistency in Jae-chan’s statement about what he did with Eom-ji’s clothes. He interrogates Jae-chan, but he is uncooperative and indifferent. He claims he loved Eom-ji and thought her breakup with Do-ha opened his chance. However, Eom-ji turned him down, and he got angry. 

He grabbed her hand as she walked away; there was a struggle. She slipped and hit her head, dying on the spot. After, he ran away and pretended to watch the game at the pub with Deuk-chan. He then texted Eom-ho using Eom-ji’s phone and tried to make it look like suicide. He then went back to the crime scene and buried Eom-ji’s body. He claims he threw her clothes in the ocean, but in his earlier statement, he said he burned them. This really stands out for Gang-min, and he decides to look further into it. Jae-chan’s attitude also surprises; the man believes he will win the case. 

Elsewhere, Do-ha and Sol-hee go on a date. He tells her about his conversation with Deuk-chan and what he is going through. He is still thinking about whether to attend the event. Sol-hee advises him to be there for his friend. She argues they have known each other for ten years, and having a friend is a good thing. She feels regretful about not having that kind of friendship with anyone. Do-ha teases her and promises to be that friend to her. 

Concurrently, Deuk-chan calls his lawyer and gives in to his wife’s demand. 

Later that night, Gang-min calls Sol-hee and asks to meet. He explains his suspicions to her about Jae-chan. He is curious about the timing of Jae-chan’s confession. Sol-hee believes Deuk-chan convinced his brother to confess out of his love for Deuk-chan. Gang-min finds this even more odd. How does one choose a friend over a brother?  He asks Sol-hee for a favour, and she battles whether to tell Do-ha. Ultimately, she decides not to tell him anything just yet. 

Friday rolls by, and Do-ha attends the ceremony to the delight of Deuk-chan and the company’s employees. Syaon is also present and glad that the two men worked out their differences; she was worried about Do-ha. During the ceremony, Deuk-chan drops a bomb when he announces that he will be stepping down as CEO. However, what is more shocking is that he introduces Do-ha as the new CEO. 

At the same time, Sol-hee meets with Jae-chan, who is in police custody. She pretends Deuk-chan sent her to tell him the plan has gone awry. At first, Jae-chan sticks to his story, and she detects he is lying through his teeth. She uses his jealousy of Do-ha to rile him up and makes him believe Deuk-chan betrayed him. Jae-chan falls for the trick after hearing new evidence has been found and reveals the truth. It turns out Deuk-chan is the real culprit, and he has crucial evidence in his office. 

Through a flashback, we see how Deuk-chan convinced Jae-chan to buy him time by confessing to the crime. Jae-chan was shocked to learn the truth but was confident his brother would turn himself in after wrapping up things at the company. Deuk-chan convinced him that the ring is inadmissible in court and nothing much would happen to him, whatever the case. The real evidence (the murder weapon) is in Deuk-chan’s office.

Upon hearing this, Sol-hee tries to call Do-ha and warn him, but he is busy turning down Deuk-chan’s offer. Deuk-chan claims he wants to take a break because he has never had time. He asks Do-ha to reconsider the offer. He wants Do-ha to step up and take more initiative in the company they build together. 

Meanwhile, Sol-hee hurriedly leaves the police station, and Gang-min calls her, wondering what she found out. Se tells him she is at Deuk-chan’s office looking for evidence, and Gang-min suggests she check the safe. She calls Do-ha, asking if he knows Deuk-chan’s passcode, and he is surprised by her revelation. He is stunned and doesn’t know what it is. 

Sol-hee rummages around the office and comes across a picture taken on one of Do-ha’s birthdays. She uses the dates as the passcode and successfully retrieves the evidence in the safe. She is about to leave when Deuk-chan returns to his office. She hides and watches him as he opens the safe and finds the box missing. She confronts him while trying to escape. He chases after her and says he is on his way to turn himself in. It was always his plan.

She asks him why he did it and whether he likes Do-ha. Deuk-chan confesses his romantic feelings for Do-ha and asks her not to tell him. Unfortunately, Do-ha overhears the conversation and confronts him. Deuk-chan is overwhelmed with guilt and shame and cannot explain himself.  He rushes out. 

Concurrently, Gang-min and other offices arrive and arrest Deuk-chan. However, he manages to slip away and get into his car. Gang-min, Do-ha and the rest get in the car and follow Deuk-chan. Sadly, Deuk-chan has made up his mind to die and intentionally crushes his car. Do-ha asks Sol-hee to stay away when they rush to attend to Deuk-chan. 

Gang-min starts giving Deuk-chan CPR while someone else calls the ambulance. As this goes on, Sol-hee approaches the car, and a click is heard before it bursts into flames. The loud boom seems to have affected Sol-hee. 

The Episode Review

We were suspicious of Deuk-chan, but never in a million years did we expect such a twist. What is with K-dramas recently giving queer characters such dramatic storylines and endings?  Anyway, the twist threw us for a loop, and we will need a moment to come to terms with everything. We can only imagine how Do-ha must be feeling.  

He just found out his best friend has been secretly in love with him for so many years. The friend killed his ex-girlfriend and watched the whole world persecute Do-ha, believing him to be a murderer. Before he even has time to grapple with this, the friend kills himself right before his eyes. Do-ha must be on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster right now. I hope Sol-hee is not hurt by that blast; there is only so much one many can take!