The Day (2023) K Drama Episode 4

Episode 4 of The Kidnapping Day starts at the Youngin Police station where the cops discuss the possible reasons why Ro-hee was co-operative with Myung-joon. They also discuss how Myung-joon was a judo athlete who had killed his opponent during a match and was nicknamed Monster after that incident. 

The next morning, Ro-hee wakes Myung-joon up for breakfast that Hye-eun has prepared for them. Ro-hee asks him to taste the food first as she is worried Hye-eun is trying to poison her. Hye-eun offers some cash to Myung-joon and asks him to stay away from her house as per their agreement from the night before. She states that she needs him to never be linked to her if he wishes for her to be free from prison in order to take care of Hee-ae. 

At the same time, Sang-yoon learns that Dr Choi’s notes show that he was working on profound research pertaining to the brain. In Seoul, Ro-hee tells Myung-joon that she is certain something is up with Hye-eun. The two follow her around as she has coffee with a man. The two assume that Hye-eun was out on a date and Myung-joon is envious.

Ro-hee and Myung-joon follow Hye-eun as she goes inside a hospital and wait for her outside the infectious diseases department. Hye-eun comes clean to the two and confesses that she has HIV. She tells Myung-joon that she had fled all those years ago because she did not want Hee-ae to be known as the daughter of the HIV patient.

Hye-eun also reveals that she had Hee-ae tested for the disease and had only left because their daughter was clear of the virus. She tells Myung-joon that he would not have let her go had he known the truth which is why she decided to leave them alone without saying anything and only returned when she realised Hee-ae was critically ill.

At the same time, Sang-yoon meets President Choi, Dr Choi’s uncle who was one of the five investors who had funded his nephew’s research. After talking to the old man, Jeong-man points out that the great-uncle was not worried about Ro-hee being kidnapped.

Just as the cops leave, President Choi calls someone to tell them that he did as they asked him to do. He tells the person on the line that they should start looking for Ro-hee before the cops can find her. After Hye-eun tells Myung-joon all about her disease, Ro-hee asks her a few questions of her own. Ro-hee learns that Hye-eun was aware of the fact that Dr Choi conducted experiments on her and was using his daughter for his research.

Ro-hee is shattered to learn that she is being emotionally abused by her caretaker. In order to end her suffering, Hye-eun suggests that both she and Myung-joon should turn themselves in so that the cops can start looking for the murderer who killed Dr Choi. Myung-joon starts to tell her that the cops were involved in Dr Choi’s murder but Ro-hee stops him. 

Myung-joon asks Hye-eun to stick by their daughter and let him take care of Ro-hee for the next few days before he turns himself in. Meanwhile, the cops talk to Dr Jeong-do and ask if he knows about the research that Dr Choi was running with 5 investors. Jeong-do claims that the late doctor has a lot of illegal research projects going on.

They also learn that Cheol-man lied to them about being personally recruited by Dr Choi. The cops go to Cheol-man’s CCTV office and learn that he was a salesman for 8 years before he voluntarily took up fieldwork about 2 years ago. Sang-yoon recalls how Cheol-man had stated that Dr Choi asked him to be in charge of CCTV at his hospital 2 years ago and then at his residence for the past year. 

The cops check for a connection between Myung-joon and Cheol-man. At the same time, the news reports that Myung-joon was a murderer who had kidnapped Ro-hee which concerns her as well. The two scurry out of the local restaurant and Ro-hee asks him if he really killed her parents. Myung-joon swears that he was not a murderer and reveals that his opponent had died by accident when he was a sportsman. 

Myung-joon also promises to never harm Ro-hee. She tells Myung-joon that she has no memory of being abused or having experiments done on her. Myung-joon gives her a golden necklace with a large blue pendant and reveals that she had the necklace in her hand when he found her. Ro-hee does not recognise the necklace and states that she would never wear something so tacky. 

At the police station, Sang-yoon learns that Cheol-man and Myung-joon have no connection. He also wonders how Myung-joon had taken the back seat in their escape and Ro-hee was instructing her kidnapper. At the same time, Ro-hee and Myung-joon hang out at a park and she is rather silent after Hye-eun’s revelations. Myung-joon tries to distract her.

Ro-hee asks if Myung-joon is already considering turning himself in and abandoning her. Myung-joon tries to understand how he can help Ro-hee in all this but she decides to find her father’s murderer all by herself. That evening, Dr Jeong-do calls Cheol-man and tells him what he told the cops. He asks if Cheol-man has looked up Dr Choi’s mistress.

Cheol-man states that the CCTV hard drives are all hidden away by Dr Choi. He asks if Jeong-do has seen the woman before and he reveals that he has. Cheol-man ends the call. He finishes his meal and gets back home where his neighbour chats with him for a bit. Cheol-man goes home after, and hides a hard drive in a box full of other hard drives as the camera pans to a photograph of a pregnant couple.

That night, Jeong-man tells Sang-yoon that Cheol-man lost his wife and unborn baby 30 years ago due to an accident at the hospital that was run by Dr Choi’s father and uncle. Sang-yoon finds it odd for Cheol-man to seek revenge for that incident 30 years later by killing Dr Choi, who was not involved in the incident personally.

The two decide to visit the hospital but then go to Seoul after receiving a civilian report saying Myung-joon was at a local park. Ro-hee is upset that Myung-joon is going to betray her and breaks down because she has nowhere to go and no one to trust other than him. Myung-joon promises to protect her and Ro-hee stops crying instantly. 

The cops look at CCTV footage from the park and follow a trail hoping to find the two. They see another CCTV video of Ro-hee crying and Myung-joon comforting. The Seoul police join the cops as backup but Sang-yoon asks them to go back home as he does not need any help.

At the same time, Ro-hee decides they go to a nearby motel and decides that she would sneak into a room from the window. Myung-joon goes inside the hotel but Ro-hee stops by the flower shop. She spots a marigold and is reminded of a memory when a woman had taught her about flowers. She realises that the woman is her mother and is shocked.

Just then, Ho-young shows up out of nowhere and kidnaps Ro-hee. Myung-joon learns that Ro-hee has been taken and tries to chase after her but the Sang-yoon and the cops show up to arrest him. Myung-joon manages to get out of the cops’ control and decides to run when Sang-yoon threatens to shoot him. 

Seeing how Ro-hee was being taken away in a car, Myung-joon steals a bike and chases after him as the cops run behind both vehicles. The cops follow Myung-joon, who is following Ho-young’s car as fast as he can. The chase continues but Myung-joon manages to get rid of the cops and follows after the car that holds Ro-hee inside.

The car stops all of a sudden and Myung-joon dashes into the vehicle, only for Ho-jung to back into the scooter and destroy it. Ho-jung gets out of the car and the two men fight each other until Ho-jung asks Myung-joon to go his own way. Myung-joon tells him that he just made a promise to protect Ro-hee and will not back down because he’s the “Monster”. He beats Ho-jung up and takes Ro-hee out of the car.

Meanwhile, Sang-yoon gets scolded by the seniors for refusing help from the Seoul Police. He comes out of the office and decides to go to the hospital to look up information on Cheol-man. The episode ends with an injured Myung-joon carrying Ro-hee on his back before he passes out at the Mapo Bridge.

The Episode Review

Each episode of this show gets more and more interesting and I am sure the show is bound to garner a lot of attention online very soon just like other short ENA dramas like Lies Hidden in My Garden, Not Others and more did in the past. Sang-yoon is a no-nonsense cop and it is so much fun seeing Sung-hoon in such roles but I wish he could play a main lead in a proper romance drama soon.

The protective fatherly urge that Myung-joon has for Ro-hee makes me wish that she ends up staying with him forever because she deserves all the love she can use after all those years of abuse. The cops investigating the Cheol-man angle do not know what we know and I am certain the show is peeling its layers as beautifully as an onion, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.