The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (2023) Episode 4

Episode 4 of The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract starts with Yeon-woo on top of Tae-ha. After her kiss, his heartrate increases dramatically and he suddenly shoots up to a sitting position. As for Yeon-woo, she ends up lying down on the sofa and falls asleep.

In the morning, Tae-ha can’t stop thinking about the kiss from Yeon-woo. Every time he closes his eyes he sees her but he manages to keep himself distracted with some arithmetic. At the same time, Tae-min proposes he start at work and join his brother. However, it’s clear that he wants to mix things up and cause big trouble!

Chairman Kang is quick to point out that the boy has a lot to learn and keeps his eye on him. Hye-suk speaks to Tae-min after and tells him to speak to Secretary Choi so she can sort him out. However, Tae-min hasn’t made up his mind yet whose side he’s going to be on. After all, his hurt hand was as a result of his mum so he’s not about to let her get the upper-hand just yet.

Hye-suk is smart though and she figures out that Yeon-woo is a fake bride. She knows way too much about the paintings and as such, this meddlesome woman decides she’ll take out Yeon-woo and destroy her.

When Tae-ha returns home after a hard day, he decides that she needs to go to a hospital and get herself checked out. After all, her believing she’s in a historical drama (even though she, y’know, kinda is!) is a big problem. The thing is, Yeon-woo passes her CT scans completely without any problems. She doesn’t have memory loss and there’s nothing physically wrong with her either. This only confuses Tae-ha further.

As for Tae-ha, he ends up having a panic attack out in the hallway on his way to seeing Yeon-woo. His heartrate is through the roof. There are painful memories of the past that he’s keeping repressed that could be contributing toward this, and we see some of it through flashbacks. There appears to be all included and potentially some abuse too but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

News reaches SH about Tae-ha’s condition and naturally the resident snitch, Hwang Myung-soo, hurries off to tell Hye-sook. With the meeting cancelled, it’s certainly suspicious and she shows up at the house to check on him. Yeon-woo answers while Tae-ha is in bed and shrugs off everything that’s taken place She points out that he doesn’t want her there and she’s way off base about her predictions surrounding her and her ties to he paintings. Hye-sook sneers incredulously but does leave.

Tae-ha eventually does awaken and when he learns about the frosty encounter with his mother-in-law, he has doubts they’ll be able to do this. After all, they have a contract together and he’s concerned that she won’t be able to perform. Tae-ha coldly decides to train her up when she retorts that she can do this. And naturally, it’s Secretary Kang who trains her.

There’s some hilarious teaching scenes, with Yeon-woo struggling to stay awake as she’s drilled day and night to cram in all the knowledge of the family. Thankfully, he likens it to a battle for the throne (that being the company of course) and it helps to put everything into context.

SH Seoul are actually in the midst of planning out a collaboration with Midam, the hanbok fashion company. This is all in prep for their first anniversary event. This will show off the country’s history and heritage, with national pride in the wake.

Tae0ha is in the process of his New York branch, intending to send them a proposal to see if they’ll agree to this. However, he wins over the shareholders in the company meeting, who agree this is a good idea. Well, except for Hye-suk of course. He’s reminds him that she’s still CEO right now and warns him over Yeon-woo too.

Yeon-woo has been well trained and she reassures Tae-ha that she’s got this in the bag when she sees him that night. However, Hye-sook has her own scheming ways. She speaks to Kim Ha-young, one of the workers from the center, and basically blackmails her into playing ball and causing trouble She was initially offered money and returned it, but Hye-suk does the same and seemingly gives over way more.

There’s also a bunrer phone in there as well. “I’ll call you” Hye-suk says, and leaves. However, when Ha-young tries to high-tail it off with the money, she’s captured and bundled in the back of a car.

Chairman Kang’s birthday goes ahead, and Yeon-woo recognises little Lee Seo-joon, the kid who helped her out at the store a few chapters back. They keep it quiet that they recognize one another though! She doesn’t want word getting out that he was skipping school. Thankfully, Yeon-woo agrees to keep it a secret.

Tae-min shows up to talk but Yeon-woo ignores him and decides to head back to the dinner table. Things go well…util Hye-suk brings up that Yeon-woo is adopted. She offers to help find the family, and even find adoption papers too.

When one of the maids drops something on the floor outside, Yeon-woo recognizes her as Sa-wol. However, she’s even more shocked when she finds out that Sa-wol actually remembers her and is from the Joseon period too! She didn’t fall down the well but she was nearby and searched the well for her. She saw a bright light and put her head in and seemed to be sucked to the present from a bright light.

Sa-wol instinctively knew she’d been teleported and since then, she’s been pretending to be the hired help and blending in.

Ye0n-woo leans forward and gives her a big hug. She’s super happy not to be alone and they both contemplate whether they’ll be able to get back to Joseon times or not. Back inside, Chairman Kang is on the verge of showing Yeon-woo the painting he’s kept inside his study but Hye-suk interferes… because of course she does.

It doesn’t take long for her to threaten Yeon-woo, but the latter more than holds her own and gives as good as she gets. The broken plate that Hye-sook smashes on the floor stays broken and the pair stare one another down.

That person on the motorcycle earlier chasing after that car? Turns out it was Secretary Hong who was trying to stop Ha-young from being captured. Unfortunately, he’s unsuccessful and the girl is en-route to Kang’s right now. Tae-ha receives word of this, just as Ha-young shows up to the table. Hye-suk was going to introduce her as Tae-ha’s wife, destroying all their reputations, but Tae-min of all people saves the day.

Tae-min interrupts, calling Ha-young his girlfriend. Ha-young is shocked and doesn’t know what to do so she plays along. Hye-sook is livid and she takes Tae-min aside to question him. He doesn’t give anything away but Tae-ha knows his game. He’s going to use this as leverage over Tae-ha, and he intends to disrupt his plans foe the business because he’s “bored”.

With the chaos subsided for now, Yeon-woo wants to stay over for the night. Kang agrees, and as they head upstairs, they’re shocked to see the bed is all arranged with petals and in a proper romantic way. Tae-ha leans forward to grab his pyjamas and Yeon-woo’s heart skips a beat. She thinks he’s going to kiss her! Of course, he does not.

Tae-ha receives word that Ha-young has been dealt with, but then another drama hits them. They’ve discovered just who Yeon-woo’s family is, including word of Jae-won being the old Minister of General Affairs. While this is going on, Yeon-woo wakes up and heads outside, waiting for Sa-wol. Outside, she notices the strange shaman woman with the weird eyes and decides to follow her into the forest.

While she’s in the woods, Tae-ha and Hong realize there’s a tracking device on her phone though so Tae-ha decides to follow when he finds out she’s missing. However, they lose the signal deep out in the woods, with Yeon-woo chasing ghosts. However, what she finds is a strange hooded man waiting behind a tree.

Yeon-woo can sense she’s not alone and steps past a grave marked “faithful wife” just as Tae-ha shows up. The hooded guy takes off before he can strike. Time seems to freeze again momentarily but when Yeon-woo slips down the edge of the hill she’s on, Tae-Ha does too and they both end up in one another’s arms.

The Episode Review

This episode deepens the ties between Yeon-woo and Tae-ha who presume to be soulmates across time given what we’ve seen of them both. The end revelation with everything freezing as they see one another, not to mention the grave marked “faithful wife” (which could well be Yeon-woo’s grave), seems to indicate that we’re going to dive back into the past and start filling in some blanks here.

The entire drama has been fascinating so far and that balance of comedy, drama and family feuding has been well written. Tae-min is such a wildcard in all this and completely unpredictable. He really channels that antihero vibe beautifully while Hye-sook slips into that “evil mother in law” character type too.

Ultimately, this drama has been a good watch and now it seems like we’ll be deepening those ties. Next week should be a good one!