The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (2023) Episode 9

Episode 9 of The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract starts with us back in the Joseon period with everyone gathering at the well. A deceased woman is covered on the ground, whose face is apparently badly disfigured. It’s allegedly Yeon-woo, and their parents are beside themselves with grief. Tellingly, we don’t actually see her face. Mi-dam is so grief-stricken that she passes away, and that’s whose grave we saw out in the woods. As for her husband, he’s choked out by this unknown masked man whom we presume is Myung-soo.

Back in the present, Mi-dam is shocked to see the words in the journal write themselves into the paper. And the Chairman? Well, he notices the hands start to move on the watch. This is backdropped by Yeon-woo, who’s brought in to the hospital for treatment after passing out.

When Yeon-woo awakens, Mi-dam shows the journal off to her. The words scripted in confirm that the Kang family have received government positions thanks to the memorial headstone. It would appear that Yeon-woo’s husband was poisoned by his step-mother, and unfortunately that same fate is befalling them again in the present, with Hye-suk closing in on Tae-ha.

Tae-ha, despite receiving a warning from the Guardian Angel, is convinced that this is the best way forward and is dead-set on making sure he protects her no matter what, even if it means sacrificing himself to do so. And par of that sacrifice comes from stepping down to protect SH’s integrity and reputation.

Unfortunately, Hye-suk and Myeong-soo continue to scheme in the wake of all this, with the latter suggesting that they just get rid of Tae-ha’s heart medication to make him a “dead man walking”.

This is all in the background right now, as Tae-ha tells Yeon-woo when she’s out of the hospital that he will do what he can to keep her safe and keep her by his side. Yeon-woo though is determined to try and put everything back to the way it should be and make sure that she confronts this head on. As they talk, Tae-ha admits that the Guardian Angel spoke to him but he doesn’t disclose everything; they discuss serving as a bodyguard of sorts to make sure nothing bad comes from them both.

At the same time as this happening, Hong Seong-pyo and Sa-wol continue to get along like a house on fire. This causes friction with Hong’s sister, Na-Rae, when she walks in on them together. Thankfully, Sa-wol has a way with words and she convinces her to let them become friends and get along well. Part of that though stems from allowing her to cook Kimchi fried rice.

In the wake of all this, there’s more scheming over at SH Seoul. Specifically, the chairman who intends to make a big shake-up at the company. He’s coming for resignations, and he puts his top guys in charge to make sure that happens. This is backdropped by Yeon-woo and Tae-ha, who wind up inside the office and begin flirting. Just as things get a bit hot and heavy, Hong’s phone goes off and he reveals himself.

It turns out he has something big to talk about. It would appear that CEO Min has hired someone to follow them and tail the pair. They need to catch this guy before it’s too late, and it explains who the hooded fellow was out in the woods and in the parking lot too. They all need to work to identify him and then track down exactly what’s been agreed to.

While Hong and Sa-wol get to work tracking down the hooded man, Yeon-woo slips into her old role as a tailor. And one of her first clients happens to be the same woman whom she helped out in Joseon times, the Princess. She’s not a princess here, but she is just as eccentric with the same personality quirks.

When she leaves Mi-dam that night, she runs into Yeon-woo who happens to be wating for her. They head out for an impromptu date, where they go to a baseball field and share a cheeky kiss or two. The pair continue to flirt but it’s quickly disbanded when we reach the main event for SH Seoul.

That masked man from before? It turns out he’s posed as the hired help for a big event that night between SH Seoul and Mi-dam’s opening. The water is spiked and placed on the table, and Tae-ha even bumps into the very man whom Myeong-soo has hired to spike the drink. An as they sit together, Tae-ha immediately takes a sip. However, Hong shows up in the hallway and the pair end up fighting it out.

It turns out Hong used what was going on and protected Tae-ha. The thing is, Hong has pictures of the illicit encounter, including the exchange of drugs in a car down a back-alley. That bump in the hallway at the event? All designed by Tae-ha to distract him long enough to switch the bottle.

With everything falling apart, Myeong-soo admits to wrongdoing and pins all the blame on Hye-suk too. In fact, he even goes on record and admits all this on tape. Tae-ha has filed an injunction against Hye-suk for suspension of duty as CEO. When they leave, Hye-suk slaps Myeong-soo and is shocked that he would resort to such tactics. When she leaves, Myeong-soo mutters to himself that she’s weaker than he thought.

Tae-ha celebrates with Yeon-woo and believes that everything is done but in reality, things are only just beginning. Hye-suk shows up and decides to tell them an interesting story. He points out that she didn’t kill Yoon-hee… it was the chairman. He was the one who also locked up his mum in the annex too and framed Hye-suk for it.

Chairman Kang made a deal with Tae-ha’s father to fix Yoon-hee’s heart ailment by marrying her. He needed her father’s company and her for SH. It was all business this whole time and he’s played them all like a fiddle.

We then cut back 23 years back and see this play out. The Chairman has sway over the entire family and forces Hye-suk into doing his bidding. She was forced to keep the door shut and he framed her for it using him as a puppet.

The Episode Review

The truth finally comes out and now we see exactly what the Chairman is made of. This whole drama involving Hye-suk seemed to have been a little too obvious and now we get everything out in the open. She’s just the red herring for the real villain hiding in plain sight. It’s quite the dramatic reveal, and the ending all but confirms that Myeong-soo is working with the chairman.

The show has been a great watch so far and the balance between drama and romance works beautifully to counterbalance some of the company politics. It’s obvious that everyone watching this is way more interested in the romance and drama between the characters than of the political power plays at the company.

Of course, it is a bit tropey with the whole “evil chairman” angle but the characters are partly what make this drama so enjoyable up until this point. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too long for the next chapter!