Wonderful World 2024 K Drama Episode 2

Episode 2 of Wonderful World starts with Soo-hyun’s road accident trial. The prosecution asks for Soo-hyun to receive a 10-year sentence for her crime while the defendant argues, asking the judge to show her some leniency. Soo-hyun gives out her final statement in court and tells the judge that she’s not remorseful over her actions. She would do it again if she had the chance and asks him to show no leniency.

The judge sentences Soo-hyun to 7 years in prison for killing Ji-woong. Soo-ho, who is now working as a news anchor, is asked to report the news of Soo-hyun’s sentence but he breaks down on live television. Instead, he asks the viewers to empathise with Soo-hyun and their family situation. While Soo-hyun is in prison, she spends her time thinking about Gun-woo and her life with Soo-ho before the accident.

On the other hand, Soo-ho tries to use his sources to find Ji-woong’s last known location before she drives Gun-woo over with his car. He finds CCTV footage from the hotel that Ji-woong was at and learns that he was drinking with Kim Joon at the time. In prison, Soo-hyun feels depressed, thinking about Gun-woo and accidentally injures herself while working on a sewing machine. 

There is blood everywhere and Soo-hyun is taken to the prison hospital. Seon-yul, a young worker at the prison, notices Soo-hyun being taken to the hospital. Soo-hyun starts hallucinating while unconscious and thinks about herself being left alone in the world. She goes around a forest, looking for Soo-ho and Gun-woo, but is not able to find them.

She recalls the incidents from the night of Gun-woo’s accident and specifically in locking the door to her house. On the hospital bed, the doctor tells Go-eun that Soo-hyun is in a state of shock and suicidal due to being depressed. Go-eun tries to talk to Soo-hyun but she keeps rambling about locking the gate shut on the night of Gun-woo’s accident and breaks down. 

That day, S00-ho is in his home office and is trying to determine a connection between Ji-woong and Kim Joon. He discovers that the judge on the case was a friend of Kim Joon’s as well which explains why his sentence was reduced. He also realises that Ji-woong’s lawyer was a trusted advocate who worked with Kim Joon in the past.

Soo-ho meets Kim Joon in a private meeting and the two chat about the CCTV footage Soo-ho had procured. He claims that Ji-woong was driving under the influence and the lawyer as well as the judge were all working under Kim Joon’s directions. Soo-ho confronts Kim Joon and asks if the entire incident was related to the 2012 Buyeongdong Corruption case that Soo-ho was trying to expose. 

Soo-ho makes more assumptions about the corruption scandal that leaves Kim Joon wondering if Soo-ho wasn’t afraid. Soo-ho tells the politician that he has nothing to lose now, after the death of his son and the incarceration of his wife, unlike Kim Joon who was an up-and-coming Congressman. 

As Soo-ho leaves, Kim Joon shows him a photo of the Kang family home’s front gate. Soo-ho is shocked to see that Soo-hyun had actually locked the gate, contrary to what the lawyer had argued given the house’s front gate. He threatens Soo-ho to show the photo to Soo-hyun who is already having a hard time due to her guilt about causing Gun-woo’s accident.

In prison, Soo-ho sends a note to Soo-hyun using one of the female guards. The guard wonders why Soo-hyun refuses to meet Soo-ho. In the note, Soo-ho asks Soo-hyun to allow him to meet her in person. Soo-hyun ignores the note and gets to work while her three inmates talk about the sewing machine accident.

Jang Hyung-ja, who is Soo-hyun’s inmate, helps her with the chores and washes her uniform for her as her hand was injured. As time passes, Soo-hyun and Hyung-ja become friends. Soo-hyun wonders why Hyung-ja is being so kind to her and the latter reveals that Soo-hyun reminded her of her past self as she too had some painful memories.

As time passes by, Hyung-ja and Soo-hyun get even closer. Soo-hyun replaces Hyung-ja’s old pair of spectacles with new ones while Hyung-ja praises Soo-hyun for healing well. During Christmas, Soo-hyun gets distracted watching young children sing carols for the prison inmates. She recalls Gun-woo singing carols with her and sobs.

Soo-hyun gets worried about Kim Joon’s threat and looks at his new job letter and his flight tickets to the United States of America. The next day, Soo-ho’s mother – Jung Myeong-hee meets Go-eun and Yu-ri at Go-eun’s restaurant, telling them all about Soo-ho’s new job in the States.

Yu-ri wonders what would happen to his marriage with Soo-hyun. Myeong-hee states that her son was still young and making the right decision for his life.

Yu-ri and Go-eun meet Soo-hyun in prison and tell her all about Soo-ho’s new job in the USA. Yu-ri worries that this distance between her and Soo-ho would end with their marriage breaking but Soo-hyun seems unfazed about it. She asks her to meet Soo-ho once so she can convince him to stay. Soo-hyun meets Soo-ho at the next visitation and apologises for not meeting him for so long.

She congratulates him on getting his job back and asks him to stop coming to see him. Soo-hyun states that she no longer wants to meet as he reminds her of Gun-woo and the life they built together. Soo-ho tries to convince Soo-hyun to change her mind but the latter claims that she’s a murderer and could not be a news anchor’s wife. 

Soo-hyun emotionlessly tells Soo-ho that she has no room in her life for him and asks him to leave. Soo-ho tells Soo-hyun he might be moving to the USA but that information also does not faze her. That night, Soo-hyun sobs in silence while Hyun-ja consoles her. A few days later, Hyun-ja sings a song at a celebration in prison. At the same time, Soo-ho leaves for the United States of America. 

The episode moves to the year 2020 as 5 years go by with Soo-hyun in prison. Hyun-ja is about to be released so she tells Soo-hyun all about the place she wanted to visit after leaving prison. She tells Soo-hyun about a mountain with a wish-granting tree and asks her what she would wish for. Hyun-ja states that she would ask for all the people who suffered because of her to find happiness. 

Soo-hyun tells Hyun-ja that they should visit the place together one day. Hyun-ja reveals that she was suffering from a terminal illness and possibly would die in prison because of it. She asks Soo-hyun to be prepared for her death because she does not want her to suffer any more sudden farewells. Hyun-ja hands over her book to Soo-hyun with details about Hyun-ja’s crime.

She reveals that she caused a fire to punish her husband for cheating on her. However, the fire spread and many others were injured too. Hyun-ja adds that there’s only one survivor of the fire and it was a young boy. Hyun-ja asks Soo-hyun to give the letters she wrote to the little boy who’s much older now. Soo-hyun agrees to do so once she is released.

As time passes by, Hyun-ja dies and Soo-hyun is eventually released from prison in 2022. The episode moves on to Seon-yul, who is older now. He works for a junkyard, thrashing cars for a living and works odd jobs in the night. On the other hand, Kim Joon is now a famous politician and a member of the Hankuk United Party.

That night, Kim Joon is with his secretary and is trying to get details about a fellow politician – Son Hyeon-min. The secretary tells Kim Joon that their youngest teammate was on a mission and was trying to break into Hyeon-min’s safe hidden in a school he owned. The employee is none other than Seon-yul who breaks into the school and tries to open the safe in the principal’s office. 

Seon-yul manages to open the safe and takes a few photos of the place when the security guards show up. He escapes from a window and takes the diary to Kim Joon’s secretary in exchange for cash.

Soo-hyun is released from prison and she makes her way back home all by herself with no one to receive her. Seon-yul speeds off on his bike right next to the bus that Soo-hyun is on. 

Soo-hyun gets off the bus and goes to the funeral home to pay her respects to Gun-woo. Surprisingly, Soo-hyun is at the same funeral home visiting his deceased parents’ grave. Both Soo-hyun and Seon-yul spend time by their loved ones’ graves when it starts raining. Seon-yul helps Soo-hyun with an umbrella but she leaves ignoring him. Seon-yul rushes after Soo-hyun and hands her the umbrella as the episode ends.

The Episode Review

The story of Soo-hyun’s life is extremely upsetting. After losing her only son, she has to suffer the guilt of his death. Moreover, due to the same guilt, she is forced to keep a distance from her husband, Soo-ho, whom she loves dearly. I wonder if Hee-jae’s mother, Soo-hyun’s neighbour, was the one who unlocked the door that led to Gun-woo going out on the street.

There is definitely something that we are missing and I am sure now that Soo-hyun is out of prison, she will figure out the mystery behind her son’s death. While I am not sure what Seon-yul’s connection with Soo-hyun is, it will be interesting to see Eunwoo romance an older woman as it will be his first “noona drama”.

From the looks of it, Seon-yul could be the little boy whose family died in the fire Hyun-ja had caused. We will have to wait and see how this show progresses in the episodes to come.