'It's Okay to Not be Okay' Episode 15: Mun-yeong feels she can only be Kang-tae's pain, wants out of his life
It's time to heal in 'It's Okay to Not be Okay' and that is why in episode 15, we see the show address one of the most important stages of facing past trauma -- acceptance. After Mun-yeong (Seo Ye-ji) realizes that Seung-Li, her publishing partner, had lured her away from meeting her murderous mother to ensure that something untoward doesn't happen, she rushes back to her mansion. We saw how she had almost lost reason and had started running on foot in the previous episode. Now, we see how Kang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) faces Heung-ja (head nurse, who is actually Mun-yeong's mother).
He first notices that Sang-tae has been drugged and then he asked Heung-ja why she is torturing the three of them so. In response, Heung-ja tells him that this is her punishment for Kang-tae because he ruined her masterpiece. Yes, it is disgusting the way she claims her daughter as if she was an object that could be molded and formed according to her whims and fancies. Kang-tae tells Heung-ja the same. He argues that Mun-yeong is a human who doesn't belong to everyone. This is reflective of how Mun-yeong had tried to explain to Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se) how his brother was not an object and that he didn't belong to anyone but himself.
This is just the first of moments that the show uses to come full-circle. Then we see Heung-ja taunt Kang-tae about why she really killed his mother. Turns out, she had observed that Mun-yeong was a different child and had just wanted to offer a pro-tip about a hospital that might help her. Just this led to her death and the fact that his mother had to die for something many would consider silly results in Kang-tae's rage. He strangles Heung-ja and almost kills her but at the last moment, he remembers Mun-yeong and he hesitates.
In the end, he gets tranquilized by Heung-ja and continues to tell her that Mun-yeong is not like her. It is at this point that Mun-yeong also interrupts Heung-ja and tells her that she is nothing like her mother and in a moment of fury, she tries to attack her mother but Kang-tae stops her and Mun-yeong ends up stabbing his left hand. It is similar to how she had stabbed him while he had attempted to defend a criminal with mental illness in the past. He is not defending a good person, but he is stopping Mun-yeong from becoming a monster and this time, he is stopping her from breaking a promise.
In what is the most satisfying, yet shocking moment, Kang-tae passes out and Mun-yeong gets attacked by Heung-ja who almost uses the same pen that Mun-yeong tried to stab her mother with to stab Kang-tae but Sang-tae jumps in and ironically, he knocks Heung-ja out with a huge volume of the best fairytales. As he had promised Mun-yeong and Kang-tae, he protects them.
This episode is also a lesson in learning to be a part of relationships; to be accepting, supportive, and equal. So after Heung-ja is arrested, the episode builds on portraying different forms of support for both Kang-tae and Mun-yeong. First, Mun-yeong comes to an understanding that her presence in Kang-tae and Sang-tae's lives might only bring them more hurt. So once Kang-tae wakes up, she tells him that she cannot handle living with Kang-tae if he begins to hide his hurt that he was inflicted with by her mother. He will first try to act as if he is fine, she will begin to act like she is walking on eggshells and it would all become frustrating she says.
Thankfully, unlike other Melo K-drama we don't see Kang-tae get all dramatic but instead, he tries to understand the situation that Mun-yeong is in and also think further on if he can handle the future with Mun-yeong too. At this time, he learns that he would prefer to be with her, face whatever comes together and hope to move on from the pain like she had said in the 'Boy who feeds on Nightmares'. This is because he realizes that he would not be happy living without her.
He also gets Sang-tae's opinion in a manner so subtle that it is beautiful. After he wakes up, he tells Sang-tae that Heung-ja was an evil woman who wanted to kill them because she didn't like to see them happy. So Sang-tae tells Kang-tae that this sounds like the plot of the book that he had read recently. The same book that Heung-ja had left in his room when he had stayed there after an episode. Kang-tae is surprised that his brother had read the book. Sang-tae's next question surprises Kang-tae even more. He asks what should be done with Dooly's mother because an evil woman had given it to him. Kang-tae says that he will throw Dooly's mother out and is about to carry the stuffed dinosaur out when Sang-tae snatches Dooly's mother and says that it was not her fault that the evil woman did bad things.
This is also something that we should accept as Sang-tae's opinion about continuing to be Mun-yeong's family. When Kang-tae asks Sang-tae what should they do if Mun-yeong asks them to leave the house, he says, "Over my dead body". He tells his brother that this is a magic phrase that can be used to stop her from telling them to leave and this has Kang-tae burst out laughing. So until the end of the episode, Kang-tae tries to convince Mun-yeong to live with them, be their family and not be stubborn.
In what can only be seen as a hilarious full-circle moment, we see Kang-tae yell 'I Love you', very similar to how Mun-yeong had professed her feelings for him at the beginning of the show. He uses the same tone, intonation and even the frustration that Mun-yeong had expressed, making the episode light and even warm.
'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' originally airs on tvN on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 pm KST in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix.