'When I was the Most Beautiful' Episode 12: Ye-ji feels betrayed by Jin, Hwan can do nothing but watch
We last saw Carie arrive at Jin's (Ha Seok-jin) home in 'When I was the Most Beautiful' Episode 11, and that is where we pick up the story in episode 12. This episode, Carie enters without permission and begins to blurt certain things that Jin had hoped to keep from his wife Ye-ji (Lim Soo-hyang) and if possible, his brother Hwan (Ji Soo) too. However, all of this was wasted efforts as Carie did not just out his secret, but also attempted to bring a rift between Ye-ji and Jin by making it seem as if she and Jin stayed together as a couple.
She claims that she has rights over Jin's life because she hadn't given up on him when he himself had given up and that is what has led her to believe that she has more rights on his life than Ye-ji. The scene that Carie makes leaves both Ye-ji and Hwan shocked because they are the only two members of the family who were unaware of what Jin had done. Jin's mother had known from the beginning that Carie was the one to have hidden Jin, and she had informed Jin's father too. However, Hwan was also kept in the dark. So when he learns about the secret, he is disgusted and not purely because Jin had betrayed Ye-ji.
Hwan had gone through years searching for his brother who many had assumed was dead. All the times that he had suffered, without uttering a complaint for the sake of his brother and Ye-ji, now seems wasted. The love that the siblings had once shared has now disappeared and no, it is not because of a woman but because of one man's selfishness and Jin had even owned the same. He did not have the confidence in himself, in his relationship and the fact that Carie was by his side, an easy option that could be used and abandoned made Jin's decision easy. Of course, he claims that he did all of that because he didn't want to hurt his family by appearing in a wheelchair, but that was an excuse that Jin used even to fool himself.
It is ironic that a man who had spent seven years away from his wife with another woman would doubt his wife for having feelings for her brother-in-law all because she did the mistake of leaning on his one tough day. Her efforts of cutting herself off from the only friend in her life, her pain in waiting for a man whose whereabouts were bleak and beyond all of that, her sincerity is all reduced to nothing. So Ye-ji feels betrayed, and the hurt is so sharp and deep that she is not ready to forgive Jin, come what may. She even attempts to leave Jin's home, however, at the last moment she realizes that she has nowhere to go. This breakdown results in Ye-ji visiting her mother, telling her mother that she doesn't agree with her mother's choice, but understands what it really means to kill someone.
She then visits her aunt to learn what really happened all those years ago when her mother killed her father and learns that the incident was a result of self-defense more than anything and her mother went to jail as she took the blame to ensure that her daughter didn't have to suffer. She had also given away her inheritance, the money that she had had and more to Ye-ji's aunt hoping that she would give her daughter a good life. Instead, all that had happened was that Ye-ji was forced to live a tough life, mentally and physically abused by her daughter. All this while, Ye-ji had assumed that the stories about her mother being in love with another man and killing her father to elope was true, but to learn that it was for her, breaks Ye-ji apart.
The only person who is around Ye-ji at that time is Hwan and he is able to make it in time because he ditched Amber. In a way, both Hwan and Jin are terrible people for using women in their life. Jin used Carrie and Hwan is currently using Amber. The only difference is that Jin, despite being told otherwise, tries to alienate Ye-ji from her mother. It comes down to Ye-ji not having anywhere else to be, to Ye-ji being forced to stay with his family despite all his attempts to keep her by her side. On the other hand, Hwan had only wanted the best for Ye-ji. He had also been clear about not being interested in Amber from the start and it wasn't until very recently that he was forced to consider the option of seeing someone to clear his brother's suspicions about the two of them.
What makes Jin terrible is the fact that he continues to want ownership over Ye-ji, and he continues to want to alienate her from everyone including Hwan. Initially, his suspicions seemed to be a result of low self-esteem caused by his injuries. However, the pattern that has emerged today tells a different story. He also attempts to use his rehabilitation as a means of moving on from the rough patch in his relationship. Can all of this really bring Ye-ji and him back together or is he making things worse?
'When I was Most Beautiful' will air on MBC on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9.30 pm KST. It will be available on Viu outside South Korea.