Moving (2023) Episode 13

Moving episode 13 takes us back to the events after Doo-sik disappeared and how these changes affected Ju-won. After ANSP was downsized and the Black Team disbanded, Ju-won tried to find another government job. It was not easy for Ju-won to adapt to the new changes; mostly he felt like he was abandoned in the bygone era.

Ju-won got a job in General Affairs Team 2 and would work full-time at the office. Everything seemed foreign to him as he was used to being in the field, handling different missions with Doo-sik. 

Away from the office, Ju-won was flourishing after marrying the love of his life, Ji-hee. Sometimes, she would pick him up at the bus stop, and they would walk home hand in hand. Once a month, she created the tradition of eating barbecue and felt they were doing well.

However, as days passed, she noticed Ju-won was unhappy with the office work. She asked him to quit and find something he liked. She wanted to see him happy and fulfilled at his job. At one point, Ju-won felt like his worth was disappearing. As a good wife, she wanted him to be content. Sadly, Ju-won could not quit as he realized resigning from the government job would take away some of their privileges, such as their government-provided house. 

On the other hand, Ji-hee felt frustrated as she wanted a child but didn’t know how to broach this subject with her husband. She kept it a secret and kept hoping to get pregnant every month.

During this time, a North Korean submarine was wrecked in Gangneung, South Korea. It was believed that armed spy agents had infiltrated the South Korean borders and were being pursued. This is when our villain, Jong-yun, comes back into the picture. He is well -aware that Ju-won is unhappy with his current work. He offers Ju-won some relief by recruiting him. Ju-won is too tempted by the offer and decides to take it up. Of course, Ji-hee is not pleased to see her husband return to such a high-risk job. 

Ju-won heads out to Gangneung to help the army locate the armed spies. It has been days, and the South Korean military has been losing people, but there has been no sight of the alleged spies. Ju-won gets close to one of the soldiers, a commandeer ordered to care for him. On the first night, the commander gives Ju-won one of his uniform and combat boots. 

The following day, they embark on another journey to find the spies but only end up getting hurt. After seeing that the army is overwhelmed, Jong-yun sends Jo Rae-hyuk as reinforcement. Jo Rae-hyuk is happy to meet Ju-won, who he heard was in the original Black Team. He feels like Ju-won is a comrade and spills some secrets to him. 

He reveals that Jong-yun is working on getting the new Black Team approved, but for that to happen, they need to make this mission a grand success. This is the only way for the organization to be rebuilt. Ju-won had no idea, and Jo Rae-hyuk explains in detail how Jong-yun has been secretly recruiting people of various abilities into the NIS. Jo Rae-hyuk has no abilities, but he tells Ju-won he is good at locating people. This explains how he was able to find Doo-sik. 

The next day, Jo Rae-hyuk leads the South Korean army directly to the North Korean spy base. He intentionally misleads the military that the spies passed about 30 minutes ago when they were only ten minutes away. He holds Ju-won back and reveals that they suspect one of the spies has abilities too. Jo Rae-hyuk is there to confirm this, and Ju-won is meant to save the day and become the hero. Ju-won is stunned to hear this and hurries to save the soldiers, who have already started taking fire.

There is an intense fight as the North Korean spy with abilities, Park Chan-Il, uses his strength to roll heavy stones down the valley, killing many South Korean soldiers. There is also a lot of gunfire exchange between both parties. Ultimately, Ju-won manages to get to Park Chan-Il and fight him. Park Chan-Il is strong, and Ju-won is almost beaten to a pulp. Park Chan-Il promises to return and avenge his colleagues. 

Later, after the confrontation, Ju-won and the surviving soldiers return to their base. He is sad that the friendly commandeer died and is angry at Jo Rae-hyuk. He warns the man never to cross paths with him again if he wants to live. The mission is declared a success even with the army’s heavy loss.

The media reports that the hunt for Park Chan-Il, the only North Korean survivor, is ongoing. Ji-hee watches the news and worriedly cries for her husband. She is relieved to see him back home and warmly embraces him. Ju-won is also sad but notices she fixed the door light. Ji-hee understands how he feels and only hugs him as he cries. 

Jong-hyun is certain that North Korea is preparing their own soldiers who have various superhuman abilities. He confronts Mark, asking why he never told him about it. Mark gives the ever-diplomatic answer as expected, saying it would have caused an international incident.

Jong-yun uses this opportunity to create a new Black team with Ju-won as their leader. He is in charge of Sang-jin, Young-seok and Sung-hwa.  Over the next months, Ju-won is tasked with different missions, forcing him to travel more often and miss barbecue nights. Ji-hee finally has enough and comes clean about her fears.

She finally admits that she has been trying to have a kid, so she set the barbecue nights on her ovulation days. Our clueless Ju-won is taken aback, especially after hearing Ji-hee blame herself for the lack of children.  Ji-hee thought it was her fault because of her former line of work. The guilt is why she never told Ju-won from the beginning that she was trying to conceive. Ju-won. Ju-won takes her to the bedroom, and Hui-soo is conceived. 

We flash forward to a few years later, and the family of three is happy. Ji-hee is content with her beautiful daughter and caring husband. Even though he travels a lot, Ju-won feels he has found his purpose in life.  

One day, after his mission, Ju-won returns to the country and tries to contact his wife. Unfortunately, she is unreachable.  She got into a car accident and didn’t survive. Ju-won heads to the hospital to see his daughter before dropping by the Ji-hee’s funeral service. It is heart-wrenching as he weeps in the elevator and puts on his attire as the chief mourner. Part of us wants to grab and hug him!

The episode ends as he finally stands before Ji-hee’s casket and informs her he is there. He assures her he will take good care of their daughter and continues sobbing. 

The Episode Review

We knew what happened to Ji-hee, but seeing Ju-won weep broke us in every way possible. Moving has captured our hearts with each story and keeps getting sadder.  We keep hoping for a different outcome even when we know how the story unfolds.

Our hearts go out to Ju-won. Life keeps giving him lemons, and he ain’t no Beyonce, but he is hanging in there. Also, can we talk about how bad Ju-won is with directions but he managed to find Ji-hee one last time?

We must wait until next week to see where this story takes us. Will it go back to the students? Do we have more to cover about the parents? We will find out next week! Hopefully, we will see what happened to Doo-sik; not knowing makes us anxious.