Moving (2023) Episode 9

Episode 9 of Moving is still focused on what happened in 1994. The story of Mi-hyun and Doo-sik continues.  Mi-hyun is still reporting to Young-jun about her interactions with Doo-sik. Her fellow colleagues seem to dislike that she has direct access to Yong-jun. They also hate the fact that they always have to be on guard around her because of her super senses.

Meanwhile, Yong-jun is still worried about the government’s push for peace between North and South Korea. His secretary is also adding to his frustrations as she keeps making mistakes. She accidentally hits a bag and record cassettes fall over. Mi-hyun arrives to see the secretary pick them up and is able to see the dates written on them. 

Mi-hyun gives Yong-jun an update on Doo-sik. She says he is serious and things are going well. She doesn’t reveal much about Doo-sik because they agreed to continue the mission even though Mi-hyun got busted. They still wanted to see each other and worried that Yong-jun won’t let the failure slide. Mi-hyun would most likely lose her job and who knows what Yong-jun would do to Doo-sik?

Yong-jun asks if Doo-sik has told Mi-hyun his secret and is disappointed she is still in the dark. He claims she needs to win his trust and insists she gets closer to Doo-sik. He, however, warns her that this is an authorised mission. Does he want them to fall in love or only win each other’s trust? 

On her way out, Mi-hyun shares some heart-warming advice with the secretary and gets in her good books. Unfortunately, Woon-kyu still has it out for her and tries to humiliate her in front of the other employees. It seems like Woon-kyu is threatened by Mi-hyun.

Nonetheless, Mi-hyun and Doo-sik continue to date and learn more about each other. They start with the basics like what is your favourite colour to the random little details that occasionally slip out. By the looks of it, they are falling for each other and enjoying each other’s company. 

One late night, Mi-hyun is stuck at the office working with no dinner. Doo-sik flies over with some food though, and this is the first time she sees him flying and is surprised by his ability. She thanks him for the food and he leaves. She later watches him from the office as he sits on one of the highest buildings, eating his gimbap. 

A few days later, Doo-sik returns to the building with Ju-won to practice at the shooting range. This is when we see an even softer side of him as he tells Ju-won why he never takes a kill shot. He is always hoping that the target survives. He leaves practice early and heads to the fifth floor to see Mi-hyun.

Mi-hyun points out that she was scared when she was initially given the mission. She was worried about the kind of person he would be. He sincerely tells her that she brings out a new side of him. Mi-hyun senses his sincerity and agrees that she can feel his sincerity. This time, she is the one who reveals her secret to him. She tells him about her super senses and even listens to his heartbeat. They end up kissing and he levitates which she finds endearing.  Doesn’t this scene remind you of Bong-seok and Hui-soo? Later, they head out for dinner and have a great time.

Elsewhere, Yong-jun is losing it over news of a peace summit. It seems the North Leader, Kim Il-sung is pushing for an Inter-Korean Summit. He quickly summons Mi-hyun to ask how things are fairing with Doo-sik. Mi-hyun lies to protect her man and insists that she is yet to learn his secret. Yong-jun congratulates her and says her mission is over. He notes that she did well and he is pleased. Mi-hyun finds this strange but says nothing else. 

On her way out of Yong-jun’s office, she runs into Woon-kyu. Woon-kyu is glad to hear her mission is over and dismisses her. Inside, Woon-kyu congratulates Yong-jun for choosing Mi-hyun for the job. This is when Yong-jun reveals the real intentions of the mission. He believes that Mi-hyun purposely chose to save the informants during Operation Seagull. Doo-sik saw what she did and decided to honour her choice. This is why he ignored Sang-gu’s calls for backup. 

Yong-jun argues that Mi-hyun and Doo-sik are humanists and as such he wanted them to fall in love. He knows for a fact that the two have fallen for each other and is convinced the mission was a huge success. The secretary overhears this and calls Mi-hyun to inform her that Yong-jun knows she lied. 

Mi-hyun realizes that Yong-jun has been listening to all her conversation with Doo-sik. He has cameras and voice recorders secretly hidden in the places they mostly visited at the office building. She confronts Yong-jun but he reminds her that she is still an agent. He explains that he needed Doo-sik to fall in love and have someone to come back to. 

He is afraid that an asset like Doo-sik who had no ties can disappear if he wishes.  His plan was to give him a reason to come home even after a bad mission. This would also help him trust Doo-sik after he fumbled the bag on Operation Seagull. Before Mi-hyun leaves, Yong-jun makes a veiled threat using her sick dad. It becomes clear to Mi-hyun that she is like a prisoner, she has nowhere to run. 

Later, Yong-jun summons Doo-sik to his office and gives him a top-secret mission. Doo-sik leaves without saying goodbye to Mi-hyun. He is gone for over ten days and Mi-hyun waits for him. On July 9th, the agency gets unconfirmed Chinese intelligence which is later verified to be true. It turns out the North Korean leader, Kim II-sung, died. According to the media he died from a cardiac infarction. 

However, Yong-jun believes that he was assassinated. He gathers the ANFS department heads and claims Doo-sik acted on his own. They suggest they bring in Doo-sik and get answers to his insubordination. They bicker within themselves and Yong-jun is adamant that Doo-sik must be brought in for questioning. He argues that Doo-sik poses an astronomical peril for them as he is part of their organization. Yong-jun deploys every agent to find Doo-sik. 

They watched Mi-hyun closely until finally their efforts paid off. Doo-sik decides to show himself and visits her at her apartment. She is happy to see him and they warmly kiss and embrace. Unfortunately, they are quickly surrounded and Doo-sik is captured. In her narration, Mi-hyun admits that she knew that Doo-sik surrendered himself because he loved her.

The Episode Review

We knew that Doo-sik and Mi-hyun’s love story was doomed but we didn’t expect it to hurt like this. Watching it unfold was tear-jerking, to say the least. Sometimes love is a double-edged sword and this is the case for Doo-sik. He came for the woman he loved but it cost him a lot. The ending scene brings us to the biggest question though – where is he now?

Lastly, can we give Doo-sik credit for finding Mi-hyun’s apartment because he remembered what she said about her purple curtains, it is the smallest things that makes our hearts swoon in these K-dramas.