Recap Korean Drama "Why Her (2022)" Episode 3

Episode 3 of Why Her starts with the members of Group 8 celebrating their victory over Professor Seo Joon-myung at Gong Chan’s restaurant. They treat Na Se-ryun for her bravery. Choi Yoon-sang offers to treat the group as they grab beers together. On the other hand, Oh Soo-jae is at her home, eating ramen all by herself as she thinks about Chan’s confession. 

She gets a call from Chae Joon-hee, her doctor and friend who invites Soo-jae over for dinner but the lawyer ends the call without accepting her invitation and chooses to drink alone. At Sujeong University the next day, a brochure reveals that Group 8 members had been selected to participate in a legal clinic and Soo-jae would be its director. This comes after the members of the group stepped in to save Se-ryun after her controversy. 

A young school girl is seen staring at the posters, particularly Soo-jae’s name. At the legal clinic, members of Group 8 are not particularly excited about offering free legal services but Chan is excited. Director Baek Jin-ki overhears Chan and praises him for being proactive about the opportunity. 

Song Mi-rim arrives at the clinic and introduces herself as the legal advisor. Jin-ki offers to treat the entire Group 8 and Soo-jae to a meal. Just as they leave, Chan and Soo-jae meet for the first time since his confession and the two exchange giggles. Outside the University, the young school girl is making a commotion calling Soo-jae a murderer. The girl is Park Su-young’s sister and is here to avenge her death by suicide.

Soo-jae asks Director Baek for a rain-check for the lunch and tries to settle the issue with Su-young’s sister who reveals her name to be Park Ji-young. Ji-young tries to blame Soo-jae for driving her sister to take her own life but Soo-jae clarifies that it was her family that drove her to suicide. Soo-jae and Mi-rim leave but Ji-young continues to make a scene out at the campus stating that she had proof against Soo-jae.

Group 8 members are at the clinic, discussing the accusations against Soo-jae when a new video is leaked online which reveals that Soo-jae had met So-young. TK Law firm’s owner Choi Tae-kook is made aware of the video and the rest of the office start talking badly about Soo-jae. 

Tae-kook calls his older son and the new Managing Partner of TK Firm, Choi Joo-wan in for some business about the cruise but he seems more concerned about Soo-jae’s new scandal. The father gets angry with Joo-wan as he is yet to recover the Hansu Bio documents from Soo-jae.

At Seojung University, Professor Hee-jung is trying to get the position of being a Director for the legal clinic by using Soo-jae’s scandal to her advantage. Director Baek however, sides with Soo-jae and states he would not kick the lawyer out based on a video clip.

Later that night, Soo-jae is on her way out of the office when she recalls seeing the item of jewelry from So-young’s heels that she was seen clutching in the first episode of the show. She goes to the rooftop to see So-young waiting there to see someone.

So-young is shocked to see Soo-jae and lies that she was on the rooftop to kill herself. The two have a banter when Soo-jae is trying to coax the name of who So-young was there to meet when So-young screams out of frustration – the same sound that was heard in the video alleging Soo-jae had murdered her. 

Soo-jae recalls walking out of the office lobby when So-young fell off the building roof. Back to present day, Soo-jae starts to well up remembering the death but holds herself up. Meanwhile, Chan is in his room looking at the nasty comments against Soo-jae online. 

Soo-jae is driving home when she sees her mother and her two older brothers drop by. Soo-jae’s mother does not care to ask about her well-being but is more concerned about the sons. She asks Soo-jae to help them set up a cafe in one of her properties but the lawyer asks the two to set up insurance policies with Soo-jae’s name as the guarantor. 

One of her two brothers is frustrated and ousts her recent video in front of their mother. Soo-jae’s mother is now worried that if her daughter ends up in jail, who would support her financially. Soo-jae is annoyed with the three and kicks them out when Chan drops her a text asking her if she is okay but the professor ignores his text.

The next day, Chan and Yook-sang remove the posters against Soo-jae from the university notice board. In their class with Soo-jae, she presents the case of So-young’s suicide/murder and tries to get plausible scenarios from her students. Some students argue if Soo-jae abetted So-young’s suicide or aided it.

The students analyze these probabilities and add another prospective scenario that So-young could have been murdered by a third party after Soo-jae left. 

Chan notices that Soo-jae is stressed and publicly tries to reassure Soo-jae that he trusted her and that he was certain she was not the culprit that led So-young into killing herself. Outside the University, Soo-jae contemplates running as it is raining heavily and she doesn’t have an umbrella. Just as she is about to leave, Chan offers his umbrella to her and asks her to close it properly once she has finished using it. 

Chan runs back to his hotel in the rain and Soo-jae watches him as she drives past his restaurant. Just as she is about to move past Chan, the umbrella in the passenger seat of her car opens voluntarily. Soo-jae panics and slams the breaks causing a minor accident on the street. 

The student invites Soo-jae inside his restaurant where he and his friends offer her a full meal for free. She tries to get out of it but he forces her to stay and finish the meal. At the restaurant, Soo-jae witnesses Chan’s playful friendship with Ko Jo-gab and So Hyung-chil as she looks longingly.

As she is having her meal, Director Tae-kook calls her to visit him at TK Law firm. Once she is at the firm, Mi-rim briefs her about a drug use controversy involving an assemblyman’s son, the son of a company chairman, and the son of a law firm owner. Knowing that this case is about Tae-kook’s son as well as the sons of Assemblyman Lee Il-soo and Hansu Bio’s Chairman Han Seung-beom, Soo-jae declines Tae-kook’s request to take it on. 

Joo-wan arrives at Tae-kook’s office and apologizes for causing a scandal but promises that he did not do any drugs. The father strikes Joo-wan across his face twice embarrassing him in front of Soo-jae. 

Soo-jae tells Tae-kook that she did not have a good feeling about it and would not take it up but the law firm owner coaxes her into handling the case by revealing that he was aware of Soo-jae’s relationship with Assemblyman An Kang-won and questions her intent for killing So-young. Soo-jae accepts the case but points out that she was only doing it for the betterment of the law firm.

On her way out, Soo-jae has a chat with Tae-kook’s right-hand-man Ha Il-ku and asks about the rooftop on the night of So-young’s suicide. Soo-jae is suspicious of Il-ku. She is now at the legal clinic later on the same day with Group 8 members as she asks the team to look into the case of Park So-young to find out things that are not visible to the eye.

Chan visits Park So-young’s family at a hospital and gets angry after Ji-young is humiliated by her father. The family is low on money with So-young not alive to provide for them and their mother is in the hospital with bills due, Ji-young’s school fees are unpaid and their father has spent all their limited savings up on alcohol and gambling.

Jo Gang-ja is at Chan’s restaurant trying to investigate the case with one of her former cop colleagues that state that the police are not suspecting Soo-young. Nam Chun-poong looks up images from after So-young committed suicide and spots Park Ji-young at the site of the accident. 

Meanwhile, Na Se-ryun disguises herself as a TK Firm employee to analyze CCTV footage from the site. She discovers that So-young fell from the building during a blind-spot period when all the there was footage on one of the “maintenance days”.

At TK Law firm, Il-ku reported to Tae-kook that Soo-jae has solved Joo-wan’s drug scandal and diverted it to idols and celebrities. Chairman Han of Hansu Bio calls Tae-kook but the law firm owner is pissed that they always use Joo-wan as a scapegoat to manipulate Tae-kook. 

Tae-kook recalls a younger Joo-wan calling his father after him and the sons of Assemblyman Il-soo and Chairman Han had created a controversy involving a girl who was laying unconscious on the ground. Tae-kook beats Joo-wan up for creating chaos involving a girl while his friends blame Joo-wan.

Present-day Tae-kook is having steak for dinner with Joo-wan as he tries to use meat as an analogy to explain to his son why they needed the documents from Hansu Bio that was with Soo-jae. He explains that Hansu Bio and the Assemblyman were powerful only because of Joo-wan being Tae-kook’s weakness as they used his son to manipulate Tae-kook into solving their legal issues. 

Tae-kook sends Joo-wan to extract the documents from Soo-jae in order to stake control over Chairman Han and Assemblyman Il-soo. Meanwhile, as Soo-jae goes through the documents in her secret office, she finds a locked pen drive in one of the folders. She asks one of her informants to help extract the files on the drive and asks for the extraction to be kept lowkey.

Group 8 is having some snacks at the legal clinic when Soo-jae texts Chan asking the entire group to visit TK Firm the next day. The next morning, the Group 8 students visit the law firm and Soo-jae meets them at the rooftop. The lawyer asks her students how they would prove that Soo-jae was innocent and Group 8 members take turns revealing their research about the case involving Park Ji-young and the CCTV footage.

Se-ryun suggests that Park Ji-young could be responsible for the death of her sister but Chan stops them from wrongfully accusing her sister of revealing his research on Park Ji-young. Chan asks Soo-jae if she was considering the case to be a possible murder but the lawyer asks them to look into that angle themselves. 

As Soo-jae is leaving, she sees Il-ku on the rooftop and gets suspicious of him. Chan is roaming about the TK firm when he spots Soo-jae’s cabin and enters it. He tries to analyze Soo-jae’s recent behavior on the rooftop with the students and tries to console her when Joo-wan enters the cabin pushing Chan through the door. 

 Joo-wan asks Chan to join TK Law firm once he graduates but the student sassily declines the offer and takes a leave bidding farewell to Soo-jae. Soo-jae seems impressed. Joo-wan asks Soo-jae to hand him the Hansu Bio documents but Soo-jae declines and the new managing partner leaves. 

At the hospital, Park Ji-young is arrested as a suspect in the murder of her sister, Park So-young, and Group 8 members, especially Chan are worried. Chan meets with Soo-jae at the University and tries to plead with her, asking her to defend Ji-young and bring justice to So-young’s case. 

Soo-jae asks Chan to stop behaving like he was close to her and states that he is crossing the line with her. Chan states that he likes Soo-jae and was worried about her. He states that he would manage his one-sided feelings for the woman he likes. Chan leaves the room and Soo-jae is overwhelmed.

She takes off her heels and grabs a glass of water. Distractedly she drops the glass to the floor and sends it crashing. Chan is just outside and hears the commotion. He rushes in and stops Soo-jae from touching the glass but lifts her up and seating her on the desk.

He clears the glass and Soo-jae recalls his confession as Chan touches her feet to clear the glass. Soo-jae steps down from the desk and Chan gets up trying to ensure she is safe. She asks him what he was doing to her and pulls him in for a peck as a tear rolls down her eyes. 

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The Episode Review

This episode was way too good for a legal drama and the theories from fans have already started rolling. Chan and Soo-jae are similar people, they are both lonely and have no family to call their own.

They are both misunderstood, well at least Chan was in the past, which is why he is doing his best to make her feel understood and stand by her throughout the chaos in her life. 

It is true that no one around Soo-jae is really someone she can call her own which is why Chan’s presence is so overwhelming for her. Since this is a mature K-drama, a kiss between the main leads in its third episode comes as a promise that there will be a lot more romantic moments than fans anticipated.

Soo-jae is falling in love with Chan all thanks to his acts of service and words of affirmation for her and it will be interesting to see her finally learning about their past connection.

Tae-kook’s real intentions are now seeming too clear and it feels like he has So-young murdered on the day of Soo-jae being appointed as the managing partner for a purpose. He wanted to hand his firm over to Joo-wan and Soo-jae was a threat. Keeping her name in controversy was the only way to kick her out. 

There is another theory floating online that suggests the woman found laying unconscious in Joo-wan’s room was none other than Na-jung – Chan’s sister who was raped and murdered. Something Chan was wrongfully accused of.

It appears that Hansu Bio Chairman and Assemblyman Il-soo’s sons together with Tae-kook’s son raped and killed her by accident only to discard her body at the abandoned construction site where Chan found it before he was hit on the head and framed. 

Looks like the pen drive Soo-jae found possibly has evidence against the son of Chairman Han and Assemblyman Lee which is why Tae-kook is so adamant about finding it to hold it against the two powerful men.