Happiness: Episode 7

by quirkycase

Our leads fight to restore order after a host of things go wrong and the residents are left more shaken than ever. To make matters worse, an unexpected visitor brings worrying news from the outside. Our heroine’s unique constitution leads to new questions, but thankfully, she’s got a great friend by her side no matter what.

 
EPISODE 7 RECAP

Yi-hyun asks if Se-hoon took Next and demands to see Sae-bom. Se-hoon says there’s been a misunderstanding and opens the door. Yi-hyun barges in and finds Sae-bom chilling and eating a snack.

Se-hoon looks vindicated and grumpy, so Yi-hyun laughs off his behavior as newlywed love. Sae-bom plays along and says Yi-hyun gets worried easily. Despite his irritation, Se-hoon still sends Sae-bom out with a bag of snacks from his stockpile.

Out in the hallway, Yi-hyun shares that Se-hoon bought Next. He worriedly checks Sae-bom for any scratches or injuries, but she’s completely fine. Se-hoon may be odd, but he got in Sae-bom’s good graces by giving her food.

Meanwhile, the ever-persistent zombie resident has finally made it inside and happens to make his way to Sae-bom and Yi-hyun’s apartment. Seo-yoon is home alone when the doorbell rings. She leaves the chain on and opens the door a crack.

The infected resident pokes his head in and tries to get her to open the door by saying he’s a friend of her mom’s. Seo-yoon proves smarter than most of the adults when she slams the door shut and locks it.

Yi-hyun and Sae-bom round the corner and face him cautiously. He promises he hasn’t bitten anyone, but the blood on his face and clothes doesn’t help sell his lie. He admits he slighty bit someone, but they ran away.

Yi-hyun positions himself in front of Sae-bom and gives the zombie three seconds to run before he uses his bat. Sae-bom checks on Seo-yoon and then follows Yi-hyun who chased the zombie resident back out. They lock the building doors and worry about who he bit.

In the gym, Seung-beom tries to get Hyun-kyung to let him out. He convinces her he’s totally safe, so she tosses him the handcuff key Yi-hyun gave her. The second he’s free, he makes a beeline for the water keg and starts guzzling.

While Hyun-kyung flees into the basement garage, Sae-bom and Yi-hyun begin patrolling. They find Seung-beom sitting on the gym floor by the water. He’s despondent and says drinking only makes his thirst grow, as does seeing someone’s neck.

When Yi-hyun gets close enough to put on the handcuffs, Seung-beom turns. Sae-bom pulls him off Yi-hyun, and the two of them manage to get out of his grasp. As they stand opposite him, Seung-beom is suddenly hit with a bullet. Sae-bom whips out her gun and turns to see Tae-seok.

He shoots twice more, killing Seung-beom. Hyun-kyung yelps from behind them. Sae-bom and Yi-hyun are livid. Sae-bom angrily asks, “Do you think I’m not using a gun because I don’t have one?!”

Sae-bom leads the terrified Hyun-kyung out, and Tae-seok follows. Yi-hyun stays behind and crouches beside Seung-beom’s body. He gently closes his eyes.

In 401, Tae-seok gives Hyun-kyung some sleeping pills. Once they get her situated, Sae-bom drags Tae-seo outside for a talk. Why isn’t her scratch healing? He admits the virus is still in her bloodstream. That’s why he wanted to do blood tests regularly.

Tae-seok then breaks the news that Seo-yoon’s father is infected, although her mother is okay. She misses Seo-yoon. Sae-bom guesses he’s come to get Seo-yoon, then. Before he heads back out, Tae-seok wants to gather the residents to talk about safety measures.

In 202, Woo-chang and Jung-kook are hiding out with the cleaning crew. Yi-hyun terrifies them when he bangs on the door, and they’re leery to open it in case he’s infected. Se-kyu cautions Jung-kook not to fall for Yi-hyun’s “annoyingly good looks.” Ha.

Jung-kook opens the door anyway and flings himself at Yi-hyun in relief. (Se-kyu quickly shuts them both out.) Jung-kook claims they’re all alive due to Woo-chang’s “spiritual powers.” When the zombies cornered them, Woo-chang held up his golden cross necklace, and they backed fled.

Yi-hyun finds that suspect and moves onto the important question: who opened the building door? Convinced Yi-hyun isn’t infected, Moon-hee and Se-kyu open the door again to rat out Dong-hyun and Bo-ram.

In 301, Dong-hyun wastes no time downloading the videos from his precious phone. Bo-ram worries about the mess they caused, but Dong-hyun is unbothered. So long as their stories match, they won’t get blamed. Ugh.

Sung-shil is excited to have a young woman in their house, but Hak-je can’t imagine anyone would be interested in their unemployed son. They let in Yi-hyun who stops by for a chat with Dong-hyun and Bo-ram.

Dong-hyun denies any wrongdoing, and Bo-ram stays silent. When Yi-hyun sees the phone and realizes that’s why they went out, he grits out that a person is now missing. “If you’re human, you should at least have a sense of responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Tae-seok goes to the rooftop to check for infected. Andrew is up there and calmly says he sent two infected back down through the stairwell door. Tae-seok opens the stairwell and is surprised to find the infected security guard going back down without comment.

Yi-hyun joins Tae-seok who shares the apartment is free of infected. Soo-min must’ve gone outside after being bitten. Yi-hyun still finds Tae-seok’s methods inhumane, but Tae-seok argues they both have the same goal of stopping this epidemic.

When Yi-hyun asks about Sae-bom, Tae-seok assures him she’s not in danger unless her wound starts to look infected. Yi-hyun presumes there must be some who have recovered, but Tae-seok reveals the four who did have tested positive again. He levels with Yi-hyun that they still have no cure.

Sae-bom comes up to announce the residents are gathered. On their way down, they stop at her and Yi-hyun’s apartment. Sae-bom agrees to let Tae-seok speak with Seo-yoon alone, so he heads inside.

Seeing her makes him emotional, reminding him of his unborn child. Tae-seok gets on her level and says her parents miss her a lot. When he says she can leave, she asks if Sae-bom can go too. Tae-seok says she can – Sae-bom’s mom is outside too, and she probably misses her a lot.

Outside, Yi-hyun has a similar thought and starts to suggest Sae-bom leave with Seo-yoon, but Sae-bom speaks up at the same time. She wonders what they’ll do if they catch the virus. Yi-hyun promises to tell her if he gets sick, and she agrees to do the same.

In 202, the gathered residents argue. Young-ok is mad someone dared convene a meeting without going through her. No one believes Andrew that a soldier is in the building until Tae-seok shows up. He announces the entire city is entering lockdown, and their electricity will be cut off tonight.

They all panic but go silent when a blaring alarm sounds outside. A voice announces the entire city is now under martial law. As everyone loses it, Sae-bom and Yi-hyun step out. She wants to check on Seo-yoon but worries about Yi-hyun going down to the gym alone.

Sae-bom hands over the gun and tells him not to hesitate if he’s in danger. She’ll take the blame for whatever happens.

Back in 201, Tae-seok assures everyone martial law will be lifted in four days, as will the strict lockdown of the complex. Tae-seok claims there are infected in the power plant which is why electricity is being shut off throughout the city for all but a few essential locations.

Hearing how bad it is outside, everyone realizes they may be safer in here after all. Joo-hyung pipes up to ask if it’s true that a drug causes the disease. Tae-seok eyes him warily and gives a vague answer. Joo-hyung smirks and guesses it’s true.

After the meeting, everyone rushes home to fill their bathtubs with water and prepare. (Both water and electricity are being shut off.) At home, Sae-bom talks to Seo-yoon about whether she wants to leave. Again, this girl proves to be sharp and admits she does want to see her parents, but she doesn’t trust Tae-seok. He was strangely interested in Sae-bom and kept asking about if she was sick.

Sae-bom takes the letter Seo-yoon wrote for her parents and marches up to the rootop to meet Tae-seok. He casually mentions that she can go with Seo-yoon if she’s worried. Sae-bom asks why he’s truly here, assuming it has something to do with her.

Tae-seok confesses they found an antibody in her blood. They need see if it’s effective, even if that means letting her get bitten. He shoots off the doorknob, letting the infected security guard up. WHAT.

He watches, conflicted, as Sae-bom struggles to fend off the zombie. Finally, Tae-seok pulls out his gun. She begs him not to shoot, but he does anyway.

Downstairs, Yi-hyun hears the shot, but Jung-kook convinces him it’s probably a warning shot. They are under martial law now. Jung-kook hesitantly asks Yi-hyun if he’ll talk to Tae-seok for him – he wants to leave with him. Yi-hyun assumes he’s worried about his wife and agrees to ask Tae-seok.

They go into the gym but are shocked to discover Seung-beom’s body is gone. Security footage shows soldiers cutting out his brain before taking the body. Yi-hyun starts putting everything together and realizes Tae-seok came here for Sae-bom.

Yi-hyun runs upstairs while Jung-kook stands guard at the elevator below. In the fifth floor stairwell, Yi-hyun runs into Seo-yoon – she heard the gunshot and was worried about Sae-bom – and sends her back inside, assuring her Sae-bom will be okay. He sees the elevator heading down and runs back down to the basement.

Jung-kook stands nervously as the doors open and Tae-seok levels a gun at his face. He has a bloodied, unconscious Sae-bom draped over his shoulders. Tae-seok drags her out to the garage and puts her in the backseat of his car.

Yi-hyun chases Tae-seok’s car all the way out of the garage and to the perimeter. Then, he pulls some parkour moves and manages to leap onto the car. In one smooth badass motion, he slides onto the hood and trains his gun on Tae-seok through the window.

A host of soldiers surround the car, guns all pointed at Yi-hyun. Tae-seok reaches for his gun, but Sae-bom is faster. She holds Tae-seok’s gun to his head. He’s stunned she’s awake after how much tranquilizer he gave her.

Sae-bom gets out of the car and stands beside Yi-hyun. With a signal from Tae-seok, Ji-soo orders everyone to lower their guns. He steps out of the car and asks what it’ll take to get Sae-bom to undergo examination.

Yi-hyun walks up and punches him in the face. Sae-bom positions herself in front of Yi-hyun, the gun still trained on Tae-seok.

Sae-bom agrees to let Ji-soo take her blood under the condition that they contact Seung-beom’s family and continue providing meals for the residents. She also asks about her mom.

Ji-soo informs Sae-bom that her mom is doing well. Tae-seok has ensured she’s taken care of. Outside, Yi-hyun asks what they’re looking for in Seung-beom’s brain. Tae-seok explains the infected often have the antibody, but it can’t penetrate the brain.

The antibody found in Sae-bom’s blood might be able to pass the blood-brain barrier. With how vital she is, Yi-hyun asks for weapons so he can better protect her. Tae-seok reminds him it’s possible she could develop symptoms. When Yi-hyun says that’s exactly why he needs to stay by her side, Tae-seok looks at him with what might be respect.

Yi-hyun doesn’t believe Tae-seok is going this far for humanitarian reasons and asks what his deal is. Tae-seok says it’s about money. A bunch of rich, powerful people are infected. He warns that if word about Sae-bom gets out, they’ll clamor to be the first healed, even if that means taking all the blood from Sae-bom’s body.

Before he goes back inside, Yi-hyun tells Tae-seok not to mess with them again. He vows to expose everything Tae-seok has done when this is over. Tae-seok is fine with that – he’ll take responsibility.

Jung-kook is shocked to see Yi-hyun walk in with an unharmed Sae-bom. Yi-hyun explains the blood Jung-kook saw on Sae-bom’s face wasn’t hers. Jung-kook asks about his gun, so Yi-hyun returns it.

After Yi-hyun and Sae-bom deliver the lunch boxes, they head up to the roof. Sae-bom shares that Tae-seok didn’t let that zombie bite her and didn’t shoot to kill this time – he hit him in the arm. She agrees Tae-seok is a bad person but thinks he seems desperate.

Over soju, Young-ok and Woo-chang discuss their next move. She muses they need someone with clout who will do is easily controlled. Right then, Jung-kook stops by to thank Woo-chang for saving his life and asks to pray with him.

In 602, Hae-sung sings his own praises for being such a great husband. You know, for getting off his butt to take out the trash after being pestered into it. In the hall, he runs into Sang-hee and offers to take her trash for her.

Sang-hee starts to cry and literally throws herself at Hae-sung. She says she’s scared and begs for his help. At home, Hae-sung stares in distaste at So-yoon’s casual clothes so unlike Sang-hee’s cultivated appearance. (This man is making my blood boil.) When So-yoon asks what to do with the food waste, he takes the bag and carelessly tosses it out the window.

He thinks back to Sang-hee’s confession that Joo-hyung truly did kill his wife. Now that they’re under martial law, she’s afraid she’ll never get out and he’ll kill her too. Hae-sung, of course, says he’ll protect her. Now he lies on the couch with a goofy grin. His wife spots the lipstick stain on his cardigan.

In 601, Joo-hyung carefully extracts the contents of the Next capsules and inserts them into unopened water bottles with a syringe. What is wrong with this man?!

Elsewhere, Tae-seok instructs Ji-soo to test Sae-bom’s blood in a lab with high biosafety. Seeing as she woke up after that tranquilizer, he wonders if the virus has gone to her brain. Healing quickly is a primary symptom. The antibody might be responsible for her testing negative.

Ji-soo promises to keep Sae-bom’s blood a secret and reports on Seo-yoon’s parents who are both infected. Her father’s case is advanced, but her mother’s symptoms are mild. He passes Seo-yoon’s letter over to Ji-soo to give to her mother when she’s lucid.

In 302, Hak-je offers his wife rare praise for keeping their fridge so well stocked. He even allows Bo-ram to stay with them for the night.

In 401, Hyun-kyung gets a call through the video intercom. It’s Soo-min, calling from the garage. He’s covered in blood but okay. She cries when he admits he’s scared, but he won’t come inside because he might hurt her.

When she apologizes, Soo-min assures her it isn’t her fault. He asks her to look after his family if he doesn’t make it. Hyun-kyung desperately says he’ll be fine since they’re working on the cure. Before he can respond, the power cuts out.

Meanwhile, Jung-kook stands on the rooftop, staring at a text from his wife. She asked him to come home because she’s scared to go to her hospital appointment alone.

Our little makeshift family of Sae-bom, Yi-hyun, and Seo-yoon eat snacks by candlelight. When he sees Sae-bom staring at her scratch solemnly, Yi-hyun grabs her hand and gives a comforting smile.

In the garage, Soo-min is woken by a bright flashlight coming from inside the building. Soo-min walks over. We only see the silhouette of a man as he opens the door.

 
COMMENTS

I had assumed Sae-bom was out of the woods from her scratch by now, but it seems like that’s not the case. Since the virus is still in Sae-bom’s system, there’s a chance she could become infected. She’s shown no symptoms other than fast recovery, so hopefully the infection isn’t going to her brain. It’s hard to say what’s really going on since her body is handling the infection differently than expected. I just hope no one else finds out about her special case because like Tae-seok said, there’s no way those rich people are going to leave her be.

While Tae-seok makes some questionable decisions, I do think he’ll do his best to keep Sae-bom a secret. He almost passed the point of no return this episode when he set that zombie on Sae-bom, but luckily, he wasn’t able to go through with it. At least he has some limits. I’m sure he’s getting more desperate now that his wife is on borrowed time and she’s due soon. I wonder how the infection will affect the baby. Best case scenario is that it’ll have some special immunity to the virus.

Speaking of ill wives, I wonder what’s up with Jung-kook’s wife. Judging from the text, she’s been waiting for a hospital appointment for some time. Is it something minor, or is she seriously ill? He’s been acting odd lately, which I’m guessing is related to his worry over his wife. I’m worried he’ll do something stupid in an effort to get out, especially now that they’ve learned how bad it is in the city as a whole. I imagine that’ll make him even more concerned about his wife. And now Young-ok and Woo-chang have him in their sights. Jung-kook isn’t what I’d call a schemer, so I don’t think it’d be too difficult for Young-ok and Woo-chang to manipulate him.

That silhouette in the last scene looked like it could be Jung-kook, but I doubt he’d take the risk of letting Soo-min inside for any reason. He may not be the bravest soul, but he doesn’t seem like the type to knowingly put others in danger. The silhouette also could match Joo-hyung who I have no doubt would open the doors. I’ve rarely seen someone so intent on murder; he’s even moved onto poisoning water with Next (if at first you don’t succeed). At least Sang-hee seems to be finally viewing Joo-hyung as dangerous. At first, I thought Sang-hee was faking the tears with Hae-sung, but I think she may really be scared now. Maybe it’s starting to hit her that it’s not such a great idea to chill with a murderer in his apartment after all.

With the lack of power and water, I expect things to take a turn for the worst pretty quickly. Everyone is on edge already, and they still have four days to go until the supposed lift of the restrictions. Although, with the way things are going, I don’t see how that will be nearly enough time for the government to get things under control. Yi-hyun and Sae-bom could be holding down the fort for a while yet. If these people don’t get themselves killed first, that is.

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