And then watched it again(!) years later (A K-drama Deep-Dive Review)
Doctor Cha—a drama I wished I never watched, yet I’m glad I did. I’m sure you have your own list of dramas like that.
Why, you ask?
I watch a lot of dramas, but I’m also selective about themes. For example, I stay far away from chaotic family dramas—there’s enough craziness in real life. And a drama about the other woman?
That’s an instant nope.
But for one, none of the synopses highlighted adultery as a main theme. And second, if it’s a drama about doctors and hospitals, I am all in. So, when I got to the part where Inho was holding Seunghi’s hand… too late. I was already invested.
Shucks.
Meet the Characters
Inho is a successful chief surgeon, highly respected in his hospital. His wife, Jeongsuk, is a medical doctor too—but she gave up her career to be a full-time mother and homemaker.
Inho, however, is deeply patriarchal and authoritarian. Their son, Jungmin, follows in his father’s footsteps as a resident at the same hospital, while their daughter, Irang, is still in high school.
And as if that weren’t enough, Jeongsuk also has to deal with Inho’s demanding, self-entitled, and pompous mother, her mother-in-law, who lives with them.
To say Jeongsuk has a lot on her hands would be an understatement.
Then there’s Seunghi—the woman Inho is having an affair with. She’s one of the lead doctors in the Family Medicine department. Yup, in the same hospital. And her relationship with Inho is beyond complicated.
To put it briefly: back in college, Inho and Seunghi were dating. But Inho cheated on her with Jeongsuk—who, I assume, had no idea about his relationship with Seunghi—and got her pregnant. Inho married Jeongsuk, but that didn’t stop him from continuing his relationship with Seunghi… and getting her pregnant too.
Seunghi eventually left for the U.S. to raise her daughter, Eunseo. But years later, when Inho travelled there for a conference, they rekindled their relationship. She returned to Seoul, and their affair picked up right where it left off.
Yes, it was all that convoluted—with all caps.
The Fallout
You can imagine the chaos all of this created for the family. If there’s one thing Doctor Cha teaches us, it’s that secrets like these never stay hidden for long.
For one, Eunseo knew the truth. Seunghi wanted her daughter to have a relationship with her father, but Inho? He was hardly the doting parent. In fact, he wasn’t even particularly close to Jungmin and Irang. As long as they did well in school and, in Jungmin’s case, at the hospital—and as long as they were taken care of (by their mother, not him)—he was satisfied.
It was Eunseo who deliberately befriended Irang, only to drop the bombshell on her. Her intention? To put Irang in her place. But soon, Eunseo realised that Irang already had the “rightful” place in the family, and that only fuelled her resentment, leading to even more chaos.
Eventually, everyone in the family found out because of Irang—everyone except Jeongsuk. She had just undergone a liver transplant, and they wanted to keep the truth from her to avoid any health risks. But you should see how the family now looks at Inho—his mother, in utter disbelief that her son could do such a thing, and worse, his two children, who have completely lost respect for him.
Jeongsuk’s Turning Point
As for Jeongsuk? From early on, the drama establishes an interesting setup for her. Unhappy, unappreciated, and treated more like a maid than a wife, a mother, or even a daughter-in-law, she makes a bold decision: she takes the hospital resident exam. She passes with flying colours and—plot twist—starts working as a resident in the same hospital!
And soon, she starts to notice things—all the small details and clues.
A receipt for an expensive bracelet she never received. Photos on Seunghi’s Instagram from places her husband claimed to have gone for “conferences.” The small, discreet glances and brushes Inho and Seunghi exchange at the hospital.
Piece by piece, Jeongsuk puts it all together.
Inho and Seunghi are having an affair.
The other woman—the ultimate betrayal for any married woman.
And unless someone has lived through it, no one can truly understand the shock and pain that comes with it.
For Jeongsuk, this wasn’t just heartbreak. It was a wrecking ball, demolishing everything she thought she knew, everything she had built her life around. Watching her unravel after discovering the truth felt like watching the Kübler-Ross Five Stages of Grief unfold in real time.
I know, not exactly an inviting topic—which is why I would have avoided it, hopefully in real life too.
But since I’m already here, since we’re already talking about it, there’s so much to unpack—the stupidity of it all.
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