ENA 'Honour' lawyers trio Lee Na-young, Jung Eun-Chae and Lee Chung-ah were bound as a community of fate by a fatal past, and the subject of trauma that resurfaces as a nightmare even now was prosecutor Seo Hyun-woo. The episode 4 broadcast on the 10th recorded nationwide ratings of 3.3% and 3.3% in the Seoul metropolitan area. (Provided by Nielsen Korea, based on paid households)
ENA Monday-Tuesday drama 'Honour' (directed by Park Geon-ho, written by Park Ga-yeon, planned by KT Studio Genie, produced by How Pictures) in episode 4, the L&J (Listen & Join) lawyers trio sensed that a series of recent threats against them all pointed to the "that day" in 2005. The number 2005 scratched on the rear window of Kang Shin-jae (Jung Eun-Chae)'s car, the green-hooded attacker who assaulted Yoon Ra-young (Lee Na-young) who also knocked down Hwang Hyun-jin (Lee Chung-ah) and stamped the scales of the goddess of justice Dike on the back of a hand, and even the 2005 vintage wine sent as a gift for L&J's 10th anniversary celebration all converged on events 20 years ago. However, when they began tracing the prostitution secret app 'Connect', it was unclear why that incident surfaced.
Meanwhile, when Gu Seon-gyu (Choi Young-Jun) confirmed that the first caller reporting the murder of reporter Lee Jun-hyuk (Lee Chung-joo) was his wife Hwang Hyun-jin, the detective's hunch struck him that the L&J friends seemed like "accomplices" who shared and hid something together as if bound by fate. As suspicion deepened, he received an anonymous postal package containing a newspaper clipping about the 'Korea University law school disappearance case' that occurred 20 years ago. It was the university from which the L&J lawyers graduated. While checking the law school newsletter in Korea University library, he discovered that the stamp on the back of the hand that Hwang Hyun-jin had completely erased symbolized the law school academic club 'Dike', and that the person missing at the time was another motive for them, 'Park Joo-hwan.'
At that moment, another victim of 'Connect', Han Min-seo (Jeon Soyoung), whom the L&J trio had been desperately waiting for, came to the office. She showed Connect disguised as a home training app for visits and explained the system in which VIP customers select options they want and pay cash for them. Seeing the numerous scars of violence left on Han Min-seo's body from the options carried out on victims under the name of "classes," the L&J trio were aghast. But the app used by the customers had completely different servers, code and data, making further access impossible.
The clue was revealed from an unexpected place. Kwon Jung-hyun (Lee Hae-yeong), the second-in-command of Haeil, L&J's parent company and Kang Shin-jae's mentor, visited Kang Shin-jae about establishing a public interest foundation. Han Min-seo, who was working part-time at L&J thanks to Yoon Ra-young's consideration, turned pale when she saw a ring on his hand. It was clear he had been at the scene that had violated her in the past. Thanks to Kang Shin-jae's quick thinking, Yoon Ra-young and Hwang Hyun-jin obtained Kwon Jung-hyun's cellphone and accessed the VIP customer app to confirm those horrific "options." Suddenly a security solution activated and the app was deleted, and photos of them taken by hacking the phone were sent to the server.
The administrator who received this security message was prosecutor Park Je-yeol (Seo Hyun-woo), who was in charge of the victim Cho Yoo-jung who had committed suicide. The broadcast also revealed that National Forensic Service Director Hong Yeon-hee (Baek Eun-hye)'s DNA swap transaction with Yoon Ra-young had been part of his meticulous plan. He used divorce as a pretext to pressure his wife Hong Yeon-hee, monitored Yoon Ra-young by recording call logs, and collected Hwang Hyun-jin's DNA, obtaining prosecution results that matched the suspect bloodstain secured in the 2005 case.
An unprecedentedly chilling ending unfolded where past and present overlapped. Yoon Ra-young lay moaning by the lake, bleeding, and Hwang Hyun-jin swung an iron pipe to save Kang Shin-jae, who was being strangled. A man fell into the lake as if dead. The scene the three friends had recalled like a nightmare in the present at decisive moments in a previous broadcast transformed into the faces from 20 years ago. It was the same face Gu Seon-gyu had seen in the Korea University law school's mock trial championship commemorative photo in the newsletter. And the last puzzle in that photo—the current face of the man Park Joo-hwan—was resurrected as Park Je-yeol.
Park Joo-hwan, whom they believed dead, stood before Yoon Ra-young under the name 'Park Je-yeol.' Facing him, who reached out with a vile smile as if mocking the present and saying, "Long time no see, I missed you, Ra-young," terror filled Yoon Ra-young's eyes. Questions exploded over whether the person who was the subject of the 2005 disappearance and is now a sitting prosecutor and manager of 'Connect', Park Je-yeol, sought revenge or was warning them to stop pursuing the prostitution scandal.
ENA's Monday-Tuesday drama 'Honour' airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. and is also available on KT Jini TV and Coupang Play.
[Photo] ENA 'Honour' broadcast screen capture
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