Nice Guy Episode 1

Also known as The Innocent Man. Also known as No Such Thing As Nice Guys. Also known as That Show With That Guy In It.

 

Kang Ma Ru, the Doogie Howser of Korea, is dashing through the hospital when he stops to hear a TV reporter talking about the latest scandal involving the Foreign Affairs office. The reporter is Han Jae Hee (played by Park Si Yeon.) Ma Ru is called over to join his group of medical interns as they follow around Dr. Suk Min Hyuk (that hot ahjussi from Romance Town. You  know the one: he paid for and opened up that bottle of wine like nobody's business. Oh, you didn't see Romance Town? Well, you didn't miss anything. I wouldn't recommend it.)

 

After doing a few rounds and consultations, Ma Ru dares to interrupt everything and ask why Dr. Suk isn't asking them, the interns, any questions. Suk is in the middle of cutting Ma Ru down (why ask someone a question when you already know they don't have the answer) when they're interrupted by a young boy trying to pull his IV out and demanding to go home. Dr. Suk takes this opportunity to give Ma Ru the floor. Here's a question for you: what's wrong with the boy? Ma Ru um's and ah's. Dr. Suk gives him two hours to make a diagnosis.

 

Left behind with the boy, Ma Ru is stumped. The boy, Chang Yong, insists on being released as his family doesn't have the money to pay the hospital bills. Ma Ru and Chang Yong argue a bit (with Ma Ru promising to pay the bills for the boy) and the intern - I wouldn't say hits the boy on the head, but he kind of rubs his knuckle along the patient's skull. This causes the strange reaction of Chang Yong throwing up (shown to us in glorious technicolor.) This gets Ma Ru to thinking.

 

He's able to come back to Dr. Suk with a diagnosis: Chang Yong has a brain hemorrhage. He's been denying his illness for awhile because he doesn't want to burden his family financially. Another intern can't believe an 11-year-old would not say anything about being sick so as not to worry his older brother. Ma Ru tells how his younger sister would be the same way, enduring pain so as not to worry him.

 

Dr. Suk listens to all this and they discuss the case, yet when he calls to check on the boy's latest tests, there are no signs of an arterial brain hemorrhage. Suk recommends the boy be released. Ma Ru goes to brood in the bathroom.

 

Yet later that evening guess who's being rushed back to the emergency room. This time the tests show there is definite bleeding in the brain. At least Dr. Suk is man enough to tell Ma Ru that he was wrong and the intern was right, so points to hot ahjussi.

 

Ma Ru returns to his hovel (how does he pay for medical school?) to discover his younger sister, Choco, nearly unconscious and burning up with fever. He rushing to put some socks on her and take her to the hospital when he gets a call from Han Jae Hee. She pleads for him to help her. She thinks "someone" may be dead and Ma Ru must come and try to save him.

 

Despite his sick sister begging him not to go, Ma Ru promises to be right back and he leaves Choco on the floor. (Eh, you deserve to be framed for murder, you ass.) He goes to the hotel room where Jae Hee said they were. Yep, there's a dead man on the floor. Jae Hee keeps protesting, "I didn't kill him. I didn't kill him," as she clutches a broken bottle in her hand. So why is he dead and there's blood all over the floor?

 

Ma Ru tries to convince her to turn herself in and claim self defense. Jae Hee refuses. If this gets out it's the end of her career as a reporter. If she has to go back to the gutter she climbed out of she would rather die. She races to grab some pills and attempt suicide but Ma Ru stops her, somehow getting a cut on his arm in the process. (This may be important later.) He finally confesses his love for her, asking why he can't be the reason for her living and not her career.

 

After a quiet talk (and conveniently forgetting his sick sister, who is waiting) Jae Hee starts to call the police and turn herself in when Ma Ru grabs the phone out of her hand and pulls her in for a passionate kiss. Did I mention there's a dead body in the room? Ma Ru starts cleaning up the crime scene, wiping off fingerprints and stuff. He tells her to leave as he will take the rap for the murder. Jae Hee protests (feebly) but in the end gives in to him.

 

Meanwhile, Director Choi (played by that guy who's been in three dramas in the past week, I swear) is coming out of a building when he's called over by Seo Eun Gi (played by Moon Chae Won of the greatest drama evah, The Princess' Man). She knows Choi wants to speak with her father and she offers him a ride in her home. This gives the audience the chance to learn that Eun Gi is a graduate of Harvard, is 23 years-old, and is Director Choi's new supervisor. As she scares the bejeesis out of the older man with her driving, Eun Gi spouts out business info and tosses around numbers with nine digits. What she's getting at is out of those nine digits, perhaps Choi has taken a couple of them home with him. She's nice enough to give him a choice. He can either return most of those digits and retire quietly, or he can be hauled off to jail.

 

As she squeals to a stop outside of her home, Eun Gi sees an unkempt Jae Hee hanging around. Just then Eun Gi's father, Seo Jung Gyu, steps outside to see about Jae Hee. (OMG, it's Kim Young Chul. It's a Princess' Man reunion! Where's Park Shi Hoo??) She hands Prince Suyang Jung Gyu a manila envelope and cries about what's she has done because of his orders. Jung Gyu pulls her in for a rather awkward hug. Watching all this from her SUV, Eun Gi is not amused.

 

As he waits in the hotel room for the police to arrive, Ma Ru finally gets around to calling his younger sister. He tells her how he's arranged for someone else to take her to the hospital, and how sorry he is.

 

Ma Ru is sentenced to jail and we time skip forward six years. We also skip over to Tokyo. Ma Ru is now working the boy toy for hire circuit. (I guess we're supposed to believe that prison hardened him. Instead I look at his baby soft face and figure he was probably somebody's girlfriend and traded around for a pack of cigarettes.) As he is dealing with his latest mark, we go to another room where Eun Gi is moaning in her sleep as Edward Lawyer Park Joon Ha watches over her. When she wakes up she's unhappy because a) who wants someone watching them while they sleep? Eww. And b) nobody woke her up in time for an important business meeting. Joon Ha mentions how she needs her sleep because of an existing illness. Eun Gi tells him to mind his own beeswax. (She also goes on to mention how he's gay, but the way he's looking at her... hmmmmmm.)

 

Eun Gi meets with a Japanese woman who claims to have sustained facial damage after using cosmetics made by Eun Gi's family business. They try to buy the woman off with money but she's not having it. Ah, but Eun Gi uncovers that a rival cosmetics company paid the woman $3 million dollars to damage her own face and file false charges. She orders Park Joon Ha to have the woman arrested and to prepare for war against the rival company. 

 

As Eun Gi leaves in triumph, she suddenly becomes dizzy and grabs her chest in pain. Han Jae Hee comes running over to see about her. She puts a hand to Eun Gi's face and fears the girl has a fever, they'd better go to the hospital. Eun Gi grabs Jae Hee's hand away and warns the other woman to drop the act. Just then a small boy runs over, calling Jae Hee "Mom." Well, somebody's been busy these past six years. The cute boy, Seo Eun Suk, goes to hug his big sis, Eun Gi, but she coldly rebuffs him and makes him cry. Seems big daddy Jung Gyu dropped Eun Gi's mother and married Jae Hee. 

 

Also outside the (restaurant?) Ma Ru meets up with his old friend Park Jae Gil (played by Lee Kwang Soo.) Turns out the mark he was working on had just conned Jae Gil out of his savings and Ma Ru was getting it back, plus extra. As they're flying back to Korea, Jae Gil notices his sleeping friend is being checked out by... why, it's Kang Na Hyun from I Need Romance 2012. Guess it didn't work out with Yoon Seok Hyun.

 

Anyway, Ma Ru wakes up and goes to wait his turn outside the bathroom. The door opens and a nearly unconscious Eun Gi falls out into his arms. The doctor in him can't resist starting to help her, but then her people run over to see what's wrong and he returns to his seat. An announcement is made over the intercom asking if there is a doctor on board. Ma Ru puts his headphones on and ignores the call. Too bad, cause if he had stuck around he would have run into Jae Hee who is now at her stepdaughter's side.

 

Thank goodness Jae Gil nags Ma Ru into helping. Jae Hee has gone to make a call to her husband so she's not there when Ma Ru comes up to examine Eun Gi. Ah, but then she comes back and we have a classic staring contest. He asks how she's connected to the unconscious woman and Jae Hee confesses Eun Gi is her husband's daughter. To further rock Ma Ru's world, little Eun Suk calls out for his mother.

 

After a moment Ma Ru gets a hold of himself. The plane is going to make an emergency landing but that will take at least another half hour. Ma Ru says Eun Gi won't last that long. He takes an emergency medical kit, digs out a humongous syringe and sticks the needle into Eun Gi's chest. The still unconscious Eun Gi coughs up some blood. Jae Hee accuses him of making a mistake and orders him to stop.