If You Wish Upon Me – K-Drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Suspicion

Episode 5 of If You Wish Upon Me starts with Dr. Yang and Gyeo-re having a war of words. The latter defends Team Genie and Yeon-joo follows Dr. Yang. Dr Yang and Yeong-joo talk about Se-hee’s health deteriorating and he blames Team Genie for being too irrational with a patient. Yeon-joo argues that patients need to live their last days to the fullest.

He asks Yeon-joo to stop reminding the patients that they would die soon as he walks away. While inside the hospice, Tae-sik tells Dr Yang that his cancer has resurfaced and now spread to his liver. The doctor is hurt and Tae-sik thanks Dr Yang for his help. He asks the news to not be spread to the people of the Hospice and asks Dr Yang to let him grant the patient’s wishes before he dies.

In the break room, Yeon-joo and Gyeo-re talk about the nurse’s journey in the hospice and how Dr Yang helped her. Another nurse rushes to inform them that Dr Yang had given them permission to administer the drugs to Se-hee. That evening, Team Genie members brought all patients to the lawn outside the hospice.

Se-hee’s parents are there too and are worried about Se-hee as they weren’t aware she had cancer. In his vanity, Gyu-tae is determined to propose Se-hee. Team Genie members are all nervous before the play starts but they start swooning upon seeing Se-hee all dressed up. They praise Gyeo-re for his outfit but he is still awkward.

The play begins and Se-hee performs for her guests. Gyeo-re and Yeon-joo talk about dreams and they start warming up to each other. However, in mid-performance, Gyu-tae notices a man looking up at Se-hee as she cries on stage. He is Se-hee’s ex-boyfriend who also was unaware she had cancer.

Turns out, Tae-sik had invited him to see Se-hee’s last stage performance. Gyu-tae sends him up on stage to perform with Se-hee and the two perform together one last time. During their scene together, Gyeo-re and Yeon-jo end up sharing an awkward kiss that shocks them both as well as the audience.

Upon Tae-sik’s invitation, the former secretary that Gyu-tae insulted notices the musical actor being a changed man towards Se-hee. The man was about to file a lawsuit against Gyu-tae but changes his mind upon seeing him being empathetic towards the patient. The play comes to a grand close with Se-hee’s finale message to her audience.

After the play, Se-hee and her boyfriend big Gyu-tae a farewell. The actor is letting her go but seems truly heartbroken this time as Se-hee hopes to meet her again someday. Gyeo-re is cleaning up when he notices Tae-sik take money from Se-hee’s parents. He follows the old man to the ambulance and sees him put the money in a box full of jewels.

The next day, Soon-ja gets a call from her son who is overseas. The son apologises for not being able to make it to see her that year. She is lonely and upset on her way to work. At the hospice, Yeon-joo reads a letter to Team Genie from Se-hee. As it turns out, Se-hee had already passed away and the letter was written before she passed.

Se-hee was at home with her parents and her boyfriend as she breathed her last. After Yeon-joo finishes reading the letter, all Team Genie members are in tears but Gyeo-re is the only one to leave. Yeon-joo follows Gyeo-re who is sitting in his car cherishing memories of Se-hee. She reassures and jokes with him trying to cheer him up.

Yeon-joo asks Gyeo-re if he’s ever been happy in life but the latter reveals that there never has been a time like that for him. She changes the topics by bickering with him and teasing him. Gyeo-re runs into Tae-sik at the hospice and asks about the envelope he took from Se-hee’s parents. The old man ignores his question and walks away.

Joon-kyung has just been released from prison and she waits for Gyeo-re to pick her up. At the hospice, Yeon-joo realises that she has feelings for Gyeo-re. He is cooking a meal of Bibimbap for Team Genie and his vet – Jin-goo. Yeon-joo tries to piss him off by copying what he did to Soon-ja’s Bibimbap the other day and gets him to smile shocking everyone in the room.

Joon-kyung waits and waits for Gyeo-re to show but Seok-joon comes to pick her up. While at the hospice, Gyeo-re realises that he is actually of no help to emergency patients and is overwhelmed. Dr Yang finds Gyeo-re and tells him that Sonny needs to be kept away from patients for hygienic reasons. He also asks Gyeo-re to learn first aid.

Gyeo-re is frustrated with Dr Yang and states that he only has some more hours left for his community service. In the Team Genie room, Gyeo-re rants at Sonny telling the dog that they were both undesired at the hospice. In a way, Gyeo-re is trying to stop himself from getting attached to the people there.

He puts Sonny’s kennel in the corner of the room. He finds Yeon-joo working out on the rooftop and tells her something. Yeon-joo visits Dr Yang and talks to him about letting Sonny stay. He lashes out at her stating that she should prioritise the patients. Yeon-joo clarifies that it wasn’t Gyeo-re that complained to her.

Instead, he had asked Yeon-joo to teach him first aid and CPR when she had teased him about him wanting to kiss her. Gyeo-re is looking for Tae-sik when a patient named Mr Jang finds him. Since Gyeo-re is an ex-convict, the patient states that his last wish was to die and asks Gyeo-re to kill him since it was probably not a big deal for him.

Gyeo-re dismisses him but is lost in thought on his way to find Tae-sik. He spots Tae-sik fight with the Gang Boss, the one who was looking for Gyeo-re through Seok-joon. Observing the fight, Gyeo-re learns that Tae-sik lied about needing to use crutches.

Gyeo-re feels betrayed and asks Tae-sik to stop faking it. He lashes out at him and asks him about the money he was hiding in the ambulance as well as his involvement with gangsters. He asks if Tae-sik really killed someone before he leaves. 

The Episode Review

Se-hee’s journey in this episode was so emotional and the makers were able to capture how true love can actually change a snobby and obnoxious person like Gyu-tae. The way Tae-sik can see through people around him makes me believe he knows what’s going on between Gyeo-re and Yeon-joo.

I really feel bad for Dr Yang and the person that he is. He seems to be a rational stuck in the middle of irrational empaths who want to go out of their way to make the dreams of the dying come true. Dr Yang wants to think realistically and eliminate the pains of his patients but he does not realize that happiness can co-exist with pain.

Team Genie understands that despite being in pain, these patients really want to be happy even if it is only for once. With Se-hee reuniting with her family, and her parents and finally being able to live her dream as a musical actor, the individual did endure more pain than usual. However, her happiness was something that overpowered her pain.

It seems like with Se-hee as an example, as a member of Team Genie, Gyeo-re will finally be able to overpower the overwhelming pain in his life.