If you thought divorce was just a matter of signing papers, think again. The premiere episodes of “Good Partner” gave us a taste of the complicated process of divorce, which is rarely a black-and-white situation. Jang Nara stars as Cha Eun Kyung, a famous divorce attorney and mother with unsurpassed intuition, while Nam Ji Hyun plays Han Yu Ri, a naive new hire with a deep dislike of divorce. As they work together, their contrasting outlooks on divorce challenge each other’s views on cases.
A lot happens in the first two episodes, including heartbreaking divorces and a dose of shocking betrayals—here are four unanswered questions that will be keeping us at the edge of our seats until the next episodes air.
Warning: Spoilers for the premiere episodes ahead!
1. Will Han Yu Ri stay on the Divorce Team?
The show starts with rookie attorney Han Yu Ri excited to be hired at Daejeong, a major law firm. She walks into the office on her first day, thinking she’s been assigned to the Corporate Team, her first pick.
However, her smile disappears when she realizes she’s been assigned to the Divorce Team, the team she despises the most. It’s later revealed that Han Yu Ri dealt with her own father leaving her and her mother for someone else, so her dislike of divorce makes sense.
When she meets senior divorce attorney Cha Eun Kyung, Yu Ri tells her there must have been a mistake and asks how she can get on the Corporate Team. Eun Kyung tells her she has to win 10 cases in a row, and afterwards she’ll let the CEO know that Yu Ri wishes to change teams. But by the end of the first episode, after winning a case where her client was actually at fault, Yu Ri is already drafting her resignation letter!
Will she stick it out and try to win 10 cases or submit her resignation before that?
2. Why hasn’t Eun Kyung done anything about her husband’s affair?
Probably the biggest shock so far was the devastating cliffhanger of episode 1: Yu Ri catches Eun Kyung’s husband Kim Ji Sang (Ji Seung Hyun) sharing an intimate moment with Eun Kyung’s coworker (shamelessly at Eun Kyung’s office, no less).
While Yu Ri grapples with whether she should tell Eun Kyung or not, she realizes that she would have wanted someone to tell her if she were in the same situation. When she finally musters up the courage to tell Eun Kyung, there’s yet another twist: Eun Kyung already knows.
Eun Kyung has a very disinterested reaction, but there’s pain hidden in her eyes. It isn’t revealed how long she has known or how she found out in the first place, but it seems she’s fine with letting it continue, so the unanswered question is why?
3. Is something more in store for Cha Eun Kyung and Jung Woo Jin?
Jung Woo Jin (Kim Jun Han) is another attorney in the divorce department and looks to be the only other employee at the office who has a close friendship with Eun Kyung. Despite Eun Kyung’s no-nonsense and blunt personality, she seems to be able to relax when Woo Jin is around.
In one scene, Woo Jin and Eun Kyung enjoy dinner together after work, and Woo Jin quickly picks up that something is off with Eun Kyung, after which she explains she’s worried about Yu Ri wanting to quit. If you’re curious about how they met and became close, you aren’t alone.
They act like longtime friends, but it’s pretty obvious the two have really great chemistry too. With Eun Kyung’s husband’s affair, there’s always the question of if Woo Jin and Eun Kyung could be something more. In any case, it looks like Eun Kyung will have a good friend by her side when she faces what’s to come with her marriage.
4. Will a divorce case end without tears?
So far, the show has unveiled two different divorce cases, and both were pretty painful to see unfold. First, there was the cheating husband who got away with cheating on his wife again while forcing her to stay in the marriage. Even more, the wife had to pay for her husband’s legal fees.
Second, and potentially even more heartbreaking, was the case where two best friends’ spouses started an affair, and the spouses that had the affair pretty much gained everything they wanted from their separation despite being in the wrong. This included custody of all their children combined.
Speaking for all the optimists and hopeless romantics out there, will a case ever end with both parties being happy or, at least, content with their separation? Or is there the possibility of a couple sorting out their differences and actually staying together? Maybe the couple that makes it out of a divorce case still together will be Eun Kyung and her husband. Fingers crossed there’s a brighter side to at least one of these divorce cases!
Start watching “Good Partner” now:
Also check out the cast’s shoutout to Soompi readers:
What are you most curious about after watching the premiere of “Good Partner”? Let us know in the comments!
Asya’s a BL-biased Soompi writer with a love of K-pop and all types of Asian dramas. Some of her favorite shows are “Psychopath Diary,” “Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!,” “Light On Me,” “The Untamed,” “Go Go Squid!,” and “Cherry Magic!”
Currently watching: “I Hear the Sunspot” and “Tokyo Tower“