100 Days of Deception Episode 3 Recap

Who's in the cast:
Kim You-jung as Lee Ga-kyung
Park Jin-young as Kim Tae-ung (Sato Hideo)
Kim Hyun-joo as Yoo So-ran
Lee Mu-saeng as Yoo Philip
Jin Sun-kyu as Sato Shinichi (Inspector General)

A raid at the wrong pawnshop

At a Jongno pawnshop, Sato Hideo has Lee Ga-kyung cornered over the wallet she stole from him. The pawnbroker says she is just a customer, but Hideo's name is written on the wallet. Ga-kyung insists this is not the Jongno Pawnshop he is looking for, and the sign turns out to read "The First Jongno Pawnshop." Before Hideo can press her further, armed Japanese police storm in and order everyone's hands up.

Hideo identifies himself as an interpreter trainee at the Government-General, the Japanese colonial administration, and as the son of Inspector General Sato Shinichi. The police apologize and explain they are hunting a member of the Gugukdan, the Shanghai-based independence group the police say targeted Shinichi the night before. The pawnbroker swears the place has nothing to do with independence fighters and calls it a "watermill," where young couples come in pairs during the day. Ga-kyung then tells Hideo she knows he is after a pawn ticket. She names its owner, Sin Tae-jin, and wonders aloud whether the Inspector General knows him. Hideo quickly tells the officer that she is with him, his "partner in sports," and the police leave them alone.

Outside, the officers ask Hideo to identify a man they caught running. Hideo says he is not the shooter and does not fit the age profile. The police still want to take him to Jongno Station. Hideo offers to hold him, then lets him go after the man asks whether he is from Joseon, the colonial-era name for Korea. Back inside, Hideo finds only Ga-kyung's clothes. She has swapped outfits with a woman hiding from a jealous husband, and she slips away in the stranger's clothes.

The Gugukdan need a spy

Hideo asks the pawnbroker about Sin Tae-jin, and the man claims he has never heard the name. Walking down the alley, Hideo passes a row of rival shops, each named some variation of "Jongno Pawnshop," until he finds the plain Jongno Pawnshop he wanted. Later he visits his hospitalized colleague Suzuki Hiroyuki. He tells the staff Suzuki has no family and leaves word to call him if anything changes.

Elsewhere, Shinichi welcomes Fukuda back as chief of police. Fukuda recalls arriving in Joseon in 1912 and the advice Shinichi gave him then: give the colony ten years. Shinichi tells him Joseon is still a land of opportunity for men like them. He orders Fukuda to prove his loyalty by wiping out the Gugukdan.

In the Gyodang-ri shanty town, Lee No-ma complains that his only rickshaw fare all day was a Joseon man who works for the Government-General. Ga-kyung suggests he deliver food by bicycle instead, though a bicycle costs more than he has. Once No-ma falls asleep, Ga-kyung studies the stolen pawn ticket and realizes Sin Tae-jin is a Joseon name.

At the Hanseong Medicine Clinic, wanted posters for Han Cheol-yong hang on the wall. Kim Myung-nam, the only daughter of the Joil Textile Factory president, hands the Gugukdan money that her father's secretary, Lee Young-bok, has siphoned from the company. The group learns that Suzuki, their source inside the Government-General, is still in danger, and wonders who fired at Shinichi if none of them did. With Hideo moved into Suzuki's post, the interpreter trainee job is open. Yoo So-ran proposes the girl who posed as their live-in maid: sharp, fast with her hands and good at English. One member objects that she cares only about money, but So-ran says what Ga-kyung truly wants is America, and she knows where to find her.

So-ran's offer

At the station, Ga-kyung bumps into a passenger and lifts his pocket watch and wallet. Inside she finds a letter addressed to a Hong Gil-sun. It invites her to interview the next day at the Joil Textile Factory president's house, for a paid post as his daughter's study companion in America. Ga-kyung drags No-ma out to find the real Hong Gil-sun, a bespectacled woman from Busan. She tells her the interview is canceled and hands her 20 won as an apology for the train fare.

At the house, Ga-kyung introduces herself as Hong Gil-sun and finds So-ran waiting. The letter was bait: So-ran offers to send her to America if she will spy at the Government-General. When Ga-kyung refuses, So-ran tells her the United States has barred Asian immigration for years, but her American journalist husband can still get her there. Ga-kyung threatens that her housemates will take the bullets and suitcase to the police if she does not come home. So-ran answers by naming her as Lee Ga-kyung, the orphan who worked for an American missionary, and listing No-ma and Bang Kkot-nim. Asked why she risks her life, So-ran says she might as well have died long ago. Before leaving, Ga-kyung tells her not to have children if she means to die for independence, because nothing is worse than leaving a child alone.

On the street, Ga-kyung learns that the immigration ban is real and runs home to check on No-ma and Kkot-nim. The Gugukdan has not harmed them, but Kkot-nim is crying, No-ma's face is bruised, and gang boss Ma Mun-mak is counting the savings Ga-kyung hid in the house. He claims every coin as his, since he controls the station where she picks pockets and pays off the police. When No-ma defends her, Mun-mak beats him and tells him that Ga-kyung's mother was a gisaeng, a hired entertainer, who took up with a Japanese man. No-ma had believed her mother died of tuberculosis. Mun-mak calls Ga-kyung pitiful, she answers, "I am not pitiful," and he throws her out of the house.

Flashbacks show the younger Ga-kyung as a maid in the American's house. Women in the neighborhood gossip about a widow who ran off to Japan with a Japanese man. Later, someone corners the girl and taunts her about following her mother's example.

Trainee Keum Seo-hee

At the Yoo home, Ga-kyung agrees to spy, with conditions: a bonus paid by the Gugukdan, free room and board as a tenant, and passage to America after three months. In return she is given three rules: ask no questions, steal nothing from the house and never betray them. Ga-kyung is then briefed on Hideo. Shinichi adopted the Joseon orphan at about 12 to show his loyalty to Japan, and Hideo graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy like his father. She is told to keep her guard up around him.

At the Government-General, Ga-kyung reports for work as interpreter trainee Keum Seo-hee, at the desk beside Hideo's. Her place there traces back to Yoo Philip, who pitches Shinichi a plan for the coming visit of the League of Nations Commission. Philip offers to tell the Commission that Japan is developing Joseon well. He suggests that his former maid, whose English is good, help interpret, and he lets Shinichi understand she is his girl.

Hideo is not convinced. Ga-kyung says she is only making a living and lets him assume she is Philip's lover, kept out of Philip's own office to avoid notice. Hideo counts their four meetings, the last one arranged through Philip, and offers to treat her as a colleague if she answers honestly once. Ga-kyung tells him she has liked him since they first met, then says it was a lie. Hideo demands the pawn ticket and threatens to repeat her confession to Philip. She turns it around and says it looks like he really believed her.

Shinichi greets her by her cover name and hands a staff member, Ms. Yamada, his schedule for the coming week. On a tour of the building, Ga-kyung is shown the Governor-General's Office, the Inspector General's Office and a door marked no entry.

Back at the Yoo home, Philip tells So-ran he trusts her, not Ga-kyung. They agree to keep Suzuki's role and their fake marriage from her, and Philip admits that only So-ran matters to him. In the shanty town, No-ma and Kkot-nim find the things Ga-kyung left behind, including a bicycle. They conclude she has gone to America without a goodbye.

Ordered to get the Inspector General's schedule, Ga-kyung stays after hours. Before leaving, Hideo locks up with a remark about guilty consciences. She gets past the lock anyway and copies the schedule instead of taking it. Elsewhere, Hideo turns over her confession and how easily she said it. At a café, Ga-kyung passes the copy to a contact marked by the lemon in his teacup. As she leaves, a voice orders her to freeze, calls her a spy and names her as Lee Ga-kyung.

Up next: 100 Days of Deception Episode 4 Recap. See every episode in the 100 Days of Deception episode guide.