Café Minamdang Episode 13 Recap (2022 Korean Drama)

**This Café Minamdang Episode 13 Recap contains spoilers**

Go here if you prefer a first look at Café Minamdang without spoilers

Trigger Warning: Topics of suicide, murder, rape are a ongoing theme of this show. Please look after yourselves.

As Jae-Hui tries to escape from the burning trailer, Han-Joon runs towards the fire. Along the way he bumps into Gu Tae-Su and is able to incapacitate him after a brief altercation.

Racing against time, he manages to break open the chain on the door just as Hye-Joon and Su-Cheol join him. After carrying Jae-Hui outside and ensuring she is alright, Han-Joon collapses to the ground. He is taken to the hospital where Jae-Hui keeps watch over him.

Waking up, he proceeds to hug her admitting his fear that her rescue was all a dream. Han-Joon asks Jae-Hui to wait for him to catch Gopuri and get her brother’s permission to date her. Once he does this, he will be able to give her his entire heart. She agrees and they share a lovely moment.

Meanwhile, Hye-Joon and Su-Cheol wait outside the hospital room. As she is trying to log into Gu’s laptop salvaged from the trailer, they discuss recent events. Hye-Joon mentions her shock at seeing her usually calm brother in such a state while trying to save Jae-Hui. The memory has her remind Su-Cheol to be careful since she can’t live without him.

Their cute exchange is interrupted by loud voices coming from Han-Joon’s hospital room. He is giving Jae-Hui an earful about getting herself into a dangerous situation like that. [A/N: Thank You Han-Joon.] To him, nothing she brings up to defend her actions justifies her recklessness.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Hye-Joon walks right into the room and yells at them to stop. She then scolds her brother for acting immature when he is supposed to be older than her. This has Jae-Hui jumping in to defend Han-Joon, saying that Hye-Joon is being to harsh on her brother. Her words then prompt Su-Cheol to defend Hye-Joon, even slipping up and calling her his girl but quickly correcting this to his sister. They continue bickering among the four of them.

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The following day, Han-Joon is getting ready to be discharged, Detectives Jang, Kim, and Na enter the room. Focusing solely on Jae-Hui, they exclaim their relief at her being okay as well as their concern for her quick discharge from the hospital. Han-Joon, feeling ignored, questions why they are not worried about him. This has the three of them assure him how grateful they are for saving their team leader.

They proceed to discuss Gu getting away after attempting to kill a police officer [Jae-Hui]. Detective Jang especially has some choice words to say about the matter but she interrupts him by showing a picture she took from the trailer. Showing it to Jang, he proceeds to take out an identical photograph although with burned edges. It is the one he retrieved while recently returning to the scene of that old house fire. Jang mentions that he was not sure until now but this confirms that Gu Tae-Su is actually Lim Yeong-Ju. [A/N: To avoid confusion, I’ll continue referring to this character as Gu Tae-Su.]

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Hearing the name Lim Yeong-Ju, Han-Joon asks surprised if the detective knows him. Jang explains that Lim was the suspect of committing arson in his first case. He recounts the young Lim Yeong-Ju’s story of being abandoned by his mother and left with an alcoholic and abusive father. He is believed to have killed his father, set the house on fire and ran away. The young boy went missing after that.

The photograph of him with his mother was taken shortly before she left the family. They notice the white shoes the woman in the picture is wearing. To them, this and Eun-Hye’s resemblance to Gu’s mother was the reason he placed similar shoes on her body. They ponder that they need to find out what happened to Lim Yeong-Ju after running away.

In the midst of this Han-Joon receives a call from Na-Dan at the coffee shop wondering if Cafe Minamdang is closed for the day. Turns out they forgot about opening the shop with everything going on.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Later that evening at Cafe Minamdang, Hye-Joon reveals to her brother, Jae-Hui and Su-Cheol she was able to access Gu’s laptop. Among its content are images of burial shrouds with Do Jung-Ah and Han Jae-Jeong’s names on them. Video clips of explicit nature involving various female victims are also found.

Based on what they know, Han-Joon guesses that it is a two-person system involving Auntie Im and Gu Tae-Su. While she makes the prophecies, Gu makes them happen through blackmail and intimidation. Thus convincing her clientele of her psychic abilities and making them susceptible to following her commands.

Taking a closer look at one of the videos, the team notices the name N.Joy Club in the background. The initials match up with ones found on the video file names. Hye-Joon recognizes the name as belonging to a nightclub currently extremely popular with the rich and famous.

Prosecutor Cha joins them at this moment, confirming that there is definitive a relation between the club and their case. He presents financial statements showing dividends paid to the cartel from the club. These dividends seem to be too high which would collaborate ongoing rumours of drug dealing happening at the club. Money from the drugs are then laundered through these payouts.

Although dealing narcotics is a felony, the team fears the club would simply state they had no knowledge of it happening. Going in for an arrest would at best catch a few small fish. Because the real power behind it would still get away. What they need is real proof and not just circumstantial evidence. They decide to do an undercover mission at the club the following evening to find said proof.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Afterwards, Han-Joon offers to accompany Jae-Hui home and the two end up going for a leisurely walk around the neighbourhood. They discuss the past as well as each of their choices in profession. Both admit to not regretting their choice despite the hardships it caused them. Their conversation then turns to the future and how they look forward to a time when their hunt for Gopuri is over. When they can simply enjoy life and dating each other as any regular couple would do.

During their walk a couple coming from the opposite way accidentally bumps into them. Despite Jae-Hui’s attempt to pull Han-Joon out of the way, she is not fast enough. After regaining his balance he takes an extra look at the couple’s back but quickly discards his suspicion. Meanwhile the couple, Hye-Joon and Su-Cheol, swiftly continue on their way. They had gone for an evening stroll and did not expect to run into her brother. As far as they knew, Han-Joon was walking Jae-Hui to her place and that location is in the opposite direction. Luckily for them, they managed not to be detected by Han-Joon once again.

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The following night the team goes to N.Joy Club all dressed up. They let the girls enter separately while the men follow shortly after. Once inside, Na-Dan and Cha are made to wear waiter outfits by Han-Joon, much to the laters dislike. Himself and Su-Cheol dress in all black like the onsite security guards. All six are wearing earpieces to secretly communicate with each other.

While Hye-Joon and Jae-Hui hang out on the dance floor, they witness what appears to be a drug deal and inform Han-Joon. Under the guise of bumping into him in a drunken state, they proceed to mark the dealer with a glow-in-the-dark palm print on his back. The guys hope to follow the man to his boss.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Meanwhile Cha and Na-Dan walk into the area of VIP private rooms and witness someone spiking his female companions drink while she is outside. Despite Na-Dan’s attempts to stop him, Cha walks into the room and warns the girl not to consume the drink as it contains drugs. The female leaves in anger even though her male companion denies everything.

The man and his two companions direct their attention at the two waiters, wondering why they ruined things after selling them the drugs themselves. Na-Dan tries to sooth them and leave but is not successful. He promises to call other girls to join them but is made to do so while still in the room.

Shortly after Hye-Joon and Jae-Hui walk into the room where they find both Cha and Na-Dan beaten up and on their knees. An enraged Jae-Hui and Hye-Joon make short work of tossing about the three VIP men. [A/N: Who else is in love with this duo?]

At the same time, Han-Joon and Su-Cheol are able to confirm that Gu Tae-Su was the person that dealers at the club answered to. They discover Gu owned a ledger to keep track of all the transactions which he would store in a safe. The safe is said to be located inside the top suite of the hotel attached to N.Joy Club.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Without her knowing, Han-Joon has contacted detective Jang on Jae-Hui’s behalf in order for police to raid the club. While Jae-Hui and the detectives enter the club thus distracting security, Han-Joon and Su-Cheol plan to sneak into the top suite. They are however interrupted by Park Jin-Sang and CEO Lee who have been hanging about in the buildings lobby.

Remembering that the hotel is owned by Jin-Sang’s Father, Han-Joon uses the directors faith in his psychic abilities to their advantage instead. He reminds Jin-Sang of the dark aura surrounding his father that he mentioned to him previously. Those dark forces seem to be coming from the top floor of the hotel. Jin-Sang exclaims that Director Gu is the one in charge of the Royal Floor.

Continuing the pretense of Shaman Nam, Su-Cheol and Han-Joon make mention of a safe located on that floor. Inside of the safe is the root of all the evil that could potentially ruin the Park family if it is not eliminated. If Jin-Sang wants to save his father, he needs to find out the location and password of the safe.

Through Jin-Sang the men manage to learn how to access the top floor via a private elevator. Hye-Joon’s attempt to hack into the hotel’s CCTV is foiled however by an unsteady WiFi. This results in the control room catching sight of them inside the elevator on their camera system. Having been found out by four guards, Su-Cheol volunteers to keep them at bay while Han-Joon proceeds towards the location of the safe. Unbeknownst to them, Gu Tae-Su has come inside the building as well and is aware of their presence. He is talking on the phone while hiding in a nearby hallway, saying that he will retrieve the files and go.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Han-Joon locates the safe and is attempting to unlock it with Park Jin-Sang feeding him different possible numbers over the phone. He hangs up once he finds the right one and starts looking through the contents. With his back turned towards the door, he is barely in time to block Gu Tae-Su’s attack. Regardless, Gu manages to gain the upper hand on him, rendering him slightly incoherent by striking him with a lamp. Su-Cheol’s arrival has Gu scrambling to grab the files and run away. Little does he know that Han-Joon managed to hide one of the files underneath an area rug.

Han-Joon’s team plus Jae-Hui and Cha return to Cafe Minamdang, where she makes a fuss about his injuries. They also go over the big picture of how someone put key-players like Gu and Auntie Im in place to facilitate narcotics trafficking and subsequent money laundering. The upcoming land development project of Choekang Constructions seems to also be part of a bigger plan to scam innocent peoples money. Han-Joon mentions noticing an investigation file in the safe with Cha Seung-Won’s name on it but it was taken by Gu. The team assumes said file is now in the hands of the master behind it all but they still do not know who that person is.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Meanwhile, Auntie Im with Gu and Cha Seung-Won are sitting inside the laters office. The tension filled silence is interrupted by the ringing of Gu Tae-Su’s phone. Showing the caller ID as belonging to Park Dong-Gi, he receives a nod from Seung-Won permitting him to answer the call. Through the speakerphone, Park’s voice can be heard asking about the police raiding the safe at the hotel. Gu assures him that he managed to take the ledger and all the files and has them with him. The call is disconnected by Park after instructing Gu to not hand the files to anyone else. He appears to be unaware of anyone besides Gu being present.

Cha Seung-Won picks up the investigation report with his name on it and throws it while angrily yelling at the other two. What have they been doing while his uncle [Park] has obviously been planning to stab him in the back. Instead of giving an answer, Auntie Im redirects the conversation towards the complications a police investigation will cause for their construction project (read: scam).

Seung-Won instructs her to speed up the sale of the unfinished apartment buildings and to ensure they receive the construction fee. According to their contract, the company will still get to keep half of the fee even if the project ends up failing. He also requests that she take care of his uncle. Noticing her hesitation, he states that he has no interest in what she is up to otherwise but warns her not to mess with his plan. Visibly intimidated by his threat, she promptly agrees.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

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Prosecutor Cha brings up that since some time ago, dividends from N.Joy Club started to also be paid to KM Leaders. This appears to be a paper company created by Auntie Im overseas. Han-Joon remembers the name as having been on one of the files inside the safe. Recalling the Jagdu-dong Land Development project he voices his suspicion that Auntie Im might be planning to steal the investment money taking advantage of all these VIP clients’ trust in her. Furthermore, he predicts Seung-Won will try to get rid of Park Dong-Gi since him and Auntie Im are likely in this together.

A phone call to Park Jin-Sang confirms that Gu Tae-su did just pick up his father. Hye-Joon hacks into the CCTV and discovers that Gu has moved the car to an area without surveillance. Cha is instructed to stay behind and keep Auntie Im from leaving the country while the team goes in pursuit of Gu. Working under the assumption that Gu is under Auntie Im’s influence, they try to guess where he would take Park to. They settle on Gu’s childhood home and Jae-Hui calls Detective Jang to obtain the location. With Hye-Joon at the wheel, they experience quite the adventurous ride. The sun has already set by the time they arrive at their rural destination.

Gu drives a unsuspecting Park Dong-Gi to his dilapidated childhood home. Upon their arrival, he injects his victim with a tranquilizer before taking him inside and taping his hands and feet together. With Park sitting on a chair, Gu wraps the burial shroud prepared by Auntie Im around him and proceeds to start choking him. he is interrupted by the flash of approaching headlights.

Cafe Minamdang Episode 13

Jae-Hui and Han-Joon carefully enter the old house, immediately spotting the unconscious Park tied to a chair in the room across from them. While busy trying to free him, a scraping sound coming from the inner yard of the house can be heard. Turning around they see Gu standing there, a gas tank in one hand and a lighter in the other. Han-Joon starts talking to him in an attempt to negotiate/distract him. But Gu warns that he is on to him and will not fall for his tricks. He is ready to do anything including die for the master.

Han-Joon counters that whoever this master is does not care for him or he would not have taken away someone Gu cared for. Naming Kang Eun-Hye he reveals knowing that Gu cared for her since he gave her shoes resembling those worn by his mother. When Han-Joon scolds Gu for not protecting Eun-Hye, the man seems to be stunned. Is he having a sudden realization?

Epilogue

A young Gu (Lim Young-Ju) walks away from his burning house and continues along a country road before collapsing on the ground. A car pulls up alongside him which is revealed to be a younger Auntie Im. Looking at his body severely hurt by burns, she states that he must be cursed since he is covered in flames. A boy around Gu’s age exits the car behind her. After seeing Gu, he makes reference to a story of a crow and a magpie and declares from this day onwards, Gu will be his magpie. [A/N: Kudos to this young actor for giving me the creeps.]