Lee Hyori Is So Disturbed by This Couple's Affair Story She Wants to Go Back to Jeju

Lee Hyori didn't hide her reaction. When a girlfriend on JTBC's Yeonae Jeonjaeng confessed mid-episode that she had actually fallen in love with the man her boyfriend had permitted her to sleep with, Hyori could only say: "I think I liked it better when I was living cleanly in Jeju."

That line alone tells you where episode 6 goes.

Yeonae Jeonjaeng (roughly Love War) is a relationship reality show where hosts Lee Hyori, broadcaster Seo Jang-hoon, and Super Junior's Kim Heechul hear stories from couples on the brink of breaking up and debate whether the pair should stay together or split. Episode 5 posted the show's best ratings yet in the 20-to-49 demographic and claimed the top spot among entertainment programs in its time slot. Episode 6 airs on JTBC on the 28th and does not appear to be slowing down.

This week's guest is actress Jung I-rang, joining the panel as a special "love diplomat." She comes with credentials: 12 years of dating the same person before getting married, now 15 years into that marriage. "I've experienced a variety of relationships with one person," she says, "so I'm confident giving advice." That confidence gets tested almost immediately.

The couple at the center of this episode has been dubbed the "development couple" by the show. The conflict is rooted in physical intimacy, or the near-total absence of it: the boyfriend has repeatedly told his girlfriend that emotional love is enough for him, that her advances make him uncomfortable, and that he doesn't need anything more. Then it comes out that he actually gave her permission to be with someone else.

Jung I-rang's response to that revelation is to physically smack him on the back. "Objectively, these people are insane," she says, which is probably the most accurate diagnosis available.

Then the girlfriend's confession lands. She tells the panel, with the boyfriend sitting right there, that she wanted to marry the other man. That she had feelings for him. The room goes quiet for a second before it doesn't.

Jung I-rang: "I'm losing my mind. What is even happening right now."

Hyori retreats to her Jeju memories. Kim Heechul can't keep a straight face. Seo Jang-hoon goes in a different direction entirely, floating the theory that the boyfriend may have engineered this entire situation deliberately, which is either a wild read or a very sharp one depending on how the rest of the episode plays out.

Whether the couple stays together or breaks up is being held for the broadcast. Given what's already on the table, either outcome is going to be a lot to process.

Yeonae Jeonjaeng episode 6 airs on JTBC on the 28th.