Misaeng: Episode 9

by dramallama

The newbies struggle to find their place, as their ambition and vision far exceeds their level of experience. They play their best hand and put their best foot forward, but that’s simply not enough when you’re faced with the adversities of being the new kids on the block. It’s a slow and painful process, in which instant gratification doesn’t exist. But it’s bound to be worthwhile at some point; they’ve just got to learn to be patient for their reward.

 
EPISODE 9 RECAP

Chief Oh and Dong-shik freeze and stare at their unwelcome new team member, who smirks at their reaction and notes Geu-rae’s impressive luck in his position, considering his lacking credentials. He chooses to settle in at Dong-shik’s desk while the rest of Sales Team 3 remain stone-faced.

Chief Oh requests a new team member, but Manager Kim refuses to comply. He says that Chief Park is a great addition to his team, since he’s had a great record in the company. He tells Chief Oh to compromise and just prioritize work.

In the break room, Chief Oh confronts Resource Team Chief Jung about him recommending this new team member. He knows that Chief Jung has had problems with him, but Chief Jung feigns oblivion and says that he simply didn’t have the leadership to control this guy.

Back at Sales Team 3, Chief Park (Kim Hee-won) calls Geu-rae over and asks him how he passed the intern presentation test and landed his position with only a high school equivalency exam. He condescendingly notes how Geu-rae must have no skills but is pretty enough to be the face of the team. Chief Oh swoops in just in time to take authority and put Chief Park in his place.

Dong-shik and Geu-rae go to the roof for a coffee break. Dong-shik tells him that they’re in for some rough times ahead, and Geu-rae agrees in silence, already having gotten a taste of this horrible new team member.

As instructed by Chief Oh, Geu-rae places a stack of current business proposals on Chief Park’s desk. Chief Oh tells Chief Park to look through the files and figure out if there’s anything worth pursuing. Chief Park obnoxiously reads the business ideas out loud, criticizing and laughing at the practicality of some. He whines and complains that he’s been thrown so much work when he’s yet to adjust and figure out the team’s dynamic. He gets up and leaves, but not before he gives Geu-rae another patronizing compliment.

Baek-ki returns to his desk but stops in his tracks when he sees Assistant Manager Kang. He’d gotten a glimpse of his superior on the day he was in talks with another company, so he knows that he’s been caught. But Assistant Manager Kang doesn’t show any animosity towards Baek-ki. As he leaves for his business trip, he tells Baek-ki to call if anything comes up. Baek-ki can’t seem to look at him straight, and even after he calls to confirm his interview, he’s frozen with guilt.

Overhearing Assistant Manager Ha’s complaint, Baek-ki peeks around the corner to see how Young-yi is doing. She’s taking care of all the minute inconveniences for Assistant Manager Ha — getting coffee, picking up the printed papers, getting the extra stapler — but he’s irked by her behavior. She points out that he’d agreed to let her take over his everyday duties while he takes on the new project alone. Not one to lose in the assholery race, he agrees and orders Young-yi to clean out all the trash bins.

Young-yi does as told, but even Chief Jung thinks that Assistant Manager Ha is going overboard, saying that he can’t order her to do such menial tasks. Angry at Young-yi’s subordination, Baek-ki grabs the bins from her and asks if this is how she plans on being a part of her team. He empties and washes the bins in the men’s restroom, and Young-yi barges in the restroom, flustering Dong-shik. Heh.

When Baek-ki comes out, Young-yi takes back the trash bins and leads him outside to talk. Geu-rae and the surrounding office workers watch this scene unfold, and Dong-shik watches with suspicious eyes, asking Geu-rae if they’re dating.

But it’s nothing close to his suspicions, as Young-yi angrily tells Baek-ki not to interfere in her business in the future. He argues that this isn’t the method to become part of the team and that they — especially the two of them — deserve better treatment. She presses him to answer with a different solution: “Even if I work hard, it doesn’t work. If I don’t work hard, it’s even worse. What am I supposed to do? How to express my commitment to people who are ready to reject me — that’s not something I learned in school. So I’m just doing all the insignificant work because that’s all I can do.”

She tells him to follow his own method and she’ll follow hers. She begins to walk away from a speechless Baek-ki, but then he speaks up and admits his method: quitting his job. It’s Young-yi’s turn to stop speechless, as he walks past her into the office.

Seok-yul runs into his superior by the elevators, and he’s praised for the good work he’s been doing. As a reward, Assistant Manager Sung gives him his credit card to purchase coffee for the team. But the credit card has reached its limit, forcing Seok-yul to use his own card.

When he returns and tells his boss about the credit card situation, he conveniently doesn’t have cash on him to refund the purchase. Seok-yul plays it cool and says he’ll cover the cost, which makes for a very happy boss. But he’s immediately ordered to a list of tasks that would have him up until midnight and back at work for an early morning meeting preparation. To make matters worse, Assistant Manager Sung has a business trip the next day, so all this work is on Seok-yul’s shoulders.

In the break room, Seok-yul reflects on his situation. He has a weird feeling about it, like he’s working a part-time job but not getting paid. To confirm these cheated feelings, he calls Geu-rae and starts to describe the weird situation in which his benevolent boss gives him piles of work, but Geu-rae already understands what’s going on. He ignores Seok-yul as he picks up a call from an unknown caller and immediately tenses up when he realizes it’s Chief Park.

Chief Oh returns to his desk and notices that Chief Park and Geu-rae are both gone. Chief Park finishes off his billiards game while Geu-rae waits outside with a pair of shoes. After winning his game, he tells his billiard buddies that he’s going to a sauna. But he’s not going in his slippers, and that’s why Geu-rae is waiting outside with his shoes. Ugh, this shameless man.

When Geu-rae returns to the office, he tries to slyly throw Chief Park’s slippers under his desk, but his absence doesn’t go unnoticed. They demand to know where Chief Park is and order Geu-rae to call him right away. Chief Park sits in his fancy hotel sauna, brewing with anger. He thinks back to Chief Oh’s authoritative commands and sneers, “He’s a mere salaryman. Who is he to take command?”

Chief Oh comes looking for Assistant Manager Kang, but Baek-ki is the only one there. Baek-ki just stands there as he lets the phone ring, so Chief Oh steps in to take their call. He gives Baek-ki the caller info and extra files for his boss to look over when he returns. Just as he’s about to leave, Chief Oh turns back around to ask Baek-ki (who flinches) if his mind and heart are in the same place. This catches Baek-ki off-guard, and Chief Oh smiles and walks off.

Chief Park is back in the office, and although he tries to lie about his whereabouts, Chief Oh already knows his habits and tells him that going to a sauna during work hours is unacceptable. When Chief Park tries to get friendly by calling him “hyung,” Chief Oh demands that he use proper honorifics in the workplace.

Chief Park finds a business proposal on Halal that he wants to take up and asks Chief Oh for Geu-rae to be his support. Dong-shik tries to step in, but Chief Park uses this opportunity to throw more insults at Geu-rae about his incompetence.

The tense power struggle between the three veterans is interrupted by Manager Kim, who finds the team dynamic lively at first glance. Chief Park immediately puts on a sycophantic façade to greet Manager Kim, who tells him to do his best to boost Sales Team 3. He agrees to do so, but after the manager leaves, he mutters under his breath about his misfortune.

The original Sales Team 3 trio goes out for drinks after work to discuss their situation. Chief Oh and Dong-shik describe Chief Park as a great worker who’s an expert in the Middle East and who once scored the best contracts. They don’t discuss any specifics about his change of work ethic, and Chief Oh decides that they should accept him into the team. “As long as he’s on Sales Team 3, he’s a part of us. Even if we lose work, let’s not lose a person — that’s our team’s principle.”

Accepting defeat, Dong-shik sighs that it’s just Chief Oh’s principle. Chief Oh tells Geu-rae to support Chief Park well with the Halal deal and be patient, which is something he’s a little too good at. Dong-shik tells Geu-rae to stop being patient and stand up for himself against personal attacks, because it seems like he has no pride. But Geu-rae doesn’t seem too convinced.

Back home, Geu-rae broods with a beer in hand as he thinks about Dong-shik’s criticisms. He references his baduk notes, which is basically a manual for life, and he tells us its contents as we get a montage of the newbies.

Geu-rae: Courage is not only characterized by readily jumping into risky situations. Avoiding these situations and silently going on your own path is also considered courageous. It is foolish to be swayed and immediately respond to a counter current. Sticking to your path despite the adversity will be your counter response. Therefore, following your own path is your best defensive and offensive measure.

The next morning, Geu-rae and Baek-ki encounter each other in the elevator. Geu-rae remembers seeing Baek-ki looking into another company and tries to bring it up, but he changes his mind and asks about Chief Park, since he was previously on the resource team. Baek-ki refuses to speak on the matter, saying that Geu-rae is asking him to talk trash behind a superior’s back.

But when they get off the elevator, Baek-ki turns around to give Geu-rae a warning about Chief Park, saying that he can get overwhelming. He advises Geu-rae not to take his words to heart; in fact, he should just ignore them.

Geu-rae delivers the requested documents to Chief Park, and he seems impressed at his thorough research of Halal-related businesses. Chief Oh and Dong-shik nervously eavesdrop, but they quickly get back to work when they realize Chief Park is significantly underestimating their newbie.

Chief Park tries to stump Geu-rae with some basic jargon, but Geu-rae nails all of the terms. Then he speaks in English, and unfortunately, that exceeds the limit of Geu-rae’s knowledge. With that, Chief Park pats him on the shoulder and walks away, but the damage has already been done. Chief Oh and Dong-shik laugh at his childish methods as Chief Park walks away infuriated, calling Geu-rae impudent. Geu-rae: 1; Chief Park: 0.

When Baek-ki returns to his desk, he’s told that Assistant Manager Kang won’t be in today. A member of the resource team rushes over asking for a revised contract that’s due today. He asks Baek-ki to step up and submit an estimated budget and timetable, but he replies that his boss probably won’t approve of him taking care of these matters.

The resource team member contacts Assistant Manager Kang, and Baek-ki nervously awaits the call from his boss. When he receives the call, he lets it ring a couple of times and braces himself before he picks up. Assistant Manager Park asks him to take care of the contract and adds that he doesn’t assume Baek-ki will ruin the contract just because he plans on quitting.

Baek-ki can’t seem to believe the approval and hesitates before grabbing the files for revision. Having found purpose in his position, Baek-ki navigates the company files and finalizes the contract.

Geu-rae hands more Halal research reports to Chief Park, who doesn’t miss a chance to pick on the new kid. This time, he asks Geu-rae to massage his shoulders, claiming they hurt so much. He compliments Geu-rae’s massage skills, and then asks if he can apply those skills for his feet as well. Geu-rae hesitates but swallows his pride to do so. Luckily he’s saved by a call to Chief Park, and he leaves the office to address the caller.

Dong-shik takes Geu-rae to the roof and asks why he’s so passive, wondering if maybe it’s because of his name (Geu rae for “yes”). He tells Geu-rae that it’s strange how he never shows signs of reluctance: “You almost seem like a discharged convict. It seems like you’re doing anything and everything to adjust to society. I don’t know much about your history, but where did you have to come from to be so cooperative and sacrificial? Sometimes, I wish I could know more about you.”

After working through an all-nighter, Seok-yul can barely keep his eyes open to finish his tasks. His department chief drops by and tells him to get some rest. He also mentions that the business trip that his boss went on was not necessary, which gets on Seok-yul’s nerves. Speaking of the devil, his boss arrives from the trip, and as soon as he sits down, he scolds Seok-yul and relays the work he did to the chief without giving Seok-yul any praise or credit.

His boss orders him to continue finalizing the reports, but Seok-yul refuses to follow orders. He admits that he’s got too much on his plate and doesn’t have the time to do his boss’s work as well. His boss takes offense to this, yelling at Seok-yul for not being able to take the workload for the team, claiming to have given the work to him as a learning experience.

Baek-ki is dejected to find out that his drafted contract was rejected by the finance manager. He calls a resource team senior to ask for help troubleshooting, but he’s told pretty much the same thing he’s been told by Assistant Manager Kang: There’s either a critical error or there’s something wrong with the basics. He’s frustrated at the repeated mention of his lack of knowledge of the basics.

Young-yi continues to take care of all the menial tasks and cleans desks at the requests of her superiors. One of her coworkers accidentally knocks over a mug, and of course, she’s the one ordered to clean it up as they leave for a meeting. Geu-rae and Seok-yul step in to help, and Baek-ki also joins in this small gathering.

Seok-yul laments their current situations and advises Young-yi to take a stand in her team. Geu-rae disagrees and starts reciting his baduk life wisdom about how sticking to your path is your defense and offense, which earns him some strange looks from his fellow newbies.

Baek-ki receives a call about his interview the next day, and he confirms that he will be there. Chief Oh passes by Baek-ki but backtracks to help him out, as he’s just coming from the finance manager’s office. Looking over his work, he lightly mocks him for slipping up on the basics and using style that isn’t standard for the company. Chief Oh wishes him luck and teases Baek-ki that even Geu-rae doesn’t use the fresh style he’s come up with.

Dong-shik leaves for the day, and Chief Oh tells Geu-rae to go home too. Young-yi catches up to Geu-rae as he leaves the building and notes that today was another hardworking day. Their interaction is cut short by Chief Park, and Young-yi quickly departs. As she leaves, Chief Park tells Geu-rae that Young-yi will become the next Deputy Chief Sun if she gets married or the next Finance Manager Kim if she doesn’t.

Geu-rae lingers in front of the company and thinks back to Dong-shik’s words about him being a released convict. Somewhat bothered, he calls up Dong-shik and asks him to accompany him home.

When they arrive, Dong-shik meets Geu-rae’s mother, who’s gathering the hanging laundry. Dong-shik tells her that Geu-rae wanted to show him something, maybe like a hidden newlywed wife. She reacts by hitting Geu-rae and scolding him for acting irresponsibly to create such rumors. Dong-shik thinks she’s actually upset, but she clarifies that she’s joking. Her sense of humor completely throws him off.

Dong-shik wonders why the house is so empty. When Geu-rae replies that a discharged convict doesn’t need much, Dong-shik makes it clear that he apologizes for those harsh words. Geu-rae says that he threw a lot of his things away and tells Dong-shik that he used to be a baduk player. He finally reveals his past, describing his life’s commitment to becoming a professional baduk player, until he failed. He threw everything away except for his notes.

He shows Dong-shik his baduk research and notes, and Dong-shik seems impressed. Beside them is another stack of papers with similar notes, and Geu-rae explains that he’s been recording his days at the company in the form of baduk notes, almost like a diary. “In baduk, there’s a method of play in which an expert plays multiple people at once, and the expert usually wins. It’s similar in society, though it’s a little different in that the lower-ranked players need to play multiple games as well.”

Geu-rae has had to play multiple games against multiple experts in society, and he further explains that he’s at a significant disadvantage. While the experts get a head start with multiple stones already set up on the table, he has little chance of finding a way to fit his stones. As newbies, they have an obligation to leave their mark, but it’s fundamentally difficult to do so. Dong-shik listens and nods in understanding.

As Dong-shik leaves, he asks how Geu-rae got into One International. He clarifies that he has a benefactor, who has a connection with the executive director. Chief Oh’s initial repulsion towards Geu-rae now makes sense, since he was brought in through the executive director. Dong-shik asks why the sponsor didn’t get him a job sooner, and Geu-rae says that he did, but he quit. He didn’t hide his baduk past in that job, so all the criticisms were aimed at his history with baduk. After a year of torture, he left the job and went to military.

Dong-shik now understands why Geu-rae was so adamant about hiding his past. Dong-shik shares his struggles, coming from the country. Even after getting hired at the company, he didn’t feel like he succeeded; he felt like he opened a mere door. “It could be that success and failure don’t exist in our world. We may just be opening doors for the rest of our careers.”

We get a montage of Baek-ki pulling an all-nighter at work and Young-yi finding her past company ID card, as Dong-shik answers Geu-rae’s question about success: “Sometimes, even if the contract is broken, you feel like you matured and feel proud.” Of course, Geu-rae compares that to feeling good even after a lost baduk game.

Before Dong-shik leaves, he asks if Geu-rae has a Twitter account, wanting to add him. Geu-rae says that he heard the advice once that being social media buddies with your boss isn’t a good idea, and smiles contentedly as he watches Dong-shik leave.

After his all-nighter of work, Baek-ki goes to the roof for fresh air. He thinks back to his interactions with Assistant Manager Kang, their arguments over his basics, and his misunderstanding that his boss just hated him. His thoughts are interrupted by Seok-yul, who’s also brooding on the roof. He tells Baek-ki to ignore the hierarchy and just butt heads, but that doesn’t seem to be working for him either.

When Baek-ki returns to his desk, he reluctantly calls Assistant Manager Kang for help in revising the contract draft. He seems to know all the parts that Baek-ki didn’t catch and gives him detailed instructions on how to fix them, and then tells Baek-ki that he’ll see him tomorrow. Baek-ki looks at the notes that he took from the call and tries to hide a smile before getting back to real business.

Geu-rae creates a Twitter account (hilariously, @jangokokok) and follows Dong-shik. As soon as Dong-shik gets the notification, he follows him back. We get a look at the newbies as Geu-rae narrates his baduk analogy: “We don’t know what we reveal, but we want to reveal so much about ourselves. Why do people want to confess to others? Baduk defines its world with horizontal and vertical lines. If a baduk board were infinite, if the world were a limitless canvas, would winning and losing be possible? We find a part of that world that’s ours. We reveal ourselves to find comfort and understanding.”

Geu-rae returns to the office with good vibes, but Chief Oh seems to have had enough of Chief Park. He gets up and confronts Chief Park, telling him that he can’t work like this with him anymore.

 
COMMENTS

Aw man, I knew this episode was too good to end on a good note. But maybe confrontation is for the better. I know my patience was running thin with Chief Park — his constant references to Geu-rae’s high school equivalency exam were enough to irk me. I don’t even think we saw the full wrath of Chief Park in this episode, though the small bits of him we did see were a bit frightening. He seems to have an ego problem, especially when it comes to power and authority, so I wonder what his backstory is. I’m hoping some context will reconcile the misunderstandings about the person he is today and smooth out some of his very sharp and harsh edges.

But having an antagonistic figure in Sales Team 3 definitely showed how close the trio has become. I love how Chief Oh and Dong-shik look over Geu-rae when he has to deal with Chief Park. They’ve got one eye on their work and the other on Geu-rae, ready to pounce if Chief Park attempts to take advantage of their kid. But Geu-rae seems to know what he’s doing. Better than the other newbies, he understands where he stands strategically. Since he’s already been at a disadvantage from the very beginning, he fundamentally understands the concept of pulling back in order to move forward. As much as eagerness is needed, patience is the name of the newbie game.

I love that baduk is that one constant that guides Geu-rae throughout his experiences in the “real world,” and I especially loved Geu-rae’s connection with Dong-shik in this episode. Dong-shik hit the nail on the head with his analysis of Geu-rae. He’ll do anything and everything to adjust to society because he blames himself for everything that’s ever happened to him. He walks the fine line of self-deprecation and self-pity, making him the ultimate underdog. But a quick glance into his baduk-strategy mind shows us that he’s no underdog. He finds significant parallels between work and baduk that sets him way ahead of the game. It’s his mindset and extreme patience that allow him to advance, even if he lacks the skills and savvy of his peers. His life is dictated by his baduk manual, and I appreciate how the concepts of baduk don’t exclusively apply to Geu-rae. The baduk analogy about finding a place for yourself applies to all of them, no matter what skill level they’re at. If baduk really makes you this good at life, I’d better learn how to play.

I want to commend Baek-ki for finally coming to the realization about his skill level and accepting it. I could imagine how crushing it would be to realize that you really don’t know what you’re doing. He had to swallow his pride and put away his stubborn self, and that requires a certain level of maturity, which Seok-yul may still be lacking. Baek-ki’s ambition and confidence got to his head, so I’m glad he got a good reminder that basics precede any desire to succeed. Instant gratification is not a characteristic of salaryman life, and Baek-ki finally drilled this into his head. Good thing Newbie Guardian Angel and Super Salaryman was around to guide him through his crisis. As much as I loved the different focuses on our newbies, we were missing out on some Chief Oh action. But from that ending, we’ve got a lot of Chief Oh coming up. Huzzah!

 
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