High School King of Savvy: Episode 4

by purplecow

Savvy just keeps getting better! In just one hour we see friendships form, rivalries evolve, loyalties realign, and more of the overarching mystery reveal itself. There are even some drunken shenanigans that of course we don’t condone… but are still pretty hilarious. Min-seok may be in over his head, but the more he is challenged the more we come to appreciate the kindness and unswerving loyalty that form the core of his character. He’s already beginning to find his place at Comfo, with colleagues like Soo-young and Assistant Manager Yoon who are fast becoming friends and allies.

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

Min-seok hustles his friends out the door as fast as he can, scolding them in a loud voice for trying to sell him things. Jin-woo peers around the corner with an intrigued expression. Outside the office, Min-seok promises to explain later, then rushes off to a management meeting. The two friends look at each other after Min-seok leaves, shrug, and head off in search of food.

In the retail team office, Soo-young is getting chewed out for showing up to work late. Her coworker shouts at her about whether or not she understands the basics of work etiquette, which involve showing up on time.

Then Min-seok arrives and the coworker changes his tune. He fans Min-seok as the ladies of the office scurry to greet the boss. Min-seok apologizes for being late, then shows Soo-young the bite marks on his hand from the night before. She flees before he can make a scene.

Soo-young speaks in voiceover as she walks dejectedly along the hallway. She thinks of a song in which the singer wants to turn back time — for Soo-young, the moment she wants to erase is getting angry-drunk with Min-seok the night before. She sees him in an elevator and runs to the other one, not even realizing that Jin-woo is there. She sees him and does a picture-perfect spit-take, spraying him with a mouthful of breakfast. Nothing is going right for her today, it seems.

Jin-woo gives another briefing, this time about an extreme amusement park for adults. Min-seok’s phone interrupts the meeting several times in rapid succession, as Yoo-ah tries to reach him. The chairman takes his snort of disgust as a veiled comment, and invites him to share his thoughts on the proposal. Min-seok stammers that “extreme” things like bungee-jumping and wakeboarding have a limited audience, and the chairman tells Jin-woo to take that objection under consideration.

Soo-young’s day gets a little brighter when the assistant manager gives her some food (I love that he’s prickly to Min-seok, but turns all smiley around Soo-young). She thanks him, asks after his daughter, and even checks to see if he’s taken his medication. A call comes in for Min-seok asking for his cell phone number, but as it’s against company policy, the conscientious Soo-young refuses.

When Min-seok returns to his office a post-it note awaits him, letting him know about the phone call. He laughs that Soo-young could have just told him, and is only prolonging her embarrassment about the biting incident.

He acknowledges her post-it with another post-it, and his handwriting makes Soo-young laugh. She’s giggling and reading the note when she sees Min-seok peeking through the blinds of his office, and immediately picks up the phone and pretends to take a call.

Min-seok meets up with his friends and has to explain his double life. They’re understandably angry, saying he would have kept it a secret until the end if they hadn’t found him out. It’s looking like he might be in deep trouble with his friends, until he reveals his trump card: the company credit card.

Cut to a shopping montage as the boys splurge on shoes and new clothes, with Min-seok whipping out the plastic and urging them to buy more. The boys want to know if there are a lot of pretty women at Min-seok’s workplace, and they ooh and aah when they see the inside of his brother’s apartment.

Yoo-ah takes out her aggression on a video game until her friend takes it away, saying she’s killed enough for one day (pfft). She calls her spies again, but they’re with Min-seok and they don’t pick up.

Min-seok gets a call from the same person who was looking for his number earlier that day. It’s a businessman whose company was recruiting Min-seok’s brother in Germany, and he’s decided to figure out exactly why Director Lee has decided to work at Comfo. He treats Min-seok to dinner, and, hilariously, we see that his hockey buddies have tagged along. Min-seok commends the businessman for his tenacity, which prompts the man to say that he’s much more flexible than his reputation leads one to believe.

Then the businessman then takes them to a bar. They hesitate before going inside, the prospect of free drinks and pretty women almost overwhelming the high-schoolers. Min-seok’s friends dash inside, and Min-seok follows after remarking that his friends are driving him crazy.

The businessman tells the hostesses to be nice to their “oppas,” and there’s a hilarious moment when they drink their first round and find hard alcohol to be stronger than they expected. Min-seok’s friends are on cloud nine, giggling and hugging the girls, and it’s not long before they’re completely wasted. Out in the hallway, a Comfo employee walks past and stops, seeing Hyung-seok (he thinks) having drinks with a competitor.

Min-seok’s friend Tae-seok wakes up the next morning, lying next to someone whose curly hair pokes out from under the blanket. Tae-seok pulls back the covers ever so carefully, and screams when he sees it’s his other friend Duk-hwan. Min-seok comes in, checking to see if his hungover friends are all right. Apparently they ended up at Min-seok’s house after their drunken adventures.

In a flashback we see them getting into a cab, with Min-seok at least still in control of his faculties. The businessman finally gets to talk business alone with Min-seok, bluntly offering him twice his current salary to come work for Sewha Corporation. Even drunk, Min-seok has enough sense to refuse firmly but politely. He promises to pay back the businessman for his kindness before escaping into the taxi.

Min-seok’s father scolds the boys at breakfast, which consists of hangover soup. He gives them each a good smack and warns them not to come home like that again. Min-seok tells his friends that he has to leave for work, which gives them a collective shudder. Grandpa shouts that Min-seok’s off to work, and the boys begin whooping and hollering to keep Dad from hearing. He gives them an incredulous look, asking if they think they’re freedom fighters.

Min-seok’s friends are still reliving the night before. Duk-hwan says he’s embarrassed to have cuddled all night with Tae-seok, who tells him to quit talking about it because he’s getting embarrassed, too. They start punching each other in true adolescent boy fashion.

Yoo-ah catches up to them, and asks her informants why they didn’t respond to her calls. She warns them that she won’t let it slide again, and scampers off after Min-seok. The two boys shake their heads, agreeing to cut her some slack “because she’s sick.”

In the classroom, Min-seok prepares to leave out the window, but is held up by a persistent Yoo-ah. In order to get her to leave, he promises to watch a movie with her. Her obvious delight and surprise is kind of sweet, and she leaves after warning him not to be late. Min-seok jumps out the window, and his buddies rush to place a mannequin in a hoodie at his desk to fool the teacher. Life’s a lot easier when your friends have your back!

Min-seok, fully suited up, catches a taxi and heads to work. On the way he spots Soo-young, who has just missed the last bus. Min-seok tells the driver to pull over, but when Soo-young sees him she turns around and flees. She takes the first bus she sees, ignoring Min-seok as he yells out that she’s getting on the wrong bus. HA!

Assistant Manager Yoon greets Min-seok in the lobby, observing that he’s finally on time. The two of them run into the chairman while waiting for the elevator, and it seems that the chairman has known Assistant Manager Yoon for many years. The chairman says that he shouldn’t be so stiff, or else he’ll break.

Soo-young arrives late, sure that her nagging boss will only be too happy to chew her out. She’s exactly right, as he takes a break from prancing down the stairs (I think it’s supposed to be exercise, but it really only looks like he’s showing off his ass) to accuse her of being late again. Soo-young lies that she actually arrived earlier, and the kind-hearted Assistant Manager Yoon backs her up.

Soo-young and Assistant Manager Yoon talk in private, and she thanks him for supporting her. He tells her to try to get in on time from now on. Then he shows her a necklace he bought for his daughter, who is leaving for the US today after just a short trip away from her studies. He’s eager to be a better father to her, and Soo-young assures him that his daughter will love the necklace. The two of them together are so sweet.

News pops up on the Internet of a new project about to be launched by Sewha Corporation: it’s an extreme theme park, and an exact copy of the project that Comfo was about to begin. The news throws the entire company into chaos, as it looks like a major project has been scooped.

The chairman holds a meeting to find out who’s responsible. He calls out Jin-woo, who was in charge of the project, and demands to know how this could have happened. The best guess of the assembled team is that they’re dealing with a corporate spy. Hyung-seok’s name comes up, because they know he was courted by Sewha before. The suspicion only grows when the man who saw Min-seok drinking with Sewha’s vice president shares that juicy bit of info. The chairman orders them to investigate further, and holds Jin-woo back to warn him that if he doesn’t resolve this issue he should prepare his resignation letter.

Through the course of the investigation, the rumor about Min-seok as the spy circulates rapidly. In no time at all, his office colleagues are speculating about whether he joined the company only to stab it in the back. Soo-young says that he doesn’t seem like the type, but her colleague insists that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Assistant Manager Yoon tells them to get back to work, but when Min-seok arrives with a cheery “good morning!” he doesn’t receive the usual enthusiastic response.

He peers out of his office blinds, wondering at the change in atmosphere, and Soo-young gestures for them to meet. Up on the rooftop she clues him in to the rumors about him being a spy. She also takes the opportunity to apologize for her behavior the other night, saying, “I’m usually not the type to throw drunken fits.” Pfft. As Min-seok has seen her during not one, but two such fits, he greets her apology with an understandable helping of sarcasm.

Then Team Leader Kim appears for a damage control meeting. He’s not very happy, since his Hyung-seok double keeps running around and getting into trouble. Now that the higher-ups think that Hyung-seok met with Sewha’s management, they’re going to dig up everything about him. That could expose their duplicity and spell the end of Team Leader Kim and his boss. Min-seok knows he messed up, and wants to fix it. He says that the only thing they can do now is resolve the problem, which is much more proactive than Team Leader Kim’s whiny ineffectual arm-punching and hissy fits.

Jin-woo is hard at work to find the culprit, his father’s threat still foremost in his mind. The security team finds a record of someone on the Retail Team downloading the confidential files. The virtual paper trail leads to Assistant Manager Yoon, of all people, and he is promptly taken from his desk for questioning.

Jin-woo demands answers, and he refuses to listen to Assistant Manager Yoon when he says he’s innocent. He has the proof, which to his mind is all that he needs besides a confession. He gets increasingly angry at Assistant Manager Yoon’s stubborn denials, until he finally throws a folder away and yells at the kindly man.

The Retail Team is reeling from Assistant Manager Yoon’s detainment. Their suspicion of Min-seok gone, they now marvel at how such a seemingly loyal man could betray his principles for money. They take his guilt for granted and keep talking badly about him, until Soo-young can’t take it any more. She says that their words are too harsh and nothing is certain yet, so they should be more careful about how they speak. She takes Assistant Manager Yoon’s medication and storms out. Min-seok watches her go with a small smile.

Min-seok joins Soo-young outside, complimenting her on calling out their colleagues for their thoughtless cruelty. She tells Min-seok about the blood pressure medication, and the fact that Assistant Manager Yoon’s daughter is leaving the country tonight.

Assistant Manager Yoon has been denying Jin-woo’s accusations for a long time, and finally he has had enough. “Don’t you know me?” he demands. “I don’t,” Jin-woo coolly replies. “I’m someone who only looks at the facts.” Assistant Manager Yoon says that he’s going to leave for the night, and walks out. Jin-woo follows him, however, and grabs him by the arm in the hallway.

Min-seok arrives and throws off Jin-woo’s arm, interposing himself between the director and the assistant manager. He yells at Jin-woo for treating an elder with such disrespect, even if he is investigating a crime. For a second it looks like our two directors will finally clash openly, until Assistant Manager Yoon sighs and says he’ll go back into the conference room to continue answering questions.

Jin-woo prepares to begin again, when Min-seok barges into the conference room. He says he can’t trust Jin-woo not to start beating people up. Also, since he heard he was a suspect at one point, Jin-woo can use this opportunity to question him as well. Jin-woo starts the same line of questioning yet again.

The chairman arrives at the company and learns of the situation. A colleague protests that Assistant Manager Yoon is one of the founding members of the company, and it makes no sense that he would betray it. Elsewhere, a news report lets us know that a mercenary hacker group called Iceberg has been arrested. They specialize in stealing protected information with stolen IP addresses.

Meanwhile, Jin-woo continues to grill Assistant Manager Yoon and Min-seok, unaware of the emergence of the hacker news. Min-seok gets angrier as the questioning continues, until finally he yells at Jin-woo to stop detaining Assistant Manager Yoon and question him instead. The chairman arrives and asks if Jin-woo is absolutely sure he has the right man. Jin-woo says that he has solid evidence, but then another employee arrives with the news that the hacker group was indeed responsible for the leaked information. Assistant Manager Yoon bows to the chairman and departs, with Min-seok rushing out after him. The chairman calls Jin-woo an idiot and leaves as well.

Min-seok follows Assistant Manager Yoon through the office, asking hesitantly whether he’s going to go to the airport. But he doesn’t answer. Min-seok lingers alone in the office, wondering why Soo-young left early when she was so concerned about Assistant Manager Yoon.

As they leave the office, Soo-young pulls up in a taxi – she didn’t leave after all! She’s overjoyed to hear that Assistant Manager Yoon was cleared, even though it wasn’t in time for him to see his daughter off. Min-seok offers to call a taxi for him, but the assistant manager instead invites them out for a beer.

Oh no! In all the commotion, it seems that Min-seok has forgotten about his movie date with Yoo-ah. She waits near the theater, practically glowing, even though her stomach hurts. She tells herself to endure, not wanting to mar this special night with Min-seok. “He wouldn’t stand me up, would he?” she wonders. Oh, this is going to hurt…

Assistant Manager Yoon mulls over the events of the day over a cold beer. He feels betrayed, and rightfully so. As someone who put in his all for the company and thought of his coworkers as his family, the lack of trust has made him question his own loyalty. But Min-seok believes not everyone is like that; once an ally, he says, you’re an ally for life. Then Assistant Manager Yoon gets a text from his daughter, with a picture of herself wearing the necklace he bought her. Aww, that is too sweet! Now they know where Soo-young went while Jin-woo was interrogating them.

Jin-woo, meanwhile, is getting chewed out personally by the chairman. He says that even if Jin-woo has no brains, he should at least be able to read people. “Are you really that unhappy with me?” Jin-woo asks. “Everything I do, every word I say… are you really that dissatisfied with me?”

“I’m dissatisfied with your very existence,” the chairman responds. Ouch. Jin-woo leaves as ordered, staring out the glass elevator in pained silence. As he drives home he sees Assistant Manager Yoon with Soo-young and Min-seok, and the contrast between their happy camaraderie and his complete isolation is heartbreaking.

Assistant Manager Yoon asks why the others aren’t drinking, to which they both reply that they’re trying to cut out alcohol. Min-seok takes the opportunity to needle Soo-young: “Why? You don’t throw drunken fits or anything. Drink up!” Pfft. He also talks about his family, sharing that his father isn’t his biological father and that he has an older bother.

Soo-young flashes back to when Min-seok confronted Jin-woo in the hallway, when he was confident and respectful of his elders. Min-seok asks if he has something on his face, because she keeps staring at him. Then he gets a text from Yoo-ah and remembers the movie. He runs off, while Assistant Manager Yoon chuckles that he must be meeting his girlfriend.

He arrives out of breath and asks why Yoo-ah waited so long. She says that she wasn’t sure if he was coming or not, and now that he’s here he should buy her food. Min-seok acts all exasperated, but in the end he asks what she wants to eat.

He buys her food at a streetside stall, claiming that he’s only buying because he’s hungry. He notices that Yoo-ah’s temperature is higher than normal, but she insists that she’s fine. Then she collapses, which makes it pretty clear that she’s not.

Min-seok piggybacks Yoo-ah through the street in search of a taxi, chiding her for being too headstrong and not taking care of herself. He fishes for her phone and calls her sister, which is of course Soo-young. He tells her what happened and asks her to come to the hospital.

Soo-young gets to the hospital as fast as she can, and thankfully Yoo-ah is okay. Instead of Min-seok, Soo-young finds a message from him in the waiting room. It’s addressed to “Yoo-ah’s sister,” and says that he had to leave because something urgent came up, but that Yoo-ah’s surgery went well. She chuckles at the odd handwriting, but doesn’t make the connection with Min-seok’s post-it note from before. Outside the hospital, Min-seok rushes off to find Grandpa, who wandered off again.

That night Soo-young has a recurring dream about bungee-jumping without a bungee, and in voiceover she says that the dream sometimes acts like a forewarning of sorts. The next day at work, the Retail Team greets Assistant Manager Yoon with cheers. He bought breakfast for everyone, and harmony is restored to the team.

Min-seok goes up to Soo-young, and says that it’s a relief. He was worried that Assistant Manager Yoon might not show up to work, after what happened the day before. Soo-young doesn’t say anything, but she smiles to herself after he leaves.

Min-seok runs into Jin-woo in the bathroom, and hastily apologizes. He says he gets angry too quickly, and hopes that they can get past this misunderstanding now that the hackers have been caught. Jin-woo is all smiles as he says that he apologizes too, and that he was oversensitive because it was his project. After Min-seok leaves, Jin-woo stares into the mirror with more than a touch of menace.

Team Leader Kim asks Soo-young for a word. He says in a lowered voice that the company won’t be renewing her contract, and although he tried to fight for her, there’s nothing he can do. She walks dejectedly out of the office just as Min-seok arrives, whistling happily.

Team Leader Kim lets the rest of the office know about Soo-young’s contract, which shocks Min-seok. He goes after her immediately, guessing that she’ll be up on the roof. He sees her, forces a smile, and calls out to her: “Popcorn sister! Ally!” So. Freakin’. Sweet.

She’s eating a late breakfast and staring out at the city. When she sees Min-seok, she stammers that she didn’t get to eat enough before. Putting on a brave face, she says that sometimes when she has an empty stomach she gets depressed. She turns away, still trying to be strong, and wipes away her tears as Min-seok watches with touching concern and sympathy.

COMMENTS

I loved pretty much everything about this episode, so it’s tough to know where to start. As other recappers have said before, Savvy really excels at tugging your heartstrings even while catching you up in the zany fast-paced hijinks. It’s an emotional roller coaster, but nothing feels contrived or manipulative. The storytelling is sincere, providing ample laughs but never losing sight of the depth of feeling the characters possess.

The development with Assistant Manager Yoon was excellent, and really touching. At first I thought of him as a grumpy killjoy, but halfway through this episode I realized my mistake. When Min-seok stood up for him to Jin-woo, I was ready to do a victory dance. The short scene where the three allies go for beers was so touching, as Assistant Manager Yoon shares his new doubts, but the loyalty of Min-seok and Soo-young keeps him from losing hope. I can imagine that without Min-seok’s impassioned defense of being allies, or Soo-young’s thoughtful trip to deliver his daughter’s gift, Assistant Manager Yoon wouldn’t have come back to work the next day. And that would have been a shame, because the team that Min-seok is assembling at work is so much fun to watch.

Even though Jin-woo is acting the part of the villain at the moment, I find him very compelling. His self-control cracks this episode, and in his single-minded determination to fix the problem, he went too far. I felt so sorry for him when, driven to his breaking point, he asks his father if he is truly so disappointed in him. I can’t imagine much worse than being told by your father that your very existence is a disappointment. Jin-woo is utterly alone now, and I’m nervous about what that will drive him to do. When he encountered Min-seok in the bathroom the morning after the hacker incident, his self-control and mocking smile were positively terrifying.

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