As much as I liked the kiss; one thing kinda confuses me. Why did Ji Uk say "you've never held me and told me you love me either" twice? I feel like I'm missing some intent there.

Is it like "even though you haven't said that to me, I'm letting you know I love you" (as I hold your face☺️)?

Regardless, I did like their kiss here more. I was squeezing my pillow while grinning at both couples having their moments.

I liked Hae Young and Ji Uk's confrontation and her saying what I've been saying for weeks: why should he care about his mother? She literally did nothing for him and he doesn't need to fulfill his grandma's wishes anymore especially given that his grandma left him with the feeling of being a detriment to others. I liked that he confronted her about her feelings for him possibly leaving. He knows she has hurt over all the people who have come and gone in her life so he says he loves her first. It's so him.

I like Ja Yeon and Gyu Kyun's little role play. I think it's particularly endearing that he knows and remembers her story so well. And the "it's in the comments" was really cute and realistic haha. How many times in the comments sections do people write "and then they kiss or just kiss" and the other variations.

I've seen some comments about how Ji Uk seems to have fallen fast but (a) he started falling for her in episode 2 when she said why she wanted all the attention on her (b) he's known of her for years so seeing a new aspect of her could've just unlocked some feelings (c) even though it's not a big emphasis put on it, he's attracted to her and the more they've played the couple, the more the feelings grow.

Thanks for the recap @Unit!

I’m late to this party, finally caught up with the show and the recaps! Overall it was good tight writing, and great acting. Only Kim Young Dae could make 손님 sound so seductive. *fanning self*

I felt like the rom-com suddenly became really serious with Ja Yeon’s murderous father on the loose and Guy Hyeon going all “game of thrones” with his younger half-brother.

It made me really sad to see how Hae Young reacted to the reveal that Ji Wook was also a foster child. I’m still curious to know how Ji Wook fell in love with Hae Young and also why Ja Yeon and Hui Seung don’t remember Ji Wook either.

Oooh, I caught the recap earlier than usual! I don't have a lot of time on Thursday mornings, so I wrote this up in advance. It feels ridiculously long to me, sorry if you also perceive it as such.

This drama is why I watch romance Kdramas! Those scenes in ep 10 with both couples had my heart fluttering. So adorable.

First off, I continue to love the second leads and their relationship. I know that Gyu-hyun doesn't have a lot of fans right now, and I totally understand why. That being said, I actually really love how one minute I want to throttle him and the next I'm cheering for him. I wish the writers hadn't drawn out his behavior and attitude so long, but I also think it makes sense based on the characterization of him we've seen so far. I rewatched eps 1-8 over the weekend, and it really reminded me how his dad has been castigating him for running the company with a focus on employee satsifaction and not maximizing profits for shareholders, threatening his position, and the fact that he's only in his position because he's the only son kept getting thrown in his face by both his mother and father. It makes sense to me that, in addition to being guilt tripped by his mother, he feels completely threatened and attacked by Ji-uk--not that ANY of this justifies his behavior. But, while I do not like his behavior, I do still like him. How much of this is because of how he's played by Lee Sang-yi, I don't know.

I also love him with Ja-yeon. I loved her saying that her story was criticized for being unrealistic because a CEO wouldn't eat in the cafeteria, and then he says he'll eat there for every meal. Someone on MDL pointed out that both of them have managed to develop humanity while being surrounded by terrible people, so they have that in common as well as their general immaturity. That scene where they acted out the webnovel was amazing, especially as someone who's read webnovels and also urged the leads to just kiss already. Also, how many times did he have to read it to memorize that dialogue? Haha. It also helps that the actors are just so adorable on social media lately. I followed other real life actors of Kdrama couples I've shipped and I haven't seen that type of interaction before--I just eat that sort of thing up.

I was so happy to see Mr. Jang back. I liked his speech about his father: wish Gyu-hyun had heard it, too. I took horseback riding lessons and I don't think you could progress to posting to a trot that quickly. Ah well.

I found Ha-jun's interaction with Ja-yeon really sweet. If I have one complaint about the secondary romance, it's that it's moving a bit too fast. I think we needed, especially, to see more development of Ja-yeon moving on from Ha-jun and falling for Gyu-hyun. I fully admit that I was wrong early on, as I thought the spinoff would be Ja-yeon coming to terms with and accepting her feelings for Gyu-hyun. But it looks like the spinoff might be set in an alternate universe, so it...

That kiss!! HOT!!!
their fight and kiss was just so perfectly done. This scene was so well executed. The morning after was so so cute.

That breakfast was so chaotic with secrets getting revealed. Hilarious.

Bro in law and Ja Yeon bonding was beautiful

Ex Secretary Jang becoming a father figure to Ji Uk so precious! Ji Ukie should join his family, get his name added to the registry and abandon the chaebol family.

Can’t believe it’s ending next week. 😭

I know so many folks are shipping them but as soon as the cuteness of their reenactment of the webnovel scene and kiss was over, I was like "he's still NOT a good guy for her". Did everyone just forget about what he did to Ji Uk and Hae Young? And then they overheard the ex and his wife talking about those exact people haha
Ah, screenwriter, I like you haha

Even if Gyu Kyun likes Ja Yeon, he hasn't shown that he's willing to stand up for anyone, not even himself. He KNEW what his mother wanted was wrong and he still continued with the threat to Ji Uk and to add insult to injury he told him that Hae Young wouldn't be happy with him anyway. This after he's heard Ji Uk say how his existence was a crime and he feared ruining people's lives. He did this even though he clearly had some affection for Ji Uk. I *think* he was even gonna say "I'm your hyung" before he caught himself. He even kept calling Ji Uk "lucifer".

Sidenote: when Ji Uk said his name, was he being informal like they're close? I'm kinda confused because what else was he supposed to call him? They aren't strangers, Ji Uk isn't his junior or employee, they're not at the orphanage where he would be called volunteer. Ji Uk did use "ssi" which I thought was the proper ending.
Which leads me to when do they drop the "ssi"? Haha

I rewatched the breakfast scene many times haha. I enjoy it so much. The timing, the looks, and the music cues. It's one of the best scenes to me. In any kdrama that I remember seeing.

*clears throat* *steps on all the toes*
Patented Minority and Controversial Opinion of the Month (Year?):
I dislike this show. Actually, I hate it. I hate it very, very much indeed. 😅

Ahh, I also thought that it's kinda big and telling about Hae Young's character that she kept Ja Yeon in her life after her father's death. Given that Hae Young has some complicated and occassionally resentful feelings about the kids her mother fostered and that her mother fostered in the first place, the fact that Ja Yeon is not only still in her life but lives with her is big to me.

Ja Yeon would represent the biggest loss in her life yet Ja Yeon is a key feature of her life. Even if she was detached (emotionally, on some level) from her when they were younger, Hae Young still showed up and defended her to the judgey teacher. Hae Young is still fiercely protective of her. Even if Hae Young clashes with Hui Seong at times, she doesn't want to also clash with her.

Oh thank you @unit for such heartfelt yet brief recap. We all know that there must be angst and terrible misunderstandings in every Kdrama. Can we trust the screenwriters to subvert the next 12 tropes to stick the landing??
Oh please.

EP 10 was more fun (except the angst) and interesting than EP 9. Both still had memorable scenes and humor.

The angst had to come sometime. Ji Wook held onto his last secret for too long, why?? I don't think it needed to be a big, dragged out issue.

We got to see Hae Young show vulnerability when she cried for him. When she didn't want him to leave. He has been the one to show his affection easily. He said "I love you" for the first time (and said it twice). She didn't say those words back to him, only showed her emotion and desire through her actions. I'm actually glad she hasn't said those words since she was unaware of his secret. Those words are a huge step for her.

During Ji Wook's scene with Manager Yang, I thought maybe he could still be his father despite what he said before and what the drama has shown. The horse riding was truly random, hahaha.

Gyu Hyun has flaws, but has room to grow. He followed his mother's demands without coming up with a good solution for his company. I'd like to see him do better. It was really cute and sexy when he and Ja Yeon acted out the scene from her web novel and more~ ;] Too bad how things ended right now.

Shin Mina's angry faces at work were so good. XD I also enjoyed the homey, breakfast scenes like when it was Ji Wook and the sisters and when it was the guys with Hae Young and Ja Yeon. So lovely, heh. Even though the Subway scenes were all PPL, I didn't mind them. It was nice to see Ja Yeon and Ji Wook have their own conversation.

Wow all the emotions turning on a dime, well done show!

Thank you for the recap @unit. It's as fun as the show. But may I ask what "kya" means in Korean? Google translate suggested it means "belong" in Ganda (a Bantu language), which I found delightful, but that didn't make sense in context.

I am not as troubled by Gyu-hyun's characterization because I think it's setting us up for the spin-off. And I'll note as awful as he can be, he has some redeemable features underneath tho he lets the worst of him ride over them. I suppose we're up for a redemption arc.

I feel compelled to post for the first time on this site to shout that Gyu-hyun is nothing but red flags! Dude has major anger and impulse control issues. Is completely insecure as CEO, which there is no evidence that he is even good at. Mistreats his extremely competent secretary to the point he has him writing libelous hate comments, blocking him from transferring to position that would utilize his skills, AND swooping in to steal his girl . He overseas a misogynistic and paternalistic workplace. And is super petty and vindictive on top of all that. Oh, and he can't handle his liquor. What is there to be attracted to?!! Am I missing something?! Please tell me because I do not get it at all!

Also, I get that Hae-young is upset that Ji-wook kept the whole foster kid connection from her, but her reaction seemed a bit over the top.

That being said, I LOVE this show - with the exception of the whole Gyu-hyun love interest angle. I can't imagine I will like the spin off. But if Shin Min-a makes an appearance I will be the first to tune in!

Thank you for these recaps Unit! And for giving me a place to vent! ;-)

Last week I had some theories and predictions including Ji Uk leaving and trying to divorce. I'm pleased to be wrong haha
Even though he did say the words and he did consider leaving.

Kudos to the folks calling out the pregnancy.

I liked the boyfriend's handling of the situation. I also liked the "you're telling me in the bathroom? I found out in the bathroom too" haha

I really can't predict where that story will go and I don't even know where I would want it to go. I guess it blends with a theme of the show which is about parental relationships or familial relationships.

Uhm... This was a weird week. I definitely enjoyed watching the episodes (most of the time), but then I felt robbed when they were done.

1. I never disliked Bok Gyu. Not once.
What happened with Ja Yeon is something that could've happened to anyone. That's life. Like, Hannah Montana says: everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.

But what he did to Ji Wook and Hae Young was so unnecessarily mean and he seemed to feel zero remorse for what he did.
Everything he said to Ji Wook was so hurtful and he even dared to threaten him. And demoting Hae Young without a second thought is so unfair!

Bok You knew damn well what he was doing to them. And he has no interest in making things right. The whole scene at their house was outrageous. He's so shameless!
Ji Wook is a saint because I wouldn't give him the hour of the day and let alone let him sleep on my bed.

He can get drunk and think about Ja Yeon, I. Don't. Care. But give Hae Young her job back? She literally got married for it. Because his sexist company wouldn't let her get a promotion otherwise. Like, that's the whole plot, man.

I didn't vibe with how Ja Yeon seemed more worried about him than her very-soon-unemployed unnie, either. It's like the only reason why she chose Hae Young over Bok Gyu is because of the self-guilt-tripping she has going on since years ago (therapy when show).
Like, I know she has zero dating experience, but a guy who abuses his power to get a valuable employee fired because "tantrum" and makes someone leave the country because "mommy issues" shouldn't seem that cute. Especially when that child-man is hurting the people she calls family. Sigh. But that's maybe just me and my values, so wtv. I'll let her be.

...But I genuinely didn't care about their office date. First time I ff during this show.
I liked the Woo Jae - Jin Yi mini drama tho. That couple is all about gossip. 🤣

2. Ji Wook. I think we're all thinking the same: why drag this secret for so long and let Hae Young get hurt!!
If he only knew how creepy that reveal makes him look...

But draggy or not, what's really bothering me is that he didn't have even ONE moment of being honest with Hae Young in 10 episodes. She founds out about everything by chance.

He disappears and doesn't bother to give her a heads up before appearing in her office. She only discovered he's the CEO's dongsaeng because that guy barged into their home to yell the secret. And she figured out JW's connection with mom because she casually found the pic on the floor.
Why couldn't he tell her ONE thing. Dude is saying I love you and all, but should she accept him?
Keeping information from her is a very frustrating issue with him.

3. What's with this entire chaebol plotline? Why does it matter? I just want Secretary Jang to adopt Ji Wook or something and teach him how to ride a bike.
I couldn't care less about Bok family at this point.

I love the FL and the humour is great, so it hardly bothers me that the ROM part doesn't work for me, at least with the main characters. This is mainly due to ML, who is too perfect and bland.

On the other hand, I get more heart flutters with our second couple, especially since it was revealed that the hate comment on chapter 51 wasn't made by the CEO. I do hope SML manages to detach himself from his parents, especially his mum, soon though. The relationship is definitely not healthy if it makes SML act so contrary to his actual character. What happens if his mum is against his relationship? Will he have the courage to stand up to his mum and stand by his partner?
I'm already looking forward to the two spin-off episodes, hopefully without parents. It would be great if we could see the re-enacted office scene here, the poster at least gives me hope.

This one is still winning. Watching this drama makes me so happy. These episodes were a little sad and angsty but oh god they served. I may like the second leads a bit more. I can't believe it's ending 💔. Ohh and waiting for the spinoff trailer looks so good.

I like this show as a whole, especially that you never know what'll be coming at you - the horse scene with ex-secretary Jang felt like such a breeze of fresh air when he said to Ji Uk that he should take care of his own life and not let others take the reign, especially not dead people.
But what was for me a serious letdown was the office reenactment scene. I can't follow the swooning here because I just can't get it into my head how you could flirt with a guy who is in the verge of destroying my besties career just because Mom says so and trying to send said bestie's husband to Canada for the same reason AND YOU KNOW IT! I couldn't even pretend to be polite let alone to flirt with him. That scene left a bad feeling throughout. What almost bothers me most is his passive-aggressive demeanour by saying things like "I know I'll just be the villain to you", which tells us that he knows this is wrong. But he still follows through because why? Grow up, man. I had hoped for a show that turns so many tropes on its head that the two half siblings would gang up on Dad and refuse outright to compete, and that in that same turn son would take a stand against Mom for her mean attitudes, but no. At least yet.
And re Ji Uk's now in the open secret: he has kept it to himself for far too long, along with all his orher secrets. But let me remind you: this show is all about lies. Almost everyone here is lying! You never know what you're at with all these people.
I'm really excited how they will wrap this up next week and I agree, this is the show which could have well used two episodes more.

I don't understand the business logic of how Ji Uk existing in Seoul or even anywhere in the country is a potential problem for shareholders and their stocks.

He has no interest in the business and even if he did, what is the worst he could do? Say "hey, I'm the product of an affair 28 years ago and that means kids can't learn from tablets or use our software"? Even if he demanded shares of the company, does he automatically have to get a position in the company?

I have never understood this correlation between family/personal matters and stocks and shareholders.
Sidenote: it kinda reminds me of Strong Girl Do Bong Soon where the male lead was threatened because the brother didn't want him to take over the dad's business and the ML was like I don't WANT the business. I'm doing my own thing over here.

I might understand if the personal matters directly affected (such as the decision maker has an illness that lead to bad decision making) the business but an affair from 28 years ago? A guy who worked in a convenience store and never got ANY benefits of being the CEO's offspring.

Ji Uk was just living his own life before the CEO decided to interfere in his life. He just wanted to use and discard him but somehow Ji Uk is the threat to everything? Make it make sense.

Thanks for the recap @unit you really got the best deal with this recap selection as so far this drama has maintained a well balanced fun with serious elements approach.
I am confident this drama will end well and be my favourite K drama for 2024.

I think even the murder in a rom com trope will be turned on its head and the dad is back because he wants to apologise not harass. I picture him living in the shared house and working at Thirsty deer with the My Sweet Mobster bunch🥰

I have also got the Manager Jang fan club t shirt. I like the return of Manager Jang giving us another insight as we always see the secretary/driver as living for the boss so we forget they have hopes and dreams just like everyone else.

I want to see the Jiwook story and his secret mission with the good deeds for the police etc. and his time with his mother in law as his connection with their family and why he kept it a secret must be more than it currently appears to be.

I feel kinda bad for No Gain No Love because the spinoff looks like it's gearing up to be better received than its original. All the hype and posters.
They now have 2!

Honestly, the more hype over it, the more I kinda dislike it (even though I would probably watch it since it's an extention of NGNL and it's short with only 2 episodes).
Sidenote: the trailer/teaser/whatever it is did make me chuckle haha though I didn't remember it after viewing unless I thought about it.

I wish NGNL would end on great ratings but the holiday seemed to have reset things for some reason.

I think the scene of Hae-young’s mom congratulating Hee-sung hits harder with the framing: Once more, Hae-young’s mom responds to someone else instead of the efforts made by her daughter to engage with her.

The dementia plot tangent also makes me believe that Hae-young will submit another business case to get out of career purgatory with proof of her own talents, by converting low-performing Popcorn Houses/Community Centres into whole-of-family resource centres, which strengthens family ties, buys generational loyalty, and addresses loneliness and other causes for dementia in a non-medical and non-judgmental way.

I love Hae-young so much. She hates Bok Gyu as much as I do. Whatever goodwill Gyu-hyun earned from playing soccer with the orphanage kids and assuring them that spending time with them is not punishment completely vanished when he barged into Ji-wook's room with his shoes on, grabbed him by the collar, and fired both of them. I'm rooting for Hae-young and Ji-wook to steal their company and overthrow the CEO. Like she cursed Ji-wook's parents, I hope that entire chaebol family goes to hell.

Hae-young's passive-aggressiveness and pettiness were the best. I loved when she yanked the blanket off Gyu-hyun. That's Ji-wook's blanket and Ji-wook's bed. Gyu-hyun is so shameless eating Ji-wook's soup and casually mentioning in front of Hae-young about Ji-wook leaving the country as if he weren't the one who threatened him to leave in the first place. Even Ja-yeon called Ji-wook out for being too nice when he defended Gyu-hyun.

Hae-young and Ji-wook have the most mature and beautiful relationship. Shin Min-a and Kim Young-dae are both so tall and match each other perfectly. They've never met as foster siblings, but his keeping this secret from her absolutely feels like a betrayal. I wonder if the wedding photo in Mom's hospital room was from Ji-wook.

Ha-joon and Ja-yeon's lunch was lovely. That was the sincerest apology, and I loved how he acknowledged her feelings for him. They would've been great together.

Hee-sung's pregnancy comes off a little preachy and guilt trippy as if she'll make a decision to keep the baby. I was proud of Ja-yeon for being so brave in confronting whom she thought was her father, although she'd need more than an umbrella. Murderer Dad is this show's serial killer. A big thanks for the recap, @Unit!

I always was unconfortable that Ji-Uk didn't tell her about her mum and his biologic father. He always knew who she was and he even kept her favorite food at the convenient store to be sure she got it. So I don't understand why he hide it from her when she proposed. Again, he hide from her why he came work in HER compagny... He had a lot of chances to tell her the truth.

I'm more invested in the second couple. They were cute together.

Shin Min-ah is really great in this role. I like her character, she has a big heart (even if threating to hit someone who was abused as a kid isn't the best idea,,,).

I wonder is Hae Young is the biological daughter to her mom! Seeing her reaction to the pregnancy news like she has a very soft spot for babies. The drama has not explained so far why her parents helping foster kids.

Frankly, I could watch that argument and confession scene between Hae young and Ji Wook for days on end, and never get tired of it, because it was so real and so heartfelt... It's like watching a real couple, with all their true feelings finally bursting through the dam of unsaid insecurities... Just beautifully written and acted. That alone makes this couple up there with my other best, Ryan and Deok Mi, both coincidentally from the same writer.

I'll be hopping on the Bok Gyu-hyun hate train.
He has the sweet and soft puppy charm thing going for him, but that really is all.
He posted hateful comments including "you should kill yourself" under a then unknown writers story, and that alone makes him unredeemable. Subjectively speaking, the recent Korean online bullying scandals, and the Terrace House Hana Kimura suicide and probably countless nameless victims of online bullying are not to made light of.
It's not funny.
It's horrifying.
If you don't like smut, just go somewhere else, don't shame people for being creative and don't tell them to die. On top of being a grade A asshole, this also makes him a prude.
(Which also is not boyfriend material, if he even cam close to be considered.)
And then he goes on and places the blame for his dad's adultery on a boy who has only ever been kind to him and had absolutely no choice in the matter whatsoever and fires him and his wife.
Then, without an apology, he drunkenly assaults Ja Yeong, sleeps in the bed of the guy he threatened to drive out of the country, eats everybodys breakfast and spills everbodys secret.
Dude can go bok himself.

I know it's not happening, but I still have this lingering hope that secretary Jang's infertility is a misunderstanding and that he had one passionate drunken night with Ji Uk's mum while comforting her because of his a**hole boss, exactly 9 months prior to Ji Uk's birth.
On another note, though I know that I'm in a huge minority (if not totally alone) here, the secondary couple bores me to death. I don't find them swoony nor interesting, and I'm really not sure why, since I like both actors, and I like her character. But something about his character and the way he is introduced just rubs me the wrong way. And that was even before the display of pathetic chaebol bullying this week.