Easy resolutions abound as our conflict-free couple continues on their way. But they do hit a snag when the press gets wind of their relationship. Is it a scandal or a class-smashing love story? And what will it do to our hero’s bid for the hotel? In our penultimate week, the drama answers these questions and more, while tossing our OTP into pajama sets and high school uniforms because, well, why not?
EPISODES 13-14
Yoon-ah did such a bang-up job last week making me feel Sa-rang’s pain that I actually believed this show was headed for some conflict. Haha. Nope, not a chance. Sa-rang is over it so fast, she can’t believe Won is still thinking about it the next day. In fact, all the potential conflict is resolved so easily, it makes me wonder what we’re still doing here. And then I remember: we’ve only got a few days left to look at Junho in new outfits.
We come back to our story at the broken plate debacle, when Sa-rang overhears that Won is supposed to marry Yu-ri. This time we see Won’s expression and he’s as surprised as Sa-rang. He jumps from his seat and asks if Sa-rang is okay, saying he’ll clean up the mess. Before things get any more awkward, Sa-rang’s supervisor tells her to hightail it out of the room and doesn’t allow her to return.
After this, Won is very nervous about Sa-rang’s response. He makes it clear at the table that he loves someone else and he’s not going to marry Yu-ri. His three dining companions find this cute — what’s love got to do with marriage? When you’re rich, that’s not a thing.
Won excuses himself and seeks out Sa-rang to assure her that the marriage will never happen. Sa-rang has a stiff upper lip, but Won is still worried and wants to talk when she’s off the clock. She agrees to call him later, but then falls asleep when she gets home, leading Won to her house where he attempts to climb the gate. He’s stopped by police officers who can’t tell if he’s a stalker or a romantic (it’s a thin line), but either way, he’s thwarted from seeing Sa-rang.
The next day at King the Land, Sa-rang is professional and treats him like a guest. Before he can coax her into conversation, Yu-ri arrives and cuts them off. Yu-ri still wants to get married and reminds Won that he’ll be head of King Group if he marries her. Won brushes it off and tells her to find someone she’s in love with to marry. And that’s the end of Yu-ri and those pesky marriage talks. Easy-peasy.
That night, Sa-rang meets Won at the hibachi restaurant where they ate so many dates ago and he asks her to trust him, even though it might be hard. He hopes she’s not considering a breakup. Sa-rang is appalled. Why would he mention breaking up? Wait, is he still thinking about that forced marriage he’s supposed to have? She forgot about that already. Sure, she was shocked, but it’s not like she expected his dad to welcome her with open arms. Then they go back to their lovey-dovey selves, joking, smiling, and holding hands. Hmm, why do I feel like I’ve just been bamboozled?
For our next no-fuss resolution, Won and Hwa-ran present their proposals for the future of the hotel. Hwa-ran lays out a cost-cutting plan that would lower the employees’ quality of life and also risk the quality of the hotel’s service. In opposition to cutting corners, Won proposes to expand the hotel into a global chain that would earn more money. When Chairman Gu hears the bottom line, he names Won president of the hotel right then and there. Hwa-ran, of course, does not take this lying down and declares the war isn’t over.
With a dip in problems to solve, the drama decides to make Sa-rang the babysitter of Won’s nephew (Hwa-ran’s young son), who’s been living abroad until recently. The setup is a way to get Sa-rang into the bedroom quarters of Won’s house — and it works. Sa-rang ends up in Won’s room, glimpsing into his domestic life for the first time, after we’ve spent most of the drama with him getting to know how she lives.
The highlight of this sequence is when Won and Sa-rang take the nephew — who’s lonely and ignored by his mother — to a park. Won tells his nephew that even if he wants to be like his uncle when he grows up, there’s at least one thing he has to do differently. He shouldn’t hide his emotions because honesty is brave. The moment does two important things: cements Won’s character growth and shows off his fresh white socks.
New problems arise when Won and Sa-rang are caught on camera, hugging and kissing in matching jammies. It’s Hwa-ran who hired the photographer and her team that releases an article to the press. And no, Sang-shik isn’t involved — that thread went nowhere fast. He’s turned down Hwa-ran’s request to become a spy and later he gives Won the heads up.
Neither Won nor Sa-rang are initially fazed when their relationship goes public. They didn’t do anything wrong, so according to Won, it’s not a scandal, it’s a love story. But it gets a little tougher when some of the hotel staff turn on Sa-rang and make her out to be an opportunist. Won defends Sa-rang, clarifying that he pursued her first (although, Hwa-ran wants to spin it so Won sounds like a sleazy guy who hits on his employees).
Chairman Gu has a few responses to this whole ordeal. First, when an article is released that asks if Won’s “Cinderella-style affair” will end like his father’s, the chairman takes it personally. The article is referring to the fact that Chairman Gu married an “ordinary” woman (Won’s mom) and she ultimately left him.
Second, when his personal history makes the news, he figures out Hwa-ran is behind it and confronts her. He asks what she hoped to gain and adds, “Politics suits you better than business management.” Then, in another clean sweep, he tells her to renounce all her positions in King Group and leave.
Third, the chairman initially says he won’t interfere with Won and Sa-rang, but then he reassigns Sa-rang to one of their budget hotels outside of Seoul. He thinks that once the lovebirds are separated, Sa-rang will come to her senses.
After the quintessential talk with her chaebol boyfriend’s father, Sa-rang doesn’t mention it to Won. He’s about to go on a business trip for three weeks and, as their final date before he leaves, he rents an amusement park for just the two of them. Magically, they’re wearing matching Chucks and student uniforms as they go on rides (how? Better yet, why?). Afterward, he’s on a plane and she’s arriving to the King Tourist Hotel — also known as the place of exile for King Hotel employees.
Three weeks later, Won returns — after having no communication with Sa-rang — and marches into King the Land ready to see her. He learns she was reappointed, and the news is delivered with a big fake smile, which triggers his abandonment trauma. But, he’s an adult this time — and the one in charge — so he’s able to retrieve Sa-rang’s whereabouts with no trouble. As he rushes out to rescue his lady love, his mother (Nam Ki-ae) appears at the hotel and introduces herself, stopping him in his tracks.
Can you have too much of a good thing? After these episodes, I’m changing my answer to yes. Right at the moment I wanted the drama to raise the stakes, it lowered them. Sending Sa-rang off to a not-so-distant location doesn’t scare me too much (or make me excited for next week) when all the other potential obstacles were disarmed without any friction.
On one hand, that’s the way this show has always operated — and I was happy with the conflict-free romance when it had no pretenses. But on the other, things changed for me with the emotional fake-out of the plate drop that turned out to mean nothing. They introduced the possibility of consequences, which got me all worked up, and now I’m disappointed. And it seems no amount of silent stares or accidental falls onto a bed can bring me back.
I understand that Sa-rang’s non-reaction to Won’s potential marriage was meant to convey how deep their bond is. But it’s hard to have a story about class conflict without any class consciousness. I don’t want Sa-rang to suddenly suffer some crazy inferiority complex, but we’ve seen Won learn and change via his experiences with her, and she deserves to have something of her own to overcome as well. We got greater emotional depth this week when Pyung-hwa walked away from Ro-woon, saying she was embarrassed and wanting to be left alone after he found out about her divorce. I would have liked at least that much internal conflict for our female lead.
The drama has made itself clear that it’s a Cinderella story, but I was vividly holding out hope that we’d have a Flower Boy Ramyun Shop situation where Won leaves his throne to go help Sa-rang run her grandma’s restaurant — and then they’d get all Itaewon Class and compete with King Group. Would it be too much to ask? Maybe. But the drama definitely makes me giddier when we’re hanging out in Sa-rang’s world more than Won’s.