We’re at the halfway point and our leads are totally twitterpated, which means the drama is cooking up jealousy all around — even if our OTP feigns confidence at all times. Our hero’s journey starts to take off this week, giving us some growth, as he realizes the best way to meet his goals is to do exactly what he was trying to avoid. Plus, we all know what happens in Episode 8 of an old school rom-com, so get ready — because when the moment arrives, it’s anything but traditional.
EPISODES 7-8
I’m tempted to jump straight to the end and talk about the kiss, but I need a few minutes to remember how to breathe, so let’s start with the lead-up. This week packs a lot of situations that feel somewhat forced, but they’re necessary (story-wise) to motivate Won’s growth. Because the major crux of these episodes is that Won decides to go after his sister and try to take over the company.
We already know that Won’s goal is to protect Sa-rang, almost everything he does is based on this desire. But this week he realizes that in order to really protect her — and to protect all of his employees from mistreatment — he needs to be in charge. A couple of things happen to lead him to this conclusion. First, Hwa-ran holds a press conference where she takes credit for rescuing Sa-rang from her almost-inevitable mountainside doom. And Sa-rang is commanded to sit beside her and read from a script where she corroborates this story.
At the press conference, Hwa-ran does her best Karl Marx impression and tells the reporters that it’s true that companies want to maximize profits, but it’s the employees that generate those profits for the company (and this is why she rescued Sa-rang). She goes further, saying, “The employees are the true owners.” This whole schtick is good for PR, but in a private discussion with Won afterward, she says the exact opposite, telling him that the company owns the employees.
Won doesn’t believe that a person’s worth can be calculated with money and he starts to see that with Hwa-ran in charge, work conditions will not improve at King Group. After a pep talk from Sang-shik, and some buddy-buddy time with Sa-rang’s overworked besties, Won sees that the only way to protect the workers is to claim his power in the company.
The second motivator for Won this week has to do with an obscenely wealthy prince that comes to stay at the hotel. The setup for this is that everyone in Korea wants this VVIP guest at their hotel, where he’ll spend tons of money. But Won and this prince happen to have gone to business school together, so Won calls him up to ask if he’ll stay at the King Hotel. The two are hardcore frenemies who can’t wait to get in a jab at each other, and so, PRINCE SAMIR (Anupam Tripathi) agrees to stay at Won’s hotel on the condition that Won will be his servant and say yes to anything he asks.
As you can imagine, lots of nuttiness ensues from this arrangement, but the outcomes are twofold. On the business side, Won is forced to act as chauffeur, open doors, wait tables, pour wine, and whatever else the prince asks, which gives him a taste of what it’s like to be a service worker. He finally starts to understand just how crappy these jobs can be and the kinds of jerkiness the employees have to put up with. And his empathy pushes him on the path toward becoming his father’s successor.
The other outcome is that Won gets insanely jealous when Prince Samir takes an immediate liking to Sa-rang. With so much money and power, no one wants to say no to the prince, and Sa-rang treats it as part of her job to dine with him, take him sightseeing, and attend a “party” that only includes the two of them — and Won, who’s serving the food and drinks. (Side note: I’ll take a working class Junho over a wealthy one any day. The boy’s got apron game.)
Sa-rang and Won have already made up after last week’s little fiasco with the birthday heiress. When Won showed up at her house at the end of Episode 6, it was to clear the air and make it known that he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Sa-rang’s outburst (“Then why did you hug her?!”) gives Won the warm and fuzzies when he sees that she’s jealous. He says he’ll make sure there are no more uncertainties between them and they move on.
But as Sa-rang acquiesces to the prince, Won gets to see how it feels on the other side. He tries to sabotage any chances Prince Samir might have by intervening on his romantic moves. The final straw comes when the prince proposes to Sa-rang with a rock the size of an island, and Won grabs the ring and pulls Sa-rang toward the door — screw their agreement! Sa-rang stops him, though, wanting to reject the prince in her own kind and confident way. This curbs Won’s boiling jealousy and our OTP seems pretty darn comfortable with each other from this point on.
And here is where we get to the good stuff. After all the teasing arguments are resolved and the prince finally leaves the country, Won asks Sa-rang out to “talk about us.” She meets him at a restaurant where the two are alone and Won acts as chef and server, bringing her course after course. He’s out to impress as Sa-rang delights in the food and even feeds him a bite of her pasta. Adorbs.
But Won goes a step too far in trying to act cool when his flambé sets off the sprinkler system, shutting down the lights and flooding the restaurant. Sa-rang drops her wine glass in surprise, leaving shards all over the floor, and Won whisks her out of harm’s way and onto the kitchen counter. It’s dark, their faces are super close, and it’s clear they’re about to kiss. But there’s a slow and tense lead-up until Won finally breathes, “Do I have permission?”
Holy %$#@&. Yes. It’s as hot as it sounds and there’s almost a full two minutes of kissing afterward with wet hair and literal steam. And here I thought these episodes were about to be boring.
Considering that it’ll probably take me a few years to get over what I’ve just witnessed, I don’t have much to say. As far as following the old rom-com playbook, yes, we got a kiss in Episode 8, but asking for consent is definitely from the modern edition. I’m always a big fan of permission seeking, but it also fits with the story here, knowing Won’s righteous character.
I was surprised at the intensity of the scene, though, given that up until now we’ve had cutesy antics without much tension. As much as I welcomed that kiss (and gawd Junho’s wet hair is so pretty), I would have expected less steam (or, at least, sans lip biting) to match the overall tone of the drama. When I think of other really great, super intense, kiss scenes from this year (Call It Love and The Interest of Love come to mind), the buildup to each was fraught with so much tension that the intensity was palpable and totally earned. I’m not sure we totally earned the intensity in this case, but whatevs, I’ll take it. If you asked me to unsee it, I would not.
Anyway, it’s obvious now that this was never really an enemies-to-lovers story but a straight-up romance. And while it feels like the romantic stakes were lowered a little this week — since it’s abundantly clear that our leads are gaga for each other — luckily, we have new stakes to contend with as Won prepares to upend the way his family does business. I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles it with Sa-rang by his side, whether they’re just prepping tablecloths together or they go all out and form a union. And, you know, if they want to get cozy in a kitchen a couple more times, you won’t hear any complaints from me.