The new JTBC drama The Interest of Love is a complex tale about romance and hierarchy that likes to take its time. As the drama slowly establishes its love square, we get introduced to our characters and the content of their hearts (not to mention their bank accounts). So far, it offers deep feeling and high tension — which is more exciting than I imagined for a show about bank employees.
EPISODES 1-2 WEECAP
Set in a bank, you know this is going to be a story about money. But it’s shaping up to be about how wealth — particularly, not having it — creates lifelong effects, no matter what we do to shift into a better social position. More than a black-and-white story about the haves and the have-nots, it’s a complicated tale about how people can move into new social categories, but never really escape where they come from.
The premiere week gives us a ton of setup, as there are a lot of characters here and everyone has a backstory. We open in the Yongpo Branch of Korea Credit Union (KCU) where HA SANG-SOO (Yoo Yeon-seok) stares longingly at his co-worker AHN SOO-YOUNG (Moon Ga-young). We come to learn that Sang-soo has been working at KCU for three years, and has had a crush on Soo-young for just as long. The two have never moved beyond bank talk, but Sang-soo is just waiting for his chance.
Right away, we get a lesson on discrimination. In voiceover, Sang-soo tells us that it’s not just the bank’s customers who are put into a hierarchy — with the rich and well-connected getting VIP treatment — but also the bank’s employees. Later on, we’ll find out that Soo-young has been at the bank longer than Sang-soo — in fact, she trained him — but he’s already moved into a higher position because he has a college degree and she doesn’t.
The drama is very careful to show how competent and ambitious Soo-young is, but that her bosses refuse to give her any work outside of her role, keeping her firmly in her place. It also makes a point about how Sang-soo and his two male co-workers (all at a level above Soo-young) are known as the three idiots because they make so many mistakes.
All this context paints an important backdrop for how the romance part of the show plays out. In Episode 1, Sang-soo looks for ways to be around Soo-young at work, finally asking her out on a date. She says yes, and the two go to dinner and a movie. On their walk home, he asks to see her again. She wants to know what it would mean if they go out again, and says, “I don’t like undefined relationships.” (Whoa. Her pushiness just made me swoon a little.)
From that information we (and Sang-soo) assume that she likes him and wants to get serious. He responds that he feels the same way and they agree to go out on Tuesday night (her day off). When Tuesday comes, Soo-young gets pretty and goes to the restaurant. At the same time, Sang-soo is stuck at the bank unable to balance his cash drawer. He doesn’t contact her, but instead finishes, running out of the bank — and breaking his phone — arriving more than an hour late. He looks around but Soo-young is already gone.
The next day at work, Sang-soo tries to apologize to Soo-young but she gives him the cold shoulder and from there on ignores him. It’s not clear how much time goes by, but he keeps leaving small gifts on her desk every day, only to find them untouched when he leaves to go home.
Not long after, a rumor starts that Soo-young is dating the bank security guard, JEONG JONG-HYUN (Jung Ga-ram). The bank is a terrible rumor mill, with two skeezy team leaders being the worst offenders. These guys constantly talk about Soo-young when she’s not around, because she’s extremely attractive, and everyone secretly wants a shot with her. (In a gratifying early scene, Sang-soo sticks up for Soo-young by pouring beer for one of the team leaders — “accidentally” overfilling his glass until it spills on his pants.)
Once the rumor starts about Soo-young and Jong-hyun, the team leaders interrogate the two at a team dinner. Both deny that they’re dating, until it’s so uncomfortable that Jong-hyun excuses himself to go home.
After dinner, Sang-soo follows Soo-young out and asks if she’s okay. She finally talks to him this time, but it’s to ask why he’s bringing it up if he knows it was an uncomfortable situation for her. Does he want to talk about how she feels stupid for sitting there and smiling? She continues, “It’s more annoying to see you acting like you’re different.”
Sang-soo responds by apologizing again for missing their dinner. But she says, “Do you think that’s why I’m upset with you?” He brushes this off and goes on to pronounce that he likes her, and that she liked him too — it was her idea to define their relationship. She then tells him that those team leader jerks were right: she’s dating Jong-hyun.
Episode 1 ends here and when Episode 2 begins, we get a shift in perspective. Everything we’ve seen so far is from Sang-soo’s point of view. This time, we see the missed date scene again through Soo-young’s eyes. She’s at the table, patiently waiting for Sang-soo for more than an hour. She sees him in the street, running up to the restaurant. She looks excited for a second and then gets overcome by something. The camera does not go back to the street, but she has either seen something or had a realization.
We then see the confrontation after the team dinner again. In this version, when Sang-soo apologizes for missing their dinner that night, she asks, “Are you really sorry for making me wait?” He doesn’t answer. The two are looking at each other, and then her face tightens and she turns and walks away.
Whatever underlies this conversation is purposefully left unclear, but I don’t think it’s an accident that this episode gives us the class backgrounds of our leads. Soo-young appears to be positioning Sang-soo in a different part of the social hierarchy than where she sees herself.
We learn that Soo-young comes from outside of Seoul, where the family business is oysters. She moved to the capital wanting a better life, working service jobs until she landed the position at the bank. She thought it was how she would move up in the world, but they’ve always drawn a line, saying that college grads should make more money than non-college grads, independent of performance. She says to herself, “I’m on the other side of the line,” and it’s a remark on how devalued she feels.
I get the impression that Soo-young sees Sang-soo on the opposite side of the line from her. What we learn about him, though, is that his father died when he was young and he and his mother lived in a basement apartment in Gangnam while he was in high school. Even though they were poor, and their living conditions weren’t good, their address meant that he went to school with rich kids. He studied hard and went to college, moving up in social position, but he still has a nagging sense of unease when he’s around his wealthier friends.
To add to this mix, a new team member, PARK MI-KYUNG (Geum Sae-rok), joins the bank near the end of Episode 2. She’s from a wealthy family and went to a good school, but wants to make her way on her own and not take money from her family. As soon as she enters, all the other employees start falling at her feet because she’s attractive and well dressed, and speaks to everyone with ease.
It turns out that Mi-kyung and Sang-soo went to college together, and straight away it seems like she has a crush on him. They go to dinner to catch up, as well as act friendly at work, and Soo-young looks angry every time she sees them together. From the looks of it, Soo-young really did/does like Sang-soo, and it’s not totally clear what her relationship is with Jong-hyun.
But to make sure we’re really confused, the episodes end when Sang-soo shows up in front of Soo-young’s house while she’s out on a blind date (that she agreed to go on for a friend). He has been feeling tormented by the fact she’s on a date — and has come to the conclusion that she’s not really dating Jong-hyun (since Jong-hyun continues to deny it).
We see Sang-soo text Soo-young that he’s at her house because he needs to tell her something. He waits outside as she pulls up in a taxi. She gets out and runs to the door of the building — and into the arms of Jong-hyun. Sang-soo looks confused (as do I) and turns to leave.
We have to wait until next week to try to understand what is going on, and I know I’m invested in finding out. The narration and perspective shifts in this drama are interesting because, on one hand, they’re trying to fake us out, but on the other, it feels like you can’t totally trust whoever’s telling the story. And it’s not necessarily that they’re untrustworthy, but that the characters are seeing things differently. I hope the show keeps this up as the episodes go on.
The only thing that has me a little shaky about this drama is that it’s bringing up a lot of uncomfortable topics. Aside from social mobility and the nuances of class, we have a very male-dominated work environment that’s leaving me somewhat queasy. Many of the bank scenes that involve Soo-young show a downright hostile work environment. And even the male lead is giving off a wee bit of the toxic vibe. My hope is that the drama will delve into these issues and explore them. And I’ll be happy to go along for the ride if it does.