Our finale ties up loose ends and resolves the mysteries in the plot, as our characters find their place, thrive, and enjoy their romance in and out of the house.
EPISODES 11-12
Our final week opens with the non-mysterious mystery of how Moo-jin made his money. After the landlord of Ae-yeon’s snack bar raised the rent, Moo-jin took out a loan to purchase a store space in a redevelopment area. Unfortunately, the redevelopment was a scam, and the loan sharks ruined the snack bar to get their money back. After hearing that the scammer fled to Thailand, Moo-jin followed suit and spent the next ten years doing all sorts of odd jobs until he found the scammer. Moo-jin then joined forces with a rich madam (cameo by Seo Yi-sook) — whose daughter was also scammed out of 4 billion won — and when he caught the scammer, he handed him over to the madam.
In return, Madam gave Moo-jin the 4 billion won because: 1) she wanted revenge, not money; 2) she “failed as a parent” because her daughter fell for a scammer, and she wants Moo-jin to return to Korea and become a better parent; 3) she was a fan of Moo-jin during his baseball athlete days. Pfft. For homage/gratitude/aesthetic purposes, Moo-jin got an enlarged version of Madame’s arm tattoo on his own arm (to cover up a scar from the scuffle with the scammer’s thugs), and the legend of his “made money via gangsterism” was born. Heh.
In the present, Moo-jin admits that he couldn’t tell anyone about how he got the money because he didn’t earn it. But in a way, I’d say he did. Ten whole years looking for a scammer is no joke! And it was really thoughtful of him to refund the other scam victims when he returned to Korea. The money mystery is a little over the top — and at the same time slightly underwhelming — but it gave us the hilarious nightclub scene of the dance performance while beating up the thugs, so I forgive Show.
As for our elevator couple, they continue with their secret office romance until jealous co-workers expose them via a blind item. The vicious gossip devalues Mi-rae’s hard work in the company and makes her out to be a gold digger enjoying favoritism from CEO Nam. Tsk. Although Mi-rae is demoralized, she determines to hold out until the rumors blow over, and her boomer manager ends up being the one to break the ice on their team. I love that Mi-rae’s team stuck up for her to the jealous co-workers, and best of all, that Mi-rae and Tae-pyeong didn’t even consider a noble idiocy breakup. A top notch couple for real.
I’ve always liked CEO Nam, but I respected him more when he apologized to Mi-rae for causing the rumors by introducing Tae-pyeong as his son and placing him under her mentorship. CEO Nam then proposes to make Mi-rae his daughter-in-law, but Moo-jin is having none of it. How dare you covet my daughter after dragging her into unsavory rumors at work? The two fathers argue over whose child is better than the other — temporarily pausing to agree that Mi-rae is the future (mi-rae) of J Plus, lol — until the kids stop their bickering fathers.
Mi-rae is embarrassed by her dad’s actions, but she admits that it felt good to have him go to bat for her. On the other hand, my heart broke a little for CEO Nam when Tae-pyeong bid him goodnight and walked off without another word. Later on, Moo-jin comes to apologize to Tae-pyeong, and he makes an excuse for CEO Nam’s actions as well. After all, it’s hard for a father to remain calm when someone is badmouthing their kid. Moo-jin helps Tae-pyeong see that his dad has his best interests at heart, and Tae-pyeong ends up calling his dad out for a drink.
Tae-pyeong asks why CEO Nam decided to be his father, and Nam replies that it started out of a sense of responsibility, but it soon turned into genuine fatherly love. “I’m lucky to have a dad like you,” Tae-pyeong says to CEO Nam, and this sends me to the kitchen to cut some onions. Tae-pyeong tells his dad that after the internship at J Plus is over, he will return to being a full-time taekwondo instructor. Although the suit and tie life was an interesting experience, now that he has tried it, he knows for sure that it’s not his place. In return, CEO Nam honors his promise not to push his son further to join the family business.
As for the rest of our characters, Mi-rae’s hard work earns her a promotion at work. Moo-jin becomes a children’s baseball instructor, and Ae-yeon’s home shopping modelling career takes off. Everybody has found their place except for Hyun-jae — who’s hurting because no one in the family listens to him or believes in him. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about him, but his feelings are valid. Everyone in the family overlooks him as the maknae, and they almost never take his feelings into consideration. The family apologizes to Hyun-jae and they all make up. They also acknowledge that he is the better version of Moo-jin, business wise — and while they encourage his business ideas, they still send him for job interviews which is a more solid option. Lol.
As the drama comes to a close, Jae-geol apologizes for being a jerk to Moo-jin and they mend their friendship. Jae-geol and Hairdresser Tenant also kickstart a romance of their own. Househusband Tenant’s webnovel about Moo-jin’s adventures in Thailand becomes a hit, and his wife announces her pregnancy. In all of this, the tenants are curious as to whether Ae-yeon and Moo-jin will get back together. But while Moo-jin wants to get back together, he assures Ae-yeon that just being there for her and the kids is more important. Mi-rae is no longer opposed to her parents getting back together, and she tells her mom to do whatever makes her happy. She also tells her dad that she’s done resenting him and that she’s glad that he’s back, and this brings Moo-jin to the verge of tears.
In the end, Ae-yeon decides that she likes living alone, and she wants to keep things that way for now. Although she’s technically back together with Moo-jin, I think her decision not to move in with him was pretty realistic after everything they’ve been through. “We don’t have to live together and go through all the drama to be a family.” The drama concludes with Mi-rae’s narration that they are enjoying their lives as a family. Sometimes apart, and sometimes together. But most importantly, they’re all pretty happy right now.
There we have it folks, a satisfying end to a cute little show. Romance in the House was unambitious, didn’t do too much or drag with unnecessary drama. The plot went at a consistent and steady pace from beginning to end, and the show was all the better for it. My best part of the drama was Mi-rae and Tae-pyeong’s romance — which is currently in my top three romances this year. Amidst the many childhood first loves and destined love stories out there, it was really nice to see a natural progression of two adults going from strangers to lovers.
I came for the second chance romance, but Mi-rae and Tae-pyeong’s love story captured my heart and didn’t let go. Theirs was a well-done slow burn that didn’t annoy or frustrate the audience, and the chaebol parent fully supporting their relationship was the icing on the cake. I was curious to see if the drama would dare to be different by giving us a romance without marriage as its end goal, and I’m glad the drama honored Mi-rae’s decision not to get married and didn’t try to change her mind. Mi-rae’s relationship with Tae-pyeong is going strong, they’re happily living their best unmarried couple life, and that is enough.