The Lucky Coin
Episode 6 of The Interest of Love starts with us back at the bank as we see that Su-yeong has been an outsider from the very beginning of her time there. Her female colleagues give her the cold shoulder, while we see the Audit Team’s reason for being in the Bank is to do with Mr Yuk. The staff are convinced that this is Su-yeong’s doing and wonder why she would do this. All the staff are in agreement that Su-yeong shouldn’t have reported him but when Mr Yuk squares up to her, Sang-su steps in the way, telling him to calm down before speaking. Sang-su’s action does the trick, but he calls Su-yeong into his office, who confirms that she’s going to be okay going it alone. In Yuk’s office, she tells Su-yeong to retract the statement about coercion. Su-yeong stands her ground and refuses, asking instead for a formal apology. She hands back the money he gave her for the cab fare, which he’s surprised she hasn’t spent. Su-yeong continues, questioning Yuk’s actions, especially given she received a low score on her performance evaluation. That doesn’t seem right given she was the best performing worker but got the lowest bonus. She was formed to accept it but it’s clear there’s a class hierarchy she’s not comfortable with. Sang-su heads off to check on Su-yeong after the meeting but she tells him not to worry and that she can take care of this herself. Jong-hyeon also messages her too from across the room. Su-yeong continues to act professionally, even in the face of all her colleagues talking about her, wondering how she can just get on with work like nothing has happened. Mi-gyeong saves her from this rabble of gossip and they head off together. However, she receives a call from her boyfriend, which Mi-gyeong believes is actually Sang-su. Straight away, Su-yeong clears everything up and claims it’s Jong-hyeon, not Sang-su. While Su-yeong and Sang-su are together in the office, the latter looking for a copy of a loan agreement, the pair end up locked in the cupboard together after-hours. Sang-su and Su-yeong are both without their phones and are forced to wait. Tensions are high between them as they end up touching. Sang-su and Su-yeong both eventually apologize, mostly for what happened during that night at the date. Sang-su points out he should have kept his promise, while Su-yeong admits it wouldn’t have worked out between them even if they had met up. Su-yeong suggests he must have felt the same way, explaining why he hesitated so. Sang-su wants him to meet a girl that can fulfill his desires. But what of Su-yeong? Well, she claims she has already found someone, that being Jong-hyeon. Finally Mr Ma arrives to free them both and they head off to the bus stop, waiting for their ride home. Su-yeong gets the bus to see Jong-Hyeong, where the pair have dinner together. Su-yeong admits that she’s okay and it was time for her to move anyway. Jong-hyeon suggests they go on a date that weekend… and even gives her a pick-me-up gift, which happen to be comfortable shoes. At work, Su-yeong is thanked for re-organizing the filing room by Mr Yuk and he even apologizes for his behaviour. He’s the bigger man and confirms it’s not going to happen again. He gives his formal apology, just like Su-yeong wanted. It turns out part of this comes from the two colleagues, who actually stuck up for Su-yeong and pointed out that coercion was witnessed. They reported this to the Audit Team under the allusion of anonymity. However, it was really Sang-su that turned things around, having reported Yuk for misusing funds for personal gain. That phone call from before was actually regarding Yuk doing this. This could have worked against Sang-su but he was not willing to see Su-yeong get fired so he put himself in the firing line. Fair play, I rescind my comments last episode about him not protecting others! While they talk, Sang-su notices Jong-hyeon downstairs with Su-yeong. Mi-gyeong arrives and tells him that they’ve just started dating together. Sang-su is jealous and ends up heading to the oyster restaurant for some drinks and food. After clearing his head, Sang-su meets with President Park who has agreed to join KCU Bank. Of course, he has favourable terms and good interest rates, and as Sang-su leaves, Mi-gyeong happens to be outside waiting for him. She wants to hang out. While they head off together, Jong-hyeon and Su-yeong end up studying together in the library, Jong-hyeon leans over and kisses her lightly, making her blush. After a lovely time together, Su-yeong invites Jong-hyeon to come over to hers on the morning of his exam. At the same time, Mi-gyeong mischievously laughs and tags along when Sang-su’s car breaks down and he’s forced into the tow truck. As a result, he ends up thinking of her when he sees another tow truck later on that evening. Jong-hyeon takes his exam but ends up with bad news. He doesn’t show up to work at the bank and doesn’t return Su-yeong’s calls and messages either. However, things for Mr Yuk go from bad to worse when his wife and mistress both show up together at the office. Mr Ma happens to be eavesdropping and tells the others. When all of this blows over, Yuk decides to take a leave of absence… and it turns out Jong-hyeon did too. That night, Jong-heyon rings Su-yeong and asks her to meet him. He happens to be down by the river. and he happens to be by the river. He apologizes for making her worry and looks down in the dumps. Meanwhile, Mi-gyeong and Sang-su happen to be running up the dock together, but when Mi-gyeong slips and falls, Sang-su notices she’s cut her leg. While he tends to her, Mi-gyeong is way more interested in a 500 won coin she’s found on the floor. It’s a rare one from 1998. She offers to give it to Sang-su… but only if he dates her. He agrees, although he admits he’s not 100% ready just yet. This good news is juxtaposed by Su-yeong and Jong-hyeon, as the latter decides to break up with her. But why? We’ll have to wait for next week.
The Episode Review
The Interest of Love delivers a much better episode this time and while the show continues to reuse the misunderstanding trope, it almost feels a bit self-referential and aware of its own flaws. That whole misunderstanding with Mi-gyeong and Su-yeong is almost immediately wrapped up as quickly as it arrives. The whole situation with Mr Yuk is wrapped up nicely this time though, as it turns out Sang-su actually did everyone a favour and worked to save Su-yeong without her knowing. I take back what I said before about him only acting in his own self-interest! Having said all that, the show continues to beat around the bush with its characters, and now we get this new mystery with Jong-hyeon and questions around just why he’s breaking up with Su-yeong. I’d imagine it’s less to do with his police exam and potentially something to do with his family. Either way, this is probably the strongest episode of the whole season so far, and that end graphic, highlighting the juxtaposing fortunes of Su-yeong and Sang-su, sets everything up neatly for next week. While the story is painfully obvious and it’s clear the two leads will end up together at the end, this chapter at least hints that there are some dramatic episodes before we reach that point.
