Cheol A Foundation Award
Episode 7 of The Penthouse picks up right where we left off with Ro Na forced to watch as Eun-Byeol takes her place up on stage. Seo-Jin’s father watches approvingly too as a flashback confirms Seo-Jin was under pressure to make sure Eun-Byeol was in the spotlight. Seok-Kyung also didn’t perform because Seo-Jin figured out her test results were identical to Seok-Hoon’s. She confronted Joo about this and twisted his hand, forcing him to take the pair out of the equation. After Eun-Byeol’s triumphant performance, Seo-Jin announces that they’re opening up the Cheol A foundation award again. As she heads back to the main atrium, Ro-Na finds out she’s been forced into community service and given 10 penalty points for being late. When Yoon-Hee shows up and hears this, she accuses Seo-Jin of being the one behind everything. With Ro Na caught in the firing line, she promises Seo-Jin that if she hurts her daughter, she’ll make Eun-Byeol cry tears of blood. Meanwhile, Joo decides to send Seok-Kyung abroad. Given her grades aren’t good and she’s hiding behind Seok-Hoon’s brains, he’s had enough and decides to split the pair up. In fact, it’s happening right now. One of the hired help arrives and starts taking her away… until Su-Ryeon shows and confronts him. She sticks up for the kids and tells him that they’re hers too. She won’t allow this to happen. In order to stop her from being taken away, Seok-Kyung promises to fight and win the trophy. If she can’t do that then she’ll leave. Yoon-Hee’s loan sharks return asking for money. They warn her to pay on time and make an example of a man right in front of her face. When Ro-Na finds out she took a loan to get a place at Bosuk Village, she’s shocked and beside herself with panic. She also refuses to move and live in the place Seol-A died. Yoon-Cheol continues to do his best to patch things up with Seo-Jin but it’s obvious her heart and mind are elsewhere. After Joo broke things up with her, Yoon-Cheol invites his wife out for cocktails. Only, Joo asks to see her too. With a big choice to make, Seo-Jin decides to head over and see Joo. Their affair will continue but on her terms. As the pair start kissing and embracing, Su-Ryeon happens to be tracking them and knows where they are. In the morning, Su-Ryeon speaks to Joo and decides to take control of looking after the kids. She’s also going to seize authority of the furniture company her parents controlled for good measure too. Ro-Na arrives at school but notices bullies out the front forcing everyone to hold their bags up. Seok-Hoon arrives and helps her over the wall to avoid that humiliation – especially on her first day too. When Ro-Na arrives at class, the rest of the students start berating her and calling her “Waiting List”. Ro-Na shrugs that aside though, telling them she pities the students. That, interestingly enough, brings flashbacks to those moments with Seol-A being bullied. Seok-Hoon once again steps up though and takes Eun-Byeol under her wing, allowing the girl to sit next to her. Seok-Kyung sticks up for her too and allows Ro-Na to come over and study. Unfortunately these glimmers of hope soon fade when Ro-Na learns that her teacher is none other than Ma Du-Ki – the man who set her up for failure beforehand. Ro-Na confronts him after class and asks whether Seo-Jin put him up to it. He simply brushes it aside until Eun-Byeol arrives and starts verbally attacking her. As the pair fight, Seo-Jin’s favoritism comes through as she gives both kids a penalty point. Only, when she finds out Ro-Na called Eun-Byeol a thief, she forces Ro-Na into another series of community service and penalty points. In the midst of all this drama, Seok-Hoon and Seok-Kyung watch from afar, happily taking in this carnage. It turns out it was their plan all along to turn Eun-Byeol and Ro-na against one another. Yoon-Cheol struggles to keep it together in the wake of what Seo-Jin has been up to. He even receives an anonymous text message confirming that she was at someone else’s villa. For now this isn’t elaborated on but it’s clear that troubling times lay ahead. That someone is of course Joo, who we see spying on his wife and checking Yoon’s laptop to see what’s there. Within the files he finds pictures of Seol-A, which brings back moments from that fateful night. Joo hit Seol-A and lost his temper, contemplating using tools on her… but did he? Su-Ryeon invites Yoon-Hee and Ro-Na over to her house that afternoon. On the way out though, Seo-Jin sees them and kicks the pair out. As they stare up at the building, Yoon-Hee promises she’ll do her best to make sure they both live there one day. Ro-Na pulls away though and asks not to stay in the village. Yoon-Hee refuses though and eventually walks away. Ro-Na is not happy and tells her Mother she hates her. This blows up at school too, with Ro-Na bullied by the other students for living in Seol-A’s old house. This intensifies too when they write on her desk and throw rubbish at her. Eventually Ro-Na has enough and pushes Seok-Hoon over and hurries away. Meanwhile, Kyu-Jin decides to buy the Unit off Yoon-Hee, who eventually succumbs to Ro-Na’s wishes and wants to be done with this. When she shows up at the real estate office, Kyu-Jin hides but just before Yoon-Hee signs…news breaks that Bosuk Village will go through a massive redevelopment project. As she cheers, we cut back to Ro-Na who stands precariously on the edge of a bannister. As the kids start circling her, Ro-Na berates them all for what they did to Seol-A….and falls off the edge. Thankfully a man wearing a pretty unconvincing wig arrives and stops her from falling.
The Episode Review
Phew, what a dramatic episode! Penthouse continues to intrigue and with Yoon-Hee now on the verge of joining the rich elite, the second half of this drama certainly promises to hammer home just how much the tables have turned. Poor Ro-Na has had to endure the same bullying Seol-A did but just like her, Ro-Na is strong willed and able to withstand these horrible kids. At least for now. That goes for Yoon-Hee too, who’s had a tough time of it so far but with Bosuk Village going through a redevelopment project, it should be enough to swing things back in her favour. So far Penthouse has been very dramatic and with less shouting and more character development, this is becoming one of the biggest guilty pleasures of the year. With lots more material to get through though, what’s next for our characters? We’ll have to wait and see!
