Name: The Interest of Love season 1 episode 11
Director: Jo Young-min
Released: 2023-01-26T16:02:02

In the eleventh episode of The Interest of Love, Mi-gyeong avoids an unpleasant conversation with Sang-su while Su-yeong volunteers to work at another branch for three months. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

After Sang-su kisses Su-yeong, she gives him a chance to pretend it never happened. However, he follows her out and makes it clear that it was not a mistake and that he likes her.

Mi-gyeong’s father asks her about quitting her job, but when she protests, he tells her that she got an early promotion because he pulled some strings. He adds that she was going to get it later anyway; he just made it happen sooner, something that she had earlier told Sang-su.

Sang-su drops Su-yeong home, but she asks him to go out with her for drinks while Mi-gyeong anxiously waits for Sang-su to return.

Su-yeong plays a game with Sang-su; they both tell each other lies about their lives. Before ending the game, Su-yeong confesses that she has liked him for a long time and that he makes her forget their troubles.

At Sang-su’s house, Mi-gyeong takes the coin that she had given him when he had agreed to date her and realizes that she is not okay with him not being completely invested in their relationship. Sang-su does not receive her calls and holds Su-yeong’s hand instead.

Mr. Jeong promises to return Su-yeong’s money to her later. He then asks her if he could stay at her house for a little longer, and Su-yeong agrees.

At work, the employees notice Mi-gyeong’s weariness. Mr. Yuk asks the employees to volunteer to work at a subbranch for three months. Su-yeong volunteers to go, which makes Sang-su want to follow her. Gyeong-pil notices this and volunteers before Sang-su could.

Sang-su asks Su-yeong if she volunteered because of him, but she assures him that she volunteered because she would have been sent there anyway. The two overhear a private conversation and find out that Mr. Ma is dating Ms. Bae.

Sang-su’s mother comes to the bank to take a loan because her landlady has increased the rent. She advises Sang-su to manage his feelings when she notices him closely watching Su-yeong.

Sang-su wants to talk to Mi-gyeong, but she lies about being busy to avoid the conversation. At lunch, Ms. Seo notices the tension between Mi-gyeong and Su-yeong. She questions Su-yeong who is the person she is trying to avoid by leaving for three months.

Su-yeong sees Mr. Jeong happily messaging someone when she comes to visit him. She finds out that he let her believe that his study group friend, Seon-jae, was a man when she is, in fact, a woman. Su-yeong does not confront him about it.

The employees discuss an online post about an employee having an affair with his ex-girlfriend right after getting married. Gyeong-pil and Sang-su know that it could only be Seok-hyeon.

He tells them that he has not registered the wedding yet and is going to end his relationship with his wife because he cannot live without his ex-girlfriend.

When Mi-gyeong is late to work for the first time, Mr. Lee sends Sang-su to check up on her. Sang-su calls Mi-gyeong, who could not wake up on time because she has been taking pills before bed.

Once he knows she is fine, he goes to meet Su-yeong instead of picking Mi-gyeong up. Gyeong-pil sees them together, and Mi-gyeong finds out that Sang-su went somewhere else when Mr. Lee sent him to her house.

Gyeong-pil invites Su-yeong to have drinks with some of their colleagues, and she agrees. One of them crudely implies that Su-yeong is Seok-hyeon’s mistress.

When Su-yeong gets offended and rebukes him, he calls her sensitive and remarks that she has been rumored to lead men on by smiling at them.

Gyeong-pil records his offensive remarks to make him stop talking. He comes to check up on Su-yeong and then messages Sang-su about having drinks with her.

Sang-su approaches Mi-gyeong to talk to her again, but she dodges him. She visits his mother and brings her food. She had earlier heard her mother’s friends talking about Sang-su’s mother’s rent and intervened to get it lowered.

Sang-su’s mother questions her about the same, and Mi-gyeong requests her to keep this a secret from Sang-su. His mother does not want to keep things from him, so she offers to talk to the landlady again and pretend that Mi-gyeong never intervened.

Sang-su catches Mi-gyeong at his mother’s place before going to meet Gyeong-pil, who tells him about what happened with Su-yeong when they went out for drinks.

Gyeong-pil further tells Sang-su that his actions would decide if Su-yeong would really become a mistress. He warns him that some men can do this, but Sang-su is not one of them.

He asks Sang-su if he is going to break up with Mi-gyeong, but he refuses to answer. He then tells Sang-su that it is his responsibility to make sure the two women involved do not end up extremely hurt.

Mi-gyeong finally agrees to meet Sang-su. However, when he shows up at the restaurant, he finds out that it is her birthday and that she has invited Su-yeong and Mr. Jeong as well.

At dinner, she keeps asking Sang-su to see how happy Su-yeong and Mr. Jeong are together. She even says that Sang-su must feel empty without Su-yeong, humiliating the two.

An angry Sang-su takes her with him. He tries to break up with her in the car, but she cries and tells him that it is her birthday. She gets sick and screams at him. She knows about his feelings for Su-yeong.

She tells him that Su-yeong is living with Mr. Jeong, but Sang-su still wants to break up with her. Meanwhile, Mr. Jeong asks Su-yeong whether she really likes him or not.

Review

The viewers get to see Mi-gyeong falling apart in this episode. She realizes that she has not achieved anything on her own in her personal and professional life. However, she fails to learn that she cannot buy anyone’s approval or love with money.
Seok-hyeon’s character serves to show the viewers what would have happened to Sang-su if he had continued dating Mi-gyeong because of their social status; he never would have been able to get over Su-yeong.
In the previous episodes, the show kept subtly depicting that Sang-su does not care for Mi-gyeong the way he cares for Su-yeong, but in this episode, the approach was more direct. Even Mi-gyeong cannot ignore it anymore, no matter how hard she tries.
The lies that Su-yeong and Sang-su tell each other give the viewers a picture of the kind of life they desire. They confess their feelings and wishes veiled as lies because it is easier to confess the truth when it is labeled as anything but that.