Name: The Interest of Love episode 2
Director: Jo Young-min
Released: 2022-12-22T23:08:27

In the second episode of ‘The Interest of Love’, Sang-su’s old acquaintance joins his workplace while Su-yeong goes on a blind date. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

When Su-yeong first moved to Seoul, she rented a dark, lonely, and worn-out house, which she thought was just like her. She had to take up all kinds of jobs to survive.

When she got a job at the bank, she thought it would be the end of her struggles. She soon realized that people draw lines everywhere on the basis of one’s background. She was always on the other side of the line from everyone else.

On the day of their date, Su-yeong waited for Sang-su. When she saw him arrive through the window, she suddenly left.

Sang-su questioned her about their relationship. She hurt him by stating that they had nothing special. He tries to talk to her again about it on another day, but she acts clueless.

A young woman visits Sang-su’s mother’s massage parlor. The woman’s wealthy mother complains about her daughter refusing to take her parents’ help; she has a degree from a top university and yet she is managing other people’s money.

Sang-su comes last in the General Consultation Team. His superior, Mr. Noh, wants to be promoted, so he asks him to improve his performance.

Sang-su tries to talk to Mr. Jeong to know if he is really dating Su-yeong, but he does not get a chance to ask him.

A disgruntled customer creates a scene at the bank. He lies down on the floor and refuses to leave until he gets to speak to Mr. Noh or the branch manager. The two are not available.

At the end of the day, all the employees want to leave, but they cannot go home because of the customer. Su-yeong kneels down next to the customer, intending to stay there as long as he is there.

Sang-su joins her after remembering how she helped him when he was a rookie; she even gave him a journal to help him make fewer mistakes. This prompts the others to do the same.

The customer eventually leaves, and the employees thank Su-yeong. An employee even offers to set up a blind date for her.

She initially refuses, but when Mr. Lee and Mr. Ma make her uncomfortable again by asking her questions about her personal life, she says yes to put an end to the questions.

Sang-su goes to his school reunion and manages to get new accounts for the bank. He is applauded at the bank, but he does not feel particularly happy because of the difference in his status and that of his school friends.

His mother did not have a lot of money when he was growing up. He went to school with rich kids, but he could never be one of them. He spent most of his time alone and studied hard to become the top student.

The bank gets a new assistant manager, Park Mi-gyeong, the woman who visited Sang-su’s mother’s parlor. She finds out more about the people at the bank; she is told that Su-yeong is known as the “Goddess of Youngpo” because men fall in love with her easily.

Sang-su and Mi-gyeong are asked to work together and give suggestions to make the banking app better. Sang-su fails to recognize Mi-gyeong, but she reminds him that they went to school together.

They go out for dinner and Su-yeong sees them laughing and having fun. Meanwhile, Sang-su suspects that headquarters has an ulterior motive for making them work on this project.

All the female employees discuss the upcoming position transfer. Su-yeong is not interested. Besides, she will soon become the section chief at this branch.

Sang-su joins them, and the other women tease him about dating Mi-gyeong. Su-yeong seems bothered and leaves the room. He follows her out to clarify that he is not dating anyone, but she seems uninterested.

He then asks her about her blind date and she refuses to answer him, saying that it is none of his business.

Knowing that she is going on the blind date, an upset Sang-su drinks with Gyeong-pil. His friend gives him a reality check. He emphasizes that love is not enough in this world, people marry for money.

He asks him how serious is he regarding Su-yeong. As the two work at the same place, if they ever break up, they would be fodder for gossip for years to come. He advises Sang-su to move on.

Su-yeong goes on the date. The man seems to like her a lot until he discovers that she never went to college.

On the other hand, Sang-su realizes that he is very serious about Su-yeong. He goes to her house and waits outside for her to return.

He messages her to let her know that he is waiting for her outside her house as he has something important to tell her. Su-yeong sees his message in the taxi.

The moment she gets out of the taxi, she rushes to embrace Mr. Jeong, who is also waiting for her. Sang-su does not approach her when he sees her with him. He is left upset once again.

Review

Mr. Lee and Mr. Ma keep targeting and bullying Su-yeong, who cannot speak against them as they are her superiors. The series shows how women can be made to feel uncomfortable with what seems like harmless questions.
The episode relentlessly hits the viewers with hard facts — it does not matter how hard one works, one can never get rid of their background.
When Sang-su is made to feel inferior due to his status, he is quick to forget that and move on, while Su-yeong never forgets. She is constantly reminded of what she does not have, and her actions seem to be motivated by that.