A Virtuous Business – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

The Child Kidnappings

Episode 10 of A Virtuous Business begins with Du-seok in handcuffs and led into prison. It turns out Jong-seon was the one in the passenger seat, not the driver. Geum-hui hears this confession but she can’t deal with the fact he just left a bleeding man in the street. She is somewhat conflicted though, when she finds out it was Jong-seon who called in the emergency which subsequently saved Won-bong’s life.

Through all of this, Yeong-bok struggles to hold back her tears as she points out how sorry she is. Geum-hui means a lot to her and she’s obviously had a lot on her mind. Jeong-suk though uses the same advice given to herself and encourages Yeong-bok not to shy away from the conflict and instead, try to resolve it by jumping head-on.

Yeong-bok also receives some encouraging words from her eldest daughter, Eom-ji, who encourages her to stay strong. She also admits that she had an inkling that this situation involving Jong-seon is a recurrence of what she encountered in the past, and that Jong-seon isn’t “working abroad” as Yeong-sok is telling the other kids.

Funnily enough, Won-bong is seeing things clearly now too. He speaks to Geum-hui and tells her that these are her friends and she doesn’t get close to just anyone. She holds this close to her chest though when Yeong-bok arrives, wanting to talk.

Outside, Yeong-bok spills her heart and knows she won’t get forgiveness but just wants to try and help her pain. Yeong-bok admits she never brought up who phoned the ambulance as she didn’t want Geum-hui thinking she was after a settlement here because that’s not what she wants.

When Geum-hui is ready to walk away, Yeong-bok suddenly doubles over in pain. It’s her belly. Geum-hui rushes her in and thankfully there’s nothing wrong with the baby. Geum-hui brings up that she’s caring about the baby and worried for her, rather than Geum-hui, but as she starts crying, sobbing her heart out, the pair rekindle their ties and seem to be back on talking terms again.

As for Jong-seon, he shows up to see Won-bong and apologizes to him outright. Words aren’t enough though and he tells Jong-seon that he needs to show with his actions. He’s all for it, and it appears to have resolved the issue, with the settlement resolved. This dramatically changes the sentencing. Jong-seon will be in a detention center for a while and face trial but it’s likely he’ll be out on parole.

Meanwhile, Ju-ri and Dae-geun continue their casual relationship, with the latter struggling to find places for them to go on a date. They can’t even do a motel date as the latter’s mum owns all of them in town! However, it would appear that his mum is heading out of town soon, and this gives Dae-geun the perfect opportunity to invite Ju-ri over.

Back at work though, Jeong-suk gathers the troops and discusses a possible brochure for them to up their sales gear. When Ju-ri picks the products for men, the others realize that Ju-ri has a boyfriend. She wants to do an at-home date because it’s the easiest to get physical. Jeong-suk is pretty innocent and naïve here, although she ends up a bit distracted as she’s invited out for dinner at Do-hyeon’s place. Could things turn physical? Well, this is what her thinking is like after being with the women, and she even fantasizes about him coming out of the shower.

After dinner, Jeong-suk does the washing up, encouraging Do-hyeon to get the boardgame out of her bag. Only… he looks in the wrong bag. It’s the bag with sex toys inside and she promises to teach him step by step… while he’s holding a whip and handcuffs. When she realizes her mistake, the pair quickly rectify that and play boardgames together.

While they play, Do-hyeon tells Jeong-suk she needs to go to Hong Kong. It’s part of the Monopoly game but for those unaware, “going to Hong Kong.” is Korean slang for wanting to make you orgasm. Jeong-suk clears everything up about the at-home dates, and the pair eventually do kiss, with Do-hyeon admitting this is what he wants.

However, all this fluffiness is interrupted by the Captain, who has news for Do-hyeon. He has a file in his drawer regarding the fires. He’s heard from a junior officer involved with the case that there’s an orphanage in Yeongeup that could hold a crucial clue.

It closed down recently but it could be connected to the orphanage. 20 kids were sent for international adoption but 11 weren’t from the orphanage and there are no files found on them. There are some pictures here though, including a 3 year old girl that matches Yeong-ho’s daughter. It would appear that these kids may have been trafficked given there are won amounts written on each file.

They were born in the same hospital and seemed to have the same midwife, but the woman has a solid alibi so it wasn’t the midwife responsible for the kidnappings. All the same, Do-hyeon heads off to speak to her. However, he doesn’t get much from her as she has Alzheimer’s. HEr assistant is there though and worked with her for 20 years. There was another assistant, Ok-yeop’s mum. Do-hyeon teams up with Jeong-suk to try and find her, and it would appear one of the ladies may have a clue.

Do-hyeon finds out that Ok-yeop passed away 30 years back, but his mum happens to be Cho Sun-ae; one of the women in town. She’s the owner of the video store, and Do-hyeon sits with her and asks about being a midwife’s assistant. She also brings up the trying ordeal with her kid, who died due to not being able to get the medical care needed as they were poor.

As they talk, Do-hyeon suddenly collapses on the ground. We learn that it was Sun-ae who took the kids when she was younger. She stole them and believed she was liberating them for another life. In Sun-ae’s eyes, she’s done the kids a favour.

She ties up Do-hyeon and he sits and listens to this, incredulous to everything. However, Sun-ae brings up that the kids she took had a tiny cross tattoo on their foreheads so she could recognize them in later life. He, however, does not. It seems he is an adoptee as well and she tapes his mouth up. However, not before a lamp is knocked over and sets the place alight.

Jeong-suk shows at the video store, banging on the door and needing to talk urgently. She notices Do-hyeon’s notebook on the table and hurriedly races in to save him from the fire.

Outside, the other ladies hold her to prevent the women from fleeing. Do-hyeon composes himself and readies her to be arrested.

At the hospital, Do-hyeon recovers from his injuries and receives a parcel from his adoptive parents. Inside is a letter which includes embroidery on that includes the initials K.B.H. It’s a new lead for the case, and could well be linked to his real name.

For now though, all the characters come together for a big lunch. Do-hyeon and Jeong-suk come as an official couple, while Jeong-suk heads up to get her old stove. However, she knocks over a basket which happens to hold clothes inside with the same embroidery – K.B.H. The same three initials from the clothes Do-hyeon was found it. Could Do-hyeon’s mum be part of this?

The Episode Review

So the case around Do-hyeon’s adoption and what happened with the fire intensifies and it remains a mystery that’s likely going to be resolved in the next episode. Meanwhile, we have drama involving Geum-hui and Yeong-bok that’s finally resolved here, with the latter’s baby bringing the group back together again.

It was perhaps obvious that they were going to go this route but personally, it would have been nice to see more of the actual ‘virtuous business’ alongside the character subplots. It feels like this has been side-lined and we’re not getting as much now.

Compared to the quirky, upbeat tone of the “girls embracing their sexuality” we got early on, we don’t get quite as much of that now. However, the comedy is still good and the entire date between Jeong-suk and Do-heyon is absolutely hilarious. From the handcuffs to the subsequent slang of “Hong Kong”, these scenes are easily the best of the entire episode.

This has still been a really enjoyable watch and the ending certainly leaves the door open for where this one may go next.