Paying a Debt
Episode 8 of Business Proposal begins with a kiss between Ha-ri and Tae-moo. Ha-ri breaks away and asks that they pretend it never happened.
After work, Ha-ri and Tae-moo talk in his car. She continues to insist the kiss was a mistake, and Tae-moo says it wasn’t fair for her to kiss him; now she owes him. They agree that she will buy him dinner.
Their dinner comes out in courses, and Ha-ri worries about not being able to pay for all of it. At the end of the meal, he ends up paying. He says what he wants from her is even bigger.
Young-seo surprises Seong-hoon with a homemade dinner. She asks for honest feedback, so he gives it, even though it means insulting her cooking.
Later, Seong-hoon surprises Young-seo by taking her hiking, which she’s not so enthusiastic about–and she’s already angry about the dinner.
Young-seo complains about Tae-moo on their hike, but Seong-hoon defends him. They get into a fight, and she walks back to the car.
She causes both of them to get lost and even trips, spraining her ankle. When Seong-hoon carries her back to the car without complaint, she forgives him, and they reconcile.
Tae-moo calls Ha-ri, asking that she spend the day with him at the fair as repayment. They have a fun-filled day in bumper cars, on a carousel, and at gift shops.
When they get corn dogs, Tae-moo reminisces about his parents. He thanks Ha-ri for letting him talk about them so freely.
Ha-ri’s parents then call her to the hospital. Her dad has appendicitis, and there is no private room for him. So, Tae-moo has him moved to a VIP room.
Ha-ri lies and says Tae-moo is a supervisor on her development team. When her mother mentions how Ha-ri has been complaining about the president of the company, Tae-moo becomes indignant.
Min-woo, meanwhile, is at Ha-ri’s house with her brother Ha-min. Min-woo cuts himself when dropping a glass, so Ha-min directs him to bandages in Ha-ri’s room. There, he finds the fake-dating contract.
That night, he overhears Tae-moo tell Ha-ri that he’s changed his mind. Now that he knows she bad-mouthed him, he wants her to pay him back with a kiss.
Min-woo then rushes forward and punches him in the face. Ha-ri steps between them. When she sees the police nearby, she tells Tae-moo to go home and goes with Min-woo.
Min-woo shows her the contract he found. He’s upset Ha-ri didn’t tell him about it. Ha-ri says it wasn’t anyone’s business and that he needs to give Tae-moo a formal apology.
He asks if she actually likes him, maintaining that it won’t work out between the two of them. She leaves, angry.
Ha-ri texts Tae-moo, thanking him for the day they spent together. She promises to pay him back for the hospital bill when she has the money. When he doesn’t respond, she becomes anxious.
At the office, Tae-moo catches Seong-hoon kissing Young-seo. He’s upset Seong-hoon didn’t tell him about their relationship, but he leaves it at that.
Chairman Kang is waiting for Tae-moo in his office. He tells him he has scheduled for him a date with Jo Yu-jeong, Young-seo’s cousin. She is also the daughter of the powerful Director Jin Chae-rim from the Marine Art Museum
Ha-ri sprains her wrist when playing dodgeball during a sports competition between the Food Development Teams. A one-on-one dinner with the president is announced as the prize for the MVP of the competition.
Despite her injury, Ha-ri insists she is fine to keep playing. She wins for her team and wins the dinner with Tae-moo. At dinner with her team, she learns that Tae-moo can’t make it because of a blind date.
She regrets pushing Tae-moo away, so she calls him to tell him to stop his blind date. She says she wants to stop thinking about other people and just think about the two of them.
He says he never thought about going on that date. As they drive to meet each other, both get stuck in traffic. They get out of their cars and meet on a bridge, where they kiss.
The Episode Review
The will-they/won’t-they atmosphere surrounding Ha-ri and Tae-moo buoys this episode with considerable amounts of romantic tension. The two have real moments of connection, making Ha-ri’s inner conflict about their situation all the more believable.
This episode doesn’t forgive Tae-moo’s petty nature; it actually highlights other aspects of it. But with Ha-ri committed to ignoring the opinions of others, it looks like she and Tae-moo may finally get to start building a genuine relationship.
Of course, the happy couple still has to worry about everyone they’ve lied to–and about what Yu-jeong will do because Tae-moo stood her up.
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Episode Rating
(3.5)
Tae-moo returned to his office deep in thought after Min-woo punched him and told him to stay away from Ha’ri. Tae-moo stated that he should keep Min-woo to stay away from Ha-ri. Likely, Tae-moo would look for a way to separate Min-woo from Ha’ri. With less certainty, Tae-moo may have self reflected how others would have viewed his treatment of Ha’ri while he was angry with her. Seoung-hoon mentioned it and Ha’ri’s parents mentioned it.
Previously, Tae-moo had told Ha’ri not to get any romantic ideas while dating under the date contract, so to protect herself, Ha’ri had to hold back on her feelings for Tae-moo. Once Tae-moo made his feelings clear after the boat ride, Ha’ri was free to recognize her own feelings for him.
When Min-woo presented the date contract to Ha’ri, he insisted that Ha’ri should have brought her troubles to him. Min-woo was dating Yoo-ra and was unavailable to Ha’ri, so Ha’ri had no alternative but to handle it herself. Ha’ri warned Min-woo that Tae-moo was not someone to say bad things about, but Min-woo only understood hat Ha’ri liked Tae-moo. So, Min-woo warned Ha’ri that everyone knew it wouldn’t work. Min-woo rejected Ha’ri for many other women. Min-woo did not understand that Ha’ri was attracted to Tae-moo on the first blind date. On the second date Tae-moo stated that Ha’ri would marry him, and when she protested, he declared that he knew many women, but he wanted to marry her, not other women. When she almost fell back onto stairs, Tae-moo broke her fall and promised that he treated women well. Tae-moo would rather pay Ha’ri to date him than take other women out for coffee. Tae-moo took care of a pervert that filmed her, and he paid for her parents’ hospital room. Min-woo could not be aware of the comparison. Min-woo was unaware that Tae-moo and Ha’ri bantered with each other all the time, and Tae-moo’s demand for a kiss, was part of their banter, as bad as it looked at first glance.
Understandably, Seoung-hoon feels loyalty to the company and Chairman Kang, but Seoung-hoon’s loyalty to Tae-moo runs deeper than the main story explains, and I would like to know the backstory of the factors behind the bro-mance, which may begin with a kinship, but appears deeper than that.
I cannot help but take Min-woo’s side when he found the contract between Tae-moo and Ha’ri, then immediately came upon Tae-moo demanding that Ha’ri kiss him. How can you blame Min-woo for punching Tae-moo under these conditions. However, Ha’ri appeared to have come to some realization that Min-woo not only has no romantic intentions for Ha’ri, but gave an appearance of wanting to sabotage any potential suitors. Compare that to Tae-moo who has gone through ridiculous great lengths to avoid spending any romantic time with any one other than Ha’ri. Ha’ri thinks about this, and realizes that she does not want Tae-moo spending time with another possible romantic interest, so she calls Tae-moo to request that he leave his date immediately. Except Tae-moo reassures her that he cannot date another because of his feelings for Ha’ri.
I don’t really think that continuing to deceive the Chairman is a long term solution. Also, besides the obvious economic one (he is the one that decides who to leave the company to/his successor), I don’t really understand what leverage he is supposed to have on Tae-moo (Tae-woo?)’s life -the guy is an adult with agency, capable of making his own decisions-.
Tae-woo should really come clean to the chairman, and reaffirm that he has the right to decide his own future in terms of relationships -they are businessmen, not petty nobles in the medieval times-.