Link: Eat, Love, Kill – K-Drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

Link, The Connection

Episode 1 of Link: Eat, Love, Kill starts with Eun Gye-hoon talking about refrigerators. He claims that a lot can be told about a person from the way they keep their fridges. Suddenly, the hand of a human being falls out of one. From here, we then cut back to where it all started, as Gye-hoon is a Michelin star chef at a famous restaurant. 

The restaurant is doing well when he suddenly starts feeling emotions that are unique to him. He grabs his chest, starts crying in the middle of preparing a dish, and falls to the ground. His manager is unsure what is wrong with him but Gye-hoon informs him that he has a link with another person which causes him to feel their emotions. 

He states that it used to happen 18 years ago when he was younger and his sister was alive but it suddenly stopped when she died as a child. The telepathic connection had started again all of a sudden and Gye-hoon was not sure who it was with. As a child, Gye-hoon felt his sister’s emotions and he always rushed to protect her. 

On his way around one day, Gye-hoon runs into Na Da-hyun who is rushing home. Da-hyun is struggling to maintain a perfect image for her mother who suddenly drops by at her apartment. She quickly straightens her apartment minutes before she arrives with food and convinces her mother she’s doing well.

Da-hyun lies a lot and it seems like her mother is not able to catch on to them yet. On her mother’s way back home, Da-hyun hands her some money to let her take the taxi instead of waiting for the bus, which certainly pleases her. At his restaurant, Gye-hoon feels the emotions Da-hyun is feeling. 

The episode moves forward to a food fair where Gye-hoon is the special chef while Da-hyun is coincidentally working in the same building at a restaurant. She is a waitress who is often scolded by her manager. As Gye-hoon is working on a special dish at the fair, he suddenly starts feeling suffocated and leaves the showcase.

He wants to find a place to eat in peace and arrives at the rooftop of the building. Da-hyun is there too and the two meet for the first time. Gye-hoon is about to leave when Da-hying asks him to stay back and the two sit beside one another. Both individuals start sighing at the same time which leads Gye-hoon to wonder if the person his emotions are linked with is Da-hyun after all.

Da-hyun seems hungry and keeps looking at Gye-hoon’s plate of food. He offers her something to eat off his plate and she accepts the offer. She tells him that it is her first time eating the dishes that she usually serves. She talks about her feelings and tells him how she had been having a hard day that day. 

Gye-hoon keeps his gaze fixed on Da-hyun making her uncomfortable. She gets up to take the leave and he stops her to ask her a question. Da-hyun misunderstands that Gye-hoon is interested to get her number and is embarrassed when the chef states that he did not want her number. 

He asks her about her address and how old she is making her anxious. Gye-hoon notices her hesitation and asks her to play a game of rock-paper-scissors with him. Da-hyun thinks the chef is a lunatic and gets back to work. At the restaurant, she bumps into her co-worker Lee Jin-geun who asks her about her run-in with Gye-hoon. 

She brushes him off and walks away thinking Jin-geun was being invasive of her personal space. As she is ready to change into her own clothes after work, she notices a gift box left for her. The box contains a used scarf that concerns her. Her manager tells her that the scarf was a gift to her from Chef Gye-hoon as she accuses her of hitting on the chef while working. 

Da-hyun leaves work with her colleagues at first but is alone after they all take a different turn. On her way alone, she runs into Gye-hoon and returns his gift back to him. Gye-hoon states that he only gifted her some food since she had already liked his cooking. 

He then finds the used scarf in the bag and is shocked to discover it in there. Da-hyun does not let him explain himself and walks away calling Gye-hoon a pervert. An irritated Gye-hoon throws the scarf in the trash when an unidentified hand reaches into the bag to take the scarf out. 

Meanwhile, Da-hyun is on her way back home when she is being followed. She runs to escape but the person chasing after her turns out to be Jin-geun. He states that they both lived in the same locality, and they could walk home together since it is dangerous at night. 

The next morning, Da-hyun receives a parcel with a pair of ballerina shoes. She adds the shoes to the pile of other items that were mailed to her in the past. Da-hyun packs the items in a box and is on her way down her building to throw them in the trash when she comes to the conclusion that they were from Chef Gye-hoon.

She then reads up reviews about the Chef online that all attested to the fact that the Gye-hoon was a lunatic who asked people to play rock-paper-scissors with him. Da-hyun throws away the box of gift items from the stalker. At the same time, Gye-hoon is trying to age progress the photograph of a young Gye-young. The progressed photo reveals what his sister would look like if she were alive in the present day. 

Gye-hoon pans on opening his own restaurant in Jiwhadong now that he is fired by his restaurant for his emotions. He is accompanied by his sous-chef Cha Jin-hu. At the same time, Officer Ji Won-tak arrives at Jiwhadong to join the patrol unit there. Assistant Inspector Hwang Min-jo is his superior there and would be Won-tak’s mentor for the next six months. 

Min-jo asks Won-tak to join her during her patrol run to show him around the city and the latter brings up their past. The two used to be a couple but broke up three years ago. She states that he would be dead meat if Won-tak was to ever bring up their past relationship in front of the officers. 

Da-hyun on the other hand is running home to see that her mother is already inside her apartment. Her mother finds the rent overdue notice and leaves her apartment angrily. Gye-hoon and Jin-hu are in Jiwhadong checking the new place they purchased to open a restaurant and are taken aback by the people that live in the area.

Min-jo asks Won-tak are patrolling the same area when the residents call them out for not having fixed the street lamp. Min-jo claims that the street lamp is not her responsibility but the local women talk down on her. Gye-hoon who is watching it all from afar recalls how the city has not changed a bit. He recalls being young and running around the same area with Gye-young.

Gye-hoon recalls leaving Gye-young alone as he went out to play and she went missing. Despite looking for her for a long time, the family is not able to find her. One evening, Gye-hoon remembers how he suddenly felt that Gye-young had died. 

He recalls how he stopped feeling the connection with Gye-young after his death but is confused why the connection had returned after so many years. Just as he is thinking about it, Da-hyun’s mother throws her out of their family restaurant and she falls into the arms of Gye-hoon.

She is shocked to see the chef and calls him a lunatic. Gye-hoon states that he had not been stalking her but the neighbors look at him with accusatory glances. At their new shop that still needs to be remodelled, Gye-hoon declares that he will be opening his new restaurant there Jin-hu’s help who is a little apprehensive about working with Gye-hoon now. 

Da-hyun is at her part-time job when she receives a text from her mother asking her to clear out her studio and come back home. One of her co-workers asks her to join them for dinner when the other one states that Da-hyun is obviously busy. Da-hyun is confused and arrives at the bus stop. 

She is greeted by Jin-geun when she recalls how her manager told her that Jin-geun had asked the team to be nonchalant about the fact that he was dating Da-hyun. Da-hyun clarifies that she is not dating Jin-geun but her manager refuses to believe her. At the bus stop, Da-hyun confronts Jin-geun about the rumor and he states that they were actually dating.

He states that he had sent her gifts and was curious why she did not wear them and was throwing them out instead. She asks Jin-geun if he was the one who spread their dating rumour. Jin-geun is delusional and blames Da-hyun for smiling at him and offering him coffee or a meal at work. Da-hyun somehow manages to get away from Jin-geun as she runs home.

The next day, Da-hyun moved back to her mother’s house as she notices that Gye-hoon was opening a new restaurant right across from her house. She recalls accusing him of being a pervert and a stalker. The women of the city are infatuated by Gye-hoon’s charm. 

Meanwhile, business is slow at Da-hyun’s family restaurant where his mother, Bok-hee scolds her for lying about her job. Bok-hee asks Da-hyun to study at the library and take the civil service exam. She then asks Da-hyun to run some errands for her but on her way back, Da-hyun bumps into Gye-hoon.

He rushes away from her and states that he wasn’t stalking her. Da-hyun clarifies that she is aware he was not a pervert and apologizes for misunderstanding him. Gye-hoon does not accept her apology but she follows him around. She accidentally trips and initially, Gye-hoon leaves her behind but then comes back to help her out.

From a distance, Jin-geun watches Da-hyun walk hand in hand with Gye-hoon. A few days pass as Da-hyun spends her time studying in the library and has a few awkward run-ins with Gye-hoon. Gye-hoon is also working on his restaurant. 

One night, Da-hyun is late on her way back home from the library. She senses someone following her on her way back and is scared to see Jin-geun. She runs away from him but he chases after her at her family restaurant. Gye-hoon is at his restaurant on the opposite street but since he has earphones in his ears, he cannot hear the commotion caused by Da-hyun. 

Da-hyun’s mother and grandmother too do not hear her due to the volume of the television. Da-hyun struggles as Jin-geun barges into her restaurant and tries to attack her. He tries to hold her down and Da-hyun struggles. Gye-hoon feels the same emotions as Da-hyun and comes out of his restaurant to check up on her.

At Da-hyun’s family restaurant, Jin-geun hits his head onto something in the restaurant and collapses as blood spills out of his head. She rushes to the police station to report the incident.

The police station is unusually busy and Da-hyun gets overwhelmed by the people. She rushes out of the station without registering a complaint and goes back home. At home, her mother and grandmother are now sitting by the body of Jin-geun.

They ask her what happened but Da-hyun claims that Jin-geun was trying to kill her and that the incident happened as she was defending herself. Her mother and her grandmother help Da-hyun out by disposing of Jin-geun’s body in a refrigerator as they clean up the mess for her.

Meanwhile, Gye-hoon still feels uneasy but wakes Jin-hu up as they two leave the restaurant for the night. On their way out, Gye-hoon notices that they had left out their perfectly fine refrigerator and take it inside their restaurant.

The fridge is unusually heavy for them both to carry but they manage to take it inside their restaurant. Da-hyun hears their commotion and notices them taking the fridge inside with Jin-geun’s body still in it.

The Episode Review

It seems like any K-drama Moon Ga-young is a part of has to be about crackhead energy. She is one of my comfort actors and watching her take on a sort-of serious role after ‘True Beauty’ had me excited. Turns out ‘Link: Eat, Love, Kill’ is just “True Beauty Season 2” because she is her ever so awkward self here as well.

Jin-goo’s character as Gye-hoon is calm and composed, like many of his other roles but I am sure he too will change as the season progresses. The show has an interesting take where it is not completely random for two people to feel each others emotions due to a telepathic connection.

However, the connection between Gye-hoon and Da-hyun seems sudden – something that never usually happens. It could be possible that Da-hyun was linked to Gye-hoon for a long time and only something recent triggered it back into existence that the chef has started feeling her emotions.

The first episode showed us Da-hyun committing murder and even though it was by accident, it could very well be the trauma haunting her. This also means that Gye-hoon will be haunted too. This would subsequently mean they will eventually find comfort in each other. Sounds fun!