No Gain No Love – K-drama Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Episode 12

Episode 12 of No Gain No Love begins with Eun-ok’s death. Hae-yeong and her foster sisters plan the funeral and Hae-yeong is named the chief mourner. The funeral takes place and several of Eun-ok’s foster kids turn up to pay their respects. At one point, Hui-seong tells the other two that she broke up with Tae-hyeong but will keep the baby. Later, Hae-yeong puts the other foster kids’ names down as the chief mourners as well.

Do Hae-yeong and Ji-uk break up?

After putting Eun-ok to rest, Ji-uk tells Hae-yeong that he’s made a promise to Eun-ok to never let go of Hae-yeong’s hand. Recalling the other promises he was bound by, Hae-yeong tells him to be free of them. She doesn’t want to be the sole reason for his existence as it’s too heavy a burden. She takes the wedding ring from his finger and leaves but collapses into tears when she’s home with her sisters. Later that night, Ji-uk comes over and takes his things from the house.

We then move to Kkulbee Education’s big event at the orphanage. This time, Hae-yeong is wearing the bee costume. Gyu-hyun asks her if she isn’t going to see Ji-uk off at the airport. She says no.

At the airport, Gyu-hyun tells Ji-uk he doesn’t have to leave. Ji-uk says he’s going because he wants to. CEO Bok and Manager Jang are there as well. At home, Ja-yeon tells Hae-yeong that Ji-uk got on the plane. She silently wishes him well.

The scene shifts to six months later. Gyu-hyun proudly shows his father that Kkulbee has 1 trillion in revenue, which means he won the bet. As a result, he can choose whom he wants to get married to. But CEO Bok isn’t going to allow Ja-yeon to become his daughter-in-law.

Do Hui-seong and Tae-hyeong get back together?

Elsewhere, a heavily pregnant Hui-seong goes to meet Tae-hyeong for a work opportunity. She points out that he’s gained a lot of belly weight. Meanwhile, Hae-yeong has opened a start-up with Ha-jun. A flashback shows how Ahn Woo-jae’s success prompted Hae-yeong to leave Kkulbee.

Gyu-hyun goes to meet his parents for lunch only to find that it is a set-up for a blind date. Luckily, the woman isn’t interested in getting married. At the same hotel, Ja-yeon meets her editor and a new intern who is a fan of hers. They ask her to give a guest lecture at a college.

Ja-yeon sees someone who looks like Ji-uk. She then sees Gyu-hyun with his blind date. She’s walking towards them when she slips and the new intern catches her. On the drive home, Ja-yeon and Gyu-hyun are both annoyed with each other.

At the recording studio, Tae-hyeong shows Hui-seong that he’s wearing a pregnancy simulator and has taken ‘dad lessons’. He asks Hui-seong to give him another chance. Back home, the girls throw a baby shower for Hui-seong, who is considering getting back with Tae-hyeong.

The girls even celebrate Hae-yeong’s birthday, with Hui-seong gifting her a box of snow globes. Hae-yeong then realises that both her sisters are still in touch with Ji-uk. It makes her sad that he’s in touch with everyone but her.

Does Ji-uk return to South Korea?

Hae-yeong then gets a call about her mother’s old house, which she’s put on sale. She goes to meet a potential buyer and finds Ji-uk there — with another woman. She hides and has her realtor speak with them instead.

Unable to find other investors, Hae-yeong and Ha-jun suck it up and ask Gyu-hyun for an investment in their company which has a new program for senior citizens. He reluctantly agrees. While leaving the office, Hae-yeong hears her old colleagues talking about Ji-uk being in town for a wedding.

What happens to Ja-yeon and  Gyu-hyun?

Ja-yeon then goes to a university in a different city to give a guest lecture. She’s nervous but then sees Gyu-hyun sitting in the class and begins the lecture. It’s a huge success! After the lecture, she and Gyu-hyun explore the city together. At night, he presents her with couple rings.

Back home, Hae-yeong is sad to see that the store where Ji-uk used to work has closed. The store’s owner sees her and it turns out that Ji-uk is with him! Once the owner leaves, Hae-yeong congratulates Ji-uk on his wedding. She then reveals that Ji-uk was the first person she smoked with, since she had the cigarettes but borrowed a lighter from him. This is a throwback to when she told him that you never forget the person who gave you your first cigarette.

Who was the woman with Ji-uk?

Hae-yeong walks away but Ji-uk goes after her, grabs the beer in her hand and chugs it. He demands to know why she made that comment. He says it means she missed him. She says she did but she doesn’t regret letting him go to live his own life. He says he enjoyed traveling but missed the bed that she had bought him.

He then reveals that he’s not getting married, he’s just attending a wedding on his stepfather’s behalf. His stepfather was the one who was looking for a house. The woman is his step-sister. Ji-uk even pulls out a new snowglobe as a birthday gift for Hae-yeong. He says he came back for what his heart left behind.

How does No Gain No Love end?

Having gotten drunk by now, Ji-uk falls onto Hae-yeong’s shoulder and insists he isn’t too heavy for her (a throwback to her words while breaking up). She carries him home but looks happier than ever.

In the morning, she wakes up to an empty bed and panics. But he’d only gone out to get food. He shows her he’s wearing the ring again. At the end of No Gain No Love Episode 12, she embraces him and tells him she loves him, no calculations included.

The Episode Review

After subverting several K-drama tropes and cliches, the last episode of No Gain No Love is sadly like every finale ever. The finale is dragged out, there’s a time jump, unnecessary separation between our main leads, and last minute conflicts. It’s a bit of a disappointment considering how most of the drama has carved out a unique identity for itself and stood out from other rom-coms.

The plotlines about Hae-yeong’s startup feels roundabout and unnecessary, particularly considering that she was demoted for no fault of her own. It’s odd that Gyu-hyun would rectify his relationship with Ji-uk but not with Hae-yeong and it’s even more strange that Hae-yeong doesn’t bring this up. Hui-seong and Tae-hyeong get a happy ending but their polyamory is never brought up again.  

As a finale, the episode doesn’t tie up all the loose ends either. Bok Gi-ho’s entire plot of hiring Ji-uk is handled very offhandedly in comparison to the intensity with which it started. Woo-jae and Yi-lin’s relationship isn’t addressed either, despite the former having feelings for Hae-yeong again. The show’s earlier poignant remarks on workplace sexism are missing as well.

And while Hae-yeong and Ji-uk’s reunion is heartwarming that is solely due to both actors’ skills and charm. The writing doesn’t explore this separation enough but the stars make it work regardless. It is disappointing to give No Gain No Love Episode 12 a low rating after what has otherwise been a very enjoyable drama!