No Gain No Love – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

Episode 10

Episode 10 of No Gain No Love begins with Gyu-hyun getting drunk while thinking about Ja-yeon, although it doesn’t take more than a sniff of alcohol to get him in that state. Ha-jun arrives to pick him and send him in a taxi to Ja-yeon’s house thinking that he should see her and get over her.

Gyu-hyun is who Ja-yeon sees from the roof of her house. She thinks it is her father and bravely goes to confront him but finds Gyu-hyun instead. When she asks if he’s doing okay, Gyu-hyun pulls her into a hug. Ji-uk and Hae-yeong, who are just reaching home, mistake this for an assault and pull Gyu-hyun off her.

Gyu-hyun owns up to trolling Ja-yeon and later falling for her. Hae-yeong is livid and attacks Gyu-hyun with an umbrella but he pulls Ji-uk in to take the hit instead. That’s when Ja-yeon declares that she likes Gyu-hyun back.

Hae-yeong turns her sights on Ja-yeon instead and chases her through the house. But ultimately, Ja-yeon says she knows things won’t work out between her and Gyu-hyun. Hae-yeong finally puts her defences down and gives her a hug. When Hae-yeong goes to Ji-uk’s room, she finds both men asleep and puts an ointment on Ji-uk.

She then recalls the policeman’s words and checks her mail. She finds a letter saying Man Chang-il has been released. A flashback to ten years ago shows a body being taken from Hae-yeong’s house. Ja-yeon’s father is dragged from the house, arrested by the police. At present, we see Chang-il staking out the house.

Elsewhere, Tae-hyeong meets Hui-seong. He says that even if they don’t know who the father is, any child of Hui-seong’s is his own child as well. He even asks her to marry him but leaves the final decision about the baby up to her.

In the morning, Hae-yeong invites Gyu-hyun for breakfast but makes her feelings about him clear. He then inadvertently reveals that Ja-yeon is moving out and that Ji-uk is going abroad. Hae-yeong orders both of them to leave and storms off to her own room. When Gyu-hyun is finally about to leave, Hae-yeong warns Gyu-hyun to stay away from Ja-yeon.

Ja-yeon and Ji-uk end up getting breakfast elsewhere and discussing their respective issues. Ja-yeon says she has planned to write today so Ji-uk will have to deal with the furious Hae-yeong on his own.

Hae-yeong meanwhile is visiting her mother with Hui-seong. When Hui-seong starts feeling nauseous, Hae-yeong realises she’s pregnant. Eun-ok suddenly becomes lucid and congratulates Hui-seong, hugging her.

Mr Jang then calls Ji-uk and they meet at a racecourse where Jang is riding a horse. He lets Ji-uk have a good and Ji-uk recalls having to learn riding a bike on his own. They talk about Ji-uk’s predicament. Having recently found his own dreams, Jang encourages Ji-uk to grab the reins of his own life.

After tucking her mother into bed, Hae-yeong sees a picture of her and Ji-uk in a drawer. But she seems to have accepted that Ji-uk is leaving. Meanwhile, Ji-uk asks Ja-yeon for Hae-yeong’s favourite flowers. She replies that they are rununculus. Gyu-hyun then calls Ja-yeon and surprisingly Ja-yeon asks if he can meet her right now.

Flowers in hand, Ji-uk heads home and finds Hae-yeong in a surprisingly pleasant mood. He asks if she isn’t bothered by the fact that he’s leaving and she coldly says she’s used to people leaving. He decides to leave then and there and at the same moment, the lights go out. Hae-yeong curses him, thinking he’s left, but the lights come on and we see that he’s still there.

She then tearfully tells him to not consider his grandmother and mother, who never said she loved him, for once. He counters that Hae-yeong’s never told him she loves him either. But he then tells her he loves her and kisses her. Hae-yeong asks him if he’s leaving or not and he answers with another kiss as they head to the bedroom.

Ja-yeon and Gyu-hyun meet at the Kkulbee office where he shows her around as part of ‘research’ for her novel. When they go to his office, Gyu-hyun begins to roleplay a section of her book. He then leans in to kiss her.

While walking around they happen to see Yi-lin and Woo-jae arguing about Hae-yeong. Woo-jae says he started dating Hae-yeong after her father was murdered. Yi-lin then mentions how Ji-uk is being sent abroad and Hae-yeong won’t be able to work here anymore. This obviously changes things for Ja-yeon, who says she won’t see Gyu-hyun anymore.

In the morning, Ji-uk and Hae-yeong wake up in the same bed although Ja-yeon is upset to see that the fridge hasn’t been working. While Ji-uk gets breakfast, Hae-yeong goes up to put flowers in Ji-uk’s room. There she happens to see the picture of Ji-uk and Eun-ok.

When Ji-uk gets back, he sees that Hae-yeong has gone through her mom’s old books to find records of Ji-uk. He finally admits that he was one of her foster kids and knew who she was. But she doesn’t want to hear any explanations and tells him to leave at the end of No Gain No Love Episode 10.

The Episode Review

While No Gain No Love Episode 10 moves a tad slowly, it’s still a very compelling episode. Yes, the level of comedy has gone down by a lot and things are serious, but the story hits the right emotional beats. I am glad that Ji-uk leaving the country wasn’t dragged on too long and that he and Hae-yeong reconciled very quickly.

On the other hand, they do a full 180 on their newly blossomed love due to the reveal of Ji-uk’s secret and the happiness feels very short-lived. Considering there are only two episodes to go now, I do want to see plenty of the lead couple being happy and together.

Gyu-hyun’s character arc continues to be torn between chaebol company President and a man who cares about Ja-yeon. I’m glad Ja-yeon is drawing a line between them and hopefully Gyu-hyun will redeem himself before getting back together with her. All in all, the story’s unique comedy and light-heartedness are a bit missing but this episode still works.