No Gain No Love – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Episode 8

Episode 8 of No Gain No Love begins with Ja-yeon and Ha-jun visiting their old school after Hae-yeong’s housewarming party. Ha-jun asks why she transferred schools at one point and this brings up flashbacks of Ja-yeon’s father storming Hae-yeong’s house, looking for young Ja-yeon. Hae-yeong’s parents drive him out and then tell Ja-yeon she can transfer schools and foster homes for a little while, so her father can’t find her.

We then see Hae-yeong kissing Ji-uk on the rooftop. But when they break apart, we learn that she only did this because she realised Woo-jae was watching Ji-uk go up to the roof. Ji-uk gets angry that she gave him a fake kiss without his consent and kisses her back in revenge.

Having seen them kiss, Woo-jae heads home and lies to Yi-lin, saying he had gone out for a walk. But Yi-lin has started to suspect something about him and Hae-yeong due to how well they seem to know each other.

In the morning, Hae-yeong and Ji-uk are angry at each other and end up arguing at the breakfast table. Elsewhere, Gyu-hyun tries to learn how Ja-yeon is doing from Ha-jun. She suddenly agrees to meet Gyu-hyun.

They meet near the police station. Now that she knows he’s Hae-yeong’s boss, Ja-yeon has withdrawn the lawsuit. But Gyu-hyun maintains his sincerity and apologises again. Suddenly, Ja-yeon sees her biological father and tells Gyu-hyun they need to run. They run to an alley where Ja-yeon sits down and cries.

Gyu-hyun sings a song which happens to be her favourite and offers her some comfort. They part ways after that, believing it’s the last time they’ll see each other.

Hae-yeong goes up to Ji-uk’s room and realises that the thin mattress he sleeps on isn’t comfortable enough. Meanwhile, Ji-uk himself is with Eun-ok, Hae-yeong’s mother. He gets her a gift and feeds her and rants about how he has feelings for Hae-yeong and she doesn’t even know.

In a moment of lucidity, Eun-ok remembers Hae-yeong. When he’s back home, Ji-uk tries to impress Hae-yeong by offering to open jars and change tube lights. But Hae-yeong is incredibly self-sufficient and doesn’t need him.

Elsewhere, Bok Gi-ho complains to Manager Jang that finding Ji-uk was no use because he doesn’t seem to have any ambition. He suggests that Jang turn his sights on Son Hae-yeong instead. While Jang is leaving the house, Jeong-a enlists his assistance.

Hae-yeong and Ji-uk drive to work, still mad at each other. They talk about Hae-yeong’s struggle with a marketing event and Ji-uk mentions that he used his employee discount at the orphanage, which gives Hae-yeong an idea.

While Hae-yeong makes her presentation, Gyu-hyun can’t stop thinking about Ja-yeon. He then tells Hae-yeong that her marketing strategy is subpar and she ends up proposing an event at an orphanage. Gyu-hyun approves Hae-yeong’s idea but tells her to keep it a secret from Ji-uk and Ja-yeon.

Meanwhile, Ji-uk asks his co-worker for advice on a fight between a married couple. The co-worker suggests he promises to never make the mistake again. At the recording studio, Tae-hyeong helps Hui-seong record an audition tape. When he suggests the two of them go somewhere together, Hui-seong looks through her calendar and seems to realise something.

At the end of the day, Hae-yeong gets into Ji-uk’s car to find an apology letter where he promises to never kiss her again. She crumples it up. She then takes him mattress shopping and convinces him to let her buy him a comfortable bed even if it’s expensive. Because he deserves to rest well. Hearing these kind words, he says that he knows she likes him. And he likes her as well.

She doesn’t give a proper response and Ji-uk flirts with her even as they have dinner. When they reach home, Hae-yeong asks if Ji-uk will wait for her until she’s done with the new projects and evaluations. She wanted to say this on the day they kissed as well. Ji-uk says he will.

In the morning, Woo-jae is happy while getting ready to go to work since he and Hae-yeong are going to the orphanage. Yi-lin notices this and suggests a department transfer for Woo-jae but he stands up to her and says she can’t mess with his career as and when she likes it.  

Woo-jae and Hae-yeong’s pitch to the orphanage director goes really well until the director mentions Ji-uk. She, of course, talks about him as if he’s single and even hopes he’ll get married to Yu-na, the other volunteer. Hae-yeong doesn’t let Woo-jae tell the director that Woo-jae is married.

This makes Woo-jae confront Hae-yeong about her fake marriage. Except, he believes she went through all that to take revenge on him. He even suggests they rekindle things! Hae-yeong responds by taking an umbrella out and running after him to give him a good beating.

At work, Ja-yeon learns that Gyu-hyun has been writing new comments on her writing, but heart-warming ones this time. In one of them, he mentions he wants to see the writer again. She calls Ha-jun but through their conversation, he reveals that he was the one who wrote those negative comments! He did so because Gyu-hyun offered to transfer him to the department he wanted to work in.

Outside their house, Ji-uk runs into Manager Jang again. This time he warns Ji-uk that Jeong-a knows about his existence and that Ji-uk should keep Hae-yeong safe. He goes back in and tells Hae-yeong they should talk in the evening. For now, they set up Ji-uk’s room with a bed and other furniture.

This leads to the two of them coming very close to each other. Ji-uk points out that Hae-eyong said she couldn’t love someone without knowing their physical compatibility. Hae-yeong reminds Ji-uk that he had said his heart and body came as one package.  

Ji-uk leans in anyway but their moment is interrupted by Gyu-hyun who bursts into the room. He accuses Ji-uk of being Gi-ho’s illegitimate son.

An epilogue of No Gain No Love Episode 8 shows Ji-uk following online advice to appease an angry wife. He sneaks into the kitchen, tightens the jars, changes the TV remote buttons, and loosens the lightbulb so that he can fix them all in the morning. Of course, we saw how that went!

The Episode Review

No Gain No Love Episode 8 is going to have butterflies fluttering across viewers as Ji-uk and Hae-yeong get their confessions in and even their first kisses! K-dramas have been well known for the ‘dead fish kiss’ and it’s fun to watch this show turn the trope on its head by having the man be the one who is frozen.

What’s even better? We immediately get a second, proper kiss and Shin Min-ah and Kim Young-dae send all the sparks flying. There is a bit of iffiness around the conversation of consent but it’s not the biggest red flag and can be overlooked.

The drama continues to move at a quick pace and in a delightful manner. Even though the Gyu-hyun and Ja-yeon storyline is slow, the Ha-jun twist was intriguing!

But I’m hoping the introduction of Jeong-a’s schemes doesn’t turn things around. So far, the whole CEO’s illegitimate son aspect of the show has been in the background. The drama shines because the romance and the comedy are getting the spotlight. Let’s hope the last four episodes don’t switch this up!