Race – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

So This Is How Rejection Feels Like!

Episode 8 of Race begins with Yi-Jung meeting with Yoon-Jo, Jae-Min, and the other members for the R&I project Yi-Jung came up with at Seyong. Yoon-Jo still can’t settle with the fact that Jae-Min likes Yi-Jung, and they used to be in a relationship. Her mind even wanders away during the meeting she doesn’t listen to what’s being discussed.

Meanwhile, Dong-Hoon is discussing his idea of a flexible working environment with General Manager An, and she seems to like the idea. So, she may not resign. That evening, Yoon-Jo calls Eun to talk to her about her feelings about discovering that Jae-Min likes Yi-Jung but, she’s busy so, Yoon-Jo calls Hee-Young.

Hee-Young is taking taekwondo classes so, Yoon-Jo goes to watch her. Yoon-Jo tells Hee-Young that she’s a taekwondo expert, as her grandmother taught her when she used to live with her. Yoon-Jo used to live with her grandmother as her mother had a boyfriend that didn’t like kids. When her mother had another boyfriend who didn’t have a problem with kids, she moved back in with her mum in Seoul. Hee-Young asks Yoon-Jo what she wanted to talk about, and Yoon-Jo begins telling her how she met Jae-Min in middle school.

We’re taken back to when Eun, Jae-Min, and Yoon-Jo were in middle school. Jae-Min was being picked on by bullies when Yoon-Jo came, beat up the bullies, and rescued him. Yoon-Jo then immediately started liking him. Meanwhile, Jae-Min and Hye-Young are helping Eun at the bar. A popular artist recommended Eun’s bar, which attracted many customers.

Yoon-Jo tells Hee-Young that she didn’t tell Jae-Min she liked him then because the timing wasn’t right. Yoon-Jo then tells Hee-Young that Jae-Min rejected her recently because the lady he liked back in the US is back in Korea. Then, she tells Hee-Young that that lady is Yi-Jung, and Hee-Young is shocked.

Back at Eun’s bar, the customers are gone, so Eun goes outside to take a breather. Hye-Young then tells Jae-Min that she likes Eun, revealing she’s bisexual. She then asks Jae-Min to ask Eun whether or not she’s straight.

Jae-Min then heads home and remembers Yi-Jung rejecting being in a relationship with him again when he went to see her in the last episode. Meanwhile, Yoon-Jo is still talking to Hee-Young about finding out Jae-Min likes Yi-Jung, and how it hurt her feelings. Hee-Young then advises her to move on but at her own pace, and she agrees.

Just then, Dong-Hoon and his Earth Comms employees come to the restaurant where Yoon-Jo and Hee-Young are. Hee-Young goes to join the Earth Comms staff, so, Yoon-Jo is left alone. Then, Dong-Hoon decides to join Yoon-Jo at her table.

Dong-Hoon then starts drinking too much, saying he wants to match up to how much Yoon-Jo drank before he got to the restaurant. Well, he gets too drunk to go home alone, so, Yoon-Jo takes a cab with him to accompany him to his house.

The next day, Yoon-Jo calls Jae-Min aside and tells him that she wants them to avoid each other for some time to allow her to heal from her being rejected by him, and Jae-Min agrees. But, Jae-Min tells Yoon-Jo not to avoid each other for too long as he still wants her in his life as his friend.

Meanwhile, at Earth Comms, Hee-Young reports to work and finds Dong-Hoon with scrape marks on his face. It turns out he fell into some roses at his house’s entrance last night when drunk. Yoon-Jo even hurt her hand while trying to save him, explaining the marks on her hand that Jae-Min had noticed earlier. Hee-Young advises Dong-Hoon to take Yoon-Jo out for a meal for taking him home while he was drunk the previous night.

The R&I project team at Seyong hold another meeting, and Yoon-Jo suggests that they organize a video conference for all employees to discuss what they would want Seyong to change. The rest of the team agrees and even calls the video conference “Seyong the Unanswered Place” (SEUP).

Later that night, the PR and HR team leaders are at a restaurant discussing the R&I upcoming employee video conference. It’s clear none of them wants that conference to take place. Just then, Chul-Jun and Jae-Min arrive at that restaurant, and they have no choice but to join Sun-Tae and the rest for dinner.

Later, team leader Ga of HR advises Sun-Tae to make amends with Jae-Min as his ticket to be promoted to executive director.

The next day at Seyong headquarters, the R&I project team set up announcements for the SEUP video conference everywhere. Yi-Jung also sees the announcement as she’s with Yoon-Jo in an elevator and is impressed by it. Yi-Jung then invites Yoon-Jo for tea in her office, but her secretary tells her that her daughter, Yoo-Jin is inside her office waiting to see her. So, Yi-Jung asks Yoon-Jo to come for tea some other time.

Yi-Jung goes into her office, and Yoo-Jin tells her never to contact her again, and this breaks Yi-Jung. Meanwhile, PR team 1’s assistant manager Dae-Chun assigns Jae-Min, that was his in the first place. Just then, Sun-Tae tells Jae-Min to return to PR team 2. Remember Sun-Tae is doing all this to increase his chances of being promoted to executive director.

Jae-Min then takes over the CENTUM 100 protein shake project, another subsidiary of Seyong. He quickly notices there’s something wrong with it. He logs into a health web community and finds many complaints regarding the protein shake.

Meanwhile, Eun-Jeong asks Yoon-Jo to oversee CENTUM 100’s online marketing project, originally assigned to Ji-Hyo. And as expected, Ji-Hyo isn’t happy about this. Later, the R&I project team meet to test the video conference in preparation for the next day.

Jae-Min then asks Yoon-Jo if they’re done avoiding each other and can be friends again. Yoon-Jo tells him they’re done avoiding each other, which excites Jae-Min. He then asks Yoon-Jo if they go have dinner, and she tells him Dong-Hoon already asked her out to dinner.

Jae-Min and Chul-Jun go to the same restaurant Yoon-Jo and Dong-Hoon go to have dinner. The episode ends with Dong-Hoon officially asking Yoon-Jo out on a date and Yoon-Jo agreeing.

The Episode Review

This episode has been all relationships. I’m glad Yoon-Jo has decided to move on from Jae-Min rejecting her. I’m also glad Jae-Min respected Yoon-Jo’s request to keep her distance.

I, however, hope Yoon-Jo hasn’t agreed to go out on a date with Dong-Hoon to make Jae-Min jealous. Dong-Hoon is a good guy and doesn’t deserve that. I also feel bad for Yi-Jung being estranged from her daughter. Let’s see how things between her and her daughter will go in the upcoming episodes.