Romance in the House – K-drama Episode 1 Recap & Review

A Bolt from the Blue

Episode 1 of Romance in the House introduces to Byeon Mi-rae and her mother, Ae-yeon. The pair are pretty close and help each other get ready in the morning, although Mi-rae is overworking herself and dozing off every chance she gets. When she makes it to the office though, she soon awakens at the news of their CEO showing up.

All the workers crowd into the elevator as their “Royal secret inspector” arrives. Apparently he was just passing by J-Mart but he find numerous issues and inconsistencies with the way they’re handling matters. That is. until he reaches the Tteokbokki stand. Mi-rae holds her own with the CEO, pointing out that her mother, Ae-yeon, is the worker there and she gives out generous portions because kids are great promoters.

The CEO is pretty impressed with their business acumen and even asks for her name. Mi-rae ends up passing out after he leaves and is rushed to hospital. She overworks herself often and this time, she’s carried over to the ward.

The knight in shining armour happens to be security guard Nam Tae-pyeong. He watches over Mi-rae but while she chills, things take an awful turn. They’re called back home as a fire breaks out at apartment 302. Both Mi-rae and Ae-yeon hurry, where they learn Medal, their pet dog is absolutely fine. Thank goodness! Oh, and also their youngest son Hyun-jae is okay too.

Now, this fire could be linked to an earlier scene in the episode whereby a shadowy man showed at the apartment building. He entered room 302 ominously and when we circle back to this plot point during the fire, we see someone taken out the building wrapped in a white sheet and stretchered away. It appears to be the previous landlord but the actual origin of this and what’s going on remains a mystery for now. However, some of the residents believe this may be an arson attack given only Apartment 302 was burned.

Anyway, they have a brand new landlord now, who apparently paid for the place in cash too. The real estate agent calls the residents to spill the beans on all this and unfortunately, one of the Units will need to move out so the new landlord can move in. As the day closes out, the camera pans over to the apartment where we find charred matches on the ground.

Now, the big elephant in the room happens to be Ae-yeon’s husband – and the father of this overworked household. Mi-rae and Ae-yeon initially kicked him out the apartment and soon after, news spreads that he died after his bike was hit on the road (probably by a white truck, lets be honest). He passed away at the hospital while receiving treatment.

This obnoxious owner, whom they believe is Oh Jae-geol, wants to move in himself. This was all signed with the deceased landlord’s daughter so all of this is binding. The trouble is, our protagonists don’t have the money to find another place to live. Ae-yeon also forces little Hyun-jae into silence when a stressed Mi-rae shows back home. She’s got enough on her plate, and after debts and bills, she doesn’t really have too much left over. The last thing she needs is knowing they need to move soon.

The next day, Ae-yeon gets all dressed up like she’s a secret agent and decides to meet the landlord’s daughter. She slams down a contract renewal extension request and asks her to sign it. However, she can’t do so as she’s obviously sold the building. The reason she sold it is because she couldn’t pay the inheritance tax. However, she’s obviously suffering from her father’s passing too and struggles to keep it all together. The new landlord offered her a way out and she obviously took it.

Now Unit 301, the lady who tried flirting with the new landlord earlier on, sends over some messages asking to stay… and he agrees! She also sends some pics of herself looking all cute and she’s just as surprised that he agreed to this as Ae-yeon is. The other tenant, who has a kindergarten kid, tries to con her way into staying by writing a cute letter from her kid.

These ploys are enough for Ae-yeon to throw on the sob-story and try to play the sympathy card. As she wails on about her bad situation, it turns out that the man who came to see them isn’t actually the landlord, he’s just the representative. The real landlord listens to Ae-yeon’s sob-story about how she’s a widow and struggling, but his decision is still up in the air right now.

Mi-rae and Ae-yeon have a really close bond, partly thanks to their history. In the past, Ae-yeon was her own Wonder Woman and in her father’s absence, did everything to help her. Mi-rae looked up to her mum and the pair have an unbreakable bond. This explains why Mi-rae works so hard for her family as she wants to repay her mum’s sacrifices and debts as best she can.

That night, the trio have their annual session of paying respects to their father (and husband for Ae-yeon). She gives him some encouraging passing words, telling Moo-jin to pass on from this plane of existence. When they turn around however, Moo-jin, happens to be standing right there! When they lock eyes with him, everything is left on a precarious cliff-hanger. And as Ae-yeon looks like she’s about to pass out, Moo-jin steps forward and grabs her, holding her close. When he lets go, he reveals he’s the owner of the villa.

The Episode Review

Uh oh! Everything is left on a precarious knife-edge ready for tomorrow’s follow-up and this looks like it could be a lot of fun. Romance in the House wastes absolutely no time getting into the crux of the drama, with Ae-yeon and Mi-rae having a close bond that’s going to be tested now that Moo-jin is back.

The wildcard here is Tae-pyeong who I’m guessing is going to be Mi-rae’s love interest this season. Similarly though we also have Hyun-ae and he’s the one in this household who doesn’t despise their father after they kicked him out so we could see him side with his pa through all of this.

The dynamic between them all is intriguing and this little murder mystery is probably going to play out throughout the season so we’ll have to wait and see how this develops over time as well. For now though, Romance in the House has a great blend of humour and drama, but it’ll all rest on how good the characterisation is across the rest of the season. So far so good though!