Romance in the House – K-drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

The Return of Yongdong-dong’s Rebel

Episode 2 of Romance in the House begins back at the villa as our estranged patriarch Byeon Moo-jin, returns home. The family are shocked to see him and we soon learn that Jae-gyeol is just the agent here. The Middle man of sorts, in this messy family affair.

To understand the extent of this messy situation, we cut back in time to 11 years ago. Ae-yeon and Moo-jin fiercely fight over rights of their kids, but outside the family court, Ae-yeon admits that meeting him is the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. However, their children are the one bright spot in their life. Moo-jin himself is an entrepreneur and the entire time they were together, he’d constantly come up with numerous ideas, intending to try and make money. Obviously he eventually struck gold but how did he get rich?

While Hyeon-jae is more open with his father, especially as he surveys the damage in apartment 302, Mi-rae by comparison is cold and distant with her pa. She disowned him way back when they fell out and here, she tells him to go through her regarding the apartment and needing to move. Mi-rae thinks about taking out a loan and getting away from the villa but Ae-yeon is not so sure.

Unfortunately, their searching is fruitless as nothing really matches their criteria. An entire day is wasted looking at other apartments but they don’t find anything that’s worth buying. By comparison, the residents at the villa all start brown-nosing their new landlord but they’re shocked when they find out he’s related to Ae-yeon and Mi-rae.

One of the residents at the villa, Lee Jeong-hyeok, remains vigilant over Moo-jin though. He’s the one suspicious of the arson attack and believes their new landlord could be responsible. Backing up this theory is Moo-jin himself, who takes out some matches and looks set to light a cigarette. He stops, as if entranced, and remember we saw charred matches in episode 1 too. Oh, and Jae-gyeol tells Moo-jin in confidence that he’ll “take care” of the landlord situation quietly too.

Elsewhere we get a random montage with Nam Tae-pyeong, as he awakens and gets ready for work. I’m not sure why we’re getting a montage here given we know barely anything about him. Anyway, as he shows up at work, he ends up alongside Mi-rae in the lift. Just like in episode 1, he presses Floor 10 for her on the elevator, remembering what she said before. Yep, these two are 100% getting into a romance aren’t they?

After Mi-rae’s ex-boyfriend causes a massive scene in front of everyone outside work, Mi-rae decides to head home. However, she grazes her knee. Tae-pyeong shows up to save her again and rides her away on his bike. However, what Mi-tae really needs is to be saved from her rat race. She works so hard and doesn’t have a lot to show for it.

She decide that night, while sitting with her friend, that she’s not going to date anymore. She has a mountain of issues to deal with and that’s just going to compound the issues she has. Despite the fact Mi-rae has, seemingly, the perfect guy right for her! He also practices tae-kwon-do in his free time too. Keep this in mind intrepid readers, this will come in handy later on.

Speaking of men, we cut back to Moo-jin here as he gets dressed after chilling in the bathhouse. Now, he does have a scar up his arm but the real mystery for the residents stem from exactly how he made all this money.

Ae-yeon isn’t even a little curious and gives her husband the cold shoulder. That night though, Moo-jin even goes one step further and allows her to continue staying in the apartment rent free! It’s certainly an enticing offer and would help them out massively, but it also feels like a bit of a betrayal to their principles too.

Mi-rae is determined not to take any sort of hand-outs from their pa but Hyeon-jae is all-in with the idea of sponging off his father. He has no shame and he even leaves messages on Instagram about how cool his dad is.

After some disagreements on both sides of the fence, that night Moo-jin sits with Ae-yeon at the local restaurant. She cuts right to the chase and demands to know why he’s just shown up out the blue.

Moo-jin eventually admits that he knew they were living there when he bought the place. And it’s apparently because he wants to live with her. Moo-jin has apparently done so much in her absence and he just wants to prove it to her. However, Moo-jin holds her wrists outside the shop, until Mi-rae shows up.

Mi-rae’s screams bring Tae-pyeong out of nowhere like a siren and he smacks Moo-jin square in the face. Moo-jin ends up with a nosebleed, and Mi-rae jumps in and pushes him over, leaving things on a crazy note.

We then cut back a day before the fire at the family villa. The landlord ends up outside drinking and dancing about with Moo-jin. However, at the apartment Moo-jin tells him it’s over and to stop after he throws something at the wall. What could this all be about?!

The Episode Review

Alas the plot thickens and we’re moving into comedic mystery waters here in a chapter that actually balances out both genres quite well. It’s not quite a makjang but it definitely has that feel of being an over-the-top drama with wisps of romance and farcical plot elements thrown in for good measure.

The misunderstanding with Tae-pyeong and everyone at the end is a great way to end this week, especially leaning into the whole knight in shining armour trope. The show also does well to keep this mystery going and I’m guessing Moo-jin could be part of a shadowy gang or loan sharks and forced to repay some sort of loan or debt, which would reinforce what’s happened with him in the past, when Mi-rae saw the place trashed after he took out a big personal loan. Maybe this was his way of repaying that debt? By doing unsavoury things? Either that, or it’s going to be something really silly like selling paper bags or something.

With all that being said, there’s certainly enough in this comedy to make for a really enjoyable watch. Lets hope next week’s double bill is just as enticing!