Romance in the House – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

A Midlife Crisis Begins

Episode 5 of Romance in the House starts with a look at the past. Moo-jin and Ae-yeon are taking their wedding photos but in the wake of this, Ae-yeon makes him promise to always be there for her. He agrees, naturally, and it seems he’s still holding onto this as we jump back to the present.

This catches us up nicely to last week’s ending, where Jeong-in is out after drinking, and she calls out for Moo-jin. However, she calls him “Khun Mooy”. Apparently they first met in Thailand and he gave her his entire fortune. She also reveals she lost the baby shortly after returning to Korea. Moo-jin says nothing, and walks out.

Back at the villa, Ae-yeon speaks to Mi-rae and tells her not to engage in her petty competition with Moo-jin. The latter doesn’t take this well, and eventually leaves to head to work. Naturally, she ends up in the elevator again. It’s third time lucky though and this time, she and Tae-pyeong actually converse. She even smiles when he leaves, before realizing what she’s doing and stopping herself.

The pair are clearly starting to take a liking to one another, and Tae-pyeong can’t sleep given how confused he is over his feelings for Mi-rae.

Moo-jin convinces Ae-yeon to head out for dinner, where he reveals that she’s the only one for him. However, she tells him that they’re the past and he needs to date someone new. When you divorce, the best decision is to move forward rather than looking to the past, and Ae-yeon is sticking by that mantra.

Moo-jin tries to say he’s matured and has changed, but aside from the money, he hasn’t really. Not in Ae-yeon’s eyes anyway. She tells him that there’s no place for him in their circle (or, well, triangle I guess given there’s only 3 of them). She does, however, tell him to do right by the kids.

While Moo-jin tries to slip into this new role of being a responsible dad, Mi-rae and Ae-yeon head for lunch. Now, it’s worth noting that Hyeon-jae is nowhere to be seen. He’s basically not even part of the family really. Anyway, alone the pair talk about Ae-yeon’s relationship with Moo-jin. She recaps what she’s been up to and encourages Mi-rae to lie down and chill, after thanking her for everything she’s done for the family of course.

Ae-yeon has made her mind up, but naturally all the neighbours are nosy and question her while she’s getting her nails done. Ae-yeon is adamant that there’s nothing there and reiterates that she really wants him to move on and find someone else. Interestingly, Jeong-in is listening from the other side of the room. She’s definitely feeling a bit of guilt here, given her ties with Moo-jin, and that night he ends up blind drunk.

Ae-yeon helps her out and Jeong-in drunkenly claims she wishes she could be her, given Ae-yeon has everything including the kids… and Moo-jin. She passes out before saying the last name though, but unfortunately, she doesn’t need to. Ae-yeon sees the picture of her and Moo-jin together, and is shocked.

As a result of this, Ae-yeon is in a state of shock and denial but everyone around her believes she could be having a midlife crisis. Only, there’s another crisis going on at work. J-Plus bring all the officials together for a Board Meeting, with the CEO unhappy that they’re not number 1. The Sokcho Factory’s owner calls directly in the midst of this, and the President tells the CEO that they’re no longer going to supply for them. There’s a new product launch in 2 days as well so it’s all on Mi-rae to smooth things over and save the day.

Tae-pyeong overhears and decides to go with her, realizing that his ties with the CEO could swing things in their favour. So off they go together to try and secure this deal. Mi-rae is there first and speaks to the President as she gets off her boat. In fact, she drops to her knees and begs her. Although this approach gets nowhere, Tae-pyeong shows and he’s all sweet with her. He’s got her favourite snacks and even gives her a big ol’ hug too. It’s actually quite funny when Mi-rae tries to do a flying airplane into the President’s mouth but it does the trick for her to open up and talk.

It would seem like the President has a point in discontinuing this deal. When she supplied the seafood tofu stew two years ago, she wanted J-Plus to promote the divers. However, the requests have been ignored. Mi-rae claims it’s just because the product has been discontinued but she doesn’t want to be treated like a fool. Mi-rae is confident, believing that’s not going to happen again and that Diver Tteokbokki is going to be a big hit. She’s confident in her pitch and it seems to do the trick to win her over.

Meanwhile, Ae-yeon speaks to Jeong-in and quizzes her over the time she lived in Thailand. With the picture in hand, and knowing her ties with Moo-jin… she can’t bring herself to tell the truth and leaves to play baseball instead. She’s not the only one conflicted though as Moo-jin tries to work out how to be a better dad to Mi-rae.

While he screams to the heavens, wondering why he’s come back and how he can be a better father, he ends up on the same beach as Tae-pyeong and Mi-rae. They’re incredulous when they see him but it’s enough for Moo-jin to tell the truth. He’s sorry for being a burden and all he wanted was to try and make things easier for her. Of course, things haven’t turned out that way and decides to leave. However, he does keep his promise to Mi-rae and fixes up the security camera outside the house.

Mi-rae’s frustration soon turns to her brother, when she notices Hyeon-Jae outside talking to his friend about their business plan. Now, given it’s exam week and he should be studying, Mi-rae is shocked when she finds out what he’s been up to.

Hyeon-jae hasn’t been studying but instead, has been following the seniors around from the Entrepreneur’s Club, given they all have businesses that have made it big. In order to get advice, he’s splashed his tuition money to them. Two semesters worth of money, which is around 8 million won. Hyeong-jae is confident that Moo-jin will help him out, but it’s clear that he’s adopted is father’s reckless streak when it comes to money.

Mi-rae is beside herself and rings her dad, and they meet for coffee. It’s not a particularly happy meeting, as Mi-rae is ngry at her dad for instilling false hope in Hyeon-jae. She brings up how he wanrs to start his own business but silently, Moo-jin slides over an envelope. Inside is an ownership deed transfer form. Basically, the apartment will be in their name and, true to his word, he’ll leave.

Moo-jin believes that when he leaves, then Hyeon-jae will come to his senses. Mi-rae is angry and believes after causing such a mess, he’s just running away again. Mi-rae believes he needs to stay and raise Hyeon-jae properly. Believing she’s caught her mum’s midlife crisis bug, she tells him that he needs to take responsibility and be a parent.

When Ae-yeon shows up at the bar, Moo-jin decides to distract her but things turn on their head when she brings up Jeong-in and what he’s been doing in Thailand. She questions whether he’s the guy who knocked up Jeong-in and ran away. He doesn’t want to tell her the truth, so as Moo-jin looks to leave, Ae-yeon cracks an egg on his head.

The Episode Review

Judging by that ending, we’re led to believe that Moo-jin was the one who knocked up Jeong-in and then ran away. However, his little wry smile and asking if Ae-yeon is jealous does seem like it’s out of character if one was telling the truth in this situation. I think that in reality, Moo-jin decided to stick around and help Jeong-in after seeing her in trouble, showing that he’s responsible (as evidenced by his Thai name uttered at the start) and Jeong-in feels guilty that he was with her, rather than Ae-yeon, hence why she’s so jittery.

As for Moo-jin’s past, it does seem like the main crux of this stems from his shady gangster-esque ties, and most likely his connections with either loan-sharks or gangsters. Whatever it ends up being, there’s enough intrigue here to keep the mystery alive.

All in all, this show is shaping up to be another decent watch and we’ll have to wait and see where tis one goes tomorrow.