Romance in the House – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

I Want To Get Closer To You

Episode 6 of Romance in the House starts with Ae-yeon sorting through the house, doing the washing and even giving the dog a bath. However, all of this is a distraction tactic to get her mind off Moo-jin’s kinda-confession-but-not-really of being romantically involved with Jeong-in.

A frustrated Ae-yeon speaks to Moo-jin outside the villa though, and tells him to make himself useful. Remember the flashy car that keeps blocking in Mi-rae? Turns out it actually belongs to the neighbouring villa’s owner. Now, it this guy is actually a bit of a gangster, he’s massive and when he finds out that Moo-jin and Hyeon-jae have stuck flyers up all over his car (in the shape of a smiley face no less), he wants to fight.

As for Mi-rae, she and Tae-pyeong continue to grow closer together. She blushes while they run into one another at the supermarket, but our star security guard has to deal with his needy father, who messages constantly. He’s invited to a family function but he doesn’t particularly want to go for reasons which will be revealed later on.

Back at the villa, Ae-yeon speaks to Jeong-in who confirms that the scumbag who knocked her up and ran off wasn’t Moo-jin. However, before she can continue, the pair are called outside, where they find Moo-jin, showing off his tattoos, with the villa’s owner in a submission hold. The man apologizes profusely while in agonizing pain and eventually decides he doesn’t even want a monetary settlement after all. “Be nice to people, huh?” Moo-jin says, before walking away. This, by the way, absolutely gets Ae-yeon going and the look of shock she gives Moo-jin is definitely mixed in with admiration.

Anyway, this little interlude eventually paves way to the truth coming out. It turns out Moo-jin and Jeong-in did live in the same neighbourhood back in Thailand. Her nickname was Joy and he was the first Korean she met there. The significance of the photo is not actually because it has Moo-jin in, it’s because it’s the only photo she has of her pregnant.

To save her from this predicament, Moo-jin handed over his fortune and tells her to leave. All of this is a reminder of his own situation and through Jeong-in, he tried to do the right thing. With both of them at rock bottom back then, and she made her way back to Korea. So what of Moo-in? How did he make his fortune?

Well, Moo-jin had a job at the shoe store and modelled high heels to the customers. He wasn’t a gangster after all, but he managed to make a fortune doing this. Moo-jin’s goal back then was to make his way back to Ae-yeon, but buying the villa involves a big chunk of change; it would require something extravagant. Was it just high heel modelling or is there something extra going on here?

Meanwhile, Mi-rae is frosty with her father again, even when she finds out Hyeon-jae has moved out and he’s under Moo-jin’s wing for now. They’re living together and Hyeon-jae’s extravagance takes Moo-jin back. He doesn’t know where to start. Well, I guess a credit card will do for now?

The next day, Jae-cheol is uneasy and on edge after Ae-yeon’s threat. However, Moo-jin doubles down on trying to win over his ex wife and doesn’t pay much attention to Jae-cheol’s concerns. He goes above and beyond for Ae-yeon, buying her gifts, helping her out at work and acting like a knight in shining armour.

When Ae-yeon hurts her foot, she sits down and Moo-jin decides to help her out. While he works on her ankle, she jokes that he has a lot of experience with shoes and footcare, and can’t help but smirk. Moo-jin s delighted to see her smile, and looks longingly at her, happy that he’s seen this again.

That night, while Mi-rae is deliberating over whether to tell her mum about Hyang-je’s tuition, she decides they should head off to Thailand for their trip first and she’ll tell her there. She’s already booked the tickets and they need a break. It’s ironic they’re going here though, given Ae-yeon’s confliction over Moo-jin.

Well, the stars align because a big product launch for the Diver Tteokbokki goes ahead, meaning their annual leave needs to be cancelled. Well, usually anyway. Mi-rae is not cancelling this trip so she has the idea to launch the product a day early so she can still go away. She’s been up for 30+ hours and after working round the clock, ends up taking a small break in her car.

Tae-ypeong spies her and races over, believing that she’s in trouble. She’s not, of course, but he does agree to drive her home, while Mi-rae curses her luck that he always sees her at the worst possible time. Mi-rae believes she’s being a nuisance but Tae-pyeong catches her off-guard by admitting that she’s really cool for her work ethic and how diligently she works. Mi-rae shrugs though, believing there’s no point in delaying anything as the future Mi-rae will just have to work.

Meanwhile, Tae-pyeong’s family outing is actually a funeral, paying their respects to a patriarch whom we learn is Tae-pyeong’s grandfather. Now, a couple of men gossip about how hard its been for the family with Tae-pyeong around, while commenting how he looks much more like the chairman than his father, Chi-yeol, does.

When Tae-pyeong questions who his father is, turning from the deceased chairman to Chi-yeol and causing a scene in front of everyone, the pair get into it outside. Chi-yeol tells him that he’s a fool who “can’t even get what’s rightfully his” but it would appear that Tae-pyeong is actually Chi-yeol’s younger half-brother, and born to a different woman. He was put on the register as Chi-yeol’s son s there wasn’t a big scandal. Chi-yeol became the CEO through all of this, and it also explains why Tae-pyeong is so reluctant to keeping away from Chi-yeol, and why he want to do all of this himself.

At the villa, Ae-yeon finds out that Hyeon-jae is staying with Moo-jin. He also points out that he’s going to drop out of school after being absent for a year. He also reveals the big deal that Mi-rae concocted behind her back. Uh oh!

Ae-yeon hits some balls at the cages before sitting down to drink with Moo-jin. She wants to know exactly how he made his fortune after the shoes in Thailand, and what relevance it has to the carp tattoo. Well, the latter is apparently there to cover up a big scar, and that’s it, but he wont divulge exactly how he’s made that much money.

Eventually Ae-yeon breaks down in tears, lamenting how hard motherhood is and how both Mi-rae and Hyang-jae are struggling because of them. Moo-jin points out it’s not her but actually him. The pair get close and look like they’re about to embrace… but Ae-yeon stops herself from feeling that way and holds back.

The big work meeting goes ahead, with Mi-rae out at her team dinner celebrating their product launch. When she heads over to use the toilet, she bumps into Tae-pyeong, who’s out smoking after drinking alone, drowning his sorrows. However, he passes out just round the corner. Mi-rae spots him and he’s so out of it, he believes he’s at home in bed. Mi-rae can’t just leave Tae-pyeong like this, so while walking him home, he offers her to stay at his place.

Funnily enough, as they head back, Ae-yeon and Moo-jin happen to be in the same motel, and drama ensues. Lots of misunderstandings take place, and Ae-yeon calls Mi-rae a wench. As she launches herself at her daughter… the episode ends.

The Episode Review

The contrasting fortunes of both Moo-jin and Tae-pyeong certainly juxtapose that of Ae-yeon and Mi-rae, and that ending typifies this in the best possible way, with a double misunderstanding trope wrapped up into one amusing package.

While Ae-yeon doubts her abilities as a mother, Mi-rae doubts her abilities as a girlfriend, knowing how hard she works, and how upside down her family is. However, its clear that Tae-pyeong knows a thing or two about dysfunctional families too!

Moo-jin’s past isn’t so shady and dangerous after all (at least from what we’ve seen) and I did call this a while back that Moo-jin’s fortune would be linked to something silly. However, modelling high heel shoes definitely wasn’t on my bingo card! Having said that, there’s still more to his past we don’t know, so we’ll have to wait and see what transpires here.

Finding out more about Tae-pyeong is definitely this episode’s highlight though, especially that drama involving the CEO and how he’s not actually his dad but his brother (unless that was lost in translation).

Overall though, the series has been a good watch and the ending sets things up nicely for next week’s follow-up.