Romance in the House – K-drama Episode 9 Recap & Review

Back to the Mi-Rae

Episode 9 of Romance in the House starts with Mi-rae preparing for her day. She’s heading off with Tae-pyeong, who’s awkward when he tries to make small-talk outside her villa. They’re in the honeymoon period together and the pair are nervous, especially as their puppy-love romance is just starting to take off.

When Mi-rae heads home though, Ae-yeon has changed the locks to their apartment. She speaks plainly to her daughter outside, telling Mi-rae that it’s time for her to branch out and spread her wings. From this moment on, Ae-yeon is going to step back and let her be on her own.

Mi-rae is, predictably, very upset and Ae-yeon keeps it together to say her piece. Of course, when she leaves, Ae-yeon turns the corner where Moo-jin is waiting to comfort her. He encourages his wife to let it all out and cry as much as she needs to.

In the morning, Mi-rae finds herself swamped with messages. One is from Tae-pyeong, who’s encouraged by Mr Nam to come work for him as an intern for 3 months. If he dodsn’t like it, well he’ll leave him to it.

While Tae-pyeong sets his mind at ease, Mi-rae shows up at the taekwondo studio and wants to break some boards. As for Ae-yeon, she hangs with Moo-jin, who admits he just wants to do right by his kids and be the dad he never was beforehand.

However, all of this looks set to come crashing down. The landlord’s daughter has done some digging and she’s worked out that Dragon Investment is involved with the former landlord and believes they coerced him into selling the villa. She rings Jae-geol, knowing that they’re in on it together and she warns him to stop screening her calls.

On his way out the office, he runs into Jeong-in. They go for food together but of course, when she offers to pay, Jae-geol lsams down a note and brings up his pride and how he won’t allow that.

Mi-rae meets with Moo-jin and questions him outright about his intentions. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to make her happy at all times but he wants to do his best to be there. He also reassures her, pointing out that the family won’t fall apart without her.

Mi-rae is not particularly pleased over them making this decision without her, but it would appear she’s probably going to come around soon.

As for Ae-yeon, she speaks to Tae-pyeong, who convinces her that he has Mi-rae’s best intentions at heart. He admits he admires her and this seems to do the trick with Ae-yeon.

Moo-jin speaks to Hyeon-jae plainly the next morning and tells him he needs to go back to school. In fact, he’s going to pay his tuition too.

Hyeon-jae is baffled over his father and questions just how he managed to get Rich if he never actually did so through a business. We don’t find out the answer to this, especially as the landlord’s daughter shows up outside the villa and begins sniffing around.

She eventually shows up to see Mi-rae, and promises that our protagonist will find out exactly who she is soon. She’s the woman whom Moo-jin made cry and the landlord’s daughter asks how it feels to be the daughter of a rich dad. It’s all very cryptic right now but it’s an ominous sign of things to come.

Meanwhile, Ae-yeon goes searching for a part-time role and she eventually does get one from the salon. The ladies have instantly fallen in love with her look and believe she’d be perfect in front of the camera. Ae-yeon initially declines but given the pay is quite high, she’s definitely intrigued.

Tae-pyeong gets Mi-rae some gifts after work and the pair have some cute moments together. As for Mi-rae, she returns home and notices the place is a complete mess. She starts getting to work cleaning the place, and realizes how hard it is to make the place look spotless. It really isn’t easy and it seems never-ending.

After eating some rice, she finds a letter stashed down the side of some boxes. It’s from Ae-yeon, pointing out how hard it is to do all the chores alongside doing all her stuff at work. She has some great advice for her and reminds Mi-rae that they’ll always have a home together and they are going to have a proper sanctuary, not a battlefront, in the future.

Mi-rae shows up to see Ae-yeon and after getting into her apartment, given she knows the passcode. The pair find solace together. Mi-rae finally understands how hard it is to be the head of the household and appreciates Ae-yeon’s role in keeping everything together. They have a really nice moment here and their dialogue is definitely a stand-out in this episode.

Moo-jin rings someone and asks for advice as he’s worried that “the woman” knows everything. However, the person on the other end of the line refuses to get involved and tells him to find a way. 

Meanwhile, Tae-pyeong shows up as the new intern at work. Mr Nam introduces him as his son and even worse, announces that Mi-rae is going to be his mentor. Uh oh!

The Episode Review

Romance in the House returns with another episode that actually feels quite dragged out, given what we get here. We’ve basically wrapped up most of the plots and now we’re just dragging out the drama involving Moo-jin with this mystery surrounding the apartment.

As for Mi-rae and Ae-yeon, their relationship continues to develop and eventually culminates in the ending we see where they come to an agreement and understand each other on a deeper level.

These two are really the glue that holds this show together, and it does feel like we’re spinning the wheels a bit waiting for the big reveal with Moo-jin. However, there’s enough to enjoy here and the little pockets of humour definitely help. Hopefully tomorrow’s episode can pick things up a bit!