The Interest of Love (사랑의 이해) is a Korean romantic-drama series directed by Jo Yeong-min and stars Yoo Yeon-seok, Mun Ka-young, Keum Sae-rok and Jung Ga-ram in lead roles. The series is based on the novel by Sarangui Ihae by Lee Hyuk-jin. The series takes over JTBC’s Wednesday-Thursday 10.30 PM KST timeslot previously occupied by Insider starring Kang Ha-neul.
The Interest of Love episode 1 has a runtime of 78 minutes.
Netflix’s description reads:
Four men and women working at the same bank get entangled in a complicated romance as they discover how far they’re willing to go for love.
– The Interest of Love Episode 1 Recap Contains Spoilers –
The Interest of Love episode 1 starts with Sang-su looking enchanted at Su-yeong just as the KCU Bank’s Youngpo branch. Section chief Sang-su gives the audience a rundown of working at the bank and discusses how there is a distinction among the different clients that the bank has as well as among those who work there – as there is one between him and Su-yeong.
The two seem to be the black sheep of the branch, with both facing flack from their contemporaries for some reason.
Anyway, on their lunch break, while Sang-su gets teased by his friend Gyeong-pil about his crush on Su-yeong, she eats lunch alone on a park swing and angrily tells someone off on the phone when they call her.
Back at the bank, Sang-su gives an old lady all the money that he has on him after he realises that her son hasn’t sent her any money and she has no food. It’s a nice scene, and Sang-su’s empathetic nature comes into play when he saves Su-yeong from being insulted by an angry client.
In between all the ruckus, Sang-su gives away a credit card meant for Kim Seong-hun (I am guessing a non-VIP client) to a VIP client of the same name. When the mistake is caught, Sang-su gets an earful from his superior, and so does Su-yeong for handing her client over to Sang-su.
Eventually, the two of them rush to Jeju to exchange the card with Kim Seong-hun, the VIP. On the flight there, they talk about his training period and all the mistakes that he made back then. When they finally meet Seong-hun, he turns out to be a rather pleasant guy who understands the mistake and doesn’t think anything of it. Their boss, however, is less than understanding.
After the work is done, Sang-su asks Su-yeong whether she has a boyfriend, and although she is uncomfortable, she answers that she doesn’t have one. The two then comically try to put an egg back into its nest. Either way, it’s a good time for the two, and it is sort of apparent that they both have a crush on each other.
That night after a job well done, the men go out for drinks while Su-yeong turns down an offer to hang out with them. At the bar, the men speculate that Su-yeong definitely has a boyfriend, multiple even. Meanwhile, she seems to be waiting for someone and walks, then finds herself alone looking at store windows. Sang-su, on the other hand, overthinks her messaging app display picture and wonders whether she kept it to send him a message of some sort.
He sends her a message thanking her for going to Jeju with him and starts to regret it later, just when she says that she had a lot of fun on the trip. As he gushes about it, Su-yeong goes home and looks rather morose and refuses to accept her mother’s constant calls.
The next day at work, Sang-su and Su-yeong go out to distribute pamphlets for work, and his crush on him makes him do all of her work on her behalf. The college-era love is honestly cute, and thus, when he asks her out and she accepts, he is left speechless and eventually bouncing in joy.
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When the weekend arrives, Sang-su is just as excited for his date with Su-yeong and even does a face pack before going out. As he excitedly waits for her, she pulls a rather mean prank on him and watches him feel defeated. Thankfully, she tells him that she’s joking and when he finally sees her coming down the escalator, the smile on his face says everything.
After the movie and dinner, Sang-su drops her off at home, and the two awkwardly get to know each, their families, interests and lives in general. Just as they are about to part ways for the night, he asks her out on another date, and after a rather oddly framed question, she mentions that she doesn’t like undefined relationships. He agrees and asks her out on Tuesday to dinner, and she happily accepts.
However, as date night rolls around, Sang-su finds himself unable to correct the balance and is the only one left working at the office as Su-yeong waits for him at the restaurant. As he rushes out after finishing his job, he breaks his phone and runs to the restaurant, but Su-yeong is long gone. When he meets her at work later, he apologises to a fuming Su-yeong, who is uninterested to listen to him.
For the next few days, she ignores his every attempt to apologise and make it up to her, and on a rather drunk night, she finally gives her a piece of his mind. When he finally reads his drunk texts the morning after, he is left screaming at his own stupidity.
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The hot topic for the next day at work is how Su-yeong went out with Jong-hyun, which makes Sang-su rather uncomfortable. That evening at a team dinner, Sang-su looks at Su-yeong and Jong-hyun, annoyed and everyone starts to tease the three of them. It’s honestly uncomfortable to watch this discussion go down, especially when the men start to get information out of Su-yeong forcefully.
Sang-su is annoyed with the interrogation, but really, what can anyone do about it? He does, however, confess to Gyeong-pil that he likes Su-yeong.
The Interest of Love Episode 1 Ending
After drinks, Sang-su follows Su-yeong and asks her whether she is ok after the night’s rude events. An enraged Su-yeong tells him off and asks him to chew out Mr Lee for his insensitive behaviour. He apologises again for standing her up that night, thinking that that’s the reason why she’s annoyed at him. However, she refuses to relent and walks away.
Until, of course, he professes his feelings for her. Unfortunately, she tells him that she’s dating Jong-hyun, prompting him to call her the famous B word.
The Interest of Love Episode 1 Review
What an absolutely baffling episode. I am so confused as to where this series is going and who is the crazier of our principal characters. With another character on their way and one rising the ranks, I am sure there will be tons of drama to sift through in the future. But for now, Sang-su’s compulsive need to be loved by Su-yeong is bordering on stalking and desperation.
Of course, Su-yeong has her own issues, but in the first episode, her walls are too high up for me actually to take a look inside. But something is definitely up in her own life, and I have a feeling she isn’t going to be a simple and straightforward character in any way.
Either way, I am intrigued and very confused, and I want the uncomfortable drama to start in full force. The latest episode personally, however, felt a tad stretched. I would’ve enjoyed just a tad shorter episode more.
Also, Mun Ka-young looks like an absolute dream in the show, and the creators knew that. They captured her so beautifully, gosh darn.
The Interest of Love is streaming on Netflix.
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