High School King of Savvy: Episode 7

by dramallama

The pheromone levels are high as we see lots of feelings in this episode – some of them real, fake, and some in between. Despite the despicable nature of certain characters, we’re given reasons to care for and sympathize with them. We’re reminded that everyone has their own struggles, makes mistakes, and feels pain. That being said, we’ve got some great goodies in this episode that demand appreciation and some hearty laughs. This show isn’t one to miss out on chuckles.

 
EPISODE 7 RECAP

For his last question, Min-seok pulls Soo-young into a hug and counts down from ten seconds: 10, 9, 8… After the countdown, he opens his eyes and lets her go, saying that he’s figured it out with a smile. He casually says that he’ll see her tomorrow at work and runs off while Soo-young looks as confused as ever.

Back home, Yoo-ah looks at a picture of Min-seok and calls him bad for yelling at her. She only wanted to buy him food, but she understand his reaction – he’s having a hard time juggling school, hockey and work. She resolves that she’ll protect him.

Soo-young comes back home with a perplexed look on her face. Yoo-ah asks if she’s been fired again, but Soo-young pulls her into a hug, counting down from ten seconds just like Min-seok. She can’t figure out how this could have resolved anything for him, and Yoo-ah asks if she’s been drinking again. She has another guess about the question he was trying to get answered: “Omo, is it my bust size?!” Ha.

While Yoo-ah sleeps, Soo-young does her stretches and thinks some more. She has a realization and thinks maybe… but we don’t know what that is.

Meanwhile, Min-seok takes out his angst on a punching bag, kicking and punching until he collapses in exhaustion.

In class the next morning, the teacher spots “Min-seok” sleeping and calls him out. His friends rush to make up a story about how Min-seok injured himself at practice and has fallen into a deep sleep. The teacher approaches them, but they block the dummy and promise to bring Min-seok to the nurse later. They’re off the hook for now, but that was a close call.

Soo-young and Min-seok run into each other in front of the company building, and she confronts him with her realization. She explains in a roundabout manner, saying that she doesn’t feel any distaste towards it and understands that he’s been exposed to certain environments abroad. He has no idea what she’s saying, so she elaborates. She should have realized this when Min-seok showed interest in Jin-woo; he probably thought of her as his rival. Haha, close but not quite.

They enter the building, and Min-seok quietly clarifies her assumption. Yup, she thinks he’s gay. He’s flabbergasted, so Soo-young makes another guess. Does he like her? (Bingo!) Min-seok doesn’t answer right away, so she assumes she’s right and says that she can’t work as his secretary if that’s the case. He quickly rejects her claim, explaining that he wanted to figure out a way to make up for snapping at her earlier and that hugging is a normal greeting back in Germany.

To prove his point, he walks over to a retail team colleague and greets her with a hug. When they get to the office, he gives everyone a “good morning hug” as well – even the delivery man. Team Leader Kim scoffs at him but looks embarrassed when Min-seok leaves him hanging with no hug.

The ladies compliment Min-seok’s manners and compare him to Assistant Park. Sang-hee jumps in to defend him, but Assistant Park looks a bit horrified by her defense. Soo-young sits down at her desk with this new understanding. Since she’s never been to Germany, she didn’t know hugs were so commonplace.

While playing computer games, Min-seok gets a call from his friends, who tell him about their encounter with the teacher. They pride themselves in their quick-witted response and remind him to get off early for their hockey game.

Team Leader Kim walks into his office and tells Min-seok to hurry up for the meeting. Min-seok notifies him that he’ll be leaving early for his game, and Team Leader Kim responds with complaints. But as soon as he opens the door, Min-seok plays his role and gets him back by scolding him for being late. Team Leader Kim looks like he’s going to cry and complains that Min-seok is so frustrating.

At the meeting, Team Leader Kim explains their weekend workshop trip with the project team. Assistant Park complains about another stolen weekend while Min-seok stays quiet with his eyes on Soo-young. He notices that she’s pulling down her sleeves because of the fan blowing right behind her, so he interrupts the conversation by suggesting that they turn off the fan. He explains that he has bronchial problems, so the team decides to turn it off. Team Leader Kim seems irritated by the interruption but continues to explain their workshop trip, reminding them not to be late.

Jin-woo visits his mother at the rehab center, and she looks delighted to see him. She’s crocheting a blanket and explains that she wants to finish it for Jin-woo’s upcoming birthday. She worries that Jin-woo’s face looks slimmer, but he assures her that he’s doing fine. Their reunion is short, as she’s pulled aside by a nurse for her regular counseling session. She wants to stay longer with Jin-woo, so he says that he’ll wait for her.

He watches her leave reluctantly and thinks back to his childhood. In a flashback, we see why Jin-woo’s mother ended up in rehab. Jin-woo’s father angrily breaks objects in the house and throws his mother to the side. Young Jin-woo watches this scene and wets his pants, clearly frightened.

The nurse explains to Jin-woo that his mother’s condition today is better than usual. On most other days, she wakes up at night asking for alcohol and would throw up all the food she ate.

Back at work, Jin-woo meets his father in the elevator. He invites him to dinner that Sunday, but his father angrily rejects him. Jin-woo mentions his mother’s worsening condition, but President Yoo cuts him off and reminds him that they’re at work. He also adds that he has nothing to do with that woman anymore and walks out of the elevator.

Jin-woo looks unsteady and catches his breath. He’s about to take his pills but slips them back into his pocket when Soo-young approaches him. She notices that he’s not looking well, and sure enough, he’s pale and sweating. He says that he’s just feeling a little feverish and heads home.

Listening to his gloomy classical music, Jin-woo recovers by sipping on some wine. He gets a message from Soo-young, who’s left some porridge by his door. He finds the porridge hanging on his door and rushes out to catch her.

When Jin-woo catches up to Soo-young outside, he invites her in, but she refuses. She insists that he rest and walks into a car. The car alarm goes off, so she grabs him to hide behind another car before the owner runs over.

When the owner walks away, Soo-young sighs in relief and Jin-woo looks amused. He says that they didn’t need to hide; they could have just explained the situation to the owner. She laughs in realization and notices that Jin-woo stepped on dog poop.

He looks disgusted by his shoe and flings it off his foot. Soo-young laughs and runs to collect the shoe. She says that she can just rub the poop off, but Jin-woo gags and tells her to throw the shoe away. She continues to rub the poop off, and Jin-woo hilariously hops back into the building on one foot.

Soo-young finishes cleaning the shoe in Jin-woo’s bathroom and proudly presents the clean shoe to Jin-woo, who still looks a little disgusted. He insists that she stay for tea, and she happily agrees. On the table, she notices a company birthday card addressed to Jin-woo and asks him about it. Jin-woo says that his birthday’s on Sunday but has nothing planned, so Soo-young offers to make him dinner after their workshop trip.

She claims to be a pretty good cook and tells him she’ll make seaweed soup for his birthday. He agrees, and she looks pleased. After Soo-young leaves, Jin-woo takes out the porridge she made, but it comes out of the thermos in chunks. Good cook, eh?

The hockey boys prepare for their game, and Yoo-ah walks into their locker room with no care for their shirtless and pants-less state. She’s looking for her hubby, but he’s in the bathroom. On the ground, she finds Min-seok’s skates which look old and shabby. Coach eventually kicks her out calling her a stalker, but she seems more upset about the skates than anything.

After their win, Coach treats the whole hockey team to dinner. He tells them to keep up the energy for their weekend practices, but Min-seok knows he can’t make them. The company workshop is that weekend. Thinking quickly, he yells a request that Coach cancel weekend practice in honor of their win, and the rest of the team yells in agreement and pounds their spoons on the table like a bunch of Neanderthals. Coach agrees, and the team erupts in cheers. The trio celebrates with a group hug.

Min-seok drops by the cleaners to help Dad with work. Dad notices the barbecue smell and calls Min-seok a traitor for eating meat without him and Grandpa. He asks how the game went, and Min-seok confidently states that they won, obviously because he was playing. Min-seok then lies that Coach is going overboard and having the team go on an overnight weekend training trip.

Dad doesn’t believe him and thinks that Min-seok’s going elsewhere. Min-seok overreacts, “Wow, how can you do this? Wow, you don’t believe your son? Wow.” Dad changes the subject to his hyung, asking Min-seok if he’s been in contact with him yet. Again, Min-seok lies and says that hyung was too busy moving and will send them his new address later. Dad seems frustrated with Hyung-seok’s behavior, and Min-seok leaves, saying hyung never really called anyway.

When Min-seok arrives home, Grandpa is on the phone calling out Hyung-seok’s name. Min-seok rushes over and grabs the phone, only to get a dead line. He asks Grandpa if hyung actually called, but Grandpa shakes his head no. Grandpa says he misses Hyung-seok and asks when he’ll be back. One hundred nights? Min-seok looks sad and doubtful, but he smiles and nods that hyung should be back by then.

Excited by this news, Grandpa starts counting to one hundred, and Min-seok heads to his room. He looks awfully lonely sitting on his bed, head hanging, while Grandpa counts in the background.

Yoo-ah lies on her bed with a creative laptop-drying rack contraption. She’s checking the prices of new skates, which happen to be way over her budget, and falls into a dilemma.

On her way to the team gathering, Soo-young stops by a bakery to order a cake for Jin-woo. She’s the last to arrive, and Min-seok hides a little smile when he sees her. They all board the bus, but Team Leader Kim pulls Min-seok away to ride in a separate car. He doesn’t trust Min-seok to be on that bus without supervision. Smart on his part, but that cuts out bus shenanigans. Darn.

Duk-hwan and Tae-seok roam the streets, free from the tortures of practice that weekend. They plan a three-course day – movie, dinner, and karaoke – and excitedly walk down the street when they notice Yoo-ah handing out flyers promoting lipsticks.

They walk over to ask what she’s doing, but she tells them she’s busy working and shoos them away. Duk-hwan pulls Tae-seok aside and makes the connection that Yoo-ah must be working to help Min-seok because they lied to her about his struggling family circumstances. So the next thing we know, they’re helping out Yoo-ah with the flyers, bringing in a bunch of ladies to check out the lipstick. I guess the male, young, tall, and cute factors help when your target audience is ladies.

The retail team takes a break at a rest stop, and Soo-young gets up from her nap to take a bathroom break. On her way back, she spots two children who seem to be lost. She approaches them and helps them find their mom, and in the meantime, the rest of the team has gathered back in the bus. Thinking that Soo-young’s still sleeping under her jacket, the team leaves without her. The children find their mother, but Soo-young ends up stranded at the rest stop.

Only when everyone arrives at the workshop site do they realize that Soo-young’s missing. Her bag and everything are on the bus, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Hearing this, Jin-woo offers to drive back to the rest stop and Min-seok tags along since Soo-young’s on his team. Or because he likes her.

Min-seok asks Jin-woo what he thinks about Soo-young now that he’s gotten to know her. Jin-woo says to mind his own business and comments that Min-seok must be pretty carefree, poking his nose into someone else’s business. He responds that he’s actually really busy nowadays and suggests that they continue the drive without any further interactions.

But that’s easier said than done, especially between these two. Min-seok rolls down the window, but Jin-woo rolls it back up since the air conditioner is on. Min-seok rolls it back down, saying that he wants fresh air, but Jin-woo rolls it up because it’s his car. And so an intense window battle ensues.

When President Yoo arrives at the workshop site, everyone greets him with smiles and laughter. They’re just settling down and waiting for the rest of the group, so he suggests that they play some jokgu. They all happily agree and play a game called “President Yoo always wins jokgu.”

At the rest stop, Soo-young searches for anyone who’s heading in her direction. One mysterious man offers to take her, even though it’s a bit out of his way, but Soo-young refuses and continues looking for a woman going in her direction.

Just in time, the two rivals arrive to collect Soo-young. Min-seok calls her over, but she rushes over to Jin-woo instead. They have a conversation without Min-seok, who looks quite bothered and jealous. Min-seok steps in between them and yells at Soo-young for causing an inconvenience. When they reach the car, Min-seok tells Soo-young to get in the back seat because he has to talk to Jin-woo while Jin-woo insists that Soo-young take the front. The back and forth continues until Soo-young makes the decision to sit in the front.

Except she’s driving. She has both boys sit comfortably in the back to converse while she drives them to the location. Min-seok brushes his hand on Jin-woo’s hand, so he wipes off the cooties on Jin-woo’s shirt. They bicker and push each other like little boys while Soo-young smiles to herself. Hehe.

After a game of jokgu, the servile employees praise President Yoo for his masterful skills. They’re tired from the game, but President Yoo suggests (orders) that they go on a walk. He offers prize money, and the tired employees reluctantly follow.

Yoo-ah receives payment from her job, and her two helpers offer to buy food. She smells something fishy and orders them to spill the beans. “Which one of you two like me?” There’s no way that they would help her out at work and offer to buy food for no reason. Although they initially deny her assumption, Duk-hwan lies that Tae-seok has been secretly liking her.

This is news to Tae-seok, but Duk-hwan pinches him to go along with it. Yoo-ah corners him and tells him to get over her before Min-seok finds out. Or else. Tae-seok flinches at Yoo-ah’s slightest hand gesture but breathes a sigh of relief when she just walks away. Oh, the sacrifices they make in the name of friendship.

The whole workshop group finally meets and they share a meal. It’s a party with barbecue, drinks, and singing. Retail team member Ji Dae-han starts singing a slow song on his guitar but gets interrupted by Assistant Park, who brings the life of the party. Off to the side, Go Yoon-ju walks over to Dae-han and tells him to keep playing; she’ll listen. A little side workplace romance action going on.

Min-seok gets in the groove and joins the dance party. Soo-young has been glancing at Jin-woo the whole time, but he doesn’t notice and leaves the table to pick up a call. It’s from his friend, who has updates about Hyung-seok.

Jin-woo sits outside watching the company dinner and thinks back to Min-seok’s behavior. The fun, friendly, and easygoing nature is nothing like what his friend described – a perfectionist and a bit aloof. His friend also confirmed that Hyung-seok was in Germany two weeks ago, which isn’t possible since he was already working at Comfo by then. Jin-woo wonders what’s going on and what he can’t get caught for.

Soo-young interrupts his thoughts and invites him back to the party. But Jin-woo declines and invites her to take a walk with him. At the invitation, Soo-young hides her wide smile and agrees. Min-seok finally notices that Soo-young has disappeared and sees that she’s walking off with Jin-woo.

Since Soo-young is rubbing her arms because of the cold, Jin-woo offers to grab a jacket for her. He runs off, and Min-seok makes his entrance. He orders his secretary to accompany him to buy ramen for their group, but she tries to decline. Min-seok scolds her for making him walk this dark night road alone and forces her to come along.

When Jin-woo comes back, Soo-young is gone, but she sends him a text saying she’ll be back. He looks around and notices that Min-seok is gone as well.

During their walk, Soo-young complains that she doesn’t want ramen, but Min-seok tells her to just go with it. He starts asking her if she’s come to these places when she was dating, but Soo-young gets distracted by cricket noises. She’s got bad memories of the bug and cringes just at the thought. Min-seok tries to bring the conversation back to dating by asking if she’s dated younger guys, but she’s distracted again by the noises. Eventually, Min-seok gives up and joins her conversation about the disgusting bugs.

He pretends to see the bug and opens his arms wide so that Soo-young can jump into him. He’s pleased by this scenario and jokes to her that he’s going to find the bug to put into her bag one day. Min-seok cries bug again with his arms wide open, and Soo-young jumps into his arms. He cries bug a couple more times with his arms ready, but Soo-young doesn’t seem as convinced anymore. Still, the boy who cried bug seems satisfied.

The next morning, the workshop teams head back on the bus. Min-seok throws another fit, wanting to ride the bus, but Team Leader Kim drags him away. Meanwhile, Jin-woo and Soo-young plan their meet-up for when they get back.

When they arrive back at the company, Min-seok asks Soo-young to hang out, but she declines, saying that her very good friend’s birthday is today. He accepts this excuse and walks off while Soo-young sneaks away into Jin-woo’s car.

On Min-seok’s walk back, President Yoo stops his car and offers to give him a ride. Min-seok gladly accepts. They talk about the workshop, and Min-seok asks President Yoo why he comes to work even on weekends. Doesn’t his family say anything? President Yoo replies that he doesn’t have much family to accompany since they’re all busy on their own. “At one point, work became more comfortable than home.” Min-seok finds those words admirable, though there is a hint of sadness to them.

As Min-seok gets dropped off, President Yoo recognizes someone on a bike. He gets out to check but doesn’t get a good look.

The bike man is Dad, who calls out to Min-seok as he’s walking by. They greet each other with a “Hey Father!” and “Hey Son!” like the adorable family they are. Being the irresponsible son, Min-seok hangs his duffel on Dad and goes off on a run. Dad comments on his young blood, returning from weekend training but still wanting to exercise.

Soo-young cooks up a birthday feast for Jin-woo, and he thanks her for accompanying him. He notices that she keeps checking her watch and asks what she’s waiting for. She claims that she’s not waiting on anything and asks him what gift he would like to receive. Jin-woo says he doesn’t need a gift but asks for a favor: report all of Min-seok’s business emails to him.

At this, Soo-young hesitates and says that she can’t do that for him. She works for Min-seok, so it wouldn’t be right to do such a thing. A bit offended, Jin-woo asks about their relationship. Even when Soo-young was fired Min-seok went to great lengths to hire her back, and she seems pretty loyal as well. What’s with that?

Soo-young finally figures it out. This was the reason why Jin-woo treated her so well. Having realized this, she starts to leave, but Jin-woo isn’t done. He says that she has no choice in this matter; his request is an order. He can easily fire her again. Disappointed and embarrassed, she walks out, and Jin-woo looks a little disappointed as well.

As if the show is trying to make up for Jin-woo’s assholery, they give us a brooding shower scene. Yup, that means abs. When he gets out of the shower (with an untied bathrobe), he gets a call from Min-seok, who asks about the next meeting.

The call is interrupted by the doorbell, and it’s none other than Soo-young. She’s on the verge of tears as she explains that she would have been a fool to leave without standing her ground and saying something. Jin-woo looks shocked that she’s back, and Min-seok hears her voice from the other side of the line.

She laments having wasted two years crushing on a guy like him. “You can fire me again if you’d like. Yoo Jin-woo, don’t live like that. You’re a son of a bitch with no common courtesy.” Applause for our brave Soo-young.

Having heard the whole conversation, Min-seok yells on the other side of the line, but Jin-woo doesn’t hear him. He tries calling Soo-young, but she doesn’t pick up. So he runs all around the neighborhood looking for her.

Jin-woo gets the cake that Soo-young was waiting on along with a birthday card from her, telling him to smile. But he doesn’t look too happy spending another birthday alone.

After a long search, Min-seok finally spots Soo-young. He runs down the stairs to confront her, but the tears are still streaming down her face. She thinks back to all the warnings that Min-seok gave her about Jin-woo and asks him why he didn’t just say that Jin-woo fired her.

Min-seok says that he was wondering that himself. “Why wasn’t I able to just tell you? But now, I think I know why. This is my answer.”

Then he swoops in for the kiss.

 
COMMENTS

Woah, I don’t know if I was expecting that this early, but we did get a good build-up to it. Min-seok confirms his feelings with the ten second embrace in the beginning and finishes off with a bang, or more like a smooch. I’m sure some part of his actions have to do with his raging hormones, but that’s not all of it. He’s honest with his feelings and doesn’t have the patience to be as cunning as Jin-woo. On one part, he seems to earnestly care for Soo-young, but we’ve yet to see if this is simply puppy love or something more serious.

Min-seok approach to showing affection for Soo-young seems so childlike. He does that thing that boys do to girls when they like them: give them a hard time. The pairing is weird but adorable, and their banter is quite entertaining. But Min-seok seems to be fighting for her attention not in the most efficient manner, and it contrasts with Jin-woo’s approach. Not that Jin-woo’s manipulation is in any way appealing, but I can’t be the only one who saw him break his solemn façade a little. He handles his feelings – true or not – with more maturity, and that’s where I see the gap. Is his earnestness enough, or will he have to get over his high school self to compete with the big boys?

Jin-woo had a great episode. I don’t know if I’ve seen Lee Soo-hyuk in a role like this, but I’m glad he’s showcasing a bit more range. He shows the right amount of subtlety for his character, just enough so that we don’t hate the manipulative asshole he is. We’ve seen Jin-woo’s weakness – unstable family relationships – but we get a better look this time. We see the happiness and sorrow in his face when he visits his mother, who’s a victim of his father’s rage. It’s heartbreaking to see him try to mend his relationship with his father, only to get flatly rejected and fall into anxiety. He tries to invite his father for a birthday dinner, but their relationship almost seems to be a lost cause. I say almost because President Yoo realizes what he’s become; he just doesn’t see the point in making amends.

With Soo-young filling in that void with a simple birthday dinner, I think Jin-woo was genuinely thankful. In that sense, I definitely saw the potential between these two. They balance each other out differently from how Soo-young and Min-seok balance each other out, but it worked. I’m not exactly rooting for them, as I’m sure we’ll have more reasons to root for both sides, but I would say that it’s still early in the game. There’s still plenty of time for the tables to turn, possibly more than once. And that means more bickering and jealousy between our boys, which seems so promising after this episode.

We were given so many goodies, but I’m convinced that the best is yet to come. And with the talks of an extension, I’m hoping there will be more hijinks, quirky romance, and bromance heading our way. Bring it on, Savvy!

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