The Interest of Love (Season 1) Episodes 1 & 2: Are you looking to watch something that makes you feel giddy with its hopeless romanticism? ‘The Interest of Love’ might be the perfect choice for you. Streaming 2 episodes weekly on Netflix, it is a sensitively narrated workplace romance drama. While it has all the elements to fall head over heels with its love story, it also tackles the issues of status, class division, and discrimination, among others, and how they impact our relationships and the people we choose to spend our lives with. Within its first two episodes, it sets up its cutesy setting and makes us familiar with these bank employees.
The Interest of Love (Season 1) Episodes 1 & 2 Recap
The first episode gives us an introduction to the bank employees while taking us through the arc of romance between Ahn Su-Yeong (Moon Ga-young) and Ha Sang-Su (Yoo Yeon-Seok). It begins with the everyday routine in the bank, where the employees are politely providing their service to the customers. We are being given an insight into how the customers are judged based on their wealth and given differing treatment. Besides plaguing the service, the status issue also is a part of their lives in a way the employees see themselves and their colleagues.
During their lunch break, Ahn Su-Yeong goes to sit by herself and have lunch. The male colleagues see Ha Sang-su noticing her from a distance and poke him to speak about it. That is where we get a hint of his interest in Su-Yeong. Sometime later, he sees a customer berating her for a minor issue of getting the wrong card, which is something that he could have asked her without the anger. When he tears the paper and goes on to throw the pieces over her, Su-Yeong stops him. Later, upon being asked by the manager, he takes the blame on himself.
As a result of this incident, Sang-su gets punished to go for a meeting with the client along with Su-Yeong. On his journey, he reminisces about the time when he had newly joined the bank, and Su-Yeong helped him quite a bit. During this trip, their romance starts blossoming with simple gestures. She sees a bird’s egg fallen over the ground and wants to keep it back in the nest. He helps her in doing so, and through that cutesy moment, they start bonding. Back in Seoul, he takes her out to watch a movie and remains awkwardly shy the whole time.
He mentions that he is different outside than how he is at work. She mentions that she wanted to attend an art school but could not because her parents could not afford the fees. In the end, he asks her if they should go on another date the following week. She notes that she does not like ‘undefined relationships’. They agree to meet on a specific date when she also has a holiday. On that day, she goes to that fancy restaurant and waits for him. Meanwhile, he gets caught up in work since the manager asks him not to leave the office until the balance books are correct.
Due to this pressure, Sang-su manages to leave pretty late and rushes to the restaurant, but he breaks his phone on the way and cannot contact her. By the time he reaches there, she leaves the restaurant. She holds a grudge against him and the next day does not communicate with him as before. He notices that and gets heartbroken for his silly mistake. Amidst this awkwardness in their interaction, all the employees plan to go out to have a drink together. During that time, male employees get drunk and start insinuating that Su-Yeong is in a relationship with Jeong Jong-hyun – their security guard. They already see her as someone who would not want to date any of them and take out that hurt on their egos in this manner. Their inappropriate behavior makes him feel bad, but he chooses to restrain himself.
However, on the way home, he asks her if she is fine after the meal, referring to the incident. She finds it odd that he is asking this after the meal and not during when he kept mum. Seeing her cold and distant behavior, he apologizes to her again for not being able to reach the restaurant on time, thinking that is the reason behind it. He also shares, with sincerity, that he likes her. Right after that, she mentions that, even if she denied it before, she is actually dating Jeong Jong-hyun. She says it with a smirk, almost as if she wants him to feel bad about it.
The second episode shows Su-Yeong recalling the memories of the first time she moved to Seoul and the pressure she faced of being a part of such a big city. She chose a worn-out place to live due to the sense of warmth and coziness she felt with its familiarity, and after doing multiple jobs, she finally got the one in the bank. However, just as customers are treated in different ways, she remembers how she was treated differently due to her social and financial background.
Back to the present timeline, Sang-su is heartbroken by knowing that she is dating Jong-hyun. He crosses paths with him and stays lost in thoughts about why she would have chosen Jong-hyun instead of him. Later, there is an incident in the bank where an angry customer sits on the floor since his demands are not met. He does not understand how unreasonable they are and create disturbance like a child. In the end, Su-Yeong goes to sit next to him, and then Sang-su joins her. Slowly everyone else joins them, which embarrasses the customer into resigning his stubbornness.
The colleagues press Su-Yeong to reveal who she is dating, but she does not reveal any name. Then they set her up on a double-blind date, and she has no other option but to accept. The discrimination she faced in the bank, and her background is something that Sang-su also struggled with, where his poor family was seen with disdain by his rich peers. Now that he has achieved good grades in his college and landed the job, he is satisfied. Soon, he also lands a great deal for the bank, for which the manager also congratulates him.
While Sang-su was seen as a failure in the bank by then, he suddenly becomes the center of attention. Soon after, the employees start gossiping about the new assistant manager, who is going to join their office. Her name is Park Mi-gyeong( Sae-Rok Keum), and she soon becomes accustomed to her new workplace. Along with her, Sang-su is paired for a project, and because of this, her daily responsibilities are handed over to Su-Yeong.
Meanwhile, Sang-su realizes that they both went to the same school and later also go for a meal together. When they come out of the restaurant, Su-Yeong happens to see them together, and it seems to bother her. After returning home, Mi-gyeong sends him a text telling him that she enjoyed their time together. The next day, during lunch in the bank, a colleague mentions that Sang-su and Mi-geyong are dating, and they start blushing. But both of them deny it. There is a light smile on Su-yeong’s face, after which she leaves the room. It leaves him confused since he is unsure whether she is happy for him or sad – whether she is interested in him or not.
Sang-su finds Su-Yeong and asks if she is going on a blind date (because she’s meant to be with Jeong Jong-hyun). She tells him it’s none of his business and wishes him luck with Park Mi-gyeong. Later that day, Sang-su is asked how serious he is about Su-Yeong (and whether he would marry her). He’s told to forget about her. As the episode ends, Su-Yeong enjoys her blind date — they both remark on how they arrived early.
Meanwhile, Mi-gyeong sends Sang-su work to do for their project. But he cannot stop thinking about Su-Yeong. The man Su-Yeong goes on a date with asks her about her college major, and she awkwardly states she only went to high school. She clearly feels like the man is judging her. Sang-su visits Su-yeong’s apartment and messages her, saying he’s outside. On the way home, Su-Yeong sees a text message, and she’s surprised. She asks the taxi driver to speed up. However, when she gets home, she quickly runs past Sang-su and into the arms of Jong-hyun. Su-Yeong looks heartbroken.
The Interest of Love (Season 1) Episode 2 Ending Explained
While Sang-su tries to initiate a conversation with Su-Yeong in some way, she refuses to have friendly communication with him. During a conversation, he is made to realize that it is best for him to forget her and not harbor thoughts of marrying her in the future. Meanwhile, she goes on her blind date, where both arrive well before the time they had planned to. During their leisurely conversation, he asks about her college major in fashion, and then she clarifies that she has come for the date instead of the person who had planned to.
Since she does not have any major and has to leave schooling early, the man looks down upon her, and she again feels terrible about her status. While she is back on her way home, Sang-su texts her and mentions that he is standing under her apartment. She sees a text on her phone and tells the driver to drive faster. While we assume that it is to meet Sang-su, she gets down from the cab and, instead of Sang-su, goes toward Jong-hyun and gives him a tight hug. They both seem heartbroken for their own reasons.
Related: Seven Key Differences In Money Heist (La Casa De Papel) And Money Heist: Korea-joint Economic Area
The Interest of Love (Season 1) Trailer
The Interest of Love (Season 1) Episodes 1 & 2 Links: IMDb Wikipedia
The Interest of Love (Season 1) Cast: Yoo Yeon-Seok, Mun Ka-young, Keum Sae-rok
