Next Level Guilt-Tripping
In the ninth episode of Now, We Are Breaking Up, Young-eun and Hye-ok’s meeting is shown. If Young-eun can prove the sincerity of her love for Jae-guk, Hye-ok says she will support their relationship. ..
Young-eun visits Sono’s storefront in Hills. Customers are complaining because the store only carries a limited range of sizes. The manager is considering taking up an offer from Hills to manage one of the new imported brands. ..
Young-eun reports to Gwang-soo that the company is unwilling to spend the money needed to get new patterns and different factories. Gwang-soo is uninterested in helping the company, and Young-eun is left feeling frustrated.
Yoo-jung has a nervous breakdown after passing by Young-eun. She has a flashback to the night of Soo-wan’s death when she pleaded with him to continue their marriage. He drove off after his phone rang with an incoming call from Young-eun. Yoo-jung now blames Young-eun for his death.
Soo-wan’s old friend, who she used to see regularly after movie night, invites her and Jae-guk over for dinner. Jae-guk is still optimistic, asking to meet Soo-wan’s mother.
Do-hoon and Chi-sook enter into a fake dating contract that will last until the end of their Paris trip. The pair is interrupted by Soo-ho handing in his resignation letter so that he can care for Mi-sook.
Mi-sook is surprised to find her husband, Soo-ho, already cooking a meal for her when she returns home from work. He apologises on his knees while slapping himself for selfishly having thought of himself first, their daughter second, and Mi-sook last when he found out about her illness.
Chi-sook, overcome with grief, confronts Young-eun for keeping the truth about Mi-sook from her. She tells Young-eun to convince Mi-sook to receive treatment while she arranges for the best hospital and doctors.
Taek-soo, Jae-guk, and Jung-ja all attend the retirement celebration for Taek-soo. Jae-guk introduces himself to Jung-ja and she realizes he is Hye-ok’s son. Young-eun drops the news that Jae-guk is her boyfriend, much to Jung-ja’s delight. ..
Young-eun goes to her parents’ house after the celebration with Jung-ja. They both separately reveal that Jae-guk is Soo-wan’s brother. Both of her parents then condemn their relationship. ..
Min-kyung, annoyed that Soo-ho hasn’t answered her texts since his resignation, comes to his apartment. He sneaks into the hallway to try and make her leave, but Mi-sook notices them. Min-kyung pretends like Do-hoon sent her to get a handover from Soo-ho and Mi-sook invites her inside. Mi-sook, her expression despondent, pretends to go to the dry-cleaners while they talk.
The team at Sono continue to push for updated sizes the next day, despite Gwang-soo’s objections. Young-eun threatens to go over his head if he doesn’t comply, and he eventually agrees. ..
Jae-guk enjoyed a meal at his mother’s house and explained how he liked the intimacy of photographing people that he felt at the retirement celebration – something he’s lacked as an illegitimate child. Hye-ok asked if he plans to marry Young-eun and he is willing to if she is. Hye-ok then asked him to invite Young-eun over for a meal.
After work, Young-eun and Chi-sook put on clothes that Mi-sook discarded because she lost weight due to her illness. Mi-sook is ecstatic when they present them to her. This is enough for her to decide to accept treatment so she can live without regrets. ..
Do-hoon tells Chi-sook that letting someone go in peace can be another form of love. CEO Hwang arrives home and sees the two of them together.
The CEO of the company Do-hoon works for cornering him the next day and already knows that their relationship is a ruse. Fortunately, he approves of Do-hoon and predicts that he won’t break Chi-sook’s heart like her past boyfriends. ..
Despite senior members’ obstacles, Chi-hyung and So-yong help out at the warehouse. Chi-hyung is struggling and ready to give up, but So-yong tells him to do his part. ..
Young-eun arrives at Hye-ok’s house before Jae-guk. On her way to use the bathroom after being told to wash her hands, she is faced with Soo-wan’s old room and stands frozen. Hye-ok monologues about how Soo-wan will always be in their hearts. She asks if Young-eun is prepared to live everyday with his ghost.
Jae-guk arrives at the dormitory and sees Soo-wan’s room on display. He confronts Hye-ok about it and she says that it was necessary to test Young-eun’s resolve.
Jae-guk catches up to Young-eun as she leaves the photo studio he has acquired. He takes her to the studio and plans to use it for the next two months to take portraits. If he likes the work, he may stay indefinitely.
Young-eun tells him that she’s afraid that if her mother finds out about her fears, she’ll be too embarrassed to stay around and watch Jae-guk be happy.
Young-eun regrets her relationship with Soo-wan, saying that she loves Jae-guk enough to want to erase her two months with Soo-wan. She’s ashamed of these feelings and Jae-guk embraces her as she cries.
The Episode Review
This latest episode of “Running Man” is another chance for Yoo-jung to be terrible. She’s been blaming Young-eun for Soo-wan’s car crash, and Hye-ok has been orchestrating the end of Jae-guk’s romance without much depth. Both of these characters are just run-of-the-mill evil in-laws who are using their positions to drive conflict without much depth.
This episode of “Sono” was a strong focus on the battle for diversity and the exploration of the various obstacles against it that have been built into the fashion industry. This message resonates with viewers across continents, and it is a reminder that there is still work to be done in terms of fashion diversity.
This could have been a great drama to tackle issues like slow fashion, sustainability, impacts on body image, underpaid workers, etc. – the list goes on.
So-yong and Chi-hyung’s return was welcomed by the other characters. Do-hoon and Chi-sook are becoming interesting enough as they oscillate between tender moments and being a dumb-and-dumber pair. As for our leads, there is no good news to report there. ..
