Undercover Miss Hong: Episodes 9-10
by quirkycase
A tragedy in the roommate group tests their newfound bonds and makes our ladies question their priorities. As they begin returning to their rightful places, they’ll have to decide whether to play it safe or take risks for the future they want. Meanwhile, the president of our corrupt company sets a scheme in motion that could majorly shake things up and spell trouble for our heroine and those she’s grown to care about.
EPISODES 9-10
Between the dire economic circumstances and our heroines personally going through it, everything starts to fall apart this week. The roommate quartet has been the heart of this drama, now more than ever. With their three months’ break from their real lives coming to an end, things take a turn. It’s hard to see them fractured and struggling, but their sisterhood is proving hard to break.
Of all the roommates, Mi-sook has been the most in the background. She’s kind and hardworking, mostly just minding her own business and quietly taking care of everyone else. Her main goal is to land a permanent role at Hanmin so she can take care of herself and Bom, which is why she’s been working day and night to sell as much of Hanmin’s “New Korea Fund” as possible.
So when Hanmin nosedives with the rest of the economy and everyone who bought the fund starts crying fraud, it’s devastating for Mi-sook and the other employees who are thrown under the bus. I’m not sure how this works legally, but Mi-sook is even being sued personally for fraud. Desperate to avoid a lifetime of debt that will pass to Bom, Mi-sook attempts suicide. She survives but is left unconscious.
The roommates are shattered, hurting for both Mi-sook and Bom who now only has them. Before she took drastic measures, Mi-sook left two letters: one for Guem-bo and another for Chairman Kang. Geum-bo is distraught to read that Mi-sook has known who she is all along. She worked as an assistant at the accounting firm that fired Geum-bo and recalls how Geum-bo stepped in when Mi-sook was being harassed by a boss. Unable to protect her then, Mi-sook was determined to protect her this time.
In the wake of the tragedy, everyone needs someone to blame. For Geum-bo, it’s herself. For Bok-hee, it’s No-ra for being Chairman Kang’s daughter. Bok-hee explodes at Mi-sook’s bedside, outing No-ra’s identity to Geum-bo. Then, because Bok-hee is at the end of her rope, she outs Geum-bo’s identity too. In retaliation, Geum-bo outs Bok-hee as an embezzler. Well, that’s one way to spill all the secrets.
Sadly, the roommates are the only ones who truly care about what happened to Mi-sook. Hanmin is just worried about damage control. Chairman Kang is irate when a reporter gets wind of Mi-sook’s story and it goes public; Jung-woo barely manages to keep the alarm off his face when Chairman Kang orders Ju-ran to ensure Mi-sook’s roommates are kept quiet. Of course, that’s easier said than done with Geum-bo. She comes out swinging when the callous remarks about Mi-sook start – quite literally in the case of the awful Jung-il who she beats up in front of the whole office.
Meanwhile, Jung-woo’s scheme is being set in motion. His co-conspirator from DK Ventures swoops in under the guise of saving Hanmin from financial ruin, providing a much-needed investment for the company. Jung-woo spearheads the discussion, ingratiating himself to Chaiman Kang and ensuring the deal goes through. The real plan? They’ll buy enough bonds, including through a secret shell company, to push Hanmin to bankruptcy or seizure. Then, as the major shareholders, they’ll take ownership of Hanmin themselves and conquer Yeouido, their own mini world domination as it were.
There’s no war without casualties, however. Hanmin institutes a massive restructuring with a 40% reduction in staff due to their new investor’s suggestion. Everyone is hit hard, and Jin-mok and Gyung-do both leave, not wanting to name their team members for layoffs.
Fighting her own battle, Ju-ran is working hard behind the scenes to set No-ra up as the next heir, allying with No-ra’s greedy mother to oust Albert. No-ra has been pressured to move into Chairman Kang’s house and fully take up the chaebol mantel, regardless of her feelings, and is being assigned as a director at the company. The poor girl looks terrified as she bows incessantly to the higher-ups, none of whom have a clue what to do with this deeply apologetic-looking young woman who barely knows which way is up.
But making No-ra the heir apparent doesn’t end with her new powerful position – both No-ra and Jung-woo are shocked when they’re informed over dinner that they are getting engaged. Neither looks thrilled. All this widens the rift between No-ra and her ex-roommates.
When everything is as low as it can get, Geum-bo gets a huge boon to her mission. Remember the all-important ledger? It turns out it was not incinerated; Bom swiped it and has been using the pages as origami. HA. Success thanks to the littlest roommate!
With her mission complete, Geum-bo tenders her resignation … to the FSS. If they’re not willing to investigate Hanmin – rooting out corruption isn’t on their priority list in the current economic crash – she’ll have to go rogue. Because Geum-bo isn’t about to let Chairman Kang sit pretty with his billions while half his employees lose their jobs due to his greed.
Geum-bo accepts a permanent position at Hanmin with a new goal: steal the slush fund with the help of her new accomplice, the accomplished embezzler Bok-hee. YEEESSS. Bok-hee takes some convincing, but she’s more loyal than she’d like anyone to believe. And she, unsurprisingly, wastes no time in proving her worth. Ju-ran ordered her to spy on Jung-woo, which means Bok-hee planted a bug in his office and has a recording of his scheming with DK Ventures (the details of which they stupidly discussed at the office, for some reason).
That means Geum-bo and Bok-hee are going head-to-head with Jung-woo. They’ll steal the slush fund and use it to buy up stocks, wresting management control from the current major shareholder Chairman Kang. Rather than bankrupting Hanmin, Geum-bo is planning to save it to protect the employees. And Bok-hee is happy to help for the low, low fee of 10% of their stolen cash. Ha.
As for Jung-woo, he thought he’d finally gotten rid of Geum-bo, so he’s at his wits end when she waltzes back into Hanmin. He’s determined to get her to leave, but he has a knack for making everything worse. His attempt to pay for Mi-sook’s hospital bill reads like hush money and his remarks that Geum-bo can’t handle facing off with Chairman Kang enrage her. When he tells her to stop shouldering responsibility that isn’t hers, she fires back that at least she’s not a pathetic coward like he’s always been. Ouch.
More determined than ever to succeed, Geum-bo and Bok-hee get to work. Despite their rift with No-ra, they quickly realize they could seriously use her help as they sneak around Hanmin. No-ra is more than happy to do anything to get back in her favorite unnis’ good graces (and see little Bom who is currently staying out of harm’s way with Geum-bo’s parents). But when dear, sweet No-ra pretends to be Geum-bo so the real Geum-bo can withdraw the funds being currently laundered through her account, she immediately gets caught by both Jung-woo and Albert. Thankfully, Albert is quicker than No-ra on the uptake and comes up with a reasonable excuse to smooth things over with suspicious Jung-woo.
No-ra does at least manage later to sneak a phone in her pocket while meeting with Ju-ran to allow Bok-hee to hear them. Bok-hee is on standby in Ju-ran’s office, waiting by the phone in case the bank calls for verification when Geum-bo attempts to withdraw the money. In the final scene, Geum-bo and Bok-hee each wait nervously as the bank manager calls Ju-ran’s office. Unless No-ra can think fast and keep Ju-ran from entering her office, Bok-hee is about to have a lot of explaining to do.
In case it wasn’t clear, I love this latest development of Bok-hee teaching Geum-bo the art of embezzlement so they can do a bit of vigilante justice. These women are both so stubborn and prickly, but they’re also loyal and clever enough to do some real damage if they put their minds to it. And while No-ra may not be what you’d call a thinker, she’s the most loyal of the bunch and is like an eager puppy up for anything. Mi-sook may have been a background player, but her absence shows she was the glue holding them all together. If there’s one of their number they’ll all fight for, it’s her. I can’t wait to see these women pit against Jung-woo. I don’t think the meticulous Jung-woo is prepared for their chaotic brand of subterfuge.
I’m still not sure where Jung-woo stands exactly, and not just because he has about two facial expressions. He’s clearly not fully over Geum-bo – he hasn’t dated anyone since her and has even kept their couple rings – and wants her out of his way just as much for her safety as his own benefit. We know he’s planning to steal Hanmin out from under Chairman Kang and take it for himself, which seems like simple greed on its face. My question is whether he and his partner have run or planned schemes like this in the past, making this nothing more than a money-grabbing con, or if Jung-woo is targeting Hanmin specifically, maybe even because of what happened nine years ago. While he might’ve been selfish back then, we did learn this week that he didn’t entirely stand by as Geum-bo was targeted. Jae-beom told Geum-bo that, after her firing, Jung-woo is the one who stopped the company from bringing a lawsuit against her and convinced them to let it go. He still has a lot to answer for, but it does suggest he may not be the heartless monster Geum-bo thinks he is.
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