The Final Dinner
Episode 2 of Love in Contract begins with the aftermath of Ji-Ho asking for a divorce. He’s conflicted over his choice… until he sees the absolute mess Sang-Eun has left for him to clean up. Ji-Ho turns on the news and Hae-Jin is there giving an interview. He discusses his upcoming movie and he’s immediately thrown into hot water, especially as his new movie puts Hae-Jin’s family in a negative light. He’s part of the Kangjin group and noting that this independent movie is going to be shown worldwide, it’s not a great look. Meanwhile, we cut back and see what Sang-Eun said just before leaving Ji-Ho. She’s obviously upset and decides to work the rest of the days required for her month contract, claiming it’s a professional courtesy. Still, Sang-Eun can’t stop thinking about Ji-Ho and it gets her all flustered again. That night she ends up cooking a big meal with Gwang-Nam but he immediately brings up how she’s a pushover and needs to get her act together. She’s obviously still hung up over Ji-Ho… but he’s hung up over her too. In fact, he sits at his desk and rips up the divorce settlement. While eating dinner with Sang-Eun, she reflects back on her moments with Ji-Ho. Was there a hint of love there? No. No is the definitive answer. Although Sang-Eun decides to get blind drunk and eventually Gwang-Nam has had enough and carries her to bed. She needs to sober up. In the morning, Ji-Ho looks over various pictures of a bloodied victim before stabbing it with a knife, believing he shouldn’t have been so careless. Hmm… anyway, he has a delivery at the front door and he mistakes Hae-Jin as the delivery man. The box happens to hold his cat Jamie inside. Despite Hae-Jin claiming that he hates people, he purrs and seems happy with Ji-Ho. He hisses at Hae-Jin, prompting him to ask Ji-Ho to take the cat to his place. In the elevator though is none other than Sang-Eun. She sees Hae-Jin and Ji-Ho together. The former is, of course, Sang-Eun’s first love and there’s a moment where it seems like she remembers him…but then that passes. Flashbacks show that these two had a connection in the past, especially as he’s even named his cat after her. What happened between them I wonder. Is this another case of amnesia? Ji-Hio drops off the stuff and heads back to his apartment. He has an awful lot of cleaning product, bleaches and the like, which appears to be a red herring for him being a killer. Anyway, he and Sang-Eun end up having dinner together, with Sang-Eun rustling something up from Ji-Ho’s lack of ingredients. When Sang-Eun leaves Ji-Ho’s place, she bumps into Hae-Jin in the elevator, who’s on his way to recycling his clothes. He notices that Sang-Eun doesn’t have her ring anymore and contemplates what this may mean. He flakes out on his photoshoot and is more interested in what’s happening with Ji-Ho. Everything appears to be connected though. Remember Kangjin Group? Well, Madam Yoo is invited in to be part of their ranks, while news on TV begins circulating about a killer outside. A loud noise downstairs sends Hae-Jin to the stairs, where he notices Ji-Ho stabbing a picture and wonders whether he could be a murderer. This only exacerbates his anxiety and eventually he decides to report Ji-Ho to the authorities. That is, until Sang-Eun shows up. Hae-Jin can’t find the right words, eventually calling Ji-Ho abnormal. Sang-Eun tries to broach the subject of his work to Ji-Ho but he isn’t particularly open about it. And as their meal comes to an end, Sang-Eun decides their next, final meeting should be in silence, just like old times. Before Sang-Eun leaves, she calls Ji-Ho her best client. Hae-Jin throws a curveball her way outside in the hallway, claiming that he’s seen something suspicious. Just before she mentions the true nature of their ties, Ji-Ho opens the door and calls her “honey”, inviting her in for something to eat.
The Episode Review
So it’s obvious that the show is trying to build up Ji-Ho as this walking red flag, with Ji-Ho apparently a serial killer and a murderer. However, I don’t think that’s the case. I personally think he’s working as a crime scene profiler or something of its nature, and could well be working in a rather unconventional way to track down who the killer actually is. Meanwhile, we get a little more of Hae-Jin this time around but it’s clear he has issues too, especially as he hasn’t got over Sang-Eun since their time in the past. It’s the classic hopeless romantic trope and while the show is attempting to build up this love triangle, I genuinely can’t see Hae-Jin and Sang-Eun together at the end. Still, the show is definitely intriguing and there are lots of comedic beats in this to help lighten the mood. There are similarities to Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol in the way it’s setting these plot points up alongside a mysterious past, but we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds. Hopefully this one ends a little better than that drama!
