K-DRAMA RECAP: “No Gain No Love” Episodes 9 and 10

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K-DRAMA RECAP: “No Gain No Love” Episodes 9 and 10

Our male lead is faced with a hard choice: leave our heroine to protect her or stay by her side and watch her lose all she worked hard for. Will he follow his heart this time, or will he sacrifice his feelings and go back to that lonely life to satisfy his half-brother and honor his grandmother’s last wish?

More truths are coming to light, with some being more tragic than others. And while this helps us understand our characters better, it is heartbreaking to watch them go through that trauma again.

Bunny S. watches No Gain No Love on Prime Video

Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 |

No Gain No Love Episodes 9 and 10 Highlights

“At any rate, your resignation isn’t what I want.”

The confrontation between Gyu-hyeon and Ji-wook doesn’t go well, to say the least. Gyu-hyeon is too mad to listen to anything Ji-wook says, and he even goes as far as to insult Ji-wook’s mother and order both him and Hae-yeong to leave the company. I can understand the betrayal Gyu-hyeon felt since Ji-wook kept the truth from him. But his anger is pointed toward the wrong person and the one deserving of his wrath is the chairman, not Ji-wook.

Being kicked out of the company doesn’t faze Ji-wook one bit, but he is worried about Hae-yeong suffering losses because of him. Luckily, Hae-yeong is a tough cookie who won’t go down without a fight. Gyu-hyeon can try all he wants to kick her out, but Hae-yeong resolves to stand up for herself. Still, we all know how hard it is to fight against a conglomerate. And in the blink of an eye, Hae-yeong finds herself demoted and reassigned from the task force team. Worse, the ex-boyfriend takes over her position.

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To protect Hae-yeong, Ji-wook claims they are now divorced and have nothing to do with each other (Gyu-hyeon sees through that lie.) and turns in his resignation letter. But that isn’t enough to satisfy Gyu-hyeon or rather his mother, who wants Ji-wook out of the country for good. That woman has got nerve. It is really hard to watch Ji-wook get blamed for his existence as if he committed a sin when he is the only innocent person among everyone involved. And even if it is because of his mother, Gyu-hyeon’s harsh treatment of Ji-wook can’t be tolerated.

Amidst all that chaos, Hae-yeong remains by Ji-wook’s side, comforting him and assuring him he did nothing wrong. If she gets kicked out, then so be it. Hae-yeong will get a job in a rival company and avenge Ji-wook. They have fun blowing soap bubbles and Ji-wook seems more relaxed than before, though I am worried he might break up with Hae-yeong and disappear, wrongly believing it is for her benefit.

Surprising her, Ji-wook tags along Hae-yeong’s business trip and they go on a date by the beach. Hae-yeong opens up to Ji-wook that she blames herself for her mother’s condition since she moved out of the house after her father’s death and only came back when her mother moved to the countryside. (Probably it was during the time Hae-yeong left the house that Ji-wook stayed there since she has no memory of him.) According to Hae-yeong, perhaps had she stayed and kept her mother’s company, she wouldn’t have developed dementia.

Now, Hae-yeong wonders about what kind of thoughts her mother had while she was away. The only one who can fill the gap might be Ji-wook, but he needs to come clean to Hae-yeong first about being acquainted with her mother. During an earlier conversation, Hae-yeong told Ji-wook she didn’t want him to keep any more secrets from her. So, I hope she would hear about it from Ji-wook and not someone else.

“Have you lost it? Of all the men to fall for, you fell for your hater?”

Meanwhile, our second lead couple is experiencing some drama as well. Gyu-hyeon confesses he likes Ja-yeon, but she turns him down. Further complicating things, it happens on the same day Gyu-hyeon barged into the rooftop to confront Ji-wook and Ja-yeon witnesses the whole thing. Ashamed, Gyu-hyeon can’t bring himself to contact Ja-yeon and settles to drink his sorrows away.

As we already know, Gyu-hyeon is a lightweight and one sniff was enough to knock him out. With some help from Gyu-hyeon’s secretary who knows his boss is in love with Ja-yeon, Gyu-hyeon ends up in front of Ja-yeon’s house. But Ja-yeon at first mistakes him for her abusive father, who just got out of jail on parole, before realizing it is Gyu-hyeon.

Sensing she is scared, Gyu-hyeon takes Ja-yeon in his arms, but she screams. Hearing her scream, Hae-yeong and Ji-wook rush over to her rescue, only to realize it is Gyu-hyeon. Since things have come to this, Gyu-hyeon comes clean about everything, starting from the hate comments to his crush on Ja-yeon.

Hae-yeong’s reaction is to hit Gyu-hyeon. But the one taking the hits is Ji-wook since Gyu-hyeon used him as a shield. To stop Hae-yeong from going after Gyu-hyeon, Ja-yeon blurts out that she likes him too, getting Gyu-hyeon ecstatic. This is supposed to be a romantic moment for our second lead couple, but it turns out rather hilarious when Hae-yeong goes after Ja-yeon instead.

Things happen and Gyu-hyeon ends up sleeping over in the rooftop room. (Side note: Gyu-hyeon and Ji-wook share the same sleeping patterns.) Over breakfast, Gyu-hyeon blurts out: 1) Ja-yeon plans to move out of the house. 2) Ji-wook is moving abroad. The first point is true since Ja-yeon signed the contract for a new place already. But Ji-wook is still a bit hesitant about leaving Hae-yeong. Anyway, a mad Hae-yeong tells Ja-yeon and Ji-wook to get out of her face, but Gyu-hyeon should stay since Hae-yeong has something to say to him.

Unsurprisingly, Hae-yeong asks Gyu-hyeon to stay away from Ja-yeon. And when he refuses to do so, Hae-yeong asks Gyu-hyeon if he will stay by Ja-yeon’s side, no matter what happens. (I guess we have something at play here bigger than the different social standing.) Gyu-hyeon counters by asking Hae-yeong if she is willing to stay by Ji-wook’s side, no matter what. To which, Hae-yeong realistically answers that she might not be able to do so, but she will surely take revenge on Gyu-hyeon.

“Your grandmother is gone. Would it be so terrible if you went against what she asked you to do?”

Between his feelings for Hae-yeong and Gyu-hyeon’s threats and the promise he made to his grandmother about not causing harm to his mother, Ji-wook is torn. He almost walks down the noble idiocy path, yet Hae-yeong calls him out on abandoning her because of his dead grandmother and the mother who abandoned him. Giving in to his feelings, Ji-wook confesses that he loves Hae-yeong and from then on, our ship is sailing smoothly.

Another ship sailing smoothly is our second lead couple. Ja-yeon asks Gyu-hyeon to meet and the poor guy gets his hopes up, assuming it is a date. But Ja-yeon only wanted to look around his company for research purposes. Regardless, Gyu-hyeon is happy to be with Ja-yeon and he even reenacts a scene from her novel and Ja-yeon joins him, too. (Does this count as a trailer for the upcoming spinoff Spice Up Your Love?)

Things were going smoothly until the mood got sour. As it turns out, Hae-yeong’s father was killed while she was in college, probably by Ja-yeon’s abusive father. Reminded by that cruel truth, Ja-yeon tells Gyu-hyeon that is their first and last date, leaving him heartbroken. She is just as sad, but the fear she feels because of her abusive father eclipses any romantic feelings Ja-yeon has for Gyu-hyeon.

You might think at least our leads are now dating happily. But unfortunately, coming across a photo of Ji-wook and her mother, Hae-yeong learns the truth. Hence, getting enraged. She tells Ji-wook to leave and not show up before her again. Seriously, they didn’t even last a day before breaking up.

No Gain No Love Episodes 9 and 10 Musings

Penultimate weeks are infamous for surging tension and angst, so I am not surprised by this cliffhanger. We already knew that moment was bound to come, yet I hoped Ji-wook would at least drop some hints to Hae-yeong. Actually, I have a hard time understanding Ji-wook. Hae-yeong already knows basically everything about him, so why was he hesitant to tell her he was a foster child? Is there anything we aren’t aware of?

On the other hand, I didn’t see it coming that Jae-yeon’s father killed Hae-yeong’s. But now everything makes sense, from how bringing up Hae-yeong’s father is off-limits to how Ja-yeon caters to Hae-yeong. It was out of guilt. I feel for Ja-yeon, having had to live in fear while blaming herself for that incident, though she is a victim too. I know it isn’t true. But I guess Ja-yeon believes Hae-yeong blames her for her father’s death. So, I hope our girls address the elephant in the room so that they can forget the past and move on from that tragic incident.

On a lighter note, I appreciate the character development we got for our leads. For someone who hates losses, Hae-yeong’s typical reaction would have been to break up with Ji-wook., But Hae-yeong is no longer the same person from when we first met her, and she chose to fight for her love instead of surrendering. Also, Ji-wook finally took the reins of his life and won’t let anyone dictate the way he should live his life.

Likewise, Gyu-hyeon is taking baby steps toward figuring out what he wants to do in life. And I won’t be surprised if he chose to step down as a CEO and perhaps work as Ja-yeon’s manager. I hope Ja-yeon can muster up the courage too and open up to others regarding her trauma and become more honest about her feelings.

Another theme I appreciated this week was emphasizing that giving birth doesn’t make one a parent and some parents make their children’s life a living hell. Ji-wook, Ja-yeon, and the other foster kids were lucky enough to have met Hae-yeong’s mother, but many others couldn’t escape that hell. Those heartfelt moments make the drama shine more and balance out the comedy.

With only one week left, I have faith in the drama to tie all the loose ends in a nice bow and remain fun and hilarious. You have done a great job, show, so please stick the landing and make your way into our list of all-time favorites.

Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

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