Yeol-chan and Man-sik put the ‘work’ in ‘teamwork’ into work as they continue to navigate their complicated and awkward relationship. Sure, their problematic past and history is still fresh in their minds, but the two are also presented with opportunities for growth both individually and as a team. Maybe things aren’t so bad as they thought; maybe there is potential for a new start if they choose to be a team when they work.
Kkondae Intern: Episode 3 Recap
After hearing Assistant Manager Oh and Seung-jin gossip about Yeol-chan in the restroom, Yeol-chan’s anger and rivalry against Man-sik intensifies. While walking back to his desk, he devises a new game plan in order to win against Man-sik: he’s going to need to deal with him at a higher level. Yeol-chan’s made a mistake because of Man-sik so he needs to step his game up. Stressed and exhausted, Yeol-chan leans over onto his desk to process his emotions. A concerned Tae-ri approaches him and checks up on him only to scare him even more. He appreciates the concern, but her blue lips from the candy she’s been eating makes him jump up from his desk. Lol. While memorizing everyone’s coffee orders, Man-sik receives a call from Joon-soo.
Joon-soo isn’t so happy with the deal that was signed with Mr. Binghao. Man-sik was supposed to stop and prevent the deal from going through. Man-sik apologizes, but Joon-soo easily forgives him. Man-sik was able to charm Mr. Binghao while they were out drinking so that means he’s at least competent in his job. Plus, now that the deal has been signed and done with, they can come up with another game plan. They’ll make sure that Man-sik will take credit for the deal and not Yeol-chan. And so that’s the tactic that Joon-soo and Man-sik pull off when Chairman Namgoong stops by the Marketing and Sales Department to commend Yeol-chan on his efforts to get the deal signed. Joon-soo comments about Man-sik’s role in the contract signing which Yeol-chan confirms with his own statement. Chairman Namgoong’s attitude immediately changes and he shifts his attention onto Man-sik. He’s impressed by the work that the senior intern has been doing and even wants to invite him out for lunch. Although Man-sik is forced to reject the lunch invite by Yeol-chan, things are shaping up for the senior intern.
Yeol-chan exits the office with Chairman Namgoong, Joon-soo, and the rest of the staff. He’s humiliated by Chairman Namgoong when the Chairman questions how he was unable to get the contract deal. It seems like he’s falling behind the senior intern who just barely started at the company. Chairman Namgoong whispers something into Yeol-chan’s ear which pushes Yeol-chan to walk away from the rest of the group. A concerned Tae-ri observes the intense situation from behind. After getting away from everyone else, Yeol-chan hides himself on a plight of stairs and suffers from a panic attack. Similar to earlier that day, Tae-ri checks up on Yeol-chan to see if he’s okay, but he shouts at Tae-ri to go away. With Tae-ri gone, Yeol-chan vows to get back at Man-sik.
Joon-soo grabs some lunch with his dad, Chairman Namgoong, and Executive Goo. Joon-soo proposes to own just five percent of the company’s shares which upsets his dad once again. Joon-soo complains about how he’s not taken seriously since he doesn’t own any shares nor does he have any power inside and outside of the company. Chairman Namgoong remains in disbelief at how irresponsible and childish his son is. Yeol-chan returns back to the office after a brief break. Man-sik feels confident in himself especially after what happened with the contract signing. However, things quickly change and the senior intern gets himself involved in a sticky situation. After opening up a false phishing email from the company’s security team, the entire team grows upset with Man-sik. Now, all their security points will get deducted and they’ll have to start all over again. While everyone isn’t so happy with the senior intern, Yeol-chan takes the opportunity to step in and mediate the situation. While pressing down onto Man-sik’s shoulders, he comments on how they shouldn’t be so harsh on Man-sik. He’s just glad the email wasn’t an actual ransomeware. Lol.
Of course, the security email test was an idea that Yeol-chan pitched to his colleague from the IT team. Although the emails are usually sent to just employees and they’re not supposed to be opened, Yeol-chan had requested for the emails to be sent to the interns under his team. Unlike what the team thought, security points aren’t actually deducted when interns open them. However, Yeol-chan keeps the little secret to himself and refrains from saying anything to his staff. Lol. Just then, everyone focuses on another issue caused by another mistake that Man-sik committed. He had sent 300 boxes of their super spicy chicken ramen to a village that consists of mainly elders. An article that talks about the incident spreads and the entire team begins to panic. Man-sik is once again at fault this time for sending the wrong type of ramen over to the village although he’s certain he did things correctly. Yeol-chan instructs for all them to head to the village to retrieve the boxes. They’ll also ask other teams to assist them with the mission.
And so our team arrives at the village to bring back the boxes of the super spicy chicken ramen that they accidentally gifted the village. They split up into teams and arrive just in time to stop elderly villagers from consuming the noodles. Our team wraps things up after spending the entire day to collect all the boxes of the spicy ramen. Man-sik feels guilty for sending the wrong ramen noodles to the village, but Yeol-chan flaps open his angel wings and reassures Man-sik that it wasn’t his fault. Of course, everyone else buys into Yeol-chan’s kindness, but Man-sik hides his anger. He knows what Yeol-chan is attempting to do. To show his gratitude, Man-sik offers to treat everyone out to drinks, but the team declines. They’re still upset with Man-sik.
And so the Sales and Marketing Team head out for some drinks amongst themselves after the tiring day. They still haven’t forgiven Man-sik and are still upset at the mess he caused for the team. However, Yeol-chan flaps his angel wings open again and he comments that Man-sik hasn’t done anything worthy of being dismissed yet. Even if he’s made some mistakes, they should keep him on the team. While Yeol-chan goes to the restroom, the rest of the staff stay behind at the table and compliment Yeol-chan for his kindness, patience, and understanding attitude. Yeol-chan listens in on their conversation from the restroom using his bluetooth earphones connected to his cell phone that he’s left behind on the table. Lol.
After getting rejected by the team, Man-sik goes out to have some drinks by himself. He’s curious as to what the rest of the team members are doing at the moment, but it doesn’t take long for him to get his answer. After finishing their first round, the team heads out for a second round at another bar restaurant. Yoon-soo and Tae-ri arrive first so she sends them the name of the restaurant in the group work chat. She also brings up in the group chat how Man-sik, AKA “Kkon-tern”, texted her to ask her to join him for drinks. They debate on whether or not they should invite Man-sik to join them, but Assistant Manager Oh and Jung-eun are opposed to the idea. The team continue to tease ‘Kkon-tern’ Man-sik until they come to a horrible realization. Man-sik himself is included in the chat. LOL. Man-sik’s grows upset with the team and vows to teach them all a lesson.
That night, Yeol-chan spends some time to reflect on Man-sik. He hopes the senior intern finally got a taste of his own medicine and what it felt like to be alienated. Back at her house, Tae-ri recalls the moment she discovered Yeol-chan suffering from a panic attack on the stairs and grows curious as to what exactly happened that caused that reaction. The next morning, Tae-ri shows her support for Yeol-chan in a subtle way. She drops off some of her favorite lollipops on his desk as well as a small, encouraging note to cheer him up. He’s grateful for the small gift and shifts his attention to Jung-eun. They have a product placement shooting with actress, Eun Hye-soo, so Jung-eun should prepare for it. However, after calling Hye-soo’s manager herself, she learns that Hye-soo no longer wants to do the filming. The only person that can assist them is none other than Man-sik who has a special connection with Jung-eun dating back to his Ongol days. With just a mention of Man-sik’s name, Hye-soo agrees to film the product placement advertisement once again. The only caveat? She wants only Man-sik and the team leader to be there for the filming.
And so Yeol-chan and Man-sik head to the filming site together to visit Hye-soo. Man-sik gives things a second thought and considers making up with Yeol-chan for a second, but he’s determined to still get his revenge. He’s going to teach everyone a lesson. After greeting Eun Hye-soo (Jung Young-joo) at the filming site, they pitch their ideas and proposals for the product placement to her. However, Hye-soo isn’t a big fan of the many ideas they have in store for her and our duo eventually run out of proposals. As a last resort, Man-sik attempts to utilize his history with Hye-soo to get her to participate in the product placement filming. However, Hye-soo still vividly remembers the harsh words and comments he made about her appearance many years ago and she grows even angrier at Man-sik. She refuses to film the product placement. Man-sik’s connection with Hye-soo isn’t as good as he or Yeol-chan thought and they remain stuck at the filming site with no game plan.
Joon-soo gets a senior intern of his own thanks to his dad. While walking into his office, he meets Ok Kyung (Moon Sook), the newest secretary/assistant under Joon-soo. Joon-soo isn’t so thrilled at the sight of a senior intern, but he’s occupied with thoughts about the other senior intern. Man-sik updates him that things aren’t going so well at the filming site which excites Joon-soo. Yeol-chan himself is busy at the filming site running away from Hye-soo’s cute little puppy. He’s allergic to dogs so he’s afraid to be anywhere near the little puppy. Man-sik himself attempts to drive the puppy away from his manager, but the puppy is a brave little soul and isn’t afraid of anyone or anything. The manager-intern pair wait all day at the filming site to receive another chance to convince Hye-soo. It’s late into the night so Joon-soo contacts Assistant Manager Oh to let the rest of the team know they can go home.
However, the team can’t go home just yet. Right at that moment, a video of an elderly man fainting from eating their noodles is uploaded onto the internet and begins to spread rapidly. The man is Mr. Park and he’s from the same village where they retrieved the spicy chicken ramen earlier that day. Could he have eaten the wrong flavor?! Yeol-chan gathers the team and communicates with them his game plan: they are to take down the video as well as any articles about it and search for the man themselves. Everyone splits up and goes straight to work. Yeol-chan also wants to leave the filming site to take care of the urgent issue, but Man-sik wishes to stay behind to convince Hye-soo. He even gets down on his knees and apologizes for his past actions and behavior, but she doesn’t forgive him so easily. Man-sik grows frustrated at her response and spews out harsh comments after Hye-soo’s refusal to forgive him. Yeol-chan has to eventually drag him away from the filming site and back into the car so they can take care of the situation back at the office. During the drive, they get into a fight and the trauma and pain from the past returns. Yeol-chan feels as if Man-sik is once again blaming him for everything which doesn’t sit well with him. They almost get into a car accident because of the fighting, but thankfully, there is no accident and no one is injured.
Back at the company building, Chairman Nam Goong, Executive Goo, and Executive Ahn all rush to hold a meeting. While walking in the lobby, Joon-soo confronts them with the news and pokes fun at the situation. Chairman Nam Goong is so frustrated and exhausted at his son he starts to physically abuse him in the lobby. Tae-ri witnesses the violent situation so she records them on video while threatening to report the case. The only caveat? It’s Chairman Nam Goong who she’s recording. Tae-ri eventually is forced to stop recording and the executives as well as the chairman go on with their schedule. Embarrassed, Tae-ri walks away from Joon-soo, but she doesn’t get too far away from him. He shows interest in Tae-ri and wants to date her; she’s the only woman who’s saved him after his mother passed away. Tae-ri is confused at his comment.
Once she’s back in the office, Tae-ri admits to Assistant Manager Oh that she had left behind a box of the super spicy chicken ramen for Mr. Park because he was going to save it for his grandson. Right as she’s getting yelled at, Yeol-chan and Man-sik return to the office safely. Their priority at the moment is to find Mr. Park so they all return to the village a second time around to find him. After asking various villagers for his whereabouts as well as visiting hospitals nearby, Tae-ri finally receives some details about Mr. Park. She learns that he doesn’t have a grandson, but rather that he has a student volunteer who comes and visits him once every two months. Tae-ri utilizes this information to aid her in her search for Mr. Park.
Man-sik himself is the VIP again this time. After an intense and hectic search, he discovers Mr. Park alive and healthy, eating some of the ramen with other villagers. Mr. Park runs away from Man-sik and manages to escape from him, but Man-sik communicates the news to his team about Mr. Park’s condition. Meanwhile, Tae-ri herself finds the student volunteer who recorded and uploaded the video of Mr. Park. It turns out the video was cut short and Mr. Park actually didn’t faint because of the ramen. The video was just cut short and didn’t show the rest of the video which was Mr. Park getting back up and stuffing himself with the rest of the noodles. Our team is relieved after learning the truth and things are finally peaceful again. They even invite Mr. Park himself to visit their office and they snap a few photos of him in front of the company’s mascot. Thanks to Mr. Park and the video, Joonsoo Foods received some public promotion. To compensate, they reward Mr. Park with a sponsorship to any food that he wants from the company.
The day finally comes to an end and the team can all go home. Man-sik permits his team to come into the office late the next morning to give them extra time to rest and recover. He also notices Jung-eun’s high heels and questions if she wore that during all the running. However, it’s Tae-ri who was suffering as she exchanged her comfortable sneakers with Jung-eun’s heels during their many physical activities that day. Tae-ri’s ankle might be bleeding, but she reassures the team she’s okay. That night, Man-sik has trouble sleeping. He ponders over his failing eyes as well as Tae-ri’s bleeding ankle.
Yeol-chan doesn’t get much sleep himself when he receives a call about Man-sik’s appearance at the filming site for Hye-soo’s drama. He wakes up from his sleep to return to the filming site and catches Man-sik handing out samples of spicy ramen noodles to the production team and staff. Man-sik even attempts to lure Hye-soo to participate when she wraps up her filming. However, her attention is primarily focused on her little puppy who suddenly collapses and faints (oh nooooo). In a plead for help, Yeol-chan and Man-sik rush over to assist. Although allergic, Yeol-chan resuscitates the puppy by giving it CPR and mouth-to-mouth. The little puppy thankfully wakes up and recovers, but it’s Yeol-chan whose health is in danger next. He also becomes unconscious after reviving the little puppy so Man-sik steps up to save him. After observing Yeol-chan, Man-sik utilizes what he learned and leans towards Yeol-chan to give him mouth-to-mouth. Yeol-chan is sick and he’s suffering from an allergic reaction, but he’s not completely unconscious. He watches as Man-sik’s face falls closer to his face and the space between them grow smaller. Yeol-chan panics upon the fearful sight and he lets out a shriek. He’s alive.
My Thoughts:
This was it. This was the episode that made me decide to keep watching ‘Kkondae Intern.’ This episode was my favorite one so far for a variety of reasons.
I enjoyed the first two episodes to ‘Kkondae Intern’, but I wasn’t completely sold with the premiere. I was hesitant in whether I wanted to keep watching it or not, but I decided to give it another try with episode 3. I’m glad I went through with this decision because episode 3 had so many great and amazing things about it. I love the office comedy and the petty antics that Yeol-chan and Man-sik pull on each other inside of the office, but it’s also the things that happen outside of the office that keeps me engaged and entertained. In this episode, it was the mission of retrieving the mass amount of super spicy chicken ramen boxes at the village that Man-sik accidentally gave away. Then it was the product placement proposal with Hye-soo that then transformed into the search and investigation for Mr. Park. Now that I think about it, there were several sub-plots that was running at the same time in this episode, but they all felt nicely balanced and woven together. Everything felt connected and nothing seemed out of place. Everything is all done in the name of Joonsoo Foods and that’s the fun part about watching this drama.
Yeol-chan and Man-sik are at a point in their relationship where they’re slowly accepting the fact that they have to work together. As much the two want to deny this reality and want to deny that they’re involved with each other professionally, both guys are learning that they have to work with each other even if that’s not what they necessarily want. Whether it’s with the rest of the team such as with the village mission or with just the two of them such as with the product placement case, Yeol-chan and Man-sik are interacting with each other a lot more than they would like. There’s a sense of rivalry and competition between the two, but it’s also so much more than that. They can’t just pull petty games and pranks on each other throughout work and then call it a day. They actually have to work together to amp up their revenge scheme which is teaching the two a lot more about each other. The more they are together, the more they reflect on their relationship. Right now, Yeol-chan and Man-sik are still at a phase where they want to get back at each other every time, but maybe their feelings and thoughts will slowly change the more they engage with each other. Their thoughts towards each other primarily stem from their history from five years ago at Ongol Foods, but now they’re in a new company with a new team and in new situations. Why be enemies when you can be allies?
I’m glad the drama also shed more light on Yeol-chan’s reaction to his past. Yeol-chan is painted as this excellent, smart, handsome, and well-rounded guy who goes above and beyond for his team and excels in his position as general manager of the Marketing and Sales Department. While he is all of these things and so much more, he is also human which means he’s not going to always be these things all the time. He will also have his moments where he’s angry or frustrated or upset or anxious. He’s going to have moments where he suffers panic attacks or when his traumatic past is too much for him to handle and he has to take anxiety pills to calm him down. Everyone sees and knows Yeol-chan as this talented and perfect type of guy, but what they don’t see are the not-so-pretty parts where he’s raw, real, and human. We as viewers get to see both sides of Yeol-chan and it’s also what make me like him even more. He’s not perfect, he’s human.
This episode was also a learning lesson for Man-sik who showcased a bit of professional and personal development by the end of the episode. Although the team isn’t comfortable with him and continually view him as a burden to the team, Man-sik tried his best to fix his mistakes. Sure, he made mistakes that caused everyone else to suffer with him. However, he felt a sense of guilt for making his team have to do these things with him and even tried to make up for it. Man-sik was the first one to discover Mr. Park and he also returned to the filming site to recruit Hye-soo once again. Man-sik isn’t the brightest or greatest intern, but he works hard and tries his best with every challenge that was presented in this episode. Whereas before he might have started off the internship with the end goal of overthrowing Yeol-chan, it seems as if he’s taking his internship a lot more seriously now. He wants his team to succeed and he wants to prove to his team that he’s a great addition. He wants to prove to everyone that he is also just as capable and competent as they are. He wants to prove that he too is also worthy of being on the team. To accomplish this, Man-sik will have to work with Yeol-chan instead of against him.
I really enjoyed the teamwork aspect in this episode which was probably the primary reason that sold me on keeping ‘Kkondae Intern.’ I LOVE shows that effectively and wonderfully showcases great teamwork and this episode did all of that and so much more. Sure, they still like to play the blame game and they aren’t the most friendly to Man-sik, but they also work efficiently when it comes down to business. Our team did not play around in this episode with the many challenges and missions that they had to go through. They pulled up their sleeves and went out to do some legwork themselves. From retrieving the ramen boxes in the village to finding Mr. Park, they weren’t afraid to come together to get stuff done. It also helped that Yeol-chan is a great team leader and critical thinker who is quick on his feet. He was so quick and smart in coming up with a game plan to instruct his team on what to do next. He became aware of the issue at hand and had no trouble in directing them on what steps to take next. By paying closer attention to Yeol-chan’s leadership in this episode, I came around to admiring him for it and how he went about handling things. He was so darn cool! Through this episode, it became more obvious as to why Yeol-chan is in the position he is in and why he’s so successful. I loved watching this side of Yeol-chan and I hope we get to see more of him and his team in action. I hope to see more teamwork between our team and how satisfying it is when they overcome any issues they encounter together.
As shallow as it seems, I’m glad it seems like the drama is setting there up to be some kind of romance in the office, specifically between Yeol-chan and Tae-ri. The power imbalance is definitely there and that’s what makes me iffy about their relationship (if they do eventually become a thing), but I’m also honest in that this was another reason as to why I didn’t drop this drama. If we ignore the power imbalance between the two for a second (I know, it’s hard, but let me explain) and just focus solely on Tae-ri and Yeol-chan’s relationship, I have to admit that they’re so adorable together. Tae-ri was concerned for Yeol-chan so she supported him with some of her favorite candy as well as a little note. Yeol-chan is more subtle and discreet with the way he noticed Tae-ri’s bleeding ankles. Although he didn’t explicitly check in with her then and there, you could tell that he was worried with how he brought it up in front of everyone. For him to notice something that no one else on the team noticed means that 1) he cares for his team members but also that 2) he’s paying attention to her. I could be reading into it too much at this point, but I also can’t deny that I anticipate their interactions with each other in the future. There probably won’t be too much going on between Tae-ri and Yeol-chan, but I’m holding onto some hope for now.
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 