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Ji-yoon’s journey as the CEO of Peoplez hasn’t been easy. But at the same time, it’s also been a beautiful process seeing her team care for the company as much as she does. Even when times get tough and things seem dim, Ji-yoon learns that she’s not alone. She’ll never be alone. She has family in Peoplez.

Love Scout: Episode 11 Recap

Eun-ho rescues Ji-yoon outside of Peoplez headquarters after being surrounded by a group of journalists and reporters. Once they safely enter the building, they’re confronted by police investigators who have a search warrant for the office and they conduct a search and seizure at everyone’s desks. Ji-yoon is privately interrogated by the lead investigator and she defends her company and their involvement in the investment fraud case with Econic Bio. However, the investigator isn’t persuaded and he believes that Ji-yoon and Peoplez knew what they were doing the entire time. Gyeong-hwa starts to feel guilty with all the unexpected chaos. She was the one who had researched about Econic Bio and feels as if she didn’t do a thorough enough of a job which is why they’re in the position they’re in. But as expected, it’s all a scheme conducted by Hye-jin to take Peoplez down. She was the person behind setting up Yeong-min as CEO of Econic Bio to get Peoplez into deep trouble. Yeong-min is restless and nervous and unlike his acquaintance who’s comfortable with what they did, Yeong-min doesn’t feel all that great.

Articles about the search and seizure for Peoplez are released and the damage is severe. Phone calls roll in from various organizations about the search and seizure and all the staff try their best to reassure the clients. So Ji-yoon gathers everyone and informs them to work from home while the investigation is still going on. Jung-hoon confronts his dad about the situation and questions whether he had anything to do with it. Though Chairman Woo claims that he didn’t, he doesn’t want his son involved with the ongoing matters. He scolds his son to return and work for him. Jung-hoon is determined to live his life his own way and refuses to do as his father says. But as Jung-hoon will learn the hard way, his actions come with consequences. His dad cuts off his credit card and he’s kicked out of his apartment.

Eun-ho spends time comforting Ji-yoon. Whether at the office or back at her place, he reassures her that she’s not alone. She has him. But they can never have a second to breathe because there’s people outside of Ji-yoon’s place demanding to meet with her over the investment fraud case. Eun-ho steps out to try to calm them down but they’re upset and angry. They want to meet with Ji-yoon instead. Eventually, the group exits but Ji-yoon and Eun-ho deem it too dangerous for her to stay at her place alone. So with that, Ji-yoon spends the night at Eun-ho and Byeol’s place. Byeol’s super excited to have a sleepover with Ji-yoon and the three sit down for some tea at Byeol’s house. Byeol hands Ji-yoon a hand-written card that she labels as medicine. It’s the same type of medicine that she gives her dad when he’s feeling down and dejected. Aww. But wait, where exactly is Ji-yoon going to sleep? It’s a question from Byeol that neither adults were prepared for and have the answer to, so Byeol proposes that Ji-yoon sleep with her in her bedroom. So later on that night, Byeol sings a lullaby to Ji-yoon to help her go to sleep. The two get along so well.

The next morning, Eun-ho finds Ji-yoon awake in the early morning hours sitting on the couch. She still has a lot on her mind. Eun-ho sits next to Ji-yoon and the two hold each other’s hands. Again and again, they have each other through it all. Later on when Byeol wakes up that morning, Ji-yoon and Byeol try to cook up some breakfast. Eun-ho can’t help but wince as he watches the two make mistakes and though he appreciates their effort, he decides to take over. And sure enough, his cooking skills are exceptional and he cooks up some delicious breakfast for them all to eat. Haha, I love them so much! While Eun-ho goes to drop Byeol off at school, Ji-yoon stays behind alone in his apartment.

Gyu-rim comes across Gyeong-hwa and Kwang-hee on the way to Dodam Bookstore. They’re still attempting to keep their relationship under wraps but it’s been obvious to Gyu-rim for quite a while now, haha. So why exactly are they at Dodam Bookstore? Well, our Peoplez team has come together to meet and conduct an investigation of their own. Who exactly was behind the trap set up against Peoplez? Gyeong-hwa, Kwang-hee, Young-soo, Gyu-rim, Mi-ae, and Eun-ho all work together to discuss possible reasons and deductions behind the situation. Ji-yoon herself is on a mission and she goes to visit Hye-jin at Career Way. As if what Peoplez is going through wasn’t bad enough, Hye-jin just had to release a new article bringing up the investigation fraud case from five years ago that impacted Ji-yoon’s career at Career Way. The two continue to take jabs at each other and Hye-jin is adamant that Ji-yoon is going to fail. They’re no different from each other; Ji-yoon’s no better than Hye-jin. Ji-yoon’s going to be alone and no one at Peoplez will be on her side when the company goes down. She should just give up.

While Ji-yoon contemplates Hye-jin’s painful words, our Peoplez team remains hard at work with their investigation. This includes Young-soo who pays a surprise visit to Jeong-nam and demands answers from him. After her meeting with Hye-jin, Ji-yoon stops by the office and then Dodam Bookstore. She’s surprised when she finds her main group of staff also at the bookstore. Ji-yoon is confused and unaware of what’s going on so the group fills her in on what they’ve been up to. They provide all the updates and information they’ve compiled so far in their investigation but it’s all stuff that Ji-yoon herself was already aware of, haha. Nonetheless, Ji-yoon sees how hard her team is working to save Peoplez and she’s grateful. She thanks the team for their help but Gyeong-hwa still feels guilty for what she did. She can’t help but burst into tears and Kwang-hee can’t help but hug her in an effort to comfort her. Of course, they get lost in the moment before realizing what they just did in front of the group. But no one’s surprised as they all already knew about their romance. Hahaha. So Kwang-hee goes back to hugging Gyeong-hwa while she cries on his shoulder. But what they were not expecting and did not know about was Ji-yoon’s sleepover at Byeol’s house and it’s not until Byeol arrives at Dodam Bookstore and asks Ji-yoon about it that everyone finds out. Wait what? Ji-yoon slept over at Eun-ho’s place??!?!! Everyone’s in disbelief including Ji-yoon and Eun-ho and Byeol just smiles innocently. So the group suddenly disperses and Ji-yoon, Byeol, and Eun-ho go grab some food (NOOOO not Subway again!). Byeol’s excited at the thought of Ji-yoon sleeping over at her place again but she’s also curious as to why they’re not working. Did the company go down or something? LOL. But Ji-yoon reassures her that the company hasn’t gone down and that they’re in a little bit of a funk. But Ji-yoon’s not alone and she’s certain that things will get better soon.

Soo-hyun greets Sung-kyung while waiting to pick up Seo-joon and Byeol from school. She overhears a phone conversation between Sung-kyung and Jung-hoon and his odd request to sleep over at the school. Soo-hyun can’t help but grow worried about Jung-hoon so she goes out to Seo-joon’s school that night. It doesn’t take long for Jung-hoon to come out and notice Soo-hyun standing outside the school gate. She uses Seo-joon’s missing water bottle as an excuse and the two spend some time chatting with each other. Soo-hyun checks in with Jung-hoon about how he’s feeling. Peoplez is currently going through their own issues and conflict. He at first assumes she’s curious about Eun-ho and Ji-yoon but Soo-hyun clarifies her question. No, she’s curious about him and how he’s doing. Is he okay? Jung-hoon explains his complicated situation with his father to Soo-hyun and is determined to stick it out to the end. He’s not going to give up or give in to his father. Embarrassed, Jung-hoon quickly changes the subject to Eun-ho since he assumes that Soo-hyun still has a one-sided crush on him. But Soo-hyun updates her one-sided crush comrade on her feelings. She no longer has a crush on Eun-ho and she didn’t come back to the school for Seo-joon’s water bottle. So with that, she takes her leave and Jung-hoon puts the pieces to the puzzle together. He finally realizes that Soo-hyun came to the school to see him (EEEEK, they’re my favoriteeee!).

Chairman Woo visits Ji-yoon at her office and demands that she step down from her position as CEO. If she wants her staff to still be employed and have a job, she should quit. Of course, all of this is so that Career Way can acquire Peoplez and Hye-jin announces the news to her staff during a meeting. The acquisition process will begin once Ji-yoon is dismissed as CEO. Ji-yoon needs some time away and she proposes to Eun-ho that they go on a trip to the ocean. So Eun-ho and Ji-yoon spend some much needed and well deserved time alone on a date to the beach. Ji-yoon’s grateful for Eun-ho who showed her that she’s not alone. So much has changed since he’s been by her side and she realizes that she doesn’t have to protect Peoplez all alone. There’s other people within the company who care for it as much as she does. Eun-ho himself has a gift for Ji-yoon and he gives her the special gift later on during their date. It’s a beautiful necklace that he and Byeol handpicked themselves. Eun-ho helps put it around Ji-yoon’s neck and Ji-yoon once again expresses her gratitude to her boyfriend. He’s changed her life for the better. She at first didn’t like herself and didn’t think there was much to life. But then he showed up and brightened her world. To wrap up the adorable date, the couple share a kiss.

Ji-yoon returns to her place after the date as she feels like it’s safe enough to go back. Before calling it a night, she texts all her staff to come into the office the next morning. When the morning arrives, the employees are excited to be back at the office and they all reconvene. Ji-yoon greets them as they enter the office but there’s a reason behind the meeting. She announces to the team that she’s decided to step down as CEO of Peoplez.

My Thoughts:

Nooo, don’t do it Ji-yoon. Don’t leave Peoplez! Okay but seriously, I’m pretty sure there’s a way that Ji-yoon is going to remain as CEO of her company and I assume it’ll have something to do with Yeong-min coming clean about Career Way’s deceiving actions. Or our Peoplez staff making huge jumps and progress on their investigation. Either way, we only have one more episode left so I’m confident we’ll get a happy and nice ending for everyone. Career Way will go down and Peoplez will reign victorious.

In my previous recap, I mentioned that I wanted to see more of Ji-yoon with Byeol and Eun-ho and what a possible future as a family looked like. I’m glad that the drama hinted at that in this episode by giving us the sleepover and Ji-yoon spending time with Byeol at Eun-ho’s place. It’s obvious that the two get along but I was just so curious to see more. What does a world where Ji-yoon isn’t just seeing Byeol at Dodam Bookstore but in other places look like? There were plenty of moments where the two spent time with each other but it was rather one-time events that happened on their own. Ji-yoon’s sleepover was a bit different in that it happened at Eun-ho’s place: a place of comfort, intimacy, and warmth where Eun-ho and Byeol call home. For Ji-yoon to join them showed the possibility of what a future as a family could look like and what that dynamic would be like. Eun-ho would do all the cooking while Ji-yoon would spend time with Byeol doing all the various types of activities that she wants to do. If this drama was a bit longer, I would have loved to see more of the three of them spending time together.

While episode 10 revolved around the theme of grief and mourning the loss of a loved one, this episode was focused on the concept of found family. Ji-yoon felt this immense pressure to protect and save Peoplez all by herself given that she’s the CEO of the company. She’s worked incredibly hard to get to where she is and to get the company to become as big and successful as it is. She also felt responsible in protecting her employees and standing up for them.

But as she witnessed and saw for herself, she didn’t have to carry all the pressure and burden alone. She didn’t have to feel like the weight of the world was on her shoulders alone. She could share some of that weight and divide it with her staff because they cared about her and the company just as much. Ji-yoon wasn’t alone and it was something that she realized thanks to Eun-ho. It’s clear he’s made a huge and positive impact on her life in many ways and he also has made a huge impact in the Peoplez company. Whenever there were issues with candidates or clients or staff, he always stepped in to mediate the situation or to present solutions to the problems. I can see why Ji-yoon mentioned that she felt a little selfish to keep him all to herself. Eun-ho’s so talented and it might be better for him to utilize all that talent, knowledge, and experience through another opportunity. But at the same time, there’s experiences and people at Peoplez that might not necessarily be guaranteed under a new company. He enjoys the company of the staff members at Peoplez as well as his job as Ji-yoon’s secretary and lover. Eun-ho’s going to weigh in all these factors when his contract is over and that’s probably why he’s going to choose to stay once it’s all said and done.

It’s hard to believe that there’s only one more episode left and I already know I’m going to be incredibly emotional when the finale airs next week. I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet and I’m already getting sad just thinking about it. It’s rare for a drama to be so delicate, careful, and intentional from the start all the way to the end and yet “Love Scout” was able to do that throughout its run. I doubt the drama will suddenly dip in quality and go full makjang on us in the finale (though I also can’t completely rule anything out at this point in K-dramaland) and I’m really hoping it’ll be able to deliver the final episode just like how it’s been doing these past 11 episodes. I’ve had my fair share of trust issues with K-dramas and getting burnt through the halfway point in dramas so I’m glad that “Love Scout” didn’t go that route. Instead, it remained steady, stable, and enjoyable. There were so many things to celebrate and enjoy thus far and I’m confident that the drama will be able to wrap things up in a nice, heartwarming way. Whether it’s inside or outside of the walls at the Peoplez office, there’s family everywhere the staff at Peoplez go. They will never be alone because they have one another and more.