Eun Yong got imprisoned on charges of financial misconduct in the previous episode of “Payback,” however, chairman Myung, who was also in prison at that time, framed Eun Yong for murdering an inmate. Eun Yong is in more trouble now, and Joon Gyeong got betrayed by assemblyman Baek. Afterward, chairman Myung’s men tried to kill her, but she barely survived. Eun Yong is in prison, Joon Gyeong is in a coma, and Tae Chun is suspended. Eun Yong has to come up with a foolproof plan to get himself out of this situation.
Spoilers Ahead
What Does Eun Yong Offer To Hwang?
Tae Chun is suspended, but he hasn’t stopped the investigation. He needs to find Lee Jin Ho, who attacked Joon Gyeong. He has been tailing Chairman Myung and his lawyer Lee, who managed to get out of prison without having to serve their sentences. When he sees that lawyer Lee is drunk, he pretends to be his driver and drives him to an old warehouse. He shows the pictures of the warehouse to Officer Nam, who recognizes that it is Kim Seong Tae’s gambling den. On the other hand, Eun Yong meets prosecutor Ham Jin, who is in charge of his case. She is Joon Gyeong’s senior, whom Joon Gyeong had asked for help. She has studied Eun Yong’s case thoroughly and wants to help him, but Eun Yong won’t speak a word to her. However, Ham Jin gets promoted, and the case gets snatched away from her. Hwang does it purposely because he knows how persistent Ham Jin is.
Eun Yong has found the right person who can help him inside the prison, and that is the warden, but Eun Yong needs to demonstrate his power first. Eun Yong believes that only feeding him money will spoil him, but with his power, he can keep him in control. The warden’s wife and son live in Canada, and he suddenly gets a call from his wife that they have been thrown out of their house and their son’s admission has been canceled. The warden meets Eun Yong right away, as his wife tells him that she received a business card in his name. Eun Yong buys off the warden, and his life in prison is much easier now. He gets to use the warden’s phone whenever he wants, and with it, he finds out that Myung has opened a finance company named Bawoo Funds, which offers unbelievably high rates. He studies the company’s operation process and speculates that Myung is going to manipulate the stock market again.
Tae Chun has not contacted Eun Yong yet, but he meets his business partner, Ms. Hong, to borrow some money from her. He takes the money to Kim Seong Tae’s gambling den and plays even when he doesn’t know how to. Tae Chun is courageous, but non-calculated risks don’t always help. The people at the den notice his odd behavior, and when he starts following their drug dealer, they get alert. Tae Chun follows the drug dealer into a dark alley and gets caught by the gangsters. He would’ve died if not for the police detectives who were doing an undercover operation nearby. The detective knows Tae Chun, and she informs him that Joon Gyeong has woken up from the coma. Joon Gyeong has already sent a note to Eun Yong about her well-being, and they will meet soon. Prosecutor Ham Jin has been promoted, but she is still on Joon Gyeong’s side. She holds a grudge against Hwang, so she joins hands with Eun Yong to bring him down.
Eun Yong gets to hold a meeting with Ham Jin, Joon Gyeong, Ms. Hong, and Tae Chun in Ham Jin’s office, and he informs them about his plan. Moreover, he also fires his existing legal team and hires Joon Gyeong as his attorney instead. Eun Yong discovers the companies that are going bankrupt because of Myung’s stock manipulation and sends the document to Hwang. Hwang has been planning to enter politics, but his biggest weak point is his father-in-law, Myung, who is involved in many illegal activities. He believed that Myung would stop manipulating the market now that he had started a company legally, but to his disappointment, Myung had not changed at all. However, Ham Jin puts a search and seizure order on all the mentioned companies, and Myung faces a huge loss, enough to make his newly founded company go bankrupt. Myung and Hwang get into an argument because of this, and later, Eun Yong offers Hwang his services to bring down Myung and give all of his wealth to his daughter.
How Does Myung Save Himself?
Hwang accepts Eun Yong’s offer in exchange for reinstating Tae Chun in the office right away. However, Eun Yong also gets a special exception for himself from prison with this deal. He gets to work in the prosecutor’s office as a consultant for investigations related to the stock market. Hwang has been promoted, and he needs a big case to make a name for himself. A special unit has been formed to tackle financial crimes, and Eun Yong is consulting them while also planning against Myung. Eun Yong gives Hwang a case that doesn’t look significant but still brings a lot of attention to Hwang, exactly how he wants.
On the other hand, Myung is frustrated because of his loss, but Hwang brings him insider information that he got from Eun Yong that can help him get back on his feet again. Eun Yong brings more cases to Hwang, and Hwang keeps on passing insider information on to Myung. However, as planned, Myung kept on investing in the companies Hwang told him to, and in the end, Eun Yong made the final blow by making the stock prices of all the companies Myung invested in plummet.
Eun Yong is a genius, and Myung understands immediately that he must have planned it all, but he cannot believe that Hwang joined hands with Eun Yong. Wherever Myung goes for help, he finds out that Hwang has been vouching against him. Hwang is getting ready to enter politics and wants to get rid of Myung. Hwang doesn’t even stop by to meet him but sends his daughter instead. Myung’s daughter tells him to hand over the company to her if he wants to save it, but Myung declines her offer. Instead, he brings Eun Yong to meet him. Myung asks him for money to save his company in exchange for Joon Gyeong’s stolen USB and a USB with compromising information on Hwang. Eun Yong doesn’t think it’s worth the deal, and then Myung reveals his further plan to him. Eun Yong has refused to give him money, so he is going to declare bankruptcy, which will cause a huge commotion among the public as many will face a huge monetary loss. Myung has nothing to fear because many big officials are involved in his fraudulent company, and hence, no one will allow taking action against him.
‘Payback’ Episode 8: Ending
Eun Yong has provided top bodyguards to Joon Gyeong to protect her from their enemies, and with the help of those bodyguards, she catches Lee Jin Ho before the police can. Joon Gyeong, who would never go against the law, is a changed person after she almost died. She wants information on Myung from Jin Ho and wouldn’t give him his drugs until he speaks up. He hasn’t spoken much against Myung out of loyalty, but he gets enraged when Joon Gyeong shows him that his drugs have been laced with poison and that Myung tried to kill him. On the other hand, Eun Yong is lost because Myung has defeated him and his plan completely. He wonders where his plan went wrong, but soon enough, he comes up with another plan.
Hwang is also trapped, as his father-in-law’s company has caused a huge scandal in the country. Not only Myung but Hwang is also answerable to many people regarding this issue. Myung has made lawyer Lee the scapegoat and has pushed the responsibility of handling the case onto Hwang’s shoulders. “Payback” sees a twist of events as Eun Yong and Hwang’s big plan fails miserably, and both of them turn against each other again. Hwang threatens Eun Yong, saying he’ll frame Tae Chun in another misconduct case again, but Eun Yong only smirks at him, indicating that he already has the situation figured out.
