As beautiful as the feeling of love is, falling in love is not always an easy process. Teenage relationships can be reckless, and their breakups can be messy, but what if the same happens among adults in their 30s? “The Interest of Love” is a complicated tale of love among four people who are confused about the meaning of love itself. As they get older, society has been pressuring them to get married, but the criterion for marriage now is wealth rather than love. A series of bad decisions make their lives miserable, and all of their lives go through an upheaval.
Spoilers Ahead
‘The Interest Of Love’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In Season 1?
Ahn Su Yeong is a contract clerk at KCU Bank and has been there longer than most of the employees. However, she hasn’t gotten a promotion in years because she is just a high school graduate with no further education. Ha Sang Su joined three years later than her and got trained by her when he joined the bank. Now, he has been promoted to section chief, while Su Yeong is still a service representative. Sang Su has had a crush on Su Yeong for some time now, but when he finally asks her out, he messes up. Su Yeong waits for Sang Su at a restaurant, but she sees him hesitating at the door and then walking back instead of entering the restaurant. This causes a huge drama to begin. Sang Su apologizes to Su Yeong, but by that time, Su Yeong has already found a boyfriend, Jeong, the security guard at the bank. Su Yeong believes that Sang Su stood her up because of the difference in their social status, and that’s the reason she started dating Jeong, whom she believes is on her level.
Park Mi Gyeong, who newly joined the bank, turns out to have been Sang Su’s junior in college. She asks Sang Su out twice before she almost pressurizes Sang Su to become her boyfriend. Sang Su tries to make her understand that he is not ready yet, but she still insists that they start dating each other. However, things only worsen for them later, as Sang Su is not over Su Yeong, and Mi Gyeong starts noticing it. On the other hand, Jeong has been going through financial problems, so Su Yeong lets him live at her place for the time being. Living together shows them how incompatible they are with each other, and their relationship also starts falling off. Sang Su is ready to risk his reputation and career for Su Yeong, but Su Yeong finds it burdensome.
Su Yeong has low self-esteem and a fear of abandonment, which is evident throughout the story. She doesn’t give herself enough credit for how kind and warm-hearted she is and always judges herself from the point of view of others. She makes many mistakes, but Sang Su loves her enough to look past them. Being an adult doesn’t guarantee maturity is what we can make of this story. Su Yeong and Sang Su go through messy breakups with their former partners. Sang Su believes he will have a happy relationship with Su Yeong now, but Su Yeong is unsure about it and cuts contact with Sang Su.
Where Does Mi Gyeong Get Herself Transferred To?
After Su Yeong leaves without informing anyone, Sang Su searches for her, but to no avail. Manager Seo is close to Su Yeong, so he requests she not process her resignation letter for some days until he finds her and brings her back. For Sang Su, life has come to a standstill, but time doesn’t stop for anyone. To move on from Sang Su, Mi Gyeong gets a transfer to a branch in the US and informs their colleagues they have broken up. Before going, she also hears the truth about why Kyung Pil cheated on her. Kyung Pil had kept this burdensome secret from Mi Gyeong for a long time, but Mi Gyeong asked him to change himself and start living differently now. Kyung Pil and Sang Su are still friends, and Kyung Pil purposely takes Sang Su to the restaurant previously owned by Su Yeong’s parents. He asks the owners about the previous owners, and she tells them that they could have returned to Tongyeong. He gives hints to Sang Su, and Sang Su catches on to them. Later that night, Kyung Pil sends Sang Su the recording between him and Su Yeong, which is proof that they didn’t really sleep together. Sang Su hesitates to listen to it and eventually deletes the recording. He only wants to trust in what he believes is the truth.
Su Yeong has moved back to Tongyeong with her parents and has taken some time off to rest. She visits her brother’s memorial after a long time and runs into his high school friend, who still makes time to visit his memorial. However, he has a confession to make to Su Yeong this time. On the day Su Yeong’s brother, Su Hyeok, died, this friend was the one who told Su Hyeok about his mother having an affair. Su Yeong makes him repeat what he said because, all this time, she believed that her father was the one who had had an affair. To know the truth behind why her father was at the woman’s house, she meets the woman herself and asks her to tell the truth. The woman reveals to Su Yeong that her husband had had an affair with Su Yeong’s mother, and she was going to sue her for adultery, but Su Yeong’s father begged the woman not to do it for the sake of his children. As much as Su Yeong is shocked, she feels guilty for blaming her father for all these years and for behaving rudely with him. She cries, thinking how much it must’ve hurt him. However, she apologizes to him that night, and that topic ends right there for their family. She doesn’t even ask her mother about it.
Sang Su is disturbed because of Su Yeong’s disappearance, but he finally gathers the courage to go to Tongyeong when he is drunk. He doesn’t really expect to see Su Yeong because it is a spontaneous decision, but he runs into her at the beach. Sang Su informs her that her resignation hasn’t been processed yet and that she should consider returning. Su Yeong has just been transferred and got the blue lanyard she always wished for. However, she throws the lanyard into the ocean, but Sang Su searches for it desperately and brings it back. He makes sure to let Su Yeong know through his actions that he really wants her to come back. Sang Su spends the rest of the day sightseeing in Tongyeong and takes a promise from Su Yeong that she will return to Seoul to eat a famous dish at his university’s cafe. Su Yeong and Sang Su get to do what they need the most—talk out their feelings. Su Yeong admits that she didn’t feel she was good enough for Sang Su, and he also confesses why he hesitated at that time on their date. He was worried about whether he could take responsibility for another person in his life. As they parted ways the next day, Sang Su told her that he would wait for her at the bank, but she never went back to him or the bank.
Where Are Sang Su, Su Yeong, Mi Gyeong, And Jeong Now?
Four years have passed, and all the employees at the Youngpo branch have been transferred to different branches except Kyung Pil. All of them reunite for the wedding ceremony of manager Ma and senior clerk Bae. Su Yeong hasn’t kept in touch with anyone at the bank, so she isn’t invited to the wedding. However, Mi Gyeong has returned from the US and works as a manager now. She is late to the wedding and arrives just after Sang Su leaves. Sang Su has been going on blind dates, but none of them have been successful. However, a surprise awaits him, and manager Seo is the first one to know about it. Manager Seo has always been close with Su Yeong, and she still keeps in touch with her. Su Yeong runs a drawing cafe in Yeomnam, where Sang Su has just been transferred, and Su Yeong needs to take out a loan for the security deposit. Seo gets excited after hearing it but keeps her mouth shut. On his way to the new branch, Sang Su follows a woman, mistaking her for Su Yeong, but she leads him to Su Yeong’s cafe. The cafe’s name, “Tomorrow’s Happiness,” the plant outside the cafe, and the paintings inside all remind him of Su Yeong, but there is someone else working at the cafe and not Su Yeong.
Su Yeong applies for a loan at the bank and leaves, and Sang Su arrives late just because he mistook someone else for her. Su Yeong and Sang Su don’t get to meet, but Su Yeong runs into Mi Gyeong at an art exhibition. Despite their pasts, both of them are happy to see each other, and they talk like friends meeting after a long time. They confess that they missed each other and often thought about each other. Mi Gyeong is happy to hear about Su Yeong’s cafe and asks her if she can visit the cafe later with her boyfriend. Mi Gyeong has let go of Sang Su, and she is at a happy place in her life now. In the meanwhile, Mi Gyeong and Sang Su’s mothers have become good friends again. During their heartly conversation, Mi Gyeong’s mother in a very excited manner reveals to Sang Su’s mother that her daughter might get married soon. Sang Su’s mother is surely happy for her, but she also wants her son to settle down.
Sang Su finally connects the dots between Su Yeong and the cafe he visited earlier when he sees Su Yeong’s loan application. He takes responsibility for her application and goes to her cafe as the bank’s representative. They do all the official work but don’t talk about personal matters. It’s their first time meeting each other in four years, and they don’t know where to begin the conversation. Su Yeong manages to make him stay for a little longer for coffee, but he eventually leaves without saying what he wants to. Su Yeong has already met Mi Gyeong and Sang Su, and like a fateful occurrence, she sees Jeong once again after many years. She is happy to see that he has fulfilled his dream. He is a police officer now. She doesn’t speak to him but only smiles at him from a distance. This brief encounter finally gives closure to Jeong. Su Yeong always supported his dream, and he had promised her that she would be the first person he saluted when he joined the police. He salutes her sincerely, showing how grateful he is to her even after what happened between them.
Sang Su goes to the cafe again for bank work, and this time he finds a reason to stay for a longer time. He paints a picture, and Su Yeong helps him as well, but they are still awkward around each other. Both of them want to talk to each other but can’t bring themselves to do it, as if they are scared to ruin things again. However, later that night, they meet each other coincidentally at Sang Su’s favorite cafe. As they start speaking, they get comfortable, and Su Yeong finally asks him why he isn’t asking her any questions about four years ago. Sang Su initially tells her that he just gave himself an answer since he couldn’t meet and ask her, but later he jokes that he doesn’t want an answer from the person who broke a promise. Su Yeong had promised Sang Su to go to his university’s cafe, and she hadn’t fulfilled her promise yet. Sang Su asks her if she still wants to keep her promise, and they decide to meet the next day.
‘The Interest Of Love’ Ending Explained – Does Sang Su Find Su Yeong Again?
Sang Su is not going to make the same mistakes that he made in the past. He shows up at Su Yeong’s cafe at the decided time. As they walk up the hill to go to the cafe, they talk a lot about their past. Sang Su tells Su Yeong that he tried to find her in Tongyeong but couldn’t. Even when Sang Su doesn’t ask her, Su Yeong tells him that she disappeared because she believed that there was nothing left between them to share; their lives had become too much of a burden that they didn’t have space for each other. However, Sang Su tells her that he never felt that way. However, he regrets that he hesitated. He thinks that he should have persuaded her with more perseverance instead of being afraid of the consequences. Su Yeong admits that she also regrets being impatient and making bad decisions. Both of them feel that their lives would have turned out differently only if they had made better decisions. They imagine themselves getting married, having kids, and fighting as a couple as they think about a different life than now. Su Yeong thinks that their life together would have been nothing but ordinary. With this comes a love confession from Sang Su. He thinks this is what love is: doing mundane and boring things in life together. Even if it’s late, they realize that they were always in love with each other and still are.
As they reach the top of the hill, which Sang Su calls a “hill of oblivion” that makes you forget things, Su Yeong asks him if he has forgotten anything after finishing the climb. Sang Su confidently says that he hasn’t forgotten anything this time. The series comes to an end with this cryptic line, which can simply mean that Sang Su hasn’t forgotten his love for Su Yeong, the memories they made, or the hardships they went through. Despite everything in the past, they still walk ahead together toward the future. Just like Su Yeong’s cafe’s name, “Tomorrow’s Happiness,” which she named after the flower with the same meaning given to her by Sang Su in the past, they finally decide to accompany each other for their present and future happiness.
“The Interest Of Love” is a mature romantic drama filled with plenty of drama in each episode. It shows a very realistic side of adult romance and dating. It is not always butterflies, rainbows, and roses. More often than not, people are only looking for a suitor who matches their social and financial status. Even with the eye-opening, brutal side of adult relationships depicted in the drama, Su Yeong and Sang Su’s fated lovers’ trope brings a happy ending that looks almost impossible until the very end of the series. They were fated to come back to each other no matter what, and the story subtly hinted at it many times. The sandcastle that Su Yeong was afraid of getting broken down, Sang Su assured her that it just might not happen this time. The sandcastle represents the relationship between them, and Sang Su’s assurance was his promise that he would always protect it. In the last episode of “The Interest Of Love,” he painted the same sandcastle in her cafe, which again subtly signaled that he had been protecting the castle all along.
Will There Be A Season2?
“The Interest Of Love” clearly has an open ending. We don’t know what happened to Su Yeong and Sang Su further and if they got married. Mi Gyeong has a boyfriend, could it be Kyung Pil? A sequel can give us many answers, but given the whole gloomy vibe of this season, the next season should bring a happier vibe, maybe showing the married lives of Sang Su and Mi Gyeong and solvable problems in their mundane lives, slice-of-life but with a happier plot.
