SBS | Fridays & Saturdays 9:50pm KST | Netflix | Episode 3 of 14
This man bought an ENTIRE COMPANY because they were suppressing the career of a woman he won’t admit he’s falling for. She stole his bank card without knowing what it is. He’s hearing love songs on the radio and seeing her face on vans. The cousin has been manipulating the grandfather since they were CHILDREN. And it turns out that in Joseon, Dan Shim and Se Gye didn’t just cross paths — they had a full love affair. This drama is giving me EVERYTHING.
The Joseon Flashback — The Pattern Repeats Across 300 Years
We open with a flashback from 300 years ago showing the male lead — who was the Crown Prince — surviving assassination attempts. The KING wanted him dead because he felt threatened by him. Even though the King already had the throne, he couldn’t stand having someone more capable nearby.
And look at the present day — Choi Mun Do is the CEO of the family company but he’s STILL trying to bring down Se Gye. Their relationship is EXACTLY the same as it was 300 years ago. The cousin-king dynamic. The threat of being outshone. The attempts to eliminate the competition. History repeating itself across three centuries.
I also think this is why Dan Shim doesn’t recognise Se Gye in modern times — he had the mask across his face in Joseon. She never saw the full man.
She Will NOT Let Go
Dan Shim is terrified of Mun Do. When Se Gye tells her to let go, she literally WILL NOT release him because she doesn’t want to be seen by the cousin. In her head, that’s still the King who had her killed.
The TV station people come looking for her (after the live stream disaster). To escape, she pretends to FAINT. Se Gye has to carry her out the building. When they’re outside he tries to leave and she’s like NOPE — I need to tell you everything. She gets in his car. He tries to drag her out. But when the station people appear again, he lets her stay.
This woman has attached herself to this man like a barnacle and he cannot shake her off.
The Bank Card — She Doesn’t Even Know What It Is
She asks Se Gye about his relationship with Mun Do. He says they’re “pretty much strangers.” Then she gets carsick and they stop at a petrol station.
Se Gye goes into the shop. He sees digestive biscuits. He keeps picking them up and putting them back because he feels BAD for her but doesn’t want to admit he cares. He buys them. Goes back outside. She’s GONE. With his BANK CARD.
This woman doesn’t even understand what a bank card IS. She just took it and ran. He thinks she’s going to steal all his money. She’s probably just going to buy food.
And she does. She goes to a stall, doesn’t have enough cash, and the shopkeeper says “we take card too.” She looks at the card like it’s witchcraft. Now she’s making transactions on the PRESIDENT’s card. He’s going to be PISSED.
He Goes to Find Her — And She Has Him Wrapped Around Her Finger
He sees the transactions coming through on his phone. Goes to find her to take the card back. He takes the card. She smells food. He buys her the food.
That’s how much control she has over this man without EITHER of them realising it. She asks, he gives. She needs, he provides. He doesn’t want to help her but he literally cannot stop himself.
The Cousin’s Childhood Manipulation — He’s Been Doing This Since Age Seven
This is the part that made my blood boil. We get a flashback to when Mun Do were both brought into the family home as a child. Se Gye was about seven, Mun Do slightly older. And from DAY ONE, Mun Do played the game.
He pretended to be sweet and innocent. But every time he was alone with Se Gye, he’d orchestrate situations to make HIMSELF the victim. Se Gye offered him biscuits. When he heard the grandfather coming, Mun Do threw the biscuits AND the glass on the floor, then STEPPED on the broken glass — so it looked like Se Gye attacked him.
The grandfather slapped Se Gye.
He’s been manipulating the grandfather from the VERY beginning. Since they were CHILDREN. And I don’t think the grandfather will ever take Se Gye’s side — especially since Mun Do gave him an organ. That donation wasn’t generosity. It was an INVESTMENT. A permanent insurance policy that ensures the grandfather always sees Mun Do as the selfless nephew and Se Gye as the problem.
The Cousin’s Business Sabotage
It turns out Se Gye’s company needed investment. The money came from a company that was actually Mun Do’s under an alias. So now Mun Do is the BIGGEST SHAREHOLDER of Se Gye’s company. He’s infiltrated his cousin’s business from the inside.
Se Gye confronts him. Mun Do plays innocent — “I never meant anything by it.” But Se Gye sees through it. Mun Do is scared that if Se Gye’s company succeeds, the grandfather will turn around and say “well, he’s my ACTUAL grandson” and give him everything. So Mun Do is sabotaging from within.
Se Gye tells him: “Make sure you continue your act. Because if grandfather finds out what you’re really up to…” It’s a warning. But will the grandfather ever believe it? Probably not. He’s been conditioned since childhood to see Mun Do as the good one.
He’s Already Obsessed — Love Songs and Phantom Faces
Se Gye is losing his MIND. He puts on the radio — love songs playing. First thing he thinks about? Her. He turns it off. Looks out the window. Sees a commercial on a van — and sees HER FACE. Even though it’s not actually her.
He’s already obsessed. He doesn’t realise it yet but he’s falling HARD. His secretary can see it — when the internal vote comes back showing Dan Shim won the brand face contest by 2%, Se Gye is sitting there with a GRIN. The secretary looks at him like — why are you happy? Because he KNOWS.
Se Gye’s Dream — They Had a Love Affair in Joseon
Se Gye dreams of Dan Shim again. This time she’s working in his quarters as his personal maid. He’s definitely a prince — that’s confirmed now.
But here’s where I was TOTALLY wrong. I thought she didn’t remember him because that part of her life was insignificant to her. But it turns out they had a full LOVE AFFAIR in Joseon. The King apparently brought her into the palace intentionally to bring down his brother — the Crown Prince.
So she was USED as a weapon against the man she loved. And somehow she doesn’t recognise him in 2026. I’m really confused about how that’s possible if they were actually in love. Unless the trauma of being executed wiped certain memories. Or unless the King’s manipulation was so complete that she never fully understood what she had with the Crown Prince.
The Supermarket Cry — Feeling a Connection to a Stranger
Dan Shim is in a supermarket and sees a scene from a drama featuring the original Seo Ri. People are talking about how she was such a good actress but disappeared. Dan Shim starts CRYING.
She never met the real Seo Ri. But she feels a connection to the body she’s living in. The girl’s talent, her struggles, her unrealised potential — it all hits her. And I think this is the moment Dan Shim decides she wants to be an ACTRESS. Not just survive in this world — but honour the dream the original Seo Ri never got to fulfil.
He Bought the Company — Because They Were Suppressing Her
Dan Shim finds out she’s been chosen as the brand face and goes to sign the contract. But her manager and the second female lead Yun Ji Hyo are waiting. They tell her she’s still under contract with their agency — the verbal termination means nothing. They’ve been SUPPRESSING her career on purpose. Keeping her locked in a contract and refusing to let her work.
The manager grabs her arm. Dan Shim warns her — “I will break your arm if you don’t let go.” The manager doesn’t let go. So Dan Shim BITES her. Then Ji Hyo slaps Dan Shim. They’re going back and forth — but Dan Shim’s slaps LAND while Ji Hyo keeps missing. The concubine combat training is paying off.
Se Gye walks in. Sees the chaos. Sees her swollen, red face. He’s PISSED. The manager tells him he has no right to get involved.
So what has he done?
He BUYS THE COMPANY.
Just like that. They had her trapped in a contract and were deliberately killing her career. So he acquired their entire agency. Now HE’S their boss. The people who were suppressing Dan Shim are now working for the man who wants to make her a star. The contract that was trapping her? He owns it now.
This man is UNHINGED in the best possible way. They wouldn’t let her work so his response was to purchase their EMPLOYER. That’s capitalism as a liberation strategy.
My Thoughts on Episode 3
The parallel between the Joseon and modern timelines is getting tighter with every episode. The cousin was the King who tried to kill the Crown Prince. Now the cousin is the CEO trying to destroy Se Gye’s business. The manipulation tactics are the same — planting evidence as a child, planting a mole investment as an adult. The organ donation mirrors the political positioning at court. Everything echoes.
Dan Shim having Se Gye wrapped around her finger without either of them realising it is comedy GOLD. The bank card, the food, the love songs on the radio, seeing her face on a van — this man is completely gone and has NO IDEA.
And buying the company? That’s the most Se Gye thing possible. He doesn’t fight with words or fists. He fights with ACQUISITION CONTRACTS. They were suppressing her career? He buys their livelihood. That’s both terrifying and romantic.
The Joseon love affair reveal changes everything. She wasn’t just a random concubine who crossed paths with the Crown Prince. She was actively placed there to DESTROY him. By the same King who’s now his modern-day cousin. The pattern repeats. But this time, Dan Shim and Se Gye might actually get to choose each other.
11 episodes to go. He bought a company for her. She’s still got his bank card energy. And somewhere in the Joseon flashbacks, the truth about what really happened between them is waiting to surface.
Quick Stats
Network SBS (Fri & Sat 9:50pm KST) Streaming Netflix (worldwide) Episodes 14 × 70 min Genre Comedy, Romance, Drama, Fantasy
Cast
Im Ji Yeon
Shin Seo Ri / Kang Dan Shim — stole his bank card, bit a manager, won the brand face vote
Heo Nam Jun
Cha Se Gye — bought a company to free her from a suppressive contract, seeing her face on vans, fully gone
Jang Seung Jo
Choi Mun Do — been manipulating since age seven, biggest shareholder in his cousin’s company
Lee Se Hee
Yun Ji Hyo — tried to suppress Dan Shim’s career, now works for the man defending her
She stole his bank card. He bought her food anyway. They trapped her in a contract. He bought the company.
Capitalism as a liberation strategy. And somewhere in the Joseon flashbacks, two people who loved each other 300 years ago are about to remember why.
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