The Apartment Job Episodes 7-8 Recap: Hae-kang Stops Being Chung-won’s Puppet

Confusing your enemy is the best strategy and Hae-kang is doing the exact same by acting as Chung-won‘s friend. In this week’s “The Apartment Job,” Hae-kang takes his game a notch higher by making a few promises to Chung-won but they are all driven by the need of the hour. Since Chung-won controls the funds and gets notified when someone tries to withdraw it, Hae-kang must take the position of treasurer. Even though he is the President of True Value Estate, he has not yet reached Gang-won’s stature and that’s why he needs to prove his worth. Hae-kang finds some peace at home because Ha-ri is always there with Gyeong-buk and somehow, the fake family sometimes feels real for him. 

Spoilers Ahead

Ha-ri Lashes Out At Ha-jeong

Apart from some, most of  the people are kind of okay with someone doing favors for  them, until that feels like a burden. Imagine someone close to you pays for your education, it is definitely a blessing, until they start to make you feel small. Ha-jeong is like a blessing in Ha-ri’s life since she has paid for her school, tuition and bar examination fees. She has always been kind to Ha-ri and has done a lot more than any sister will probably do for their younger sibling. However, ever since Ha-jeong has learned that Ha-ri is playing Hae-kang’s wife, she has completely messed up her younger sister’s life with intrusive questions. Ha-ri feels bad for betraying her sister and sending her to France to be safe from her suspicion, but she is also frustrated at her behavior. The anger we see from Ha-ri comes after Ha-jeong makes her feel burdened with the favors, which is absolutely wrong.

Hae-kang’s Masterstroke Smoothly Double The Long-term Reserve Funds

Hae-kang wants to have the long-term reserve fund all for himself but as  it is seen, he cannot withdraw a cent since Chung-won has already spent the money. All thanks to Ha-jeong, True Value Estate’s accountant, we have pages of fake calculations that show an imaginary balance of the fund. Since Hae-kang wants to prove his worth and be Chung-won‘s right hand man who handles treasury, he decides to make him some money first. With Hae-kang’s request, Chung-won instructs the agents of the elevator company to deliberately plant bugs in the circuits. After the residents suffer from faulty elevators and many people are forced to take the stairs – quite naturally, people who live in the topmost floors get irritated while climbing down the stairs. So, when Hae-kang calls an emergency board meeting to fix the issue, everyone is forced to attend it. Hae-kang demands a 100% increase in the funds, and even though the representatives laugh in disbelief, the residents agree to pay double the amount to replace the elevators as soon as possible. This comes as a surprise for Chung-won because before Hae-kang, no other President, not even Gang-won has proved to be this effective. 

Why Hae-kang Doesn’t Take The Easier Route

Hae-kang needs to pay ten billion won to Police Commissioner Ju-gwon to bail out his former boss, Yong-man and that’s the sole reason behind putting up all these acts. When Chung-won hands him a bag of money, he mentions that it has ten billion to test Hae-kang’s integrity. If Hae-kang steals the ten billion, he would be able to take Yong-man home but still, he refuses to do so. Hae kang does not know if that bag really contains ten billion; however, he knows that after the election, Gang-won and his family have mysteriously disappeared into thin air. He has also seen a bonsai tree planted in the name of Gang-won inside Chung-won‘s private Pine Garden. Even though Hae-kang saves the Yong-man, he cannot endanger his employees, Lizard, Ha-ri and Gyeong-buk. Chung-won will never spare their lives once he finds out that Hae-kang has stolen his money and that’s why, he gives up the idea.

Suk-jin’s Stance On Hae-kang Completely Changes

Since Chung-won is desperate to start his New Town Project, he has to take more money from his earning sources, which, of course, includes the True Value Apartment. However, apart from the permanent residents who own their apartments, a lot of people live on leases and sometimes, they use member-only facilities like the spa or sauna. This soon becomes a headache for the representatives and Hae-kang has to call another emergency meeting. The permanent residents appear heartless because they claim more money from the tenants who are on lease, but are they wrong? If a permanent member shares their privileges with a tenant, then ultimately, the funds required for that service goes from the very pockets of every member. Since Hae-kang knows that it’s a very debatable topic, and one small mistake can derail him from the President’s chair, he takes some time to understand a proper way out of it. Hae-kang finds himself in a very tough spot – the tenants and apartment owners are at loggerheads, and they are taking their anger out on Suk-jin since she lives on a government allowance. After Hae-kang sets up the Tenants Representative Association and appoints Suk-jin as its President, she regains her trust in him.

Ha-ri Unknowingly Endangers Ha-jeong’s Life

Ha-ri and Ha-jeong both are in crisis and the whole situation is very problematic because of their rivalry. It’s needless since to some extent, Ha-jeong has also used dirty money to find Ha-ri’s coaching. Things take a shocking turn when Ha-ri accidentally discovers a handwritten ledger where Ha-jeong has kept a record of the real and inflated maintenance fees that Choi has taken over the years. Ha-ri realizes everything and after she confronts Ha-jeong, it leaves her in a state of panic, forcing her to call Choi. This puts Ha-jeong’s life in immediate danger because once Choi learns about the ledger, the information reaches Chung-won almost instantly. For a brute like Chung-won, Ha-jeong’s resignation plea is tied with her ledgers since she is allegedly plotting against all of them. Chung-won thinks that Ha-jeong is trying to be a whistleblower to his money laundering operations and decides to end her life before she makes it home.

Hae-kang Finally Stops Being Chung-won’s Puppet

Till now, Hae-kang has done everything to satisfy Chung-won‘s ego but when he orders him to run Ha-jeong over with a truck, he refuses. This is not the family man or Apartment President that  people have seen till now; this version of Hae-kang is the scariest, meanest and unapologetic. It surprises Chung-won because he did not expect Hae-kang to disobey a direct order when he himself has begged to be his right hand man. Hae-kang knows that Ha-jeong is innocent and in no way he will take her life, even though she is a hurdle in his path. Chung-won has always expected everyone to obey him  and look at things the way he does – the rows of trees in his Pine Garden are living proof that it is not a wise decision to disobey him. Yet, Hae-kang deliberately does it and even confronts Chung-won by walking into his office. However, Chung-won still decides to give Hae-kang a chance because he will never get a man with such a calibre as his ally. 

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