'Itaewon Class' Episode 9: Yi-seo tells Sae-ro-yi she'll quit DanBam if he dates Soo-ah after offer from Jang
'Itaewon Class' episode 9 sees Park Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon), worried for the first time since he started working on a game plan against Jang Dae-hee (Yoon Jae-myung). For the first time, he has a real problem that he can only hope to overcome with faith. Sae-ro-yi knows that one of the main reasons for the success of DanBam is his employee Cho Yi-seo (Park Da-mi). Her street smart marketing plans have gone a long way in helping DanBam and now, he also understands how big a loss it would be for DanBam if she were to leave.
At the beginning of the episode, we saw Yi-seo attend a seminar by Chairman Jang Dae-hee who owns a huge food corporation and happens to be Sae-ro-yi's enemy too. She has got the attention of Chairman Jang and the cliffhanger at the end of episode 8 turned out to be exactly what we had guessed. Meeting Chairman Jang was a part of Yi-seo's well thought out plan and that became clear by the end of the current episode. Her quick wit and intelligence is quite similar to that of Chairman Jang, who also realized the same after he met with Yi-seo and now, he wants her on his side. However, Yi-seo promised herself that she will stand between Sae-ro-yi and anyone else who wanted to hurt him.
Yi-seo is exactly what Sae-ro-yi needs to succeed in his quest to exact revenge. She balances out Sae-ro-yi's idealistic attempts with her smart planning. In that vein, she introduced her huge following on social media to the restaurant. They kept customers involved in how DanBam was built in the new building, the employees of DanBam and even Sae-ro-yi. This keeps customers interested in the pub and with good food and great decor, the pub has got the customer base covered for the busy hours.
So much so, that the pub is becoming a corporation just ahead of the tax season. They name their corporation IC, as in Itaewon Class. Sae-ro-yi's way of working with his employees is much different than Chairman Jang. He works with his employees and gives them the freedom to speak their minds. In fact, the name of the corporation was also something that he let his employees suggest. Chairman Jang's style is more like dictatorial. This is also why Sae-ro-yi's employees are loyal to him.
Sae-ro-yi is, however, not aware of Yi-seo's plan. In fact, no one is. So when Jang Geun-won arrives at DanBam to talk to Yi-seo and scout her for Chairman Jang, everyone is surprised. Sae-ro-yi doesn't bother too much in the beginning, but when he hears about the scouting, he pauses. Just a few seconds, but he still does. He is clearly worried about what Yi-seo will decide especially since just that morning she had just told Sae-ro-yi that she will quit DanBam if Sae-ro-yi starts dating Soo-ah.
So, he cannot be sure that Yi-seo will not jump ship. When others ask him to do something, he says this decision has to be made by Yi-seo alone as it is her life. On the other hand, though, Yi-seo manipulates Geun-won so easily that he begins to tell her about his past with Sae-ro-yi and even confesses about the accident. She records this, and plays it back for Geun-won and tells him that she works at DanBam because she is crazily in love with Sae-ro-yi.
She tells Geun-won that because Sae-ro-yi's head is currently filled with everything Jang, she is jealous and wants to help him clear everything out. Now, there is no doubt whose side Yi-seo will choose and the upcoming episodes are just going to get a lot more interesting now.
'Itaewon Class' episodes can be streamed on Netflix.