'Private Lives' Episode 12: Jeong-hwan, Joo-eun choose to go all out against GK, but Bok-gi has her own plans
'Private Lives' Episode 12 begins with Jeong-hwan learning the harsh lesson from Mr. Kim that his mentor's loyalty had always lied with the company that he served and never with the men that he had trained. So when Mr. Kim tells Jeong-hwan that the only way out is to end what he has with Joo-eun and her friends, Jeong-hwan is torn between a rock and a hard place. His choice has the power to make or break Joo-eun's life and this is what the show comes down to. Will Jeong-hwan kneel under the influence of his powerful enemies or will he make the choice of staying with Joo-eun for love and live a hard life?
After realizing that Mr. Kim, who mentored him and led him while he worked for GK Technology was only using him and the bond that he had felt towards Mr Kim was all one-way, something within Jeong-hwan breaks down. The conversation about if Mr. Kim would have killed him, and the realization that follows, that Mr Kim is only loyal to one entity in his life and that happens to be GK, Jeong-hwan decides to let it all go. The moment Jeong-hwan tells his boss that he is not ready to cut Joo-eun off from his life or end her friends, as Mr. Kim had suggested he should, he is cast out of the company that he worked hard for.
Mr. Kim, by casting him out has made the choice of letting Jeong-hwan partner up with someone that GK is not in cahoots with. Kwon Hyuk-jang promises Jeong-hwan that the day he wins the election and the presidency, Jeong-hwan's identity will be returned to him. He also manages to help Jeong-hwan clear Joo-eun's name and all of this now leads to the question of which kingmaker will be more successful. Jeong-hwan or Mr Kim. This episode of 'Private Lives' also reveals that Mr Kim is working for an elderly and all-powerful man who has so much power over the Vision Room chief that he can get him to kneel like a school student who is punished for wrongdoing. Is this the consequence of failing to manage one of his own employees or failing to capture the said employee? Even the plans of the conglomerate, which involves supporting Yoo Jung-byun might be in danger with Jeong-hwan working counter-intuitively against them.
For instance, Edward Kim's plan to capture Joo-eun and name her an industrial spy; later tying her to Kwon Hyun-jang is something that would have worked. The plan would have also put this candidate's credibility at risk and it is Jeong-hwan's plan that saves Kwon Hyun-jang. However, the moment Jeong-hwan decided to go all out against GK though, he worried about Joo-eun's safety and asked her if she would be interested in moving out of the country for a bit. He tells her to return once the dust settles, but she doesn't heed his advice and instead begins to stay with him.
She is clear about wanting to give their relationship another shot and Jeong-hwan may want to give this relationship another try as well. However, what really doesn't help the two of them is the obstacle that comes in the form of Bok-gi. Until now, she worked with Joo-eun to bring Edward Kim down and she initially seemed like she was onboard the plan of bringing Edward Kim down too. However, something about her changed the moment Edward left a red note at her hotel door that read 'Goodbye'. We see her take things into her own hands as she begins to plan and plot against Yoo Jung-byun, the candidate who GK and Edward wants to win the race. It is probably her way of exacting revenge, but by doing so she is putting Jeong-hwan's plan at risk.
At this time, Joo-eun is approached by the cop who had supported and helped her round up the fake witness before and he wants to know if Jeong-hwan is alive. He also tells Joo-eun that she would be arrested if she is found to be harboring a criminal. At this point, Jeong-hwan comes face to face with the cop and tries to convince him to work with him instead of against him. The role that this team will play in the choosing of the future president of their country is not lost on us. Which makes it important to tailor every move and every story that is published about Kwon Hyuk-jang.
While GK tries to ambush Kwon Hyuk-jang and tries to show manipulative proof about him being bribed then the man would lose the election without a fight. However, it is not only Hyuk-jang who has been on the take for years according to Director Choi's black book. It is also Yoo Jung-byun and both of them at some point will have to bow to the wishes of the conglomerate that sponsors them. How far they would go and how much they suffer is what we will see next week. At the same time, Jeong-hwan also asks the cop for a favor and that is to look into the death of Director Choi's driver. He hopes to gather evidence against Yoo Jung-byun before the other side provides evidence against Kwon Hyuk-jang.
Before we can even guess if he will win, Bok-gi, influenced by Edward's final goodbye ends up planning her own docu centered on Yoo Jung-byun. How will things unravel? We will see soon.
'Private Lives' airs on JTBC on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 pm KST and can be streamed on Netflix outside of South Korea.