Start-Up Season 1 Episode 10 Recap – Demo Day

[00:01:00] Dal-mi ends the call with Do-san. She asks Ji-pyeong for the truth and tells him not to tell any more lies. Dal-mi wants to know who wrote the letters, him or Do-san. Ji-pyeong tells Dal-mi her grandmother asked him to write the letters as a favor. He wrote the letters, so she could have a friend. Dal-mi can’t believe everything was a lie. She asks Ji-pyeong how Do-san ended up at In-jae’s party despite not knowing about the letters. Ji-pyeong answers he found Do-san and asked him to be the Do-san in the letters. Dal-mi doesn’t understand why Do-san agreed. Ji-pyeong responds that Samsan Tech needed money at that time, so Do-san agreed. Dal-mi thinks Do-san became close with her for money. Ji-pyeong tries to defend Do-san, but Dal-mi doesn’t accept his explanation. She can’t trust Ji-pyeong is telling the truth.

[00:05:00] Ji-pyeong tells Dal-mi that Do-san’s feelings for her are real. Everything was on the ground of a lie, so she can’t tell if anyone is telling the truth. Dal-mi certainly can’t believe Ji-pyeong when he tells her Do-san’s feelings are true. Dal-mi runs away before Do-san can call Ji-pyeong. He tells Do-san what happened, so he calls Yong-san to tell them the bad news. Sa-ha overhears their conversation and forces them to tell her the truth. Upon hearing the truth, Sa-ha concludes the company would close down. She tells them that relationships are supposed to be forbidden within a company. Yong-san and Chul-san think that love shouldn’t be forbidden, but Sa-ha explains why. She explains it will be awkward if someone decides to go dating within the team and then suddenly break up.

[00:07:00] Yong-san and Chul-san are hopeful Do-san and Dal-mi won’t break up. Sa-ha tells them Do-san is nothing compared to Ji-pyeong. They try to defend Do-san, but Sa-ha keeps proving them otherwise. Sa-ha tells them Ji-pyeong is rich, handsome, well-connected — he wins in all aspects. The guys tell Sa-ha those things come second to someone’s feelings. Sa-ha responds Dal-mi is now torn between her first love and current love. Sa-ha knows Dal-mi can’t love them equally; she won’t know which one is true love. Yong-san and Chul-san quit the argument as they find it too annoying. Meanwhile, Dal-mi sits inside the bus station, thinking of all her moments with Do-san. She couldn’t believe that everything was a lie.

[00:09:30] Do-san manages to find Dal-mi and tries to console her. Do-san apologizes for everything, but Dal-mi doesn’t want him to apologize. Do-san’s apology meant that things aren’t real for him. She asks Do-san if he had fun pretending to be the Do-san in those fake letters. Do-san responds things are painful for him. He knows he didn’t deserve all the love she gave him. He wants to be the person Dal-mi wants him to be, but he can’t. Dal-mi tells Do-san she no longer knows the person she wants and walks away. Do-san cries inside the empty bus station as his heart crumbles to pieces. After what happened, Ji-pyeong calls Won-deok to check in on Dal-mi. She tells Ji-pyeong that Dal-mi got home safely, but they aren’t able to talk. Won-deok knows what happened, so she leaves Dal-mi alone.

[00:14:00] Everyone feels miserable. Do-san is still crying when he gets home. Dal-mi looks at Ji-pyeong’s letters while remembering her times with Do-san. She looks at the baseball Do-san gave her as tears roll down her face. The next day, Won-deok wakes up and sees Dal-mi baby-proofing their house. She is worried Won-deok would bump into corners once she loses her eyesight. She asks Dal-mi if she should be worried about her eyesight, but Dal-mi isn’t concerned about anything else.

[00:16:30] Do-san waits for Dal-mi outside their house. Dal-mi is on her way to work when she sees Do-san. She tells Do-san she needs to keep working on their application for Won-deok. She needs to work with them like nothing happened. Dal-mi is frustrated she can’t just leave the company to avoid them. She tells Do-san not to meet with her outside of work for a while. Do-san can’t do anything but agree as Dal-mi leaves for work.

[00:18:00] Meanwhile, In-jae talks with the people who lost their jobs because of her project. She approaches the man who threw eggs at her, but he doesn’t want to speak with her. The man tells In-jae to speak with their manager instead. It turns out that their manager is Do-san’s father, Nam Seong-hwan. All the men rant at In-jae. They want her to leave along with the reporters who followed her. Seong-hwan tells everyone to shut their mouths as he talks with In-jae. She gives Seong-hwan her business card; she wants to be part of the negotiations between them and their company. He sees the Sandbox logo on In-jae’s business card. The people talk about Do-san because he also works at Sandbox. Seong-hwan doesn’t want to talk about Do-san in front of everyone even though In-jae asks who his son is.

[00:21:00] In-jae realizes Seong-hwan is Do-san’s father. She tells him Do-san is also making a program that could put people out of their jobs, but he’s protesting against the same application with her company. Seong-hwan no longer wants to proceed with the negotiations, so he fakes an injury to get himself out. They bring Seong-hwan home while In-jae wonders what happened to him. Seong-hwan’s wife wants to bring him to the hospital, but he tells her he’s okay. She insists on bringing him to the hospital, but Seong-hwan winks at her, and she understands everything is just a show. Seong-hwan tells his co-workers to go back to the protest, so they can continue what they started. They are so worried about him they don’t want to leave. As soon as his colleagues leave, Seong-hwan tells his wife what happened.

[00:23:00] Seong-hwan tells his wife he might ruin Do-san’s future. Do-san is walking to work when Alex sees him. He invites Do-san to talk but doesn’t specify what it is about. Meanwhile, Seon-hak organizes a meeting before Demo Day. Dong-cheon tells her about the brother of the CEO who committed suicide a few years ago. Dong-cheon found the brother’s file and it seems he got in through the 12^th residency program. Seon-hak explains that the CEO committed suicide because he couldn’t handle everything that went wrong after Demo Day. Dong-cheon doesn’t understand why someone would apply for a job that killed their sibling, but Seon-hak knows why. She knows it is him who wants to get revenge on Sandbox. It seems Seon-hak has a hand in the CEO’s death as she was at the bridge during the night the CEO committed suicide.

[00:26:00] Seon-hak fears the CEO’s loved ones are blaming Sandbox for the CEO’s death. Alex goes straight to the point with Do-san. He wants to hire him as an engineer for his company, 2STO. Alex gives a very generous offer to Do-san, but he can’t accept it. He thinks of Samsan Tech and everyone else that matters to him. Alex is very persuasive, but Do-san doesn’t give in. It gets to a point where Alex starts questioning whether Do-san has any dreams because he’s turning down his offer. Do-san tells Alex he has a dream, but it isn’t about success; it is about a person.

[00:28:30] Dal-mi arrives at the office and she sees the rest of the team are talking about them already. She knows she needs to make things work out so everything would work out. Dal-mi enters the office and apologizes for not coming back to work yesterday. She wants to make it up to her team, so she buys them a round of coffee. Everyone tells their order to Dal-mi; she goes out to buy them. She bumps into Do-san on the way out, and things get awkward quickly. She still knows how Do-san likes his coffee, so she just confirms his order and leaves. Chul-san and Yong-san still hope about Do-san and Dal-mi’s relationship, but Sa-ha tells them it’s already over.

[00:30:30] Ji-pyeong goes over to Won-deok’s food stall to check on Dal-mi. Won-deok tells him Dal-mi isn’t doing okay. Won-deok blames herself for what happened. She tells Ji-pyeong how selfish she was for allowing Dal-mi to believe their lies. She realizes lies are always harmful even though we think they’re not. Meanwhile, Dal-mi returns to the office and sees everyone working hard. The rest of the team discuss something about their application, but Dal-mi doesn’t understand what it means. It is like she hit a brick wall she couldn’t go over. Dal-mi decides not to enter the office and interfere with their progress.

[00:32:00] Dal-mi wanders around to pass time. Her colleagues look for her; it is almost lunchtime, but she tells them to eat without her. Dal-mi doesn’t know Ji-pyeong sees her pass by. Dal-mi decides to eat lunch on her own. The owner tells her to join the other solo customers so she can free up some space, but Ji-pyeong arrives and tells the owner Dal-mi is with her. Dal-mi is about to leave, but Ji-pyeong tells her to hear him out. Ji-pyeong explains a few more details to Dal-mi about his relationship with Do-san. He also confesses his feelings for her. Ji-pyeong doesn’t want things to be over between them, but he doesn’t want things to become awkward. He just wants to tell Dal-mi the truth.

[00:36:00] Do-san doesn’t want to eat with his friends. They try to persuade him to come, but he declines. Chul-san and Yong-san don’t understand why Dal-mi is angry at Do-san. They know Do-san does everything for her, so they think Dal-mi would be more appreciative. Sa-ha makes them understand by lying to Chul-san. She tells Chul-san she likes him. Chul-san and Yong-san can’t believe Sa-ha is confessing her feelings for Chul-san. Chul-san gets so excited by the thought of being liked by Sa-ha, but his celebration is cut short when Sa-ha tells him she’s just lying. Now both of them understand what Dal-mi feels; they side with her. They tell Sa-ha what Do-san did was wrong.

[00:38:30] Won-deok sees a woman removing her handmade flyers around the park. A-hyun hears Won-deok confronting her from behind. She tries her best to escape, but she can’t as Won-deok turns her around to see who she is. Won-deok is surprised to see A-hyun removing her flyers. She thought A-hyun is trying to sabotage her business. A-hyun comes clean and asks Won-deok if she can work part-time at her food stall. A-hyun tells Won-deok she left Du-jeong’s home and has been sleeping inside internet cafes and saunas. She begs Won-deok to hire her so they can help each other, but Won-deok refuses. Won-deok remembers what her son went through because of her selfishness. She didn’t want to be reminded every day, so she didn’t want to help A-hyun.

[00:41:00] Sa-ha asks Dal-mi why she isn’t going home yet. Dal-mi tells everyone to go ahead; she still needs to prepare her pitch for Demo Day. Do-san tells Dal-mi they can help her, but she doesn’t need their help. Dal-mi tells them she’s also meeting her friend later, so she needs to be alone. Chul-san thinks Dal-mi’s friend is Ji-pyeong. Yong-san tells him it can’t be, but Ji-pyeong suddenly arrives. They tell him Dal-mi is busy, and he can’t see her. Ji-pyeong tells them he’s not going to see Dal-mi. He calls Do-san and tells him they need to talk. Ji-pyeong gives Do-san all the possible questions that Dal-mi might get during Demo Day. He wants Do-san to prepare so Dal-mi doesn’t get crushed by the investors on Demo Day.

[00:43:00] Ji-pyeong helps Do-san one last time as his “brother.” He tells Do-san he has already confessed his feelings for Dal-mi, so he can no longer be his brother. Do-san acts tough and tells Ji-pyeong he doesn’t need his help. Ji-pyeong knows Do-san is only there because of him, and Dal-mi doesn’t like anything about him. Do-san watches as Dal-mi sits on the bus stop while waiting for the bus to arrive. Dal-mi doesn’t get on the bus and walks away instead. Do-san secretly follows Dal-mi around as she goes from one place to another. Dal-mi enters a restaurant and shouts out her order. Do-san is about to sit down with Dal-mi, but another woman takes his seat. Dal-mi asks the woman who she is. The woman responds she’s all alone, and she thinks Dal-mi shouldn’t be alone either.

[00:46:00] Do-san sits behind Dal-mi to listen in on their conversation. Dal-mi tells the woman all about her problems while they eat. The woman listens to Dal-mi’s problems and assures her she can overcome them. She suggests Dal-mi holds a memorial service for her ancestors to get back her luck. Do-san hears the suggestion and decides to interfere in their conversation. Dal-mi is shocked Do-san is there. Do-san argues with the woman her suggestion isn’t based on facts and debunks them. The woman asks Dal-mi who the guy is, and she introduces him as Nam Do-san. Dal-mi passes out from all the soju she drank while speaking with the lady. Do-san decides to carry Dal-mi home.

[00:51:00] While he was carrying her home, Do-san speaks to Dal-mi and asks her why she doesn’t just tell him she’s suffering. Dal-mi told the lady earlier she lost her confidence, and she no longer believes in herself. Do-san asks Dal-mi how he can help regain her confidence. Dal-mi tells Do-san to appear like how he did during In-jae’s event. Dal-mi considers Do-san as her everything back then, and she feels she can do anything with him. Do-san is determined to help Dal-mi, so he leaves her on a swing and runs to Chul-san and Yong-san’s apartment as fast as possible. He borrows the suit he wore to In-jae’s event and runs back to the park. Do-san tells Dal-mi to wait for him at the swing, but she is no longer there when he gets back. All that is left is her backpack.

[00:55:00] Do-san asks a park employee if he saw Dal-mi. The employee responds the lady fell asleep for a while and sobered up. She gets up from the swing and left. The next day, Dal-mi doesn’t remember a thing about last night. They got back in the office to prepare for Demo Day. Do-san tells Chul-san and Yong-san he’ll keep the suit until Demo Day. He tells them Dal-mi’s problem and how he can be the solution to it. While they walk around Sandbox, In-jae confronts Do-san to ask about his father. Do-san tells her his father is doing okay. They don’t understand why In-jae is asking about Do-san’s father, so she tells them.

[00:58:00] Seong-hwan is out exercising when he sees his colleagues heading over to his house. He hides and calls his wife to send his colleagues away. He ends up arguing with his wife over the protests and Do-san hears everything about it. After speaking with his father, Do-san tells him to go out and fight for his right. He tells Seong-hwan not to live as each other’s pride and joy. He just wants to be father and son. Do-san explains it’s tiring to live as someone’s pride and joy. It’s tiring because you don’t want to end up as a disappointment to someone. Do-san’s suggestion moves Seong-hwan, and it seems they will finally fix their relationship.

[01:00:00] Ji-pyeong really wants to check in on Dal-mi, but he doesn’t know how. He tries to message her about the preparations for Demo Day, but it doesn’t sound sincere enough. Ji-pyeong thinks of other ways to check in on Dal-mi, and he finds it through Dong-cheon. He sees him preparing for the orientation, but he tells him to take the shirt off. Ji-pyeong takes Dong-cheon’s place at the orientation, and now he can be closer with Dal-mi. He goes on with the orientation and answers the questions of different CEOs in attendance. Dal-mi asks Ji-pyeong what happens to companies that fail to secure investors, but he cannot answer the question. In-jae tells Dal-mi if she’s not confident enough to start thinking they would already fail.

[01:02:00] In-jae asks Ji-pyeong if 2STO will be present at Demo Day. Ji-pyeong confirms 2STO will be present. Everyone knows 2STO is looking for a company in the field of AI, so there are only two companies vetting for their investments, In-jae company and Samsan Tech. Ji-pyeong tells everyone to forget about 2STO and the global partners watching worldwide. He gives everyone some word of advice. They just need to be confident and find investors that follow their philosophies and beliefs. He tells them everything would be a success.

[01:03:30] It was finally Demo Day. Won-deok enters Dal-mi’s room to find her clothes scattered everywhere. She asks Dal-mi why her clothes are everywhere. Dal-mi tells Won-deok it is Demo Day. She can’t decide what to wear because she feels stupid and incompetent no matter what she wears. Won-deok can’t help but get worried about Dal-mi. Meanwhile, Do-san also thinks about what he will wear to Demo Day. He looks at his suit while opening Dal-mi’s bag. In-jae heads to the cafeteria when she sees the Sandbox logo. She touches the logo while Dal-mi looks at her from above. In-jae turns around and sees Dal-mi looking at her. In just a few hours, In-jae and Dal-mi will face each other to see who’s better between them.

[01:05:00] A-hyun struggles to survive with the little money she has left. Someone told Du-jeong she’s always coming to the park, so they decide to check for themselves. Sang-su accompanies Du-jeong so they can pick her up and take her home. A-hyun realizes she’s in the same spot as Cheong-myeong 15 years ago. She apologizes to Cheong-myeong as she realizes what he meant to work for himself. She regrets not supporting her husband. Du-jeong thought A-hyun is talking to him, and he tries to drag her into the car. Won-deok sees what’s happening and decides to help her. She sends Du-jeong and Sang-su away.

[01:07:00] While waiting for Demo Day to start, Dal-mi arrives at the waiting room and sees one of the CEOs taking some medication. She tries to ask for some because she feels really nervous, but there is none left. Some other CEOs approach In-jae to ask her if she really is the girl on Sandbox’s logo. Dal-mi overhears the conversation, and she knows she is the girl on the logo. Dal-mi once asked her father to spread sand under her swing so she wouldn’t get wounded if she falls. In-jae knows Dal-mi overheard the conversation while she takes credit for being the girl on the logo. In-jae leaves the room before Dal-mi causes a scene. Dal-mi doesn’t want to let her go, so she chases after In-jae. Ji-pyeong sees Dal-mi running after In-jae, so he chases her.

[01:08:00] Chul-san and Yong-san see Ji-pyeong and stop him from chasing. They tell him Dal-mi is nervous because the future of their company is on her shoulders. Ji-pyeong tells them he will be their plan B if Dal-mi fails to secure an investor. He tells them they need to relay the message to Dal-mi so she doesn’t feel too much pressure. Dal-mi finally catches up to In-jae and confronts her about the story of the girl on the swing. They end up arguing, but Do-san comes to rescue Dal-mi. He tells In-jae to apologize for stealing Dal-mi’s story. He tells In-jae to stop pretending she’s strong; she’s weak like the rest of them. In-jae asks Do-san what he knows about being weak, but he knows everything about it because he once tried to put on his own show just to make his parents proud.

[01:11:00] Dal-mi and Do-san get back just before Demo Day starts. Chul-san notices Do-san isn’t wearing his suit, so he reminds him about it. Dal-mi asks Chul-san what he meant by wearing a suit for her. Sa-ha knows Do-san needs to tell Dal-mi the truth, so she drags Chul-san away so they can talk. Do-san stands silent beside Dal-mi because he doesn’t know how to tell her the truth. Meanwhile, Sa-ha tells Chul-san he’s too slow. She tells him Do-san and Dal-mi need a moment alone, but he can’t sense it. Sa-ha notices Chul-san blush; she is holding his hand. She found it cute but at the same time ridiculous. Chul-san feels embarrassed and insulted. He tells Sa-ha she means the world to him and anything she did would make him happy or sad.

[01:13:00] Chul-san remembers the day Sa-ha lied to him about her feelings. He felt so happy to think she also likes him, but it suddenly felt bad because it was just a lie. Chul-san requests Sa-ha to stop toying with him and his feelings. Sa-ha realizes she is too harsh on Chul-san, and he is just being sincere with his feelings for her. Chul-san walks back into the building as Sa-ha thinks about her actions. Meanwhile, Do-san finally gets the strength to tell Dal-mi what wearing a suit means. He tells Dal-mi he is supposed to wear a suit, but he remembers he isn’t a suit guy. Do-san tells Dal-mi to forget everything she thought she knew about him. Everything he told her is about Ji-pyeong and not him. Do-san wants to start over with Dal-mi.

[01:15:00] Do-san assures Dal-mi she’s the reason why Samsan Tech got into Sandbox. He tells her it is her real achievement, and she should never question it. Dong-cheon comes out of the conference room to call on Dal-mi. Do-san assures Dal-mi she can land an investor for them. Meanwhile, Yong-san sees Ji-pyeong enter the elevator and follows him. He tells Ji-pyeong he isn’t following him. Yong-san tells Ji-pyeong it was cool of him to be Dal-mi’s plan B. He tells Ji-pyeong he’s a kind and generous man, but he doesn’t understand why he was so harsh to his brother. Ji-pyeong doesn’t understand what Yong-san meant by his brother, but he asks Ji-pyeong why he killed his brother. Yong-san is the guy with a revenge plot against Sandbox. Ji-pyeong still doesn’t understand what Yong-san meant.

[01:18:00] Ji-pyeong tells him if he killed his brother, he would’ve ended up in prison. He doesn’t know who Yong-san’s brother is. Yong-san shoves Ji-pyeong against the elevator; he feels insulted Ji-pyeong can’t even remember his brother. Meanwhile, Do-san sits outside thinking about what Ji-pyeong told the team earlier. He doesn’t want Ji-pyeong becoming their plan B, so he finds Alex and accepts his offer. Do-san thinks he can save his own company and remove Ji-pyeong from the equation if he can become rich like him. Do-san is determined to save his company and Dal-mi all on his own.