Start-Up Season 1 Episode 14 Recap – Elevator Speech

[00:01:00] Dal-mi feels humiliated for what happened. As the CEO, she should’ve managed the situation easily, but she crumbled without resolving the issue. She is embarrassed Do-san came to her rescue at the worst possible moment. Dal-mi tells Ji-pyeong not to tell anyone she cried. Ji-pyeong drags Dal-mi under her table as her colleagues come into the office. He saves Dal-mi from more humiliation. After her colleagues left, he tells Dal-mi to stay in the office until she calms down. Dal-mi thanks Ji-pyeong for his help as he leaves the office.

[00:05:30] Ji-pyeong heads to the elevator and sees Do-san returning to the office. He knows he will get his jacket, so he stops Do-san, so he won’t see Dal-mi crying. Do-san tells Ji-pyeong he doesn’t have anything to talk with him. Ji-pyeong tells Do-san he cannot see Dal-mi at the moment. Do-san asks Ji-pyeong what gives him the right to stop him. Ji-pyeong responds he has every right to stop him. Do-san thinks Ji-pyeong is Dal-mi’s boyfriend. He knows what Do-san thinks and just agrees with it without specifically telling him. Do-san exits the elevator, and Ji-pyeong immediately regrets what he did.

[00:08:30] Ji-pyeong immediately calls Dal-mi to inform her about what happened. He tells Dal-mi she can still catch up with Do-san to explain things, but she doesn’t want to. Dal-mi tells Ji-pyeong that Do-san is returning to the U.S., so there’s no need to tell him, plus their relationship ended three years ago. Ji-pyeong feels relieved, but Do-san isn’t done fighting. He calls Dal-mi, but she declines the call and turns off her phone. Do-san tries to call again, but he can’t reach her anymore. Do-san goes home and finds his baseball on the desk. It still reads “Follow your dreams,” but Do-san can no longer follow Dal-mi, so he decides to throw the ball away.

[00:12:00] The trio goes back to their Samsan Tech office to start a new journey the next day. Chul-san and Yong-san think Do-san should still be their CEO, but he no longer wants to after all the things that happened in the last three years. They play rock paper scissors to decide the new CEO; Yong-san wins, but he doesn’t know how to start a business. Do-san suggests they begin by incorporating themselves in the Korean market. The first order of business is to advertise their return; they turn to Cheon-ho once again. Do-san notices a magazine with Ji-pyeong’s photos at the photoshoot. Cheon-ho tells them he managed to do the interview and photoshoot with Ji-pyeong a few years back because of them. Cheon-ho and Do-san talk about his 1% share of the company he’s planning to build.

[00:16:00] Do-san agrees without hesitation. Cheon-ho mentions they are supposed to have a scheduled shoot and interview with another client, but the editor immediately canceled it because of the trio. Meanwhile, the people who are supposed to be interviewed that day are Hyeon and Jeong. They are standing outside the studio talking to one of the editor’s assistants. She apologizes to them but doesn’t tell them they are replaced. Hyeon finds out the hard way as they hear familiar voices inside the studio. He takes a peek and sees Do-san posing for the cameras. They can’t accept the trio has bested them again and walks out of the studio full of hatred.

[00:18:30] The magazine gets published. In-jae reads through it when Dong-cheon enters her office to tell her about a ritual. She refuses to attend the ritual, but Dong-cheon insists so that she doesn’t jinx the whole thing. The ritual is for a successful test of their self-driving car, Tarzan. Before the ceremony starts, they see a news headline about Morning AI’s self-driving car. Du-jeong gets a temporary permit ahead of In-jae company, but he did it below the table. Hyeon and Jeong can be seen on the news headline along with Du-jeong and the rest of Morning AI. Everyone at Sandbox knows Hyeon and Jeong sold the self-driving car plans to the Morning Group and used the ransomware as an excuse to change teams. In-jae gets angry she leaves the ritual and goes straight to the Morning Group.

[00:21:30] Upon In-jae’s arrival, she wastes no time confronting Sang-su and Du-jeong. She finds out that Sang-su planned to steal Hyeon and Jeong from In-jae to get back at her for humiliating him in front of the Morning Group’s board of directors when he was about to take over the Korean headquarters. In-jae called Sang-su dumb and stupid in front of everyone. She can’t take such a petty excuse, but Sang-su states it’s justified. In-jae tells Du-jeong about an incident in the past that cost the Morning Group a lot of money because of Sang-su’s mistake. Sang-su tells In-jae he already changed, but In-jae isn’t going to back down without a fight.

[00:23:30] In-jae tells Dal-mi everything that happened at the Morning Group. She tells Dal-mi it’s now up to her to complete their mission. In-jae needs a new set of developers for Cheongmyeong, and she’s leaving the task over to Dal-mi. In-jae suggests Dal-mi recruits the trio as their developers so they can crush Morning AI. Dal-mi tells In-jae the trio are only on vacation, but In-jae thinks otherwise. She shows Dal-mi the recent interview and photoshoot the trio did for a local magazine. Dal-mi doesn’t want to recruit the trio because of how she broke up with Do-san three years ago. She thinks she will be the reason in bringing Do-san down again. In-jae gives Dal-mi a choice: she will either recruit the trio or step down as CEO of Cheongmyeong.

[00:26:30] Dal-mi goes home and rants everything to Won-deok and A-hyun. Her ranting backfires as both Won-deok and A-hyun take In-jae’s side. They tell her if she can’t settle personal matters for the good of the company, then she shouldn’t be a CEO. Dal-mi admits defeat and goes to her room to think things over. The next day, Dal-mi prints out her proposal and heads over to the trio’s office to recruit them. Dal-mi arrives at their office and sees many people gathered on the rooftop. Dal-mi is confused as one of the men stops her from going up to the office. They tell her not to cut the line; all of them are waiting for their turn to invest in the trio’s new company. Dal-mi tries to call Do-san, but he declines the call.

[00:32:00] Do-san is in the middle of an interview, but Dal-mi continues to call his number. The trio ends the interview as Chul-san notices someone is desperately calling Do-san. He tells Do-san to answer the call, but he tells them it is nobody until Dal-mi enters the office with an awkward look on her face. Meanwhile, A-hyun visits In-jae, who rants to her about Dal-mi and Do-san. In-jae is surprised A-hyun didn’t take Dal-mi’s side. A-hyun responds she’s not taking sides; they’re both her daughters. A-hyun changes the topic and tries to convince In-jae to come over for New Year’s celebration. In-jae refuses. She has a lot of work to do, but A-hyun tells her the bad news. A-hyun gets divorced from Du-jeong; she offers In-jae she can change her name back to Seo In-jae or keep it as Won In-jae.

[00:34:00] In-jae asks A-hyun what her plan is so she can make a decision. She suggests A-hyun leaves Won-deok since she has money from her divorce. A-hyun refuses; she knows she has debt to pay with Won-deok. She wants to pay back the years of love and care Won-deok gave Dal-mi in her absence. A-hyun tells In-jae to come over for New Year so that Won-deok can see her face before she goes blind. Back at Samsan Tech, the trio ask Dal-mi what she’s doing at their office. She goes over to thank them for saving her from the ransomware attack. She also gives them her business card in hopes of recruiting them over to her company. Chul-san tells Dal-mi a lot has changed in three years, and they’re no longer the dumb trio she once knew.

[00:37:00] Dal-mi responds she’s no longer the new CEO they once knew as well. She tells them to give her a chance because her company can compete with their level of experience. Dal-mi is about to pitch her self-driving car, but Do-san interferes and tells her he already knows what Dal-mi’s company is doing. Chul-san and Yong-san are delighted that Do-san watched Dal-mi’s company video. Do-san asks for some privacy, so Yong-san and Chul-san leave the room. Chul-san and Yong-san reminisce as they were looked down by investors; now they’re all lining up to invest at their company. Yong-san gets an idea and asks Chul-san for all the business cards they get that day. He rushes out of the building, but he doesn’t tell Chul-san what he plans to do.

[00:39:00] Dal-mi thinks Do-san will agree to her proposal, but he remembers how she broke up with him three years ago. Do-san no longer wants to be confused with Dal-mi, so he tells her never to come to see him again. Dal-mi feels hurt as Do-san tells her to go away. She knows it was how Do-san felt three years ago. She slowly gets out of the office and drives back to Sandbox. Dal-mi can’t hold back her tears as she drives; she didn’t mean anything she said three years ago, but Do-san doesn’t know that. Do-san’s words are like daggers plunging through her heart. Meanwhile, Yong-san goes to Sandbox to boast their success with Ji-pyeong. He tells him they want to rent an office at Sandbox because they’re starting a new company.

[00:43:30] Ji-pyeong thinks they are only in Korea for their vacation. Yong-san tells Ji-pyeong they changed their mind and are planning to stay. He wants to know Ji-pyeong’s thoughts on their business move. Ji-pyeong doesn’t care. He congratulates Yong-san on their achievements and wishes them good luck in their future endeavors. Yong-san thinks Ji-pyeong changed in the last three years, but he disagrees. Ji-pyeong points out he only says good things to companies he’s not interested in. He explains he doesn’t bother criticizing a company he’s not interested in investing in. Hearing Ji-pyeong’s words made Yong-san think about his brother and what happened to his company.

[00:45:00] Ji-pyeong goes to the parking lot, thinking about his next move. He now knows the trio plan to stay, meaning Do-san and Dal-mi can get back together. Ji-pyeong sees Dal-mi sitting inside her car while banging her head on the window. He finds it cute and funny, so Ji-pyeong decides to knock on the window to talk to Dal-mi. Ji-pyeong knows something is bothering Dal-mi, so he asks her what’s wrong. Dal-mi tells Ji-pyeong what happened, but he just laughs at her. Ji-pyeong doesn’t want to give Dal-mi any advice because he’s too personally involved with her. Meanwhile, Seong-hwan finds Do-san’s baseball in the trash. He places it inside the box and gives it back to Do-san. He asks Seong-hwan what to do as he can’t forget or throw away his problems.

[00:48:00] Seong-hwan tells Do-san to go on a bike trip. He used to go on a bike trip when he had problems, and they will seem too small compared to his fatigue after biking. Do-san tries his father’s advice, but it doesn’t help him. He still can’t forget about Dal-mi. Meanwhile, A-hyun and Won-deok are out for a walk. She can barely walk on her own as her eyesight is getting worse each passing day. Won-deok accidentally drops her sun visor and a random person goes over to help her pick it up — In-jae. She assists Won-deok to sit on a nearby bench. In-jae doesn’t tell Won-deok who she is. She just leaves without saying another word. After seeing her grandmother in her current state, In-jae decides to change her name back to Seo In-jae.

[00:53:00] Do-san falls asleep at his destination due to exhaustion. It is already dark when he wakes up. Do-san sees Dal-mi approaching him, but he doesn’t think it is real. He thinks he is just seeing things due to exhaustion. Do-san is surprised when Dal-mi speaks to him. She begged his parents to tell her where he is. Do-san doesn’t want to talk with Dal-mi, but she stops him from leaving. Do-san had a difficult journey just to reach his destination, all in hopes of forgetting Dal-mi. Dal-mi responds she too had a difficult journey finding him. Do-san thinks it is easy for Dal-mi to forget him, but she never did. Do-san starts a fire as Dal-mi goes out of the cabin with some instant noodles — the same instant noodles they ate on their first date.

[00:58:00] Do-san asks Dal-mi why she named her self-driving car Tarzan. It is because of the Tarzan story Do-san told her a few years ago. Dal-mi tells Do-san his Tarzan story was so cool she named the car after it. Do-san is about to eat his noodles, but Dal-mi has already fallen asleep sitting up. He sits beside Dal-mi to take a look at her proposal. Do-san is also interested at Dal-mi’s project. He allows Dal-mi to sleep on his shoulders while scanning the entire proposal.

[01:03:00] Chul-san goes to Sa-ha’s law firm. He waits the whole morning for Sa-ha to exit the building. He walks back and forth outside the building hoping Sa-ha will come out. When she walks out of the front door, Chul-san acts like everything is a coincidence. He tells Sa-ha he’s looking for advice on incorporation because they will start a new business in Korea. Chul-san asks Sa-ha to listen to their company’s name options. One of the options is in English, and Chul-san accidentally shows Sa-ha he is fluent in English. Sa-ha remembers he claims to be bad in English. Sa-ha knew Chul-san went to her law firm on purpose. Chul-san asks Sa-ha if it was really a coincidence she met them at the steakhouse. Sa-ha tells Chul-san she really went to the steakhouse after watching their vlog.

[01:05:30] Chul-san feels butterflies in his stomach. He thinks Sa-ha is into him, but she quickly tells Chul-san she just wanted to see how they did that night. Chul-san tells Sa-ha he came over on purpose because he wants to invite her to work with them again. He knows Sa-ha doesn’t like her job as a lawyer. Meanwhile, Yong-san is still at Sandbox, but this time, he’s looking for Seon-hak. He needs her advice on their possible investors. He shows her all the business cards they received, but they don’t have any information on all those investors. Yong-san tells Seon-hak the investors are willing to invest in anything they plan to start. Seon-hak responds they aren’t reliable investors. She tells Yong-san they need to find their own investors so they will know who the right investor is.

[01:08:00] Yong-san takes Seon-hak’s advice and leaves. He bumps into Ji-pyeong on his way out and asks him for a few minutes to talk. Yong-san apologizes to Ji-pyeong for blaming him for his brother’s death. He tells Ji-pyeong he needed someone to blame three years ago. Yong-san wants to get Ji-pyeong’s advice on starting their new business. Ji-pyeong apologizes to Yong-san for being too hard on his brother. He thinks he was only being honest, but he realized his words were too harsh. Ji-pyeong tells Yong-san they just need to figure out what they really want to do: either they love coding or they want to run a business. If they love coding, they need to go back to being developers for a company that can pay them properly. If they want to run a business, they should start their own company.

[01:10:00] Ji-pyeong tells Yong-san they already know the hardships of starting their own company, so they no longer need his advice once they figure out what they want to do. Meanwhile, Sa-ha refuses to join Chul-san in their new business. She tells Chul-san she didn’t join Samsan Tech three years ago for money. She joined because someone desperately begged her. Sa-ha asks Chul-san if anyone in their company will be desperate enough to ask her. Chul-san tells Sa-ha that maybe they should just stop running a new business. Dal-mi and Do-san are on their way home. She isn’t about to give up, and she wants Do-san to just read her proposal. Dal-mi looks in her bag, but her proposal isn’t there. She thought she left it inside the cabin, but Do-san tells her he already has it.

[01:12:30] Dal-mi waits for Do-san’s answer if he’ll join her company or not. Meanwhile, Sang-su asks Hyeon and Jeong why they joined Morning AI. They tell him it is just the same whether they are with In-jae or him. They are being bossed around by someone who they think is incompetent. Yong-san asks Ji-pyeong for advice on joining Cheongmyeong company. He tells Ji-pyeong that Dal-mi already offered them a position. As a man, he disagrees with their plans to join Dal-mi’s company, but he tells Yong-san it will be a great move as an investor.

[01:14:00] Test day finally comes. Everyone is present at the test, including Morning AI. Dal-mi enters the car as the safety driver while Do-san drives the car using the program. She successfully recruited the trio, and Sa-ha also joined their team once again. Dal-mi starts the car, and they drive off for the test drive.