Start-Up Season 1 Episode 7 Recap – Burn Rate

[00:01:00] Ji-pyeong answers all of Dal-mi’s questions. He’s irritated one person could have so many questions. He whines about being a mentor to Dong-cheon, but his attitude suddenly changes when Dal-mi enters his office. Dong-cheon doesn’t understand what happened. Ji-pyeong tells him he’s irritated at Dal-mi but goes over to greet her the second she arrives. Dal-mi is at Ji-pyeong’s office to discuss the shareholders’ list. After their conversation, Do-san tells him he will tell the truth. Ji-pyeong tells Do-san the truth will ruin the company, but he’s confident the truth is already irrelevant. Do-san is confident he has completely won Dal-mi’s feelings.

[00:04:30] Ji-pyeong is on his way home, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what Do-san told him that day. He turns his car around to stop Do-san from telling the truth. Meanwhile, Won-deok sends Dal-mi to the grocery store, so she can buy something for dinner. It’s an alibi so she can talk with Do-san. Won-deok tells Do-san she’s doing everything she can to slow down the progression of her blindness. She doesn’t want Dal-mi to know, so she asks Do-san to keep quiet about it. Won-deok thanks Do-san for putting a smile back on Dal-mi’s face. She appreciates every day she gets to see Dal-mi smile. Won-deok asks Do-san to continue keeping Dal-mi happy. She wants to continue seeing Dal-mi smile until she goes blind. Won-deok makes Do-san promise he won’t tell Dal-mi or Ji-pyeong about her condition.

[00:10:00] Do-san realizes Ji-pyeong is indebted to Won-deok. He remembers his conversation with Ji-pyeong about his debt when Won-deok tells him about Ji-pyeong feeling indebted to her. Do-san now knows why Ji-pyeong is hell-bent on not telling the truth to Dal-mi. Meanwhile, Dal-mi is on her way back from the grocery when Ji-pyeong’s car stops in front of her. He asks Dal-mi where Do-san is. She takes Ji-pyeong to their house, so he can talk with Do-san. Dal-mi introduces Ji-pyeong to Won-deok, who gets surprised for the second time that night. Ji-pyeong wants to talk with Do-san about telling the truth to Dal-mi, but he tells him to leave; he’ll take his advice about the matter. After hearing what Won-deok told him, Do-san no longer wants to tell the truth.

[00:14:00] Ji-pyeong is about to leave, but Dal-mi asks if he wants to stay for dinner. Do-san doesn’t want Ji-pyeong to stay; it will ruin his moment, but Ji-pyeong decides to stay. Do-san pleads with Ji-pyeong to leave, but he tells Dal-mi he will stay. Won-deok asks them to replace the light bulb in the bathroom since they are tall. Ji-pyeong and Do-san end up making a contest out of everything to showcase who’s the better man. They battled over all of the issues that needed fixing inside the house. They still battle it out, but Dal-mi tells them it’s time for dinner.

[00:19:00] After dinner, Ji-pyeong is about to go home, but Dal-mi asks him why they’re going separately. Ji-pyeong offers Do-san a ride home. He tells Dal-mi he answered all of her questions in his email. Dal-mi is so amazed, but Do-san still has the upper hand. He tells Dal-mi they’re always a team. On their way home, Ji-pyeong asks Do-san what made him change his mind. Do-san couldn’t tell Ji-pyeong about Won-deok’s illness, so he decides to just get out of his car and take the bus.

[00:22:30] Won-deok asks Dal-mi who she likes better, the old or the new Do-san. She can’t answer the question because she thinks it’s just one person. Won-deok tells Dal-mi if she can separate the two who would she choose. Dal-mi is about to give her answer, but the kettle’s whistling drowns the sound of her answer. Ji-pyeong feels furious as he tries to make sense of his feelings for Dal-mi. He tells Do-san he isn’t jealous, but all his actions show he is. Ji-pyeong thinks he has feelings towards Dal-mi because of the plant she gave Do-san as a present. The plant was left at his apartment when Samsan Tech pretended to use it as an office. Do-san gets home, but he can’t sleep, so he continues knitting.

[00:25:30] Ji-pyeong decides to throw the plant away to forget Dal-mi and his feelings for her. Meanwhile, Dal-mi sees Ji-pyeong’s email with all the answers to her questions. It is a very long email, and she appreciates the time and effort Ji-pyeong put into it. Do-san stops knitting and goes back to focus on his image recognition software. Dal-mi continues to study on being a CEO; they need to determine how they’re going to spend their first 100 million won.

[00:28:00] The team goes back to the office to discuss their budget. They managed to budget 100 million won for the next six months. Dal-mi tells them they need to yield good results to get more funding after six months. They are at the cafeteria when they see other start-ups’ progress posted on the company screens. They are amazed at how the other start-ups are already grossing billions. Chul-san keeps positive and tells everyone they will soon gross billions as well. Sa-ha tells them they will either gross billions or go home; she points out a team leaving that day, looking devastated as their dreams end. Dal-mi wants the team to forget what they saw, so she calls another team meeting. They bump into Do-san’s cousin, Nam Cheon-ho, as they return to their office.

[00:31:00] Cheon-ho is more commonly known as Mr. One percent. He’s also working at Sandbox as a start-up, but his methods are different. He sells himself as a service. Cheon-ho helps other start-ups achieve their hopes and dreams in exchange for one percent of their shares. He hopes of one day becoming a millionaire through that one percent. Cheon-ho helps other start-ups because they could be the next Google, meaning their success is his success. Cheon-ho asks the help of Samsan Tech to improve a prototype from the 10^th residency team. After their talk with Cheon-ho, they continue looking for ways how they can land additional funding after six months. They all pitch their ideas, but nothing is better than Do-san’s image recognition software. While Yong-san pitches his idea, Sa-ha tells him he looks cute wearing his glasses.

[00:35:30] Chul-san can’t accept Sa-ha thinks Yong-san is cute. Seon-hak is passing by the start-up offices, and she sees Samsan Tech is hard at work through the night. She feels proud there are people so focused on their work. The next day, Do-san and Dal-mi take a walk when they see Ji-pyeong. She tries to call his attention, but he can’t hear her. Dal-mi calls Ji-pyeong, but he ignores her call. Dal-mi wants to run after Ji-pyeong, but Do-san changes the topic and asks her where she wants to eat. Chul-san and Yong-san get ready for their day when Jeong arrives at the office. They continue to pretend they are friends with each other.

[00:38:00] Chul-san and Yong-san talk about Hyeon and Jeong in the bathroom. They don’t know Hyeon is there. They ask him what they are still doing with In-jae company when they are notorious hunters in the field of start-ups. Hyeon tells them they can make more money with In-jae than they do chasing start-up competitions. Hyeon tells them about the big gig In-jae landed for their team. The two report back what they learned from Hyeon to Dal-mi. They know In-jae landed the deal for her start-up because of her stepfather’s connection. Meanwhile, In-jae sees Du-jeong with Sang-su. He wants In-jae to write a proposal about placing AI technology into distribution, but she refuses. In-jae no longer wants to be a dog following her father’s every command.

[00:41:30] Seon-hak looks through the candidate aspirations board again. Ji-pyeong brings her some coffee as they talk about In-jae’s accomplishment. They are amazed she managed to get her own client without the help of her mentor. Seon-hak responds In-jae is making her job easier, but she is still somewhat disappointed. Seon-hak hopes In-jae will have some other goal aside from monetary gain. She looks up to her since she’s the inspiration behind Sandbox. Seon-hak finds the revenge aspiration on the board. Ji-pyeong sees it and finds it scary, but Seon-hak knows it relates to the flower she saw on the bridge. There’s a secret Seon-hak hides from everyone, and we’ll soon find out.

[00:43:30] In-jae bumps into Dal-mi, who congratulates her for landing a big project. Dal-mi can’t give a sincere congratulations because she thinks In-jae pulled some strings to land the project. In-jae tells Dal-mi she alone won the project without the help of her stepfather. She tells Dal-mi to stop making excuses to cover up her incompetence. In-jae knows they have the opportunity to use their signature AI and contact the bank owning the data set they used but sadly, they didn’t capitalize on the opportunity. In-jae tellsDal-mi about the AI project under Du-jeong’s company. Dal-mi doesn’t want to accept something In-jae turned down, but they need the money, so she can’t let the opportunity pass.

[00:46:00] Dal-mi pitches her idea to the team. They don’t want to accept the work because they already have plans for their six-month stay at Sandbox. Dal-mi tells them if they can make things work out, they will earn more, meaning they can focus on their own plans without looking over their shoulders for monetary support. Do-san agrees with Dal-mi to take up the project so they can secure additional funding. That night, Dal-mi apologizes to Do-san for delaying his project. She tells him they need to secure the funding because his project will cost them a lot. Do-san understands, and he is supportive of Dal-mi’s plan, but he’s worried because Du-jeong is married to her mother, A-hyun. Dal-mi responds she needs to suck it up for the company’s future.

[00:49:00] Ji-pyeong goes to the rooftop of Sandbox to have some time alone, but he sees Dal-mi and Do-san having their moment. He leaves before they see him. Dal-mi and Do-san talk about their past while glancing at the stars above. The next day, the guard returns the plant Ji-pyeong threw away. He thought he disposed of it properly by placing it inside the recyclable bin, but the guard tells him the plant needs to be separated into three receptacles to be disposed of properly. Ji-pyeong doesn’t have any choice but to bring the plant to work. He calls Dong-cheon to find a bag for incombustible waste, but Dong-cheon doesn’t understand what he is looking for.

[00:53:30] Ji-pyeong arrives at the office. Dal-mi is waiting for him. Ji-pyeong tells Dal-mi he’s just busy with work. Dal-mi informs him they submitted a proposal to Du-jeong’s company for a possible project. Dal-mi also hands him a bag for incombustible waste. She overheard Ji-pyeong’s conversation with Dong-cheon when she went to his office that morning. Ji-pyeong tells Dal-mi she’s being too nosy. Dal-mi apologizes and is about to leave when she takes her apology back. She tells Ji-pyeong he is the nosy one first. She explains how he helped her with many things without asking if she needed help. Dal-mi tells Ji-pyeong to just accept her nosiness because he’ll learn to love it as time goes by. Dal-mi doesn’t know Ji-pyeong has already loved her for 15 years.

[00:57:00] Ji-pyeong looks at Dal-mi’s proposal for Du-jeong’s company. He knows it is good, and even Dong-cheon approves the proposal. But Ji-pyeong worries Du-jeong will use Samsan Tech to their advantage. He remembers how Du-jeong talks about start-ups as free real estate. Alex tells Du-jeong the people coming to work for Sandbox aren’t supposed to be used. Meanwhile, Du-jeong tries to reach A-hyun, but she’s not answering his calls. Du-jeong blocked her credit cards, and he thought she would run back to him, but she’s still holding out with the cash she has on hand. A-hyun spends her time inside a computer café; it’s the only place left where she can afford to eat and pass time. Sang-su tells his father about Samsan Tech’s proposal, and it seems Ji-pyeong’s hunch is correct.

[01:01:30] Dal-mi, Sa-ha, and Do-san go over to Du-jeong’s company for a meeting. Du-jeong looks at their proposal, but he doesn’t know much about technology, so he leaves his son to do his dirty work. Meanwhile, Ji-pyeong asks Dong-cheon to look into the job offer Du-jeong and his company placed out. Dong-cheon finds out that the Morning Group already has a tech team working on the project. Ji-pyeong tells Dong-cheon that the Morning Group is just looking for another team to outsource and save money. They know a lot of start-ups will grab the opportunity to place the Morning Group logo on their portfolios.

[01:05:00] Dal-mi and Do-san walk into a scam. They go to Du-jeong’s office to talk to him, but he isn’t willing to pay them the amount they agreed upon. Du-jeong really wants Samsan Tech to work for them as an outsourced company to pay them less. Du-jeong doesn’t care about what they think. He tells them the Morning Group logo on their portfolio is worth more than their agreed-up payment. Du-jeong also insults Dal-mi for not choosing him like A-hyun and In-jae. Do-san goes furious. He takes Du-jeong’s glass nameplate and shatters it on Du-jeong’s desk. He cuts his hand on the glass before telling Dal-mi he can’t work for Du-jeong’s company. Do-san leaves Du-jeong’s office; Dal-mi follows after him.

[01:07:00] Do-san goes to the rooftop to clear his head. He apologizes to Dal-mi for losing a possible client and gaining an enemy. He assures Dal-mi 10 billion won to make up for the Morning Group’s offer. Dal-mi doesn’t care about the Morning Group; she kisses Do-san to shut him up. She tells Do-san to forget about the Morning Group project and focus on his image recognition software. Do-san comes up with a brilliant idea to make his image recognition software accessible for the visually impaired. He wants to add a voice assistant to the image recognition software to give eyes to visually impaired people. He gains inspiration upon learning about Won-deok’s sickness. Do-san tells Dal-mi his idea isn’t profitable. Dal-mi doesn’t care; she just wants to do something they agree upon. They continue their kiss while the sun sets.

[01:14:00] The kettle continues to whistle, but we can hear Won-deok and Dal-mi talking this time. Dal-mi tells Won-deok she will still choose the old Do-san because he’s her first love. Dal-mi is still oblivious the old and new Do-san are two different persons.