Numbers (2023) K Drama Episode 10

Numbers episode 10 begins with Ho-woo confronting Lee Sang-joo after he told him that Je-kyun had a hand in his birth parents’ deaths. Lee Sang-joo then gives Ho-woo a copy of a newspaper that reported about one of the buildings constructed by Sang-Ah Construction. Within this, it details how it collapsed, and the supervisor of the building and his wife, who were inside at the time, died. 

Lee Sang-joo then gives Ho-woo two account books. He tells him that Sang-Ah Construction embezzled funds for the construction and used poor materials, which is why the building collapsed. It turns out, Je-kyun knew about this but lied about how the funds for the construction were used in one of the account books. 

We’re then taken back to when the supervisor confronted Je-kyun about hiding those poor materials used for construction. It turns out this supervisor was Ho-woo’s birth father. Ho-woo’s dad then told Je-kyun that he would expose what Sang-Ah Construction was doing to the press.

Meanwhile, Ho-woo and his mum were outside waiting for his dad. His mum then decided to go into the building to look for his dad. Je-kyun noticed the building was about to collapse, so he left. Unfortunately, the building collapsed with Ho-woo’s parents and other workers inside, killing them. When Ho-woo saw what had happened, he began running away, as we saw in the 1st episode before Jang In-ho met him. 

Back to the present, Ho-woo takes those two account books and the newspaper page and leaves to go confront Je-kyun. When Ho-woo confronts Je-kyun, he denies having anything to do with the building collapsing. He begins mocking Ho-woo for coming to accuse him with no evidence. Je-kyun then tells Ho-woo that he’ll pay for what he just did. 

Yeon-a goes to ask her dad, Jin Tae-soo, why he bought the online loan company on Jisan Bank’s behalf even after he warned him not to. Tae-soo assures Yeon-a that Jisan Bank will be just fine. However, this isn’t the case because Jin Tae-soo had initially declined to buy that online loan company. Je-kyun then threatened that he would let Yeon-a know about the crimes Jin Tae-soo participated in to retain his position as Jisan Bank’s president. So, Jin Tae-soo had no other choice but to purchase it. 

Eun Suk-min, one of the accountants, calls Seung-jo to ask him for help regarding Jisan Bank purchasing the bank. Yeon-a told her that Jin Tae-soo bought the online loan company even after warning him not to. But Seung-jo is out camping and even gives her the impression that he’s going to quit working at Taeil Accounting Firm. 

Ho-woo is heading home, and it’s clear his mind is elsewhere after what he just discovered about his parents. He even gets into a fight with a random drunk guy and is arrested. Yeo-jin and Kong Hee-sam go to bail him out and take him home. Yeo-jin tries asking Ho-woo what happened that drove him to fight someone else, but Ho-woo doesn’t say anything. 

The next day, Seung-jo calls Eun Suk-min to tell her he’ll deal with Jisan Bank’s situation since he knows Je-kyun has a hand in it. He then instructs her, Yeon-a, and Kang-hyun on what to do regarding saving Jisan Bank. 

At Cheon-ja’s restaurant, three accountants come to have lunch. They begin talking about the fire at the warehouse and Hyeong-woo’s death. One of them, who’s working at Taeil Accounting Firm, mentions that rumours are going around that Je-kyun was behind that fire. This attracts the attention of a man sitting near them at the restaurant. 

At Taeil Accounting Firm, Son Hye-won tries asking Yang Jae-hwan why he’s still working, considering he is sick. Yang Jae-hwan eventually tells her that Je-kyun was behind the fire at the warehouse and that he has a plan to expose him. Elsewhere, Ho-woo, who didn’t report to work that day, is outside trying to clear his head. It’s sad to see how the discovery about his parents has taken a toll on him. 

Yang Jae-hwan and Kang-hyun meet up, and Yang Jae-hwan mentions that he’s found a list of companies that Je-kyun “takes special care of.” He also tells Kang-hyun that while he knows he’ll eventually be blind, he wants to do everything possible to make this world safer for his daughter and Hyeong-woo’s son.

The man we saw at Cheon-ja’s restaurant visits An Seung-yeon at Taeil Accounting Firm. While at the company’s café, the man notices something strange about the barista. Seung-jo tries calling Ho-woo, but he doesn’t answer, making him worried. 

Sang-hyun, who is also a beneficiary of Taeil Accounting Firm’s scholarship program, asks several other beneficiaries who work in the media to spread rumours about Jisan Bank. Je-kyun had instructed him to do so because he wants people to no longer trust Jisan Bank, eventually bringing it down. 

Jang Ji-soo goes to where Seung-jo is camping and tells him about the article with the false rumours that one of the media outlets will release the next day. Jang Ji-soo urges Seung-jo to return to Taeil Accounting Firm and continue fighting Je-kyun. She also reminds him that he had promised her to wait for him to bring Je-kyun down. 

The next day, the news is out that Jisan Bank is apparently going bankrupt. Remember, these are the rumours that the reporters, who are Taeil Accounting Firm’s scholarship beneficiaries, were instructed by Je-kyun to spread. Seung-jo goes to visit Ho-woo and asks him why he has been MIA. Ho-woo tells him about what he discovered about his parents. Seung-jo then urges him to put his feelings and face reality. Later, Ho-woo gets back to his plan to take down Je-kyun. 

The next day, many Jisan Bank account holders go there to withdraw all their money after they heard that the bank is apparently going bankrupt. Yeon-a is worried now that most Jisan Bank customers have withdrawn all their money from the bank. But, Seung-jo assures her that everything will be fine as long as the customers with higher balances don’t begin withdrawing money from the bank. 

Jang Ji-soo then informs Seung-jo that she managed to convince a reporter from one of the media outlets to publish a positive article about Jisan Bank. Of course, Je-kyun is mad about this. 

At Taeil Accounting Firm’s café, Seung-jo asks Kang-hyun to temporarily take over the ownership of the online loan company that Jisan Bank bought. As usual, the barista eavesdrops on their conversation. Ho-woo finally returns to work, and Yeon-a is happy to see him, and they have their little cute moment. 

Je-kyun tries convincing Lee Sang-joo to allow him to sort out things concerning the children’s foundation under Sang-Ah Group. Lee Sang-joo is having none of that though. Ho-woo bumps into Seung-jo at Taeil Accounting Firm, who tells him he’ll cover for him as he executes his plan to bring Je-kyun down. 

Ho-woo goes to get coffee at the firm’s café, and the barista accidentally spills it. Ho-woo tries apologizing, but the barista responds to him in sign language, indicating that she’s deaf. 

Later, Ho-woo asks An Seung-yeon if he can meet Taeil Accounting Firm’s chairman. Ho-woo figured out that the chairman could perhaps help him expose Je-kyun since he holds the highest position at the firm. This explains why Je-kyun has been trying to become Taeil Accounting Firm’s chairman all this while. 

An Seung-yeon tells Ho-woo that meeting the chairman will be impossible, but Ho-woo is still determined to meet him. Ho-woo bumps into Lee Sang-joo at the firm, who asks Ho-woo why he hasn’t done anything after telling him what Je-kyun did to his parents. 

Ho-woo then asks Lee Sang-joo why he told him about what Je-kyun did to his parents, considering that Je-kyun helped him become chairman. Lee Sang-joo then tells Ho-woo that he never forgave Je-kyun for preventing him from becoming Sang-Ah Group’s chairman in the first place. All this while, Sang-hyun is eavesdropping on their conversation and later informs Je-kyun about it. 

Ho-woo finds out about the children’s foundation under Sang-Ah Group, called Nuri Children’s Foundation. He discovers that the foundation owns 4.9 percent of Sang-Ah Group, so he and Yeon-a decide to go to the foundation’s office and find out more about this. 

Meanwhile, Seung-jo and Jang Ji-soo meet up for dinner, and Seung-jo brings a dress as a gift for Jang Ji-soo’s child. But Jang Ji-soo tells him she has a son, and they both laugh about Seung-jo thinking that Jang Ji-soo’s child is a girl. 

Ho-woo discovers that there are five companies that donate huge amounts of money around the same each year to Nuri Children’s Foundation. He also finds out that these companies are practically non-existent in real life. 

Yang Jae-hwan later gives Ho-woo a list of the companies Je-kyun is paying special attention to. Ho-woo then realizes the companies on Yang Jae-hwan’s list are the same as the ones donating money to the foundation. Ho-woo then discovers that the foundation has been using money on projects that are non-existent. So, he puts two and two together and realizes that Je-kyun is laundering money in that foundation. 

Later, Jin Tae-soo discovers that Jisan Bank’s BIS ratio has mysteriously dropped. Remember, Seung-jo and the others were worried that Je-kyun would mess with the bank’s BIS ratio in the previous episode. Seung-jo also discovers that customers with bigger sums of money at Jisan Bank are now withdrawing all their money.

Meanwhile, Kang-hyun also finds out that Je-kyun has prevented his company from taking temporary ownership of the online loan company that Jisan Bank bought. Ho-woo discovers that there was someone, Yoon-ll, who had survived after the building that killed his parents collapsed. 

Je-kyun then has a false rumour about Nuri Children’s Foundation spread, causing it to be investigated. And since everything is under Lee Sang-joo’s name, including the false projects that Je-kyun was using to launder money, he is arrested. Before Lee Sang-joo is arrested, Je-kyun tells him that he will also frame him for the warehouse fire because the building is actually under his name. 

Je-kyun tells Lee Sang-joo that all this is payback for trying to use Ho-woo to get revenge on him. The reason Lee Sang-joo told Ho-woo about what Je-kyun did to his parents was to get him to bring Je-kyun down on his behalf. 

Later, the man who met An Seung-yeon meets Ho-woo. It turns out he is Taeil Accounting Firm’s chairman. Meanwhile, things are getting worse for Jisan Bank because of the BIS ratio’s drop. 

The episode ends with Ho-woo going to Yoon-ll’s house to see him. Instead, he finds the firm’s café barista there. 

The Episode Review

Je-kyun still never seems to fail to amaze us with what he’s capable of doing. For a minute there, it looked like Ho-woo had given up after finding out what happened to his parents. But I’m glad he’s back up again to execute his plan to bring Je-kyun down.

It’s nice to see Seung-jo and Jang Ji-soo finally on good terms. It’s also nice to see Yeon-a and Ho-woo getting closer. As for Lee Sang-joo, he really did think he would get his revenge against Je-kyun. As usual though, Je-kyun is always a step ahead. Now that Ho-woo has found the barista at Yoon-ll’s home, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next.