Numbers (2023) K Drama Episode 8

Brace yourself because Numbers episode 8 is about to take a direction you never expected. 

The episode starts with Ho-woo finally realising that Je-kyun is “AN,” the main operator of PEF HK Private Equity’s funds. Ho-woo then seemingly rushes to go inform Jang Ji-soo what he just found out. But, before he leaves, Yeon-a asks him not to tell Jang Ji-soo about this and to allow Seung-jo to tell her as they share some history together. Ho-woo is surprised that Yeon-a knows about Seung-jo and Jang Ji-soo. 

Ho-woo and Yeon-a then go to Seung-jo’s office. He’s not there so Ho-woo calls him. He’s about to tell Seung-jo what he just found out, and Seung-jo tells him that he told him about An Seung-yeon not being the main operator of PEF HK Private Equity. Seung-jo then asks Ho-woo to check for something at his desk. Ho-woo finds two documents inside one of the drawers. These documents are submission forms that bidders filled in and submitted for the auction of Haebit Construction’s patents. 

Sang-Ah Construction (Sang-Ah ‘s subsidiary) and PEF HK Private Equity were the only ones who bid on the patent technology. Sang-Ah Construction never got to buy the patents since PEF HK Private Equity outbid them. And the person who made PEF HK Private Equity win the bid by knowing how much Equity was needed is Je-kyun. This is because he was also representing Sang-Ah Construction. 

Back at Je-kyun’s office at Taeil Accounting Firm’s headquarters, Je-kyun has several pictures of Jang Ji-soo. Je-kyun then mentions that Jang Ji-soo does have a child. Elsewhere, Ho-woo is on his evening run, and a lot is going through his mind because of what he just found out. 

Meanwhile, Seung-jo goes to see Jang Ji-soo and tells her that Je-kyun is the main operator of PEF HK Private Equity’s funds. As expected, Jang Ji-soo is beyond shocked by what Seung-jo just told him. 

The next day at Taeil Accounting Firm, Ho-woo meets with An Seung-yeon. They begin talking about An Seung-yeon, finding out that Sang-Ah Shipping (another subsidiary) have a slush fund. Ho-woo then asks An. Seung-jo if he could use her power as VP to bring someone down. An Seung-yeon tells Ho-woo that she’ll gladly do it if he plans to take down Je-kyun. 

Ho-woo and Yeon-a try to find out which laws Je-kyun may have broken after what he did during the auctioning of Haebit Construction’s patent technology. Yeon-a mentions that Je-kyun may have gone against the law by transferring money abroad. This may be when he transferred money to PEF HK Private Equity, which is situated outside the country, to purchase Haebit Construction’s patents. 

Yeon-a tells Ho-woo that commercial banks usually handle these kinds of transactions before the records are transferred to the Bank of Korea. Later that day, Ho-woo spots Je-kyun with Jisan Bank’s president, Jin Tae-soo. He puts two and two together and figures Jisan Bank may have handled the transfer of funds to PEF HK Private Equity. 

Seung-jo picks Ho-woo to join the team that’s auditing a company called llseong Formula. Jang Ji-soo meets with Je-kyun at his office, and she lets him know he knows he’s the main operator of PEF HK Private Equity. Jang Ji-soo seemingly threatens to expose Je-kyun’s secret, but Je-kyun shows her pictures of her child. What he’s telling Jang Ji-soo by showing her those photos is unclear. As Jang Ji-soo leaves Je-kyun’s office, she bumps into Hyeong-woo. 

Seung-jo, Ho-woo, Eun Suk-min, and Yeon-a discuss llseong Formula’s financial situation. Llseong is a company that specialises in making baby formula for babies whose bodies can’t digest regular baby formula. It turns out this company belongs to Son Hye-Won’s father. This makes it awkward for them because llseong Formula happens to be struggling financially and may be forced to go bankrupt. 

Jang Ji-soo meets with Hyeong-woo at the café at Taeil Accounting Firm and asks him to find out as much information about Je-kyun. She then tells him that he is yet to make it up to her. Remember, Jang Ji-soo had told Hyeong-woo that he had to make it up to her after swapping Haebit Construction’s audit report. All this while, the barista eavesdrops on their conversation and seemingly informs Je-kyun. 

Ho-woo, Yeon-a, and Eun Suk-min go to visit llseong formula headquarters and finds Eun Suk-min. Eun Suk-min requests the team to show them around and tell them exactly what the company does. They agree, and Son Hye-won does a really great job. However, the team still thinks llseong Formula isn’t making any solid profits and may be at risk of being liquidated. 

Later that evening, Yang Jae-Hwan visits Son Hye-Won (they’re separated). He finally tells her the truth about his methanol poisoning and possible blindness. And while this is hard for both of them, it is a blessing in disguise as it brings them closer together. 

The next day, Yang Jae-hwan goes to see Je-kyun and tells him about his medical condition. Yang Jae-hwan then demands that Je-kyun compensate him financially. He then tells Je-kyun that the compensation can be directed to Son Hye-won. But, Je-kyun seemingly refuses to compensate Yang Jae-hwan financially. 

Yang Jae-hwan then threatens to reveal the truth about what happened to Haebit Construction. Remember, Yang Jae-hwan was among the accountants working on Haebit Construction’s audit report. But, Je-kyun tells Yang Jae-hwan that he merely made a suggestion that Haebit Construction be liquidated, and Yang Jae-hwan executed it. So, Je-kyun is basically saying Yang Jae-hwan is responsible for what happened to Haebit Construction. 

Hyeong-woo goes to have dinner at Cheon-ja’s restaurant. His mind seems occupied with what Je-kyun said during one of their recent conversations. Je-kyun mentioned that he had paid Hyeong-woo enough. Is he planning to throw him under the bus? 

Eun Suk-min sees him at the restaurant and joins him for a meal. Kang-hyun, who Eun Suk-min invited for a meal, also joins them. After he resigned from working at Taeil Accounting Firm, Kang-hyun got another job, and it seems he’s happy about where he is. After having dinner, Kang-hyun tells Hyeong-woo that he’s always available if he needs someone to talk to. 

Ho-woo is at Kong Hee-sam’s café trying to figure out how to save llseong Formula from being liquidated. Just then, Yeo-jin walks into the café and takes some milk to feed the stray cats she spotted outside. Kong Hee-sam stops her and tells her that cats can’t drink regular milk because they’re lactose intolerant. This information gives Ho-woo an idea. 

The next day, Ho-woo suggests to the team that they ask llseong Formula to start making formulas specifically for pets. Fortunately, everyone, including Seung-jo, agrees. Fortunately, the idea works, and llseong Formula is saved from possible liquidation. 

Seung-jo is going through llseong Formula’s supporters when he sees Jang Ji-soo’s name. He then finds out that Jang Ji-soo has a child. Seung-jo then goes to visit Jang Ji-soo. He asks about the child’s well-being, and Jang Ji-soo tells him he’s fine. 

Seung-jo then tries to convince Jang Ji-soo to stop going after Je-kyun and return to her baby. But, Jang Ji-soo is still adamant about avenging his father’s death. As Seung-jo leaves, Jang Ji-soo asks why he hasn’t asked about her child’s father. Seung-jo then tells Jang Ji-soo that he doesn’t want to because it’ll hurt him, and this breaks Jang Ji-soo. 

Elsewhere, Je-kyun and Hyeong-woo go to visit Chan-joo. Remember, in the previous episode, he got into an accident with Lee Sang-joo. Chan-joo is worried about Lee Sang-joo taking over Sang-Ah Group. But, Je-kyun assures him that it won’t be possible as they are in the process of buying most of the shares of Sang-Ah Group under his son Lee Bo-sung’s name. They’re also in the process of enabling Lee Bo-sung to succeed Chan-joo as Sang-Ah Group’s chairman. 

But, Chan-joo is still worried because he found out that Lee Sang-joo had asked Seung-jo to collect Sang-Ah Group’s debts because it was going to go bankrupt. At Taeil Accounting Firm, Ho-woo shows Seung-jo a picture of Je-kyun and Lee Sang-joo talking, making Seung-jo realise Lee Sang-joo is just using him. Ho-woo then advises Seung-jo not to let him know that he knows about his meeting with Je-kyun. 

Sang-Ah Group’s shares’ prices are dropping at an alarming rate. Of course, this worries Chan-joo, and things are even made worse when he finds out that Lee Sang-joo bought all the stock shares, and there will be shareholders meeting to choose another chairman. Je-kyun, who’s there, isn’t worried about anything because it turns out Lee Sang-joo had asked him to work with him.

Later, Je-kyun asks Jang Ji-soo to sign an agreement that hands over the power of attorney rights of Jang Ji-soo, being in charge of PEF HK Private Equity’s shares at Sang-Ah Group. Jang Ji-soo agrees to sign the agreement without any questions. 

It’s the day of Sang-Ah Group’s shareholders’ meeting to determine who will be the chairman between Lee Sang-joo and Chan-joo. Chan-joo manages to tie in with Lee Sang-joo in the number of shareholders supporting them. It turns out, Seung-jo and Ho-woo convinced Chan-joo to allow them to get more shareholders to support him. Then Seung-jo announces his support for Chan-joo and mentions that he voted using PEF HK Private Equity’s power attorney rights. Of course, this really pisses Je-kyun off. 

A while later, Je-kyun is at his office watching surveillance camera footage of Hyeong-woo gaining access to his secret safe. He suspects he’s doing this because Jang Ji-soo asked him to, as per what the barista informed him.

Je-kyun is planning to burn some important documents at a certain warehouse. So, he asks Hyeong-woo to be in charge of the operation. Then Je-kyun suggests to Hyeong-woo that he also get rid of Yang Jae-hwan and even promises to reward him. But, Je-kyun has another scheme in mind when he decides to send Hyeong-woo to that warehouse. 

It’s the day of that operation, and Hyeong-woo texts Ho-woo and tells him that if he wants to fight Je-kyun, he should go to the warehouse. Hyeong-woo and Yang Jae-hwan arrive at the warehouse, and the men hired to burn the documents attack them and then drag them into the warehouse and set it on fire. Je-kyun had earlier instructed one of the men he hired to burn Hyeong-woo with the documents in case he tried anything fishy. 

Ho-woo then arrives at the warehouse and tries to fight off the men. All this while Je-kyun is watching what is happening via the surveillance camera at the warehouse, connected to his laptop. Seung-jo also arrives at the warehouse and fights off the men while Ho-woo goes in and saves Yang Jae-hwan. Seung-jo then goes in to save Hyeong-woo. The episode ends with the warehouse blowing up with Hyeong-woo still inside. 

Episode Review

It’s sad that Hyeong-woo realized too late that Je-kyun was using him. I hope he survives that explosion. Well, it turns out Jang Ji-soo has a child. It would be interesting to see who the father of that child is in the upcoming episodes. It’s great to see that Kang-hyun is doing well after resigning from Taeil Accounting Firm. Thanks to Ho-woo and Seung-jo, we’ve seen another one of Je-kyun’s plans not succeeding. 

While it’s great to see Ho-woo stopping Je-kyun from ruining more people’s lives, it’s scary because, at this point, Je-kyun is capable of hurting him just like he has hurt Hyeong-woo.