8 timestamped notes explaining the Korean cultural context in this episode — customs, idioms, food, honorifics, and history, at the moment each appears on screen. These notes discuss events across the whole episode. To see them revealed scene-by-scene as you watch, use the episode page to find an airing.
When renting in Korea, a 가계약 (ga-gye-yak) is a small deposit paid on the spot to 'hold' a unit before the full lease is signed. Another interested tenant apparently already wants to do this that same evening — showing how competitive the Seoul rental market is. The real estate agent bought time by stalling that other viewer.
Large Korean companies (대기업, dae-gi-eop) routinely rotate employees through overseas offices. Applying for a U.S. branch posting is a legitimate internal process, not unusual — but it typically requires leaving behind everything at home, which is exactly the tension Jun-hee is raising by bringing it up.
The phrase 굴뚝같다 (gul-ttuk-gat-da) literally means 'like a chimney' and is a common idiom for a desire so strong it billows up like smoke. Gyeong-seon is saying she desperately wants to simply lean on Jun-hee and let him shield her — the chimney image captures the intensity of that temptation.
진상위 is short for 진상조사위원회, an internal fact-finding committee a Korean company convenes to investigate misconduct. Yoon Jin-ah is pushing for this formal body rather than a quiet settlement — the executive is trying to dissolve it before the departing director is fully out of the picture.
The company's lawyer presents what appear to be doctored photos and altered chat messages to make Yoon Jin-ah look like a willing participant. This tactic — reframing the victim as the aggressor — was widely reported in real Korean #MeToo cases around the time this drama aired (2018), giving the scene its pointed social commentary.
Yoon Jin-ah tells the harasser she refuses to become '부끄러운 자식' — a child her father would be ashamed of. In Korean culture, a parent's honor is deeply tied to a child's conduct, and invoking that bond is one of the most emotionally weighty things a person can say about their own choices.
The mother's insistence on 집안 (jib-an), or family background, reflects a deeply rooted Korean social belief that a person's character and prospects can be read through their family's status, education, and social standing. Checking a prospective partner's 집안 before agreeing to marriage is still a standard first step for many traditional Korean families.
A 청첩장 (cheong-cheop-jang) is a formal printed wedding invitation, typically mailed or hand-delivered. Receiving one carries a social obligation: guests are expected to attend AND give a cash gift (축의금, chu-gi-geum) in an envelope handed over at the entrance desk. The friend's joking tone about whether she 'has' to come is a nod to how binding these invitations feel.