King the Land (2023) K drama with Im Yoon Ah and Lee Jun Ho Episode 14

Episode 14 of King The Land begins with Chairman Gu being warned about a love scandal between Won and Sa-rang. He tries to threaten the press but Hwa-ran pays them double to run the stories. At first, the articles blur Sa-rang’s face. Both Won and Sa-rang are worried about each other while Sang-sik tries to get them to stop meeting at the hotel. He thinks Hwa-ran is behind it but Won refuses to believe.

Sang-sik then tells him that Hwa-ran tried to recruit him as a spy by making him head manager but he refused because of his friendship with Won. Touched, Won whispers a thank you and Sang-sik is over the moon as he jokes that he will anyway be head manager when Won becomes president.

They promise to protect Sa-rang but Hwa-ran is one step further. Instagram accounts release unedited photos which show Sa-rang’s face clearly. Da-eul and Pyeong-hwa are furious and try to stop the press but to no avail. They see that some kissing photos are also released and direct Sa-rang not to go on the internet for a while.

At work, Su-mi is gossiping with the other staff in the elevator when Sa-rang joins them. She keeps goading Sa-rang on how she seduced Won only for Won who was present in the elevator all this while to say he hit on Sa-rang. He then brings gifts and requests the King The Land staff to be nice to Sa-rang and they say they already are as she is family now.

Meanwhile, Gu is upset that the articles are also dragging in Han Mi-so and comparing his love story with Won and Sa-rang’s. Turns out, Mi-so was also a lower-rung employee before she became Gu’s second wife. But he doesn’t take any action against Won as he tells his right-hand man that he and Sa-rang will soon realise that their relationship is pointless.

Things are going awfully at King Air as well. Mi-na tries to hit on Ro-woon but when he rejects her she takes revenge by taking a shot at Pyeong-hwa as he likes her. She ends up revealing that Pyeong-hwa is a divorcee. Even though Ro-woon tries to defend her, Pyeong-hwa is embarrassed and runs off.

Meanwhile, Hwa-ran and the board of directors get together to create a petition to stop Won’s promotion. Gu interrupts and realises she is the one who leaked the photos and dragged in Mi-so. Angry, he declares that he will take away airlines and distribution from her. She storms off and recalls how when she was a kid, her achievements were always overshadowed as he and Mi-so only doted on Won.

Elsewhere, Da-eul’s husband, Choong-jae is the new maid as she lounges and watches TV. His parents arrive and are shocked. But they switch sides on hearing that he isn’t the breadwinner of the house. They are suddenly nice to Da-eul while scolding Choong-jae to clean and cook.

Won and Sa-rang visit Grandmother who keeps scolding him for the news articles. But she softens when he says he won’t let anything happen to her or Sa-rang. They are interrupted by all the ladies from the market who suddenly want photos and autographs while calling Won their rich grandson-in-law. He entertains them while Sa-rang is amused before taking a photo with him and Grandmother.

At home, Won wonders why Gu is not telling him anything about the scandal which he corrects as a love story. His father says it is pointless as Won won’t break up with Sa-rang. He just wants Won to focus on creating the hotel franchise and tells him to personally meet with their foreign collaborators. Won is also touched to see that Gu has been using the tiger balm he gifted him from Thailand.

The next day, Gu also has lunch with Sa-rang which starts off well enough as he says they are old enough to know better and he won’t ask them to break up. Cue the catch – he orders Sa-rang to go away for a bit and take a decision about the relationship. 

She is shocked but she doesn’t let it dampen her spirits as she meets with Won who is to go abroad on a 3-week business trip for the hotel franchise. They have the time of their life as he rents out an amusement park even though he is scared of rides. Sa-rang is amused and keeps teasing him while they play around.

The next morning, Won leaves, texting Sa-rang ‘I love you’. Meanwhile, she is on her way to her new posting. She wants to say ‘I love you’ back but doesn’t. She shows up at the King Tourist Hotel where only the outcasts are reappointed. She is surprised to see Manager Park from the gym who had been exiled while Hwa-ran was on her firing spree.

They have to share a tiny room together but Park tells her that she is now family so she shouldn’t worry about the scandal. Sa-rang spends her days either at the front desk or cleverly handling guests who try to get a free meal. It has been 2 weeks and Da-eul and Pyeong-hwa miss her. She rarely picks up their calls and they decide to surprise her by visiting her on their day off.

A week later, Won returns and is eager to meet Sa-rang. But she doesn’t pick up her phone or text back. He is not deterred and heads to King The Land only for Ha-na to put on a fake smile and say Sa-rang has left. Won suddenly gets a panic attack as he remembers the staff fake smiling when his mother left and he had no idea where she was. Deja vu, anyone?

Won requests Ha-na to be sincere and drop her fake smile. She gets sombre and regretfully says that all she knows is Sa-rang is at King Tourist Hotel. He storms out but is stopped by a woman who calls him by his name. He turns and is shocked to see his mother.

The Episode Review

Honestly, what rom-com has a couple so mature and in love, handling things rationally? This is getting too suspicious, when are we going to get frustrated when they suddenly break up? Please don’t keep leading our fragile hearts of them overcoming such huge obstacles only to part ways later which is what the end of episode 14 is alluding to.

Not only Sa-rang, but Won is also so understanding they just keep caring about the other person, and not even in a creepy dark-romance trope way. Green flags across the board! And okay, while it may be a little frustrating, we get Sa-rang’s reasoning for not telling Won about her exile as he would just drop the most important moment of his career to help her. 

Looks like Hwa-ran’s anger is warranted, though. After all, it is Chairman Gu who is responsible for their rivalry by being overly partial to Won. He kept reprimanding Hwa-ran for her divorce but doesn’t say a word about Won and Sa-rang’s scandal. Turns out Gu is the villain all along – or more like another flawed being as King The Land isn’t into black-and-white characters.

But why is he sending Sa-rang to the exile hotel when he has anyway separated the couple by sending Won abroad? However, Hwa-ran doesn’t get our sympathy yet as it is something to be earned. A redemption arc is sorely needed or she might just end up being one of the most badly written antagonists in a while.