Numbers (2023) K Drama Episode 5

Episode 5 of Numbers takes us back to the shocking bombshell reveal about Jang Ji-Soo. Ji-Soo arrives at the board meeting and goes straight to Seung-Jo to introduce herself to him as Joyce Jang. As expected, everyone (especially Seung-Jo, Ho-Woo, and Je-Kyun) are shocked to see her. However, Jang Ji-Soo doesn’t show any emotion. Instead, she requests for the meeting to begin. 

Ho-Woo presents their proposal on why Soma Tech shouldn’t be declared bankrupt and sold off to PEF HK Private Equity. Unfortunately for Ho-Woo and Seung-Jo, Ji-Soo disagrees with their proposal and agrees to continue with the plan to buy off Soma Tech. Meanwhile, Je-Kyun thinks back to when Ji-Soo came to him asking for help after Taeil Accounting Firm declared Haebit Construction bankrupt, but Je-Kyun refused to help. 

After the meeting, Seung-Jo forcibly takes Jang Ji-Soo outside and hugs her. Jang Ji-Soo pushes him away and slaps him. Seung-Jo asks Jang Ji-Soo why she didn’t call to let him know she was okay, but Jang Ji-Soo tells him she doesn’t need him to worry about her. Jang Ji-Soo also asks Seung-Jo if he has forgotten what he did to her father, Jang In-Ho, and his company, Haebit Construction. Seung-Jo tries to explain things to her, but she leaves. 

As Jang Ji-Soo is leaving, she meets Ho-Woo, who begins asking her where she has been all this while. Jang Ji-Soo doesn’t say much though and leaves. 

Je-Kyun is in his office with Hyeong-Woo, discussing what happened at the meeting. Je-Kyun suspects that Jang Ji-Soo is here to purchase Soma Tech on behalf of PEF HK Private Equity because Soma Tech is in the same position as Haebit Construction before it was declared bankrupt and sold off. 

Hyeong-Woo voices out his fear of what will happen if Jang Ji-Soo discovers he was the one who swapped Haebit Construction’s audit report. Je-Kyun asks Hyeong-Woo if he’ll worry about what will happen to him when the deal concerning Soma Tech being sold off to PEF HK Private Equity may not go through. Typical Je-Kyun, always worrying about himself!

Later, Seung-Jo goes to Jang Ji-Soo’s hotel room to get her to talk to him, but she doesn’t want to see him. Je-Kyun, accompanied by Hyeong-Woo, arrive at Jang Ji-Soo’s hotel room, and Seung-Jo immediately warns Je-Kyun not to mess with Jang Ji-Soo again. Je-Kyun tells Seung-Jo to watch how he opens a door that he can’t open and proceeds to go into Jang Ji-Soo’s room. He then tells Seung-Jo that if he wants something, he should also change. 

Inside Jang Ji-Soo’s hotel room, Jang Ji-Soo tells Je-Kyun that her being here isn’t because of what happened to her father or her previous relationship with Seung-Jo. Instead, she’s just here for business. Je-Kyun acknowledges that Jang Ji-Soo did surprise him by turning out to be Joyce Jang.

Ji-Soo then tells Je-Kyun that he should treat her with respect, just like he would with any other client. And although Je-Kyun doesn’t show it, this infuriates him. 

Elsewhere, Ho-Woo is at a gym, and he sure is boxing his frustrations out after how Jang Ji-Soo responded to his proposal about not liquidating Soma Tech earlier. Later, his close companions Yeo-Jin and Kong Hee-Sam comfort Ho-Woo after what happened. It’s unclear if they know that Jang Ji-Soo is back. 

Seung-Jo tries to find out how Jang Ji-Soo joined PEF HK Private Equity. It turns out she joined the company as an errand lady, but worked her way up to being one of the top managers in the company. 

Ho-Woo finds out that PEF HK Private Equity has decided to take Soma Tech to a bankruptcy court instead of going through with the Merger and Acquisition process immediately. This means there may be a way out for Soma Tech. But Ho-Woo soon discovers that Jisan Bank has blocked one of Soma Tech’s accounts, making them unable to use the funds and pay its employees. This puts Soma Tech at a higher risk of being liquidated. It also seems like Jisan Bank is considering getting another company to buy off Soma Tech. 

Ho-Woo goes to ask Seung-Jo to do something about this situation, but it seems he has given up, and this pisses Ho-Woo off. Later, Ho-Woo goes to Soma Tech headquarters and finds the president heading out with gasoline, claiming he wants to burn down Jisan Bank. But, Ho-Woo manages to stop him. 

Jang Ji-Soo is at her office talking to what seems like the CEO of PEF HK Private Equity. It turns out Jang Ji-Soo specifically chose to handle the purchase of Soma Tech on behalf of PEF HK Private Equity because of the history between her, Seung-Jo, and Je-Kyun. The CEO tells Jang Ji-Soo that all PEF HK Private Equity wants at the end of the day is results. He also tells Jang Ji-Soo to hurry back since her man is waiting for her. Could she already have moved on from Seung-Jo? 

Ho-Woo then comes to Jang Ji-Soo’s hotel. And although Jang Ji-Soo doesn’t want to see him, he insists on talking to her. Ho-Woo then tells Jang Ji-Soo that Soma Tech is prepared to make its patent technology available for free on the Internet. If Soma Tech does this, it won’t be worth being sold off. Ho-Woo then suggests to Jang Ji-Soo, that PEF HK Private Equity invests in Soma Tech and owns shares of the company. 

However, Jang Ji-Soo declines Ho-Woo’s suggestion. She claims that other financially struggling companies may also copy Soma Tech and threaten to “self-destruct” to get out of being declared bankrupt. Ho-Woo then confronts Jang Ji-Soo, asking her if she’s doing all this because of what happened to her father. 

Ho-Woo tells Jang Ji-Soo that it wasn’t her fault things went the way they did with her father’s company, and neither was it Seung-Jo’s fault. Jang Ji-Soo asks Ho-Woo if he’s taking Seung-Jo’s side because he’s an accountant now. Ho-Woo then gives Jang Ji-Soo the original Haebit Construction audit report Seung-Jo wrote. He’s not supporting Seung-Jo but just stating facts. 

Later that night, Ho-Woo returns to Soma Tech headquarters to see the president. Unfortunately, Ho-Woo sees that he has seemingly overdosed on some pills. This is history repeating itself for Ho-Woo, since he found Jang In-Ho had taken his life after Haebit Construction was liquidated. 

The next day, Ho-Woo meets Jang Ji-Soo at Jang In-Ho’s memorial place. Ho-Woo tells Jang Ji-Soo that the original Haebit Construction audit report that Seung-Jo was swapped without his knowledge. And while Jang Ji-Soo doesn’t want to show it, she’s shocked by what Ho-Woo just told her. 

It’s the day that Soma Tech is being sold off to PEF HK Private Equity. But before Jisan Bank’s president, Jin Tae-Soo, finalizes the Merger and Acquisition process between Soma Tech and PEF HK Private Equity, they find out that Soma Tech has paid off its loan.

It turns out, Seung-Jo worked it out that Soma Tech temporarily sold its patent technology to the South Korean Intellectual Property Office. That way, Soma Tech was able to pay the loan it took from Jisan Bank, preventing it from selling it off to PEF HK Private Equity. Of course, Jin Tae-Soo is furious about this because it has lost on its end. On the other hand, Je-Kyun is also furious because Taeil Accounting Firm won’t be profiting from the anticipated Merger and Acquisition between the two companies.

Seung-Jo later tries to talk to Jang Ji-Soo, who was present when all this happened. Jang Ji-Soo tells Seung-Jo that while he managed to save Soma Tech, that doesn’t change what happened to Haebit Construction. 

An Seung-Yeon, the head of Taeil Accounting Firm’s Auditing Department, is back. She was on leave because of cardiovascular issues, as it was revealed in episode 2. She is also fighting for Taeil Accounting Firm’s chairman’s position against Je-Kyun. 

An Seung-Yeon found out that Kang-Hyun, who was from her department, resigned and is now vowing to make Je-Kyun pay for it by taking over his biggest client, Jisan Bank. Later, Jang Ji-Soo meets with Ho-Woo. 

Ho-Woo isn’t happy about Jang Ji-Soo working for PEF HK Private Equity. It turns out Haebit Construction was sold off to PEF HK Private Equity. Jang Ji-Soo tells Ho-Woo that she hasn’t found much information about the Merger and Acquisition between PEF HK Private Equity and Haebit Construction. However, she discovered that the person who facilitated it was “AN.” Jang Ji-Soo then tells Ho-Woo that she’ll be staying in the country for some time to take care of something. 

At Taeil Accounting Firm, the firm’s president meets with Je-Kyun and An Seung-Yeon concerning which department will take over Jisan Bank as a client. The tax department, which Je-Kyun is heading, has brought in more money to the firm than other departments, so it seems it’ll still handle Jisan Bank as its client. And as expected, An Seung-Yeon isn’t happy about this. 

The episode ends with Ho-Woo seemingly starting to do his research on An Seung-Yeon, at the same time as Ji-Soo appears to be spying on him. Could An Seung-Yeon be the “AN” Jang Ji-Soo told Ho-Woo about? 

The Episode Review

Sadly, Seung-Jo didn’t get the kind of closure he expected with Jang Ji-Soo. But again, it’s understandable on Jang Ji-Soo’s side because she didn’t know Seung-Jo was innocent regarding what happened to Haebit Construction. It’s impressive how Jang Ji-Soo hasn’t let her emotions get in the way of what she wants to accomplish regarding avenging her father’s death. 

We now have a new twist that’ll keep us in suspense in the next couple of episodes. An Seung-Yeon may have most likely facilitated Haebit Construction being sold off to PEF HK Private Equity. Will Jang Ji-Soo soon find out the truth about what happened? Because it seems the reason she has decided to stay in the country is to find out if An Seung-Yeon is connected to what happened to Haebit Construction.