Recap Korean Drama "Link: Eat, Love, Die" Episode 9

Link: Eat Love Kill (링크: 먹고 사랑하라 죽이게) is a fantasy-drama series directed by Hong Jong-chan and starring Yeo Jin-goo and Mun Ka-young in lead roles. The series consists of 16 episodes and will be taking over tvN’s Monday and Tuesday 10.30 PM KST slot, previously occupied by Military Prosecutor Doberman. The series will air from June 06, 2022, to July 26, 2022. Eat Love Kill episode 9 has a runtime of 64 minutes and is titled Don’t Turn Around

 

– Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9 recap contains major spoilers –

Link: Eat Love Kill episode 9 starts with a confused Da-hyun walking around the shadowy streets of her town alone and standing in front of a scary red door. Her grandmother tries to comfort her, but the same kind of fear creeps up on her in adulthood as (probably) the same boogeyman comes to haunt her.

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

Her grandmother’s words of encouragement form a light at the end of the tunnel but seeing that group picture from the past brings back memories that she had forgotten long back.

Back at the three boys fighting with each other – Jin-geun whispers something in Da-hyun’s ears before finally leaving and Gye-hoon apologizes to Won-tak for not recognizing him but the latter asks him not to involve him in his affairs anymore.

The incident leaves everyone a little shaken as they think back to their pasts and Jin-geun’s implications about what could’ve happened to Gye-young. Gye-hoon mentions that he wouldn’t let Jin-geun’s words affect him but that conversation gets sidetracked when Da-hyun takes him away to examine the cut on his face.

 

Taking care of his face, Da-hyun asks him whether he remembers her from school and things get awkward when she realizes that he does not and calls him a crybaby in retaliation. As they laugh like schoolkids and get awfully close to kissing each other, a surprised Jin-hu scrambles to get Bok-hee and Chun-ok away from the restaurant to give his friends some privacy.

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

As Gye-hoon wonders why Eui-chan had to take Gye-young somewhere on the night she disappeared, Won-tak and Min-jo have a tender moment outside the police station as she feels concerned about his wounds. However, their discussion is cut short when Won-tak is called to drink with the officers and he gets to know that Gye-hoon is snooping around about Eui-chan.

He rushes out to find him and Gye-hoon goes to talk to Eui-chan. He asks him why he said that he had to take Gye-young – he informs her that Gye-young was hurt and as her teacher, he should’ve taken her with him since she was barely able to walk. He apologises for not doing so and blames himself for the heartbreak that Gye-hoon had to go through.

Going back home, Gye-hoon is taken aback that Jin-geun was speaking the truth back previously and comes across Won-tak. The latter asks him why he’s opening up old wounds since it doesn’t matter anymore; even without the lack of evidence, people kept calling his father a murderer and destroyed their lives. He warns him not to get close to them again or he’ll kill him this time.

Jin-geun, meanwhile, talks to someone shadowy, someone he seems to be scared of. Gye-hoon calls him just then and as the shadowy person puts his phone on speaker, Gye-hoon starts to ask him what he meant about someone else taking Gye-young. Jin-geun denies ever saying such a thing and then relays a message from this mystery person – how is his father? The question sends Gye-hoon reeling and more so when he is unable to contact him again.

 

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

Meanwhile, Da-hyun remembers what Jin-geun had told her on the playground – she knows everything too. She doesn’t remember what he meant by that however but before she can go back inside, she comes across Gye-hoon. On the other hand, Jin-hu gets harassed by the ladies in the neighbourhood after a fated dance class with Bok-hee.

The next day, Da-hyun is unable to find Gye-hoon at work and instead goes to meet Eun-jung who is happy that her sister’s case is getting reopened. They spend a day having fun at the mall and at the end of the day, she realizes how much Eun-jung and Gye-hoon are hurting, trying to move forward after losing their siblings.

Da-hyun hugs Eun-jung and tells her that even though she is not her sister, she will be her new sister. Eun-jung seems to be receptive to the idea and asks her to go meet Gye-hoon, considering she has been thinking about him the whole time.

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

She is finally able to meet Gye-hoon while coming home, who is fresh out of a fever. They discuss his father who started to wander around trying to find Gye-young after she disappeared, in turn, himself disappearing. Gye-hoon, thus, is back home to find his father or to figure out what happened to him.

Da-hyun, in turn, asks him how it has been for him – whether he has been ok or not. On the path to making everything somewhat ok, Gye-hoon has ignored himself and his needs. He tried to work through the pain, thinking that if he worked hard enough things would be ok and his father would come back and his family would come together. However, that never happened and the cracks just kept getting wider.

 

Da-hyun tells him that she wishes he would’ve stayed here so that her grandmother would’ve told him to move forward and never look back. In that way, he could’ve found some happiness in some way. However, Gye-hoon mentions that he does not have the courage to be happy.

Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9 Ending

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

In a heartbreaking scene, Gye-hoon breaks down thinking about his last interaction with his father and how throughout his life he has realized that he will never be happy and will never let anyone into his life in order to keep them safe. As he sobs and thinks about the exception to his rule, Da-hyun feels his feelings and comes to the restaurant to tell him about it.

However, that thought is cut short when Gye-hoon rushes to her and kisses her.

Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9 Review

Still From Link: Eat Love Kill Episode 9

 

Well, guys, Yeo Jin-goo has done it again – he’s just so good in these emotional scenes, it breaks my heart watching him cry for something that wasn’t his fault. And no, it’s not a literal child’s job to look after another child. An adult should’ve been accompanying them!

Anyway, in that scene with his father – I could feel the desperation in Gye-hoon’s voice as he begged for him to come back home. Growing up with such immense guilt and watching your family fall apart cannot be easy in any way and Yeo Jin-goo does an excellent job at bringing that understated (and overstated!) desperation forward.

Also, guys, that kiss – reminded me of a similar moment in Hotel Del Luna. So forceful yet so warm, I love it.

Anyway, enough of the fangirling – Link: Eat Love Kill episode 9 has me reeling wondering what is going on. Is it one of the cops who disappeared as Jin-geun talked to the mysterious man? Or is it someone we are yet to meet? Jin-geun seems to be quite scared of him, so it must be someone who has some sort of power either over him or in general.

I also enjoyed watching Da-hyun’s family coming together and sharing some warm moments with each other, considering how annoying Bok-hee can be. The way the sweet and salty parts of the show are going alongside by side is making watching the show great and I just hope that they don’t do something silly in the upcoming episodes that will ruin the vibe that they are creating right now!