Recap "Business Proposal" Episode 12 (Final Episode)

Does Young-seo’s father accept Seong-hoon?

Episode 12 of Business Proposal begins with Chairman Jin calling Seong-hoon to ask him to break up with Young-seo, but keep it a secret from her.

But Young-seo overhears this. Though she pretends she’s fine, Seong-hoon can tell this deeply upsets her.

Does Tae-moo get along with Ha-ri’s parents?

Ha-ri’s mother is suspicious of Ha-ri’s whereabouts last night. When she sees Tae-moo drop her daughter off in the morning, she scolds both of them.

When she calms down, everyone has lunch together to celebrate Young-seo’s birthday. Tae-moo says he wants to date and marry Ha-ri. Her parents worry about the scandal that would ensue due to their low social status.

Tae-moo speaks with Ha-ri’s father privately. He asks Tae-moo to protect Ha-ri so that she doesn’t suffer so much gossip and scandal. Tae-moo promises to do everything he can.

Do Ha-ri and Min-woo make amends?

Ha-ri meets Min-woo for tea. He also apologizes on behalf of Yoo-ra. He confesses that they were never right for each other, and he never plans to date her again.

Min-woo now has plans to travel the world. He asks Ha-ri if they could be close friends again after he returns, and she says that might take some time. They shake hands, saying goodbye.

Do Young-seo and Seong-hoon break up?

After Chairman Jin demands that Seong-hoon break up with Young-seo, she goes to see her father. It’s not to go along with his wishes, however. Instead, she hands him her resignation.

Later, Seong-hoon cooks Young-seo a proper birthday meal. Now that she’s resigned, she wants to start her own company. Seong-hoon wants to invest if she can come up with a proper business plan, and he surprises her with a large sum of money.

Does Chairman Kang have a heart attack?

While Ha-ri and Tae-moo are at work, Tae-moo gets a call from someone saying that his grandfather collapsed. The person never hangs up, so Tae-moo overhears the chairman laughing. He is simply scheming to get Tae-moo to come to the hospital.

So, Ha-ri goes to the hospital instead, hoping the chairman can come to like her if they spend some time together. He  orders her out, but she stays to help him get around.

She brings him tea, watches TV with him, sings. It seems that Chairman Kang enjoys her company, but he doesn’t show it to Ha-ri. 

Later, the doctor tells Tae-moo it’s a good thing his grandfather came in for a checkup. They caught some serious heart issues that they can’t treat in Korea.

Does Tae-moo leave Ha-ri for the United States?

Tae-moo tells Ha-ri he has to take his grandfather to the States to get the treatment he needs. He asks her to come with him, but she refuses. She thinks there would be too many rumors surrounding such a situation and doesn’t want him to get hurt.

Additionally, the chairman is their most important concern right now. He doesn’t like her, so she thinks she should stay out of the way..

They decide not to break up, but they won’t see each other for a while. He asks her to wait for him.

What happens one year later?

One year later, Ha-ri is still working for her food development team. Ms. Yeo and Mr. Gye are now married and competitively work opposite each other.

Seong-hoon has taken the year off to be with Young-seo and help her with her business.

Tae-moo has been working at the New York branch for a year, while Chairman Kang still receives treatment. He and Ha-ri video chat, but he leaves in the middle of the call to take care of work. Later, Ha-ri sees an article claiming a romance between Tae-moo and another woman.

How does Business Proposal Season 1 end?

Ha-ri tries to reach him to ask him about the article. She even decides to use her vacation days to go to New York. As she’s about to leave, he arrives in Seoul. He assures her the rumors aren’t true, and they embrace.

Tae-moo says the chairman told him not to come back to the States until he gave her what’s in the box he’s holding. He opens it to reveal a ring, and he proposes to Ha-ri. She accepts, and they kiss.

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The Episode Review

Time skips at the end of a drama series are notoriously difficult to pull off, and it looks like that’s no exception for Business Proposal. The show comes to an anticlimactic conclusion, to say the least.

It pulls us out of the ongoing storyline to drop us in the future with little context. I have to admit, I do love to see Ms. Yeo and Mr. Gye now married and still up to their antics. But after so much time invested in Young-seo’s and Seong-hoon’s relationship, we barely get to understand how the couple is doing in this new timeline. The same goes for Chairman Kang, whose current condition is left vague, as is the manner in which he came around to accepting Ha-ri.

The K-drama simply decided to skip over the conflict with the chairman… in favor of introducing irrelevant conflict in the form of a slanderous article–which is resolved almost immediately.

Ha-ri and Tae-moo maintained a compelling chemistry until the end. Though the final (and finally real) proposal didn’t happen with nearly as much pomp and circumstances as the build-up would indicate, it was still a sweet and satisfying moment.

In the end, it’s hard to see these characters go. Even if Business Proposal’s storylines have not always been handled consistently, the cast and characters have always been a strong draw. But with this finale, the series comes to a bittersweet end, giving these protagonists the endings they have earned, if not in the methods that they deserved.