Itaewon Class

Itaewon Class (Korean: 이태원 클라쓰; RR: Itaewon Keullasseu) is a South Korean drama series created by Kim Seong-yun and based on the webtoon of the same name by Jo Gwang-jin.

Story
In 2006, high schooler Park Sae-Ro-Yi (Park Seo-Joon) was jailed for 2 years after attempting to kill Jang Geun-Won (Ahn Bo-Hyun). Geun-Won is the son of Jang Dae-Hee (Yoo Jae-Myung) and heir to the Jangga Group (Korea’s largest food corporation). Because of the Jang's influential power, Geun-Won leads a spoiled life and is able to bully people with impunity. Park Sung-Yeol (Son Hyun-Joo), Saeroyi's father, worked for Jangga and sponsored Oh Soo-A's (Kwon Na-Ra) education. Saeroyi had a scuffle with Geun-Won and he left Jangga to start a bar with Saeroyi. One night, Geun-Won accidentally crashed and killed Sung-Yeol, but Dae-Hee had someone else take the fall; Saeroyi tried to kill Geun-Won for his father but Soo-A (classmate and first love) stopped him. He was arrested and tried guilty for attempted murder and assault. Dae-Hee always offered mercy if Saeroyi kneeled, but he refused out of principle. Motivated to get revenge, he survived his sentence and vowed for vengeance.

By 2009, Saeroyi was released from jail. He used that time by studying Dae-Hee’s autobiography to understand his success and make plans for his future. During Halloween, Saeroyi came to Itaewon and had a fun night hanging with Soo-A. As they talked about the future, Saeroyi said he likes Itaewon and wants to open his own restaurant here. To her shock, Saeroyi intends to carry out this plan 7 years into the future while heading to work for a fishing vessel in the meantime. Soo-A is being financially supported by Dae-Hee; she carries a sense of guilt for her career path to Jangga. However, Saeroyi never blamed her and wished for her success. Afterwards, they bid each other farewell and haven’t seen each other since.

Seven years later (2016), Saeroyi managed to open his restaurant-bar DanBam (pun on Sweet Night or Sweet Chestnut). Supporting and working under Saeroyi is Choi Seung-Kwon (Ryoo Kyung-Soo), Ma Hyun-Yi (Lee Joo-Young), Jo Yi-Seo (Kim Da-Mi), Jang Geun-Soo (Kim Dong-Hee), and Tony Kim (Chris Lyon). With Yi-Seo as the manager, she used her social media influence and management skills to help DanBam become a successful business. When it was revealed that Saeroyi secretly owns a large amount of Jangga’s stocks, Dae-Hee forced Saeroyi to sell all of it. Dae-Hee bought the building of Danbam and would’ve bought every future lease to hinder him; Saeroyi liquified his stocks to buy his own building to avoid the problem. Geun-Soo is the 2nd heir to Jangga and romantically interested in Yi-seo. However, Yi-Seo only loved Saeroyi and that angered Geun-Soo to quit DanBam and join Jangga to destroy Saeroyi.

After gaining public notoriety from Hyun-Yi becoming the first transgendered female chef champion in the Best Pub TV show, they got the attention of a major investor to franchise their business. Becoming incorporated, they named their company as I.C. (Itaewon Class) Co. Their corporation nearly fell apart before it started when it was discovered the investor was an agent for Dae-Hee and pulled their massive investment out, causing other investors to abandon them. To salvage the situation, Tony’s grandmother used her fortune to help them become a successful global franchise. In between events, Yi-Seo helped expose Geun-Won's crime of killing Saeroyi's dad and got him jailed for it. Dae-Hee publicly denounced Geun-Won to save his chairmanship and groomed Geun-Soo to replace his failed heir to Jangga.

By 2020, the IC Company is now the 2nd largest competitor to Jangga. Geun-Soo has risen to director of Jangga and proven a better heir than Geun-Won; he still hates Saeroyi. Things would change with the return of Geun-Won and Dae-Hee’s cancer. Geun-Won has been released early from jail and on a quest for vengeance against Saeroyi. Dae-Hee has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer and has only 6 months to live. While many saw this as karmic punishment, Saeroyi called Dae-hee to tell him he can’t die before he gets his vengeance. Amused that the only person that wants him to live is his enemy, Dae-hee enjoys this final conflict with Saeroyi.

At IC, Saeroyi is starting to have feelings for Yi-Seo. Because of the awkward position between Soo-A and Saeroyi (Jangga Vs IC Corp), the two only had an emotional relationship; it's apparent to Soo-A that his feelings are changing. After Yi-Seo collapses from over-working for Saeroyi’s sake, he realizes he’s in love with Yi-Seo. Before he could confess his love for Yi-Seo, she was kidnapped by Geun-Won and former inmates as henchmen. Saeroyi tried to rescue Yi-Seo but was critically injured when one of the henchmen tried to run Geun-Soo over but was saved by Saeroyi. Yi-Seo eventually escaped capture with Geun-Soo.

After recovering from his near-death experience, Saeroyi goes to see Dae-hee. He knows Dae-hee is aware of Geun-Won’s whereabouts. Dae-hee wouldn’t talk unless Saeroyi kneels and after resisting him for almost 15 years, he submitted to kneeling to save Yi-Seo. Saeroyi eventually makes it to rescue Yi-Seo and confesses his feelings for her. Geun-Won had a showdown with Saeroyi and lost, the cops made it and arrested Geun-Won.

In the aftermath, Jangga was ruined because Soo-A whistle blew 10 years worth of illegal activities, forcing the company to close. Dae-Hee tried to use all his influence to save his company but everyone severed ties. As a last ditch effort, he went to see Saeroyi and kneeled before him, pleading with him in tears to save his company. However, Saeroyi intends a corporate takeover by absorbing Jangga into IC. Geun-Soo made peace with the DanBam crew to also start fresh. Soo-A ruined her own career to repay her debt to Saeroyi's dad with money and destroying Jangga; she would restart fresh by opening her own restaurant and found love with the new chef. With his revenge completed and dating Yi-Seo, Saeroyi found peace and happiness from all his struggles.

Cast and Characters

 * Park Seo-joon as Park Sae-ro-yi
 * Kim Da-mi as Jo Yi-seo
 * Yoo Jae-myung as Jang Dae-hee
 * Kwon Na-ra as Oh Soo-ah
 * Kim Dong-hee as Jang Geun-soo
 * Ahn Bo-hyun as Jang Geun-won
 * Kim Hye-eun as Kang Min-jung
 * Ryu Gyeong-su as Choi Seung-kwon
 * Lee Joo-young as Ma Hyun-yi
 * Chris Lyon as Kim To-ni

Episodes

 * Episode 1
 * Episode 2
 * Episode 3
 * Episode 4
 * Episode 5
 * Episode 6
 * Episode 7
 * Episode 8
 * Episode 9
 * Episode 10
 * Episode 11
 * Episode 12
 * Episode 13
 * Episode 14
 * Episode 15
 * Episode 16