Seok-ryu is in for more pain in ‘Love Next Door’ episode 9

I don’t even care about the male leads in Love Next Door. As an eldest child, I just want Seok-ryu to really live by the end of this K-drama and have her own happy ending.

She’s finally started cooking and pursuing her own dreams. For once, she isn’t punishing herself for the sake of appeasing her family or those around her. Mi-suk, her mother, still doesn’t understand this decision and resents how her daughter is choosing a simpler life. In this episode, Mi-suk finally admits that she is missing the benefits that came with a daughter who worked for a prestigious company. The way she said it sounded sarcastic, of course, but there’s a hint of truth in her words.

It’s hard to see Seok-ryu suffer in silence, but you’re already eight episodes deep. Love Next Door episode 9 will be available on Netflix on September 14, 2024.

Unfair expectations

From the start of the series, Seok-ryu has been the golden child that her mother could brag about. Instead of asking about how her daughter was feeling, Mi-suk was quick to condemn her for choosing to break her engagement off and for quitting her high-paying job. At the same time, Mi-suk is extremely lenient with Dong-jin, her younger son.

The eldest child can’t be less than perfect. Only the younger siblings are given the privilege to dream. Episode 8 hits a little too close to home, especially for older siblings who’ve had to throw their dreams away to appease their loved ones.

It’s hard to open up to parents who refuse to make an effort to understand you. Seok-ryu’s experience isn’t isolated, as many viewers were brought to tears when she finally brought up the double standards that were in place for her. She didn’t tell her parents about her stomach cancer or the discrimination she experienced abroad. Nevertheless, her parents still treated her as if she was a failure because she no longer wanted to live up to their standards.

In an ideal world, self-centered parents wouldn’t wait for regret to come before they started treating their children better. The last minute of the episode showed something wrong with Seok-ryu’s stomach. Hopefully, Mi-suk and Geun-sik find out about their daughter’s condition before it’s too late.