A Heartfelt Reunion In ‘A Virtuous Business’ Episode 11

I think the smartest thing that A Virtuous Business has done thus far is entangling Da-hyun’s seemingly unrelated personal subplot with the core group dynamics. After the previous episode dropped a very big hint in this regard, Episode 11 solidifies the idea and begins mining it for some pretty effective emotional drama.

There are still other things going on, but the main dramatic thrust here is the culmination of Da-hyun’s quest to find his mother, and I, for one, found its resolution effective. Maybe it’s recency bias, but my first instinct is to declare that this is the season’s standout episode.

Anyway, the previous episode ended with Jeong-suk stumbling on rather compelling evidence that Geum-hui is the mother Da-hyun is looking for, but she keeps it to herself when she rejoins the party. But with that hint in the background, every interaction between Geum-hui and Da-hyun is seen through a new lens. Both have an odd sense of comfort around each other, and Geum-hui’s caring instincts come to her naturally.

But again, Jeong-suk stays quiet about her discovery, even during a photoshoot the next day. The parallels are allowed to emerge more organically, in shared habits and preferences that the two characters never noticed until now. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, though, especially everything involving the hit-and-run, the weight of a major secret is a struggle to bear, and Jeong-suk feels that as she observes.

Eventually, she sees fit to tell Da-hyun what she discovered, especially since he expresses he’d very much like his mother to turn out to be someone like Geum-hui. Da-hyun seems to have ruled her out of his search, so it seems a bit of a leap, but sometimes you just know.

Geum-hui’s motherly instincts stand in stark contrast to Young-ja’s, who tries to bribe Ju-ri to leave Dae-geun. When Dae-geun defends her, Young-ja kicks him out and cancels Ju-ri’s lease, leaving the two of them and Ju-ri’s son homeless and seeking shelter with Geum-hui and Won-bong.

Of course, the proximity of these two characters helps Geum-hui to explore her feelings about motherhood, especially after Da-hyun shows her the outfit he was wearing when he was adopted. Geum-hui’s clearly bothered by this and asks Ju-ri if she regrets raising her son alone. Of course, she doesn’t.

But this doesn’t make things any easier for Geum-hui to process. As far as Da-hyun’s concerned, she abandoned him, and the more she thinks about it, the less justifiable it seems to have done so. Now, she’s also worried about how Won-bong will deal with the revelation if it comes out, which is understandable.

But Won-bong, on some level, always knew, or least suspected. He doesn’t think any less of his wife and would never leave her over this; his life is complete with her. Inspired by this, Geum-hui rushes to Da-hyun’s side to do the motherly thing and care for him. When he questions her, she confesses that she is his mother, and A Virtuous Business Episode 11 ends powerfully, with both embracing and crying as mother and son finally reunite.