Employee Bae Hyun-seong's abuse of power toward Lee Re prompted company president Han Seok-gyu to step in.
In the April 23 episode of the tvN Monday-Tuesday drama Shin's Project (written by Ban Gi-ri, directed by Shin Kyung-soo, planned by Studio Dragon, produced by Do Frame), episode 4, Shin Sa-jang (played by Han Seok-gyu) was enraged by Choi Yong-min's (played by Byung-hun) cruelty, who harassed Lee Si-on (played by Lee Re) and tried to take Jo Philip's (played by Bae Hyun-seong) life, and launched the opening salvo of a fiery revenge.
Episode 4 recorded a metropolitan area household average rating of 7.4% and a peak of 9.2%, a nationwide household average of 7.7% and a peak of 9.7%, ranking first in its time slot across all channels including terrestrial. It also ranked first among tvN's target 20-49 male and female viewers across cable, general programming and all channels. (Based on paid platforms integrating cable, IPTV and satellite / provided by Nielsen Korea)
When Shin Sa-jang learned that Lee Si-on had been hurt, he found out from Jang Tong-woo (played by Jo Hyun-sik), the owner of the Chinese restaurant Myeongwangseong, that there was a customer who had been harassing her. Using the pretext of teaching delivery know-how, Shin Sa-jang had Jo Philip accompany her to keep Lee Si-on from being exposed to further danger.
While facing the abusive customer's insults and assault again, Lee Si-on escaped the situation with Jo Philip's help, and she told the worried Jo Philip that the abusive customer had been Choi Yong-min (played by Byung-hun), who had cruelly tormented her since high school.
Enraged by Lee Si-on's words, Jo Philip went to Choi Yong-min's house to warn him but fell into an unexpected crisis. After being ambushed by Choi Yong-min on the stairs and losing consciousness, he came to and found himself trapped in a car trunk, facing a life-or-death moment about to be crushed in a scrapyard compactor.
Fortunately, sensing something suspicious when Jo Philip's contact was cut off, Shin Sa-jang and Lee Si-on rushed to the scene and rescued him, bringing the incident to a close for the moment. Choi Yong-min's brutal actions, which targeted not only Lee Si-on but even Jo Philip, shocked both Shin Sa-jang and viewers alike.
Unable to tolerate Choi Yong-min's harassment of employees, Shin Sa-jang confirmed through records investigated by Kim Su-dong (played by Jung Eun-pyo), assistant deputy director at the administrative welfare center, that behind Choi Yong-min was his father and city councilor Choi Woong-sik (played by Park Won-sang). He was further enraged after learning that the scrapyard that had nearly led to Jo Philip's death was owned by an associate of Choi Woong-sik and that in the past Choi Woong-sik had covered up Choi Yong-min's school violence.
Outraged by the father's shameless behavior, Shin Sa-jang visited Councilor Choi Woong-sik and, complaining that the abuse of power against small business owners was severe, casually played a recording of the scene in which Choi Yong-min was harassing Lee Si-on to gauge his reaction.
At first, Choi Woong-sik feigned sympathy with Shin Sa-jang's hardship and put on the face of a benevolent politician, but when he realized it involved his son he changed expression and tried to brush it off. Shin Sa-jang then tightened the screws on Choi Woong-sik by additionally playing an audio recording containing evidence of an attempted murder.
Facing a fourth-term election, Choi Woong-sik could not tolerate any more risk. With his face hardened, Choi Woong-sik asked Shin Sa-jang if he was already aware and blackmailing him, and Shin Sa-jang instead replied with a relaxed smile, "Do you want to negotiate? Or do you want to be really blackmailed?" It raised curiosity about what kind of revenge Shin Sa-jang, awakened by the villainous father's mistreatment of his employees, would deliver.
Meanwhile, at that time, Choi Yong-min committed another mad act by setting fire to Lee Si-on's motorcycle, saying he would cut off her means of livelihood. Choi Yong-min's relentless rampage pressed viewers' anger buttons and made them look forward even more to the satisfying payoff Shin Sa-jang would deliver.
The thrilling revenge of negotiation hero Han Seok-gyu against the villainous father and son can be seen in episode 5 of the tvN Monday-Tuesday drama Shin's Project, which airs on Apr. 29 at 8:50 p.m.
[Photo] Broadcast capture
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