We always love a good romantic fantasy, but King The Land would have us believe that if you don’t have the right person in your life, everything else will keep going wrong. Work and personal relationships are the two defining parts of everyday life, and all the characters in the show, be it Sa Rang and her friends or even Gu Won, are in terrible professional spaces. The only person who is remotely happy is No Sang Sik, who is fast becoming a favorite along with Da Eul. Why are these two not getting more screen time, considering that they are the perfect comic relief, one with his absurdity and the other with her cool-headed decisions in a world of crazy? We still like King The Land a lot, and we continue to adore the development of Cheon Sa Rang and Gu Won’s relationship, but it becomes important to remember that it is fiction after all, and the love story wouldn’t have be alluring if it wasn’t set against such a “cinderella-ish” backdrop, where Sa Rang’s co-workers take on the role of her evil stepsisters and stepmother. So here is a recap of episode 7 of King The Land.
Spoilers Alert
How Does Gu Won Convince The Arab Prince, Samir, To Come To The King Hotel?
Seeing where episode 6 of King The Land ended, it is safe to say that had we been in Sa Rang’s situation and a potential love interest had seen us goofily rapping to a song, we would have similarly shriveled up with embarrassment. But Gu Won is at Sa Rang’s door, and he makes his way inside to meet Pyeong Hwa and Da Eul, who are similarly goofy but not as embarrassed since they are not the ones with feelings for Gu Won. But they understand that he is the one who is interested in Sa Rang, and spare no chance to tease them about it. However, they also talk about how much Sa Rang cribs about Gu Won, not knowing that he is the one in front of them. When they leave, Sa Rang asks Gu Won about Yu Ri, and he clarifies that she is not his girlfriend. Sa Rang is still jealous, and Gu Won certainly enjoys that, considering that she has not yet agreed to go on a date with him. But they do end up holding ends, and as much as we want to swoon over this scene, Sa Rang’s overt shyness at the gesture makes us cringe, though it is negligible enough in light of the entire sequence of events so far.
The next day, Gu Hwa Ran holds a press conference to take credit for Gu Won’s rescue of Sa Rang, and the latter is forced to go along with it. She is uncomfortable that Gu Won is not getting any credit, especially since she knows that Hwa Ran had not authorized the plane and Gu Won had forcefully taken it to rescue her. Therefore, at the press conference, despite Hwa Ran’s instructions, Sa Rang mentions how Gu Won was the one to rescue her. King Hotel and Hwa Ran still get mentions, but Gu Won’s name was also said. However, when the actual articles are printed, his name is nowhere to be seen. As touched as Gu Won is, he tells Hwa Ran that it was he who told Sa Rang to take his name. This way, she remains protected from Hwa Ran’s manipulative eye. On the other hand, Hwa Ran is absolutely unrepentant and stubborn, and she drives home how she is winning this race because she keeps up appearances.
True to that, when the discussion of which hotel the Arab Prince, Samir, would stay at begins, Hwa Ran pushes it on Gu Won, even though she has been handling the matter for the last six months. She had decided to give up when she got the news that he had chosen the First Royal Hotel for his stay, and now she pushes what she thinks is an impossible task onto Gu Won’s shoulders. But he is up for the challenge, and, in fact, accomplishes it in no time. Gu Won knows Samir from school, and he just makes a call, asking him to stay at the King Hotel. They do not like each other, and Samir only agreed to stay with Gu Won on the condition that he would do whatever he wanted. As much as Gu Won loathes the idea, he has no choice. He did not like Samir because he was a bit of a showoff with his money. But now, it is that very money that King Hotel needs, so Gu Won has to eat a humble pie. For once, Sang Sik is against the idea because of the ridiculous contract that the prince sends over, saying that Gu Won has to smile and accept everything he says, which goes against Gu Won’s very DNA, but that is not going to stop him.
How Does Gu Won Show Up As The Fake Groom?
There is a fundamental difference between Gu Won and Sa Rang’s work ethic. Gu Won believes that things are “better done than perfect,” whereas Sa Rang pours her heart and soul into everything. That might also have to do with the kind of lives they have led and what has shaped them as people, but it is about how they come to appreciate each other’s point of view, or at least how Gu Won comes to see Sa Rang’s view so far. She has yet to unpack what went on in his past, but that part is still a few episodes away. When Prince Samir comes to the King Hotel, he takes an instant liking to Sa Rang and is quite smitten by her, making Gu Won dislike him way more than before. But Samir doesn’t care, and he insists on having lunch with Sa Rang, where he tells her that the first woman he fell in love with was Korean, and he learned the language for her. Samir is obviously imagining things, and Gu Won comes to the table right on cue to get in between them. These two dislike each other so much, and it is funny to watch. On the other hand, we barely see a scene where Samir negotiates his deal, which was the purpose of his coming to Korea. This makes sense since this series is heavily focused on the love story with little to no room for distractions. It has been a while since we saw something like this, and it is easily the reason for King The Land‘s success so far.
When Samir asks to visit the palace in Seoul for a tour, Gu Won and Sa Rang accompany him, and true to their ongoing feud, Samir insists that Gu Won get him a coffee. He also insists on participating in a cultural experience where two people get married in the traditional Korean style, the way kings and queens used to, back in the day. Gu Won is furious as Samir wants to do that with Sa Rang, and he is about to tear up the contract when Sa Rang agrees for the sake of the hotel. At the end of King the Land episode 7, as Sa Rang gets out of the palanquin, dressed in traditional Korean wedding attire, she looks at the face of her groom, and to her surprise, it is Gu Won. King The Land wouldn’t be as good a romcom if the cliches weren’t executed in all of their glory, and we loved this moment. Gu Won has certainly stolen Samir’s clothes or done something because of which he couldn’t show up. We will know in episode 8.
Final Thoughts
We know that things are going to be fine with Gu Won and Sa Rang, but we hope the same for Da Eul and Pyeong Hwa. The latter has some secret up her sleeve; maybe a past affair with a married pilot, whereas Da Eul is up for achieving some impossible goals simply because her co-workers are so shortsighted. Hwa Ran is close to detecting the relationship between her brother and Sa Rang, and she is going to push his buttons. But what we are waiting for is the moment Gu Won finally takes charge of things and actively competes with her. It’s not for this week, but we hope it comes soon.
