“The Law Cafe” has dropped, and it is equal parts cuteness with a surprise of seriousness. This couple is not only using their knowledge of the law for making coffees, they are planning on taking down a corrupt system, and I am here for this! Check out our episode 1 and 2 recap below.
“The Law Cafe” Recap Episodes 1 and 2
TLDR: Episode one introduced us to our main character’s (Jun Ho and Yuri played by Lee Seung Gi and Lee Se Young, respectively) background of knowing each other in school and ended on Yuri purchasing a cafe but being told by Jun Ho, who is also the owner of the building, that he would not rent it to her! In episode 2 she successfully gets him to rent it to her, but not without a ton of ridiculous stipulations added to the contract. Also, he thinks a law cafe is a pretty dumb idea that will give her nothing but headaches.
And hey, he isn’t wrong because her first client does give her a huge (though unintentional) headache with his problem of his apartment neighbors being too loud and literally driving him crazy. But the bigger issue this uncovers is that the real culprit is the corporation named Do Han Group that built the apartment complex to unacceptable standards, and this corporation is also involved in the wrongful death of Yuri’s father who was a worker at this company’s factory. To add romantic insult to injury, Jun Ho’s prosecutor father was involved in the cover up and his maternal grandfather is the owner of said corporation. Yes, this drama has that level of drama!
In the end of episode 2 it seems that Yuri and Jun Ho will band together to defeat this company once and for all! Latte with a side of justice? *Raises hand* Yes, please!
And that is the short recap, below is a lot more story information if you would like to indulge!
Lee Seung Gi and Lee Se Young Play High School Besties and Campus Sweethearts
Jung Ho (Lee Seung Gi) and Yuri (Lee Se Young) are not only best friends in high school, they are also kind of sort of sweethearts in college! But unofficial sweethearts, you know, the kind where they hang out all the time, so everyone thinks they are dating, but they aren’t, but then they think, hmm…maybe we can pretend to date and then that leads to them actually dating and falling for each other? That is what happened in college and law school. But, one day, Jung Ho suddenly tells Yuri that they should stop seeing each other, and he disappears from her life. They both become lawyers and run into each other later when she opens her law cafe.
Lee Se Young’s Character Does Not Stop
Yuri is not the type of lawyer to take no for an answer. It does not matter if her characters are asking for $50,000 or $1.50, she will make sure that justice is served! This gets her in all sorts of problems with her law office which (though they love her) thinks that Yuri is spending way too much company resources on getting her clients $1.50 in unlawful toll money returned. We see this in the first few minutes of the opening episode where her law company throws her a party for resigning to start her own law cafe. But I’m sure this passion will pay off later!
Lee Se Young’s Character is Passionate About Worker’s Rights
Yuri is very passionate about workers’ rights because her father was the fall guy for a big corporation’s wrongful death lawsuit. The corporation is Do Han Group. To add insult to injury, her father was also one of the people who died in this accident AND IT WAS THE DO HAN FACTORY’S FAULT. This ignited her passion in worker’s rights and is the inciting incident in Yuri passion of not stopping for anything until that justice is served and proper precautions are put in place to keep workers from getting injured while on the job!
This is a large part of the reason she wants to open a law cafe. She wants to give easy simple advice to people who would not normally be able to seek advice from a lawyer and finds the perfect cute little place to do it in. If only the landlord, college sweetheart Jung Ho, wasn’t in her way!
Lee Seung Gi’s Family Story is SUPER Complicated
Okay, I know there are always reasons for the OTP to not get together in the drama, but this show is taking it to another K-Drama level. In the second episode we find out that Jun Ho’s father is either the prosecutor or the judge involved in the company coverup of Yuri’s father’s wrongful death case! But not only that, Jun Ho’s mother is the daughter of the company involved in the case!
So, Jun Ho is related to the chaebol company that destroyed Yuru’s family and his father is the law official that covered it up. But it gets even more complicated because Jun Ho’s family is ostracized from the chaebol family because they didn’t want their daughter to marry Jun Ho’s father. So why did the father pull strings for the family?
I feel like that is something that will be uncovered in this series and will be something that will keep the lead couple apart. But, one thing that is great is that Yuri knows that Jun Ho’s father was the prosecutor (or judge, not sure yet) in the trial and tells him that she doesn’t hold it against him and still wants to be good friends.
However, she does not know that the father covered up information for the Do Han company or that Jun Ho is related to the Do Han Group! I think this is why Jun Ho suddenly severed ties with her because, when he found out (flashback in episode 2), he felt so much guilt that he had to.
Lee Se Young and Lee Seung Gi’s Chemistry is Adorable
If you are the kind of person that likes second chance romances and bickering love affairs, then you will love Lee Se Young and Lee Seung Gi’s chemistry! Not one moment goes by when they are together, as adults, and they are not bickering with each other. But that is a stark contrast to when they were friends and sweethearts in school where they never argued at all.
“The Law Cafe” Brings Lee Se Young and Lee Seung Gi’s Characters Back Together Again
After watching two episodes, it appears that Jun Ho and Yuri do not talk to each other again after Jun Ho cuts off ties with her. But, they run into each other again when Yuri wants to rent her space to bring her Law Cafe to life because Jun Ho is the landlord!
Jun Ho still has an amazing (and amazingly adorable) crush on Yuri, which is one of the reasons he does not want her to rent his space. Another reason is because of his guilt over his family’s involvement in the wrongful death case.
But Yuri is not about to be stopped because she fell in love with this cute little shop well before she knew who the landlord was, and she will not take no for an answer. So, she negotiates with Jun Ho and accepts a ridiculous contract in order to get it.
“The Law Cafe’s” First Client Reveals a Bigger Story of Corruption
“The Law Cafe’s” first client is a man with mental health issues who thinks his neighbors are way too loud. Yuri helps him out and in so doing finds out that the apartment building was not built properly so it is very easy for noise to travel between the walls. All the residents complain about this! And the company that made the building is…Do Han Industries! The company that continues to cover up their corrupt practices again and again.
Not only does Yuri want to take this company to court to get justice, Jun Ho does too! And guess what, he has a secret closet full of information he has been gathering to possibly do just that.
And that is our recap and thoughts for the first two episodes of “The Law Cafe”! Are you checking out this brand-new K-Drama with these two adorable leads? What do you think about it? Would you go to a law cafe for advice? Let us know in the comments and be sure to stream “The Law Cafe” on KOCOWA!
