In tvN's 'Typhoon Family', Junho halted a freight truck with instinctive intuition and unwavering decisiveness.
Episode 2 of tvN's weekend drama ‘Typhoon Family', broadcast on the 12th, unfolded with keen interest. It tells the story of Kang Taepung (played by Juno), a young man who loved flowers, entering the turbulent season of the IMF currency crisis and joining Typhoon Trading as a new employee. This company had been carefully nurtured for 26 years by his father, Kang Jin-yeong (played by Song Dong-il). The episode recorded a nationwide average viewership rating of 6.8%, peaking at 7.5%, and a metropolitan average of 6.3%, peaking at 7.2%. (Based on paid platforms including cable, IPTV, and satellite / Provided by Nielsen Korea)
The impact of the IMF currency crisis became starkly apparent at father Jin-yeong's funeral parlour. Che, the president of Sapdari Logistics (played by Kim Do-yeon), a business partner of Tepung Trading, caused a commotion by declaring, "There are outstanding payments," and attempting to seize the condolence money box. It was accountant Oh Mi-seon (Kim Min-ha) who thwarted this bitter reality where money took precedence even at death's door. She recalled the contract clauses, the invoice issuance date, and even the postmark date with flawless precision, not missing a single particle, and informed them the payment deadline had not yet passed.
But that wasn't all. Mi-seon's younger brother, Oh Miho (Kwon Han-sol), who had passed the final selection for Korean Air, received an unprecedented revocation of his offer, forcing Mi-Seon to abandon her dream of university. Wang Nam-mo (Kim Min-seok), a close friend of Taepung, saw his mother, Ulnyo (Park Sung-young), placed on standby at the bank where she worked as deputy branch manager. The reality of being pushed out to the desk and forced to endure the cold corridor showed everyone what a difficult era it was. Similarly, the employees of Typhoon Trading, except for Mi-seon, Ko Ma-jin (Lee Chang-hoon), Cha Seong-tek (Kim Jae-fa), Gu Myung-gwan (Kim Sung-il), and Bae Seong-joon (Lee Sang-jin), submitted their resignations and left the company.
Taepung visited Typhoon Trading to sort his father's belongings. The office, encrusted with years of grime, bore the unaltered traces of his father's 26-year legacy. Every ledger and journal in the office bore witness to his fiercely lived life. At that moment, President Chae of Sapdali Logistics re-entered, demanding joint liability for unpaid debts and pressuring for a new representative to take over. Unable to stand by, Taepung stepped forward, declaring, "I will take responsibility." To President Chae, who demanded credentials, he even prepared the employment documents Mi-seon had given him, declaring him "an employee from today".
Until that moment, Taepung had planned to return to the Flower Garden to tend to the flowers once all the arrangements were complete. However, he discovered a secret safe in his father's office. Just as Mi-seon had said the president dreamed of a "century-long plan," entering "2072" – the year Typhoon Trading would reach its centenary – as the PIN revealed a passbook bearing his name and those of his employees. Taepung finally understood what "Typhoon Trading" truly meant to his father. It embodied his father's heartfelt conviction to cherish every person working alongside him as family, beyond mere employees.
Kang Taepung's passbook also contained letters from his father. Deposited monthly with 300,000 won, they were so-called 'passbook letters' left in the sender field, limited to four characters. Within them lay messages piled high “Father supports your dreams. You are always the one I love most. People matter more than results. We are more fragrant than flowers, more valuable than money.”
Taepung sought help from Mi-seon, saying, "I'd like to learn a little about the work." It was his resolve to become a "true employee of Typhoon Trading". Mi-seon conveyed the president's final words to him, who had grasped her hand earnestly: "Taepung can do it well. I entrust him to you." She then made a business card bearing the name "Employee Kang Taepung". Taepung, who had held back tears even at the funeral, shed tears once more, reaffirming his father's will.
The next day, Taepung arrived at the company looking completely transformed. He had discarded his flashy style and hairband entirely, appearing in a suit befitting an office worker, even carrying a briefcase. Determined to learn his job as a 'proper employee', Taepung headed to the delivery site of Tebang Textiles with Mi-seon and Ma-jin. However, the atmosphere at the company was anything but normal. The office was excessively clean, the filing cabinets were empty, and the telephone lines had been disconnected. There was no trace of the 'grime of years' that should naturally exist in a company over thirty years old, the kind he had seen in his father's office.
Intuiting something was amiss, Taepung begged Mi-seon to trust him and refrain from stamping the documents. He sprinted with all his might towards the cargo truck laden with fabric. Forcing the delivery would have been perilous. Yet Ma-Jin.refused to back down, and Taepung ended up lying flat on the asphalt before the truck. Petals drifted down onto Taepung's face. Once, his father had told the young Taepung, "Flowers do not scatter; they strive to bear fruit and win."
'Typhoon Family' airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9:10pm on tvN.
