Ji Sung's 'The Apartment Job' Rises to 6% in Ratings as Election Twist Unfolds

JTBC's weekend drama "The Apartment Job" is gaining momentum. Its fourth episode, which aired on the 19th, drew a 6.0% national average rating, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous week.

"The Completion of Marriage," which aired the same night, posted a 6.4% rating to reclaim the top spot in the time slot, rising 1.4 percentage points from its last episode.

The fourth episode of "Apartment" delivered two major turns. Ji Sung's character, Park Hae-gang, pulled off a comeback to seize the chairmanship of the residents' representative committee. At the same time, Lee Chung-won, played by Park Byung-eun, spiraled into rage after construction on the Oman new town was halted and his loyal fixer Seo Kang-won, played by Bek Hyunjin, fell from power.

After winning a seat as a building representative, Park Hae-gang kept his "Coexistence Delivery Team" running. But Lee Chung-won, who had leveraged high-ranking connections to push through the Oman district's final approval as a fourth-phase new town, moved to check Park's rising popularity. "I can't stand it if anyone else becomes a hero in my apartment complex," he said, suddenly allowing delivery trucks he had earlier blocked under the excuse of landscaping.

Park Hae-gang then declared his run for chairman of the residents' representative committee, challenging Chairman Seo, who was chasing a fourth term through an internal cartel inside the complex. To start his campaign, he took up Kang Ha-ri's suggestion, played by Ha Yoon-kyung, and put on a show-window couple act in front of the residents. He also worked the recycling station himself, helping neighbors and gathering votes.

As Park's popularity climbed, a rattled Chairman Seo called an emergency building representatives' meeting. He had obtained information from recycling contractors that Park was a former boss of a gang called the "Oasis faction," and he broadcast the claim to the entire complex live. "Why did you hide the fact that you were the leader of a nationwide gang?" Seo pressed. The moment Park tried to explain, Seo cut the broadcast on purpose, leaving the residents with only fear and confusion. Branded a gangster in an instant, Park watched the neighbors turn away in waves. Seo believed he had won.

Park was crushed, but Kang Ha-ri's "failure allergy" kicked in. She pored over the election rules, vented her anger, then walked into the apartment cafe herself. "I married him because I fell for his kick," she told the residents, defending Park's past head-on and silencing the room.

Jang Sook-jin, played by Moon So-ri, who had lost to Park earlier, also stepped in. Finding him sitting in a daze, she said, "You don't know how much Seo and his crew ruined this apartment, how much they took, do you? Come with me. We have to do something." She pulled him into a protest at the Oman Station subway exit, where residents were demanding a change to the planned layout. There, Park caught a decisive hint from a passing comment: "Unless a relic turns up in the Oman new town, a plan like this doesn't just change."

Park remembered an incident from three years earlier, when he had saved a Japanese VIP named Tadayoshi, played by Won Hyun-jun, from a rival organization at his own gambling den. He sent Kim Kyung-nam, played by Jung Soon-won, and Jang Je-gil, played by Hwang Hee, to Japan and had them bring back relics from Tadayoshi's collection. Park buried the artifacts at the Oman new town construction site, joined Jang Sook-jin and the protesters there, and staged a fake discovery. The wild scheme worked. Property values in the complex jumped.

Lee Chung-won, meanwhile, watched the new town development freeze because of Park's staged relic find. "I can't fit in the last piece of my puzzle," he said, then flipped a puzzle board in fury. Once Park took the chairman's seat, Lee lost control entirely. In Chairman Seo's office, he used the now-useless chairman's nameplate to brutally beat Seo down.

On his way out to buy alcohol for a small celebration with his family, Park Hae-gang ran into Lee Chung-won, who was heading home after taking care of Seo. Park greeted him warmly, and Lee offered congratulations along with a handshake. As they shook hands, Park noticed a small bloodstain on the back of Lee's hand, then another on the side of his face. His eyes hardened for a moment. Park kept his expression calm and turned to leave. Behind him, Lee smiled and said, "Mr. Park Hae-gang. You and I, we'll be seeing each other again," his meaning unclear.