'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQF/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAN2cHQ//xAAfEAACAQMFAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMABAUGERQhIjL/2gAIAQEAAT8At9LWNjFYZLIbyZV+LaRhPUQaNHMR77X49Uuqck6h2khUsNyohBAr/8QAFhEAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEC/9oACAECAQE/AJZ//8QAFxEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACIf/aAAgBAwEBPwCoOz//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In the seventh episode of Heo’s Diner, released on April 14, 2025, the series intensifies as Heo Gyun (EXO’s Xiumin) confronts the encroaching shadows of his Joseon past. The episode delves into themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the complexities of time while maintaining the show's signature blend of humor and heartfelt moments.
Episode 7 shows Lee Hyeok (Lee Sae-on) offering Heo Gyun to work at his fine dining restaurant. Hyeok promises to take care of Eun-sil's mother's hospital bills so that Eun-sil wouldn't have to keep her diner open and struggle. Gyun believes Hyeok's words, failing to see past his veneer of being the good guy.
Episode 8 takes a sharp turn when a scene reveals that it was Hyeok who had pushed Eun-sil's mother in the series' inaugural episodes. Since then, Eun-sil's mother has been in a coma while her daughter is trying to keep the restaurant afloat to pay off her mother's hospital bills.
Trending
Heo’s Diner Episode 7 recap: Heo Gyun fails to understand Lee Hyeok's sinister motives
Back in the present, Heo Gyun's culinary prowess continues to shine, drawing admiration from patrons and stirring jealousy in rival chef Lee Hyeok (Lee Sae-on). The uncanny resemblance between Lee Hyeok and Lee Yi-cheom (also portrayed by Lee Sae-on) unsettles Heo Gyun, blurring the lines between past and present.
Their interactions are charged with unspoken history, as Heo Gyun grapples with the possibility that his past adversary has a modern counterpart. In episode 7 of Heo’s Diner, under the influence of alcohol, Gyun tells Hyeok about his friend from the Joseon era, Lee Yi-cheom, who always protected Gyun.
Simultaneously, Heo’s Diner episode 7 takes viewers 400 years back, where Lee Yi-cheom could be seen torturing the helpless men and putting them behind bars, a stark contrast to Gyun's perception of him. In previous episodes, we have seen that it was Yi-cheom who had sent an assassin to chase and kill Gyun, which led to his accidental time-traveling into 2025.
Meanwhile, Bong Eun-sil's (WJSN’s Exy) wariness of Heo Gyun disappears after she spends more time with him and realises he is just innocent. Although she still doesn't take his words seriously about being from the Joseon era.
Furthermore, her frustration with paying the piling hospital bills of her mother's treatment culminates in a heartfelt confrontation after Gyun reveals that he wants to work elsewhere. Eun-sil is hurt to learn that Gyun wants to abandon her and her mother's diner business to work elsewhere. She decides to sell her diner to Lee Hyeok so that she can pay off her mother's hospital bills.
Heo’s Diner Episode 8 recap: Heo Gyun’s recollection of Eun-sil's mother stirs the hornet's nest
Heo’s Diner episode 8 opens with a vivid flashback to the day when Eun-sil's mother accidentally falls from the stairs and Gyun finds her bleeding in the alley. This happens after Lee Hyeok secretly enters Eun-sil's diner to learn Gyun's secret to cooking delicious meals that are harmful to Hyeok's restaurant business. In doing so, Hyeok accidentally breaks Eun-sil's mother's cherished porcelain pot.
Gyun and Eun-sil return to their diner and see the broken porcelain pot and the messy kitchen. They call the police to report a robbery, but Gyun comes across a shard of the porcelain pot stained with the culprit's blood. The detective on duty takes the broken piece as evidence, however, it is the same detective who is on the payroll of Lee Hyeok and has been hiding Hyeok's truth.
Heo’s Diner episode 8 reveals that it was Chef Lee Hyeok who had pushed Eun-sil's mother down the stairs so that her diner gets shut down. Lee Hyeok couldn't stand the presence of a shabby, run-down diner in front of his fine dining restaurant.
His only intention is to buy the diner to completely shut it down at all costs. In his quest, he intentionally tries to hurt Eun-sil's mother, which puts her in a coma since episode 2.
Heo’s Diner episode 8 takes a turn when Gyun recalls the time and scenario when he found Eun-sil's mother unconscious and bleeding in the alley. As the detective and his team look for evidence in the diner of a robbery, Gyun tells the detective about remembering everything.
The detective's condescending responses to Gyun's claims are indecipherable to the latter, as he is still a novice in 2025 Seoul, where people would do anything for their gain. However, by the end of Heo’s Diner episode 8, Gyun confronts the detective and learns that Lee Hyeok has been behind every mishap.
The detective and Gyun get into a physical altercation, and that leads to the latter having a seizure. Gyun regains his memories of how an assassin chased him, who looked exactly like the detective from the present. He remembers that the assassin had told him that it was Lee Yi-cheom who had sent him to kill Gyun and his seven friends.
He also remembers how the assassin had stabbed Gyun in his heart, and an old man had found a half-dead Gyun, saved his life, and sent him 400 years into the present. Gyun gains back his consciousness, and the episode ends there.
Heo’s Diner episodes 9 and 10 will reveal if Gyun could learn the reason for his time travel and if he could save his seven friends from dying in the hands of Lee Yi-cheom in the Joseon era. Episodes 9 and 10 are due on April 21 and 22, 2025.
