Auction House (Drama - 2007)

Synopsis

At an auction, everything has monetary value!
How much is your life worth in dollars? Do you want to be appraised?
Sotheby’s of New York, Christie’s of London, and Hi Auction of Seoul!
This is another battleground. Art, history and your life can be evaluated in terms of dollars.
This drama delves into the greed of humans that underlie art dealings.

The thrilling action at auction houses, A story about auctioneers who professionally compete against each other!
Hi Auction, Korea’s best auction house, is a place of high drama and action that is over the top.
At an auction, there are tensions between the seller and buyer.
People try to figure out who is bluffing or who is making a serious offer.
Auctioneers try to outsmart and outmaneuver buyers and competitors.
Art collectors and art dealers engage in close partnerships or betray each other if the need arises.

This is harder than “Mission Impossible!”
Cha Yeon-soo is a new recruit at Hi Auction, Korea’s best auction house.
Since her dad is an art forger, she is almost forced to quit the company but she tries to hang on to her job by performing impossible tasks that are delegated to her. This is a story about her survival!
A success story about one young woman who takes on the auction world.



Casting

Cha Yeon-soo (Female, age: 26) - A new employee at Hi Auction
She is an honest person with a sunny personality. She is sweet like a strawberry and tough like a weed. Underlying her brashness and sure demeanor, she is a tough competitor.
After getting rejected 50 times in her job search, she watched a TV program about auctioneers by coincidence and decided to apply for a job at Hi Auction on a whim.
She is overjoyed to finally land a job. After getting to know Min Seo-rin, the top auctioneer, she admires her and dreams of becoming just like her.
She works hard to become a better auctioneer than Min Seo-rin.
But her dreams are almost crushed by Min Seo-rin, the very person she admires.
Min Seo-rin tells her to quit the company because Yeon-soo’s dad painted forgeries.
But Yeon-soo does not back down and holds on to her job as Min Seo-rin makes her life tough.
It’s the survival of the fittest.
But then life throws a curve ball at her! Her boss, Oh Yoon-jae, is only interested in assessing the fine artistic details of art pieces without any regard for the plight that Yeon-soo has gotten into because of Min Seo-rin. Her life at work becomes very complicated.

Oh Yoon-jae (Male, age: 35) A sophisticated art specialist, Yeon-soo’s boss
A theorist who holds an art degree.
He is a cynic with a lot of pride.
Having a difficult personality, he is inconsiderate, mean, and selfish.
He only focuses on his own work.
He is well-studied in art and has extensive knowledge of art pieces from different periods.
One time, he even urged a dying painter with liver disease to have a drink if it would help him finish his last masterpiece. This is how obsessed he is about art.
He likes to get into arguments with art speculators who have no appreciation of art.
Because of his abrasiveness towards prospective clients, he gets into a lot of face-to-face arguments with Min Seo-rin, whose mantra is the client is always right.
Min Seo-rin relegates him to oversee the new employee training program. Yeon-soo who causes problems and asks far too many questions to his liking annoys him. But he opens up as a person after meeting her. And one day, he finds himself attracted to her...

Min Seo-lin (Female, age: 40) - Top auctioneer at Hi Auction
Korea’s most outstanding auctioneer.
Director at Hi Auction.
Earning more than $100K a year at the age of 40, she looks much younger than her age and has a pretty complexion.
She is the most admired woman among female college students.
Any art that does not fetch a high price is meaningless to her.
She prefers to handle art pieces of high value rather than art that is highly regarded in the art community.
Who cares if the art collector is a man of sophisticated taste or a vulgar art speculator? A paying client is the king.
She is business-minded and dislikes Oh Yoon-jae who only cares about the artistic details of art pieces.
But she does have principles.
She will never tolerate art pieces that have been obtained under suspicious circumstances.
Even if an art piece has a high value, she won’t handle stolen art or forgeries.
But out of all the people she could hire, she can’t believe she hired the daughter of a notorious art forger.

Episode Guide

Cha Yeon-soo gets her first job at an auction house. Now she doesn’t have to
despair over her long years of job searching. She has no idea how auctions take
place and she is put under a tight leash when the prickly Oh Yoon-jae becomes her
boss. Life at work could never get as bad as this. But after helping put together an
auction, she begins to like what she is doing and auctioneer Min Seo-rin becomes
her role model. However, when the company finds out that her dad is an art forger,
Min Seo-rin asks her to submit her resignation...

Yeon-soo thinks its unfair of Min Seo-rin to push her out of her job because of what
her dad did so doesn’t quit. Meanwhile, she tries to work hard to prove herself at
work and gain Min Seo-rin’s approval. But she gets involved in a lot of tough
situations during her first few months on the job. While tacking all the troubles she
faces at work, Yeon-soo gets into small and big arguments with Yoon-jae. But
unbeknownst to Yeon-soo, Yoon-jae helps her with her impossible tasks. Yeon-
soo also learns about art from Yoon-jae, who is Korea’s top art expert, and this
helps her professionally.

After the auction house gets embroiled in a forgery scandal, Min Seo-rin changes
her mind about Yeon-soo and begins to understand her. She also likes the hard
work ethic of Yeon-soo, who always charges into a project with supreme
confidence. So she thinks about making Yeon-soo the next auctioneer to follow in
her footsteps. But before she could groom Yeon-soo to be her successor, Yeon-
soo quits the company because she gets disappointed with the art community.
However, Min Seo-rin and Yoon-jae successfully persuade Yeon-soo to return to
her job. When Yeon-soo returns to Hi Auction, her coworkers warmly welcome her
back. Under the leadership of Min Seo-rin, the company is able to overcome their
biggest crisis and the next day, Yeon-soo stands in front of the podium for the first
time to achieve her dreams.

A young recruit who knew nothing about auctions finds herself in tough situations
on the job. This is a story about how the new employee, Cha Yeon-soo, matures
into an auctioneer with a sharp mind and top business skills!

Episode 1

Without knowing much about auctions, Cha Yeon-soo (actress Yoon Soy) applies
for a job at Will Auction, the top auction house in Korea. President Kim Eung-tae of
Will Auction and senior auctioneer Min Seo-rin (actress Kim Hye-rin) jointly
interview Cha Yeon-soo and after sensing her potential they decide to hire her. At
the time Cha Yeon-soo joins the company, the staff gets a tip about the
whereabouts of the Portrait of Dr. Gachet drawn by Vincent Van Gogh. Will Auction
learns that Mr. Jung Yong-hoon has the painting in his possession. President Kim
Eung-tae hires Oh Yoon-jae, (actor Jung Chan) an art specialist, to find a way to
convince Jung Yong-hoon to auction it at their auction house.

Oh Yoon-jae and Min Seo-rin use different approaches to deal with Mr. Jung. At
work, a seller thrusts a painting upon Yeon-soo and asks her to auction it for at
least $20,000. But Yeon-soo doesn’t follow the proper procedures when she
accepts the painting. Meanwhile, appraisers are brought in to verify whether Mr.
Jung’s painting is an authentic Van Gogh work. Yeon-soo asks one of the art
experts to appraise the painting she has and is told that it’s worth over $2 million.


Episode 2

On the day Will Auction will hold an auction, the centerpiece of the auction
disappears. It is a major art work called “Paradise” and it disappeared under Will
Auction’s watch. If Will Auction reports the theft to the police, they can be
reimbursed for their loss by the insurance company but it will also stain Will Auction’
s reputation. Seo-rin tells everyone they cannot cancel the auction because one
work is missing and orders her staff to report the theft to the police and contact the
insurance company. But Yoon-jae shows them a postcard that the thief left behind
and thinks the thief didn’t steal the painting to resell it. She suggests that they try
recovering the painting.

While Yeon-soo tracks down the store where the postcard was purchased, Seo-rin
gives Yoon-jae and Yeon-soo orders to find the painting and draw up a backup
plan if they end up not finding it in time. Yoon-jae and Yeon-soo find a clue in the
photo on the postcard that leads them to a replica of Jean-Francois Millet’s Evening
Prayer where they find another crucial clue. As the time approaches for the auction
of “Paradise” to take place, Yoon-jae and Yeon-soo race back to the auction...


Episode 3

Seo-rin learns that Yeon-soo’s father is an art forger and out of her concern on how
it could taint the company’s reputation, she tells Yeon-soo to quit. But Yeon-soo
asks Seo-rin to give her time to prove that she can instill trust among their clients.
When Seo-rin mentions how nice it would be to auction of a painting owned by Mr.
Sohn Chul-min, Yoon-jae recommends Yeon-soo to try to strike a deal. When Seo-
rin is told she can find an excuse to fire Yeon-soo if she fails to win Mr. Sohn over,
she decides to give the job to Yeon-soo.

With Yoon-jae’s help, Yeon-soo earns the trust of Mr. Sohn who offers a deal to sell
one of his paintings through Will Auction if he could bring a painting that is hung at
an orphanage. Yeon-soo and Yoon-jae arrive at the said orphanage and discover
that the painting is actual a mural. They learn that a famous painter drew the mural in
his early years and its value is astronomical. With great effort, they bring the mural to
Mr. Sohn. But Mr. Sohn gets upset at them all of a sudden and tells them leave with
the mural.


Episode 4

Park In-hee is famous for being late Kim Woo-chan’s disciple and close confident
and she holds a press conference where she announces that one of Kim Woo-chan’
s painting that was sold at an auction block for a considerable sum of money is
actually a forgery. But Kim Woo-chan’s wife maintains that the sold painting
authentic. The art gallery that purchased the painting calls in experts to confirm its
authenticity again. Yoon-jae and Yeon-soo meet with the wife of late Kim Woo-chan
and Park In-hee to figure out if it is an authentic painting. During their investigation,
they get involved in a quarrel with Mr. Cho of the Artists Group who is given the job
of authenticating the painting. Mr. Cho reveals to the press that Yeon-soo’s father is
an art forgery.

Due to Yeon-soo’s tainted reputation, art sellers withdraw their works for auction
and Seo-rin decides the best possible thing to do is to apologize to Mr. Cho. Yeon-
soo feels bad that Will Auction is taking a lot of heat because of her. Yoon-jae sees
how depressed Yeon-soo is so he tells her the truth of her dad’s role in an art
forgery incident. While Seo-rin is preparing to hold a press conference, Yoon-jae
and Yeon-soo discover a critical clue that can prove whether the painting is
authentic.

Episode 5

Seung-joon gets drunk while attending the wine-tasting event at Will Auction and
collapses. Yoon-jae is a good friend of Seung-joon so he helps him get home by
taxi. While seeing off Seung-joon, Yoon-jae turns to Yeon-soo and tells her that
Seung-joon is a genius whose talent hasn’t been tapped yet. At Will Auction, a
charity event is organized where bottles of wine signed by famous people will be
auctioned and all the proceeds will be donated to charity. Seo-rin orders everyone
to find special works to sell at the charity event to boost their image. While having no
clue on what kind of works to present at the event, Yeon-soo gets a call from
Seung-joon, who says he has a painting to give her.

Seung-joon asks Yeon-soo to pose for a portrait because she resembles his former
girlfriend. Yeon-soo hesitates because Seung-joon is famous for drawing nude
portraits but he puts her at ease by telling her it won’t be a nude portrait while Seo-
rin tells Yeon-soo that it’s a part of her job to do such requests for artists. So Yeon-
soo finally agrees to pose for a portrait. Seung-joon has a hard time painting Yeon-
soo’s portrait and so Yoon-jae advises Seung-joon to pour his heart into the work
because it’s the first painting he will be drawing in three years. Yeon-soo prepares
something special for Seung-joon when he can’t seem to find his touch.


Episode 6

Seo-rin goes away on an important business trip and orders Na-gyeong and Yoon-
jae to oversee the upcoming diamonds auction. Na-gyeong is asked by Geum-deok,
an actress who starred in a classic film, to auction the ring she wore in that movie.
Geum-deok also requests that all the proceeds from the sale of the ring be donated
to charity and tells her that the ring actually belonged to Ozaki Goyo, the author of
the novel that the movie was based on.

After the ring is proven to be authentic by jewelers, Na-gyeong chooses the ring as
the centerpiece of the upcoming auction. On the day of the auction, the daughter of
Ozaki Goyo makes a request to buy the diamond outright before the bidding begins,
while Sang-won, an interpreter for Goyo, tries to broker a deal with Geum-deok’s
family to obtain the diamond himself. Goyo tells Na-gyeong that the ring is cursed
and the staff of Will Auction start to experience bad luck.


Episode 7

Yoon-jae receives a request from Naoki to obtain a golden Buddha statue that was
once kept at Bongeun Temple. In return, Naoki promises to hand over papers that
will prove Yoon-jae’s innocence. Yoon-jae searches the database of stolen
heritage works and finds a statue that fits Naoki’s description but it turns out to be a
wooden statue and not a golden one. Naoki tells Yoon-jae to look harder because
the golden statue actually exists but was never recorded down by historians.

When Yeon-soo finds out that Yoon-jae is visiting the black market for art works,
she starts to dig up information about Yoon-jae’s past. Yoon-jae finally tracks down
the golden Buddha statue in the black market but he hesitates to hand it over to
Naoki because it is a national treasure. Yeon-soo tells Yoon-jae that he mustn’t
hand over the treasure to a Japanese person but Yoon-jae ignores her and meets
with Naoki so that he can obtain the papers that will clear his name. Yeon-soo
follows Yoon-jae to stop the deal from going down but Naoki’s personal guards
capture her...


Episode 8

Seo-rin receives a letter written with the words, “You are a dirty merchant who
values art for how much it can fetch at an auction.” After Seo-rin reads the note,
she receives a call that her daughter has been hospitalized due to an acute allergic
reaction to peaches. She returns to her office after checking on her daughter at the
hospital and finds important documents related to an upcoming auction missing.
At that very moment, she receives a call from an anonymous caller who seems to
know everything about the operations of Will Auction and Seo-rin’s personal life.

Seo-rin decides to track down the anonymous caller without reporting the incident to
the police since word of this breach could give the firm a bad image.
A tiny surveillance camera and eavesdropping device are found around Seo-rin’s
home and office. Seo-rin becomes suspicious of collector Park Min-ho when she
sees that one of the devices was hidden in a porcelain doll. Years ago, Park Min-
ho asked Seo-rin to auction a painting he owned but Seo-rin turned down his
request because the painting was worthless in her eyes. After hearing Seo-rin’s
story, Yoon-jae goes to meet Park Min-ho and learns a shocking fact about him....


Episode 9

Seo-rin is recruited by Sotheby’s one day. She learns that Yoon-jae was offered a
position at Sotheby’s as their first choice and this hurts her pride. To celebrate her
birthday, Yeon-soo spends the day with her father and meets one of his painter
friends whose name is Doo-cheol. Doo-cheol decides to give a painting he
reserved for Na-gyeong to Yeon-soo instead for an upcoming auction.

Na-gyeong thought she earned the right to auction Doo-cheol’s painting through
hard work but later learns that her parents used their influence to have Doo-cheol
give the auction rights to her. This troubles her. Do-young is invited to a college
reunion but he hesitates to go because he feels ashamed of giving up painting
original works in order to make a living. Yoon-jae grapples over the issue on
whether to date Soo-jin again when she returns from America and suggests they get
back together.


Episode 10

While Curator Roh Gyeong-ja looks over the paintings he put up for auction, he
notices that a painting entitled “Rebirth” is included in the collection even though he
did not put it up for sale. The painter of “Rebirth” is noted as Park Min-geun, who
exclusively works with Curator Roh Gyeong-ja and happens to be with them. Park
Min-geun says the painting was drawn by him and is one of his early works. Seo-
rin doesn’t think much over her mistake in including the painting in the auction. But
when Yoon-jae studies the painting he raises doubts that it was drawn by Min-
geun.

Yoon-jae tries to confirm the authenticity of the painting by meeting with the person
who gave the painting to curator Roh Gyeong-ja in the first place. Ji-woon suffered
injuries in a car accident that occurred in America and lost her family in the
accident. She is left with crippling disabilities and cannot remember her past. Ji-
woon asks Yeon-soo to arrange a meeting with Min-geun. When Min-geun meets
Ji-woon he says they were close friends in America and offers to help her. Yoon-
jae sense that Min-geun and Ji-woon are hiding something and starts investigating
them but Seo-rin orders him to back off...


Episode 11

The Seoul Club, which is an exclusive club for children of wealthy families,
approaches Will Auction to jointly organize a charity auction event. Seo-rin chooses
Do-young to organize the charity event instead of Yoon-jae because he despises
the club. Do-young meets Jung-woo, the former president of the Seoul Club, by
using Na-gyeong’s contacts. Jung-woo hands Do-young a magazine called,
“Space,” that was published during the Japanese colonial days.

While the charity auction is being prepared, an anonymous buyer approaches Do-
young and offers to buy the entire collection. But Do-young turns down the request
and persuades the buyer to participate in the auction instead. Along the way, Do-
young meets Sang-ho, who is Sang-jin’s brother, and they become friends. Sang-
ho shows an interest in the “Space” magazine and tries to persuade Do-young to
sell it to him for a fair price instead of auctioning it. When Sang-jin hears about the
offer that his brother made, he figures that the magazine is special and has a copy
of it analyzed by experts. Sang-jin finds out that the magazine contains a secret
concerning his father who is running for prime minister...


Episode 12

Seo-rin asks everyone to make suggestions on how to prepare a big year-end
auction event. Yeon-soo answers a call from Han-byeol, a critically ill patient, who
tells her that she found hope after viewing “Hope of Life” drawn by painter Park Ki-
hyun. Yeon-soo suggests that they hold an auction under the theme, “Hope Auction”
and auction pieces that contain messages of hope and dreams. Seo-rin thinks it’s a
good idea but finds it difficult to implement because they don’t have any works to
include that were painted by famous painters. But she leaves the matter open by
telling Yeon-soo that if painter Park Ki-hyun puts up one of his works in the auction
then she will go with her idea.

Yeon-soo is introduced to Ki-hyun by Yoon-jae and finds that the painter is living in
a fantasy world where his late wife is still alive. Yeon-soo decides to make Ki-hyun
face the reality that his wife is dead for the sake of the Han-byeol. Yoon-jae tries to
stop her because there could be devastating consequences to Ki-yun. Yeon-soo
asks her colleagues to help her gather art works painted by Ki-hyun. After Yeon-soo’
s visit, Ki-hyun’s condition worsens and he comes down with numbing headaches.
Meanwhile, Han-byeol’s health begins to fail...