Sungkyunkwan Scandal Episode Recaps (dramabeans.com)

LESSON 1 RECAP

We open with an establishing shot of Sungkyunkwan, which was founded in 1398 as the nation’s highest academic institution. It is still in existence, and in the time of this drama it is a prestigious school attended by the sons of noblemen.

Right away we see that this is no classical representation of the illustrious campus, instead imbued with a very modern flair. This drama takes liberties by reimagining the school with the spirit of a modern university, and that means slackerly students and rich boys with a sense of entitlement.

(You can see how the real Sungkyunkwan was offended by this drama’s loose depiction, but I think we’re all aware this is very much fictional.)

Moving away from the campus, we find one young man hurrying through the busy streets of the capital city. I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that this is a girl in disguise — KIM YOON-HEE (played by Park Min-young) — who accidentally bumps into a passerby on her way to the book rental shop. She doesn’t notice that she drops the manuscript she’s carrying, so when she arrives, ready to collect her pay for transcribing the book, she finds that it’s gone.

This sends the waiting scholar into a panic, as he needs the text for the upcoming civil service examination. Yoon-hee isn’t worried, though, and asks for a mere 30 minutes to fix the problem. Taking out her calligraphy brush, she gets to work writing — and lo and behold, she has memorized the whole text and reproduces it in its entirety.

Another scholar in the shop witnesses this: the languid and eternally bored GU YONG-HA (Song Joong-ki), who has a taste for the finer things in life and who invents little activities to keep himself amused. He flips through Yoon-hee’s newly transcribed book and proclaims it perfect.

Yong-ha then looks at Yoon-hee with added interest — perchance he has caught wind of her true gender?

She regroups from his scrutiny and demands her pay. While this work isn’t exactly criminal, it’s unethical in that the rich boys of the school have tasked the bookshop with completing their work for them, for pay.

Yoon-hee has a gift for this kind of literary work, but her talents are wasted because as a woman, she cannot pursue education. Instead she uses this skill to earn money for her family.

There is at least one student who is incorruptible, though he may be the only one. He is LEE SUN-JOON (Park Yoo-chun, aka Micky Yoochun), an upright (and uptight) scholar who is at the top of his class.

Sun-joon is intelligent and confident, and therefore looks with disdain upon the desperate superstitions of his peers. For instance, his classmate Wang sets up an elaborate plan involving splattered eggs in order to take ten strands of his hair. Why? So he can pass the upcoming civil service examination. He has collected hair from the most brilliant minds, and Sun-joon’s will make his good-luck talisman complete.

Sun-joon takes the clump of hair… and lets it fly off in the wind. He tells Wang that he’s depending on chance, not effort, and says coolly, “I don’t care if you hate me. However, I cannot tolerate you telling me I am wrong.”

Yeah, he’s THAT guy.

The bookshop owner (Hwang), wonders why Yoon-hee doesn’t take the state exam herself (er, himself), because her smarts are tops. We know why she can’t, but she gives a blase answer about earning money instead of contending with those privileged slackers.

Ah, that gives Hwang his opening: He leads Yoon-hee to a secret basement room, where transcribers are busy filling in answer sheets and cheat booklets. His attitude is that if the entire world is corrupt, might as well make some cash from it.

He makes the offer to Yoon-hee to join in this work, promising huge earnings. The work pays many times more than her current transcribing job, and if she sat for an exam in place of someone else, she could earn 100 nyang in a day, which is three year’s wages.

She turns him down flatly. Not only is it illegal, she’d be going aginst her own moral code, and “that’s not something a man ought to do.”

Once she’s in private, Yoon-hee lets down her hair and takes off her man’s garb. Donning a woman’s hanbok, she resumes her normal persona and heads home, where she finds trouble.

Her mother is being harassed by men who are here to collect on her loan. Payment is due today, and her mother begs for their understanding, promising to pay back the money somehow. The man is unmoved by her pleas.

Yoon-hee steps in and faces him with righteous indignation, asking if this is how he abuses all people who are poor and powerless. He leers at her with interest, and says chillingly that they need not worry, since he has not just found something “of value.”

He makes clear his threat: either Mom can settle her debt with money, or she can sell her daughter as repayment.

They are poor but respectable folk; the family has fallen on hard times with the double-whammy of having no Dad (long dead) and a sick younger brother, Yoon-shik. This debt has been incurred to pay for Yoon-shik’s medicine, and now Yoon-hee assures her family not to worry. In fact, work is picking up and she will be able to make enough to pay back their debt.

What wonderful coincidence that their debt just happens to be exactly how much the booklender offered to pay! 100 nyang now becomes a matter of saving her family rather than standing on her integrity (oh, that little ole thing?), so Yoon-hee decides to take the substitute exam after all.

The day of examination arrives. The education system of the day is characterized by exams, and the students must pass various kinds at different stages — in order to get into Sungkyunkwan, in order to earn the designation of scholar, and then to advance into government careers.

The school prepares the rites, led by one of the most influential students at Sungkyunkwan, HA IN-SOO (Jeon Tae-soo, aka Ha Ji-won’s little bro). He’s the student body president and son of the war minister — an ambitious, humorless sort who commands a clique of toadies.

The testing grounds are busy with preparations, and fierce competition breaks out among test-takers for seats (usually fought by representatives of the students who are sent ahead to claim the spots). All around are signs of corruption, with illegal substitute test-takers in place, students with cheat sheets, and bribes being negotiated.

A nervous Yoon-hee arrives at the testing site, supplied with a code phrase, a map of the seating, and a drawing of her contact (the hapless Wang). She finds the marked spot and cites her code phrase — to Sun-joon.

The subtitles let us know that Sun-joon’s reply is in Wang’s literary style, so Yoon-hee proceeds, going through her spiel to offer him the various “levels” of cheatery available.

She’s encouraged by his reaction, until he cites the reward for whistleblowers who catch cheaters. He raises his hand in the air and calls out to the test officials. Panicking, she reconsults her diagram and drawing, only to realize that she mistook Sun-joon, with a teeny dot on his upper lip, for Wang, with his huge mole. Uh-oh!

While the officials head over, Yoon-hee begs Sun-joon for mercy, hurriedly telling him of her difficult home conditions and her sick brother. For a moment he seems to take pity on her, but then he proceeds anyway, announcing that somebody is attempting to take the test through fraudulent means.

Yoon-hee bows her head in dismay, awaiting her punishment… until Sun-joon declares that all the scholars here are the wrongdoers, and the officials as well.

He accuses everyone of being part of the overall corruption, which meets with some resistance, naturally. However, the accused head minister (whom we saw taking bribes) recoils when he hears who Sun-joon is — he’s the son of a very high-ranking government minister.

His word carries weight, and with this kind of scrutiny being shined on the proceedings, the officials crack down on all the cheating, kicking out all transgressors and administering the test properly. This allows Yoon-hee to slip away unnoticed.

Sun-joon is first to finish, and takes his papers up to the officials. But to his own chagrin, the head scholar asks dryly if he’s involved in some newfangled cheating scheme of his own — the back of his robes have been marked by someone else’s brush.

Now we see that while Sun-joon had sat for his exam, Yoon-hee had sat directly behind him, writing on his clothing. (Here we have more proof that Yoon-hee is not only skilled with the brush but witty and literary to boot.) Her words made it sound like he had written them, commenting on the hypocrisy of the upper classes, asking why it is that one who sells writing to buy rice is a thief, and one who sells writing to buy power is a loyal citizen. It adds, “I am the biggest thief of all,” where “I” means Sun-joon.

This means that the entire test site bursts into laughter, at Sun-joon’s expense.

As Sun-joon storms out, he trips over a bit of string — it’s a cheating tactic by the real Wang, who is receiving Yoon-hee’s aid. She’s delivering cheat sheets from a distance.

Sun-joon confronts her, and she runs. A chase ensues as Yoon-hee races through crowded streets, finally barreling into a passerby who stops her. It’s Yong-ha, who catches her in his arms and looks down at her quizzically (and confirms his earlier hunch about her gender).

Sun-joon gets detained by the other students in the group — this is In-soo’s clique, which includes Yong-ha and a few bumbling lackeys. A few terse words are exchanged between Sun-joon and In-soo; the former is guided by his rigid sense of ethics and unintimidated by the others, while the latter is smart enough to realize Sun-joon’s strength and is threatened by it.

Sun-joon resumes his pursuit, almost catching up to Yoon-hee. When he confronts a figure wearing a woman’s head covering, thinking it’s his quarry, the woman slaps him for his impertinence. It’s Yoon-hee, but because she is covered and speaks like a lady, Sun-joon stammers an apology, since it would never occur to him that Yoon-hee WAS a lady.

When she’s alone, Yoon-hee seems ashamed of herself for stooping to cheating, but that’s nothing compared to her feelings upon being found out by her mother. Her mother has found her materials and asks if she realizes the gravity of her crime if she were to be caught.

Her mother blames herself for not stopping her when Yoon-hee insisted she could take care of Yoon-shik’s medicine costs herself. But this is the end of the line — she must live as a woman now. She calls Yoon-hee’s writing talent “poison.”

Yoon-hee arrives at the home of the man her family owes, which turns out to be the war minister’s household, also home to In-soo and his spoiled sister, HA HYO-EUN (Seo Hyo-rim).

In a respectful tone, she addresses the lord of the house, saying she is here to “pay her respects” for his kindness. However, her words are very clever, as she says that his act will naturally attract people’s reproach, because people will say he used a high-interest loan to buy a young girl — she hopes that he will not be caught up in scandal because of her. She offers what coin she has, and promises to pay the rest.

The minister understands her words perfectly, interpreting them as a threat. She says no, all he has to fear is public sentiment. She knows the ancient Chinese war strategy that advises avoiding conflict if you know you’ll lose. This is her trying to avoid a fight.

Surprisingly, this makes him burst into laughter. He’s impressed that she knows military strategy and agrees that she is right; he should accept her repayment now, before public sentiment creates trouble.

But this is his own strategy at play, since obviously she can’t repay everything right now. Leering at her, he declares that he’ll have to make her his. He’ll send for her in three days.

As Yoon-hee leaves and walks along the crowded marketplace, feeling dejected, a thug comes along and snatches her money purse. She chases, catching up to him in an alley, and first demands, then pleads for her money back.

Matters escalate when they are joined by a whole gang of roughnecks — and the minister’s man.

In fear, Yoon-hee kneels before the men, begging for the money. She’s vastly outnumbered but makes a feeble attempt to fight back.

This is bound to end very badly for her, but the noise awakens someone sleeping nearby, who throws an apple that knocks the main aggressor aside. Looking every bit as rough-and-tumble as the gang, this mysterious guy drawls that he’d like to sleep in peace.

Although his identity technically remains hidden from us, we know this is MOON JAE-SHIN (Yoo Ah-in), another eventual Sungkyunkwan attendee, although you’d hardly be able to tell from the look of him.

A fight breaks out, and he swiftly dispatches the team of thugs with an impressive display of fighting prowess and acrobatics. After the fight ends, he tosses the money to Yoon-hee and heads out — at which point one guy makes one last attempt to attack from behind.

With his swift reflexes, Jae-shin simultaneously claps a hand over Yoon-hee’s eyes — to keep her from seeing what happens next — and clubs the attacker in the head. Hot damn he is sexy. (Yoo Ah-in, I knew you’d be my favorite!)

Yoon-hee thanks him profusely, but Jae-shin isn’t interested in her gratitude, nor does he accept her handkerchief to tend the cut on his arm. Instead, he tells her that the best way she can repay him is to not show up in front of him again.

Then he gives her some advice: “Don’t bow your head so easily. And don’t kneel to just anybody. That’ll become a habit, and once that’s a habit, it’s tough to fix.”

Meanwhile, Sun-joon has been trying his best to track down Yoon-hee, but his servant has been unable to find her (him).

He is called in to speak with his father (Kim Gab-soo), and it’s not hard to see how Sun-joon became the stickler he is. His father is respected, principled, and tough, and imparts some advice to his proud son. The whole world is waiting for him to misstep, and the most foolish man is the one who boasts of his own wisdom.

Sun-joon doesn’t want to hide his wisdom, because why should he? Dad answers that there’s nothing wrong with preserving his name and authority, but to remember his position and heritage.

Dad’s warning is right on the money, as In-soo’s team of idiots is busy plotting Sun-joon’s demise, wanting to put him in his place. Er, below his place, I guess. The dumb duo offer clumsy suggestions like hiring a gang of thugs, but In-soo looks to the cleverer Yong-ha for a solution. And sure enough, Yong-ha tears his attention away from his sexy comics long enough to offer up one possible plan.

Intent on tracking down Yoon-hee, Sun-joon goes around with a drawing of her (the male version). The reason he gives for his pursuit is that he has a “debt to repay,” which is supposed to sound ominous but could be read in more than one way. The booklender recognizes the drawing, but keeps quiet and denies knowing him.

Yoon-hee bursts in to the store to ask Hwang for help — she needs 100 nyang right away. She requests an advance for taking the next exam, but Hwang turns her down — everyone’s nervous from the last exam fiasco. So she turns to reverse psychology, sighing that perhaps this work wasn’t meant for her. In fact, she’ll have to reflect on her misdeeds and confess… and those confessions will probably include mention of this bookshop…

Faced with this unappealing prospect, Hwang caves. He can offer her 50 nyang up front, and tells her of a risky job she can do for him.

Yong-ha sees her emerging from the store and confronts the booklender, saying that he knows he’s harboring the kid that Sun-joon has been looking for. Exerting a little pressure of his own, Yong-ha has Hwang in a precarious position. Gulp.

Next, he meets with Sun-joon and offers to help him find that guy, which has Sun-joon suspicious. Why the offer of help?

Yong-ha cites florid stuff like collegiate fraternity and loyalty, then cuts to the chase: It’s not for any of those BS reasons. In fact, he’s only got one simple reason to help: “For fun.”

He’s interested in seeing how far Sun-joon pursues this matter, which will provide him entertainment. He offers one way to find Yoon-hee, but it’s dangerous, and requires one big sacrifice. Is he in?

The job requires Yoon-hee to smuggle a banned book to another contact. Because the government has forbidden the book, if she is caught in possession of it, she will face dire consequences. With that in mind, she nervously makes her way through the forest to her rendezvous point.

What she doesn’t know is that In-soo’s team has set this up, per Yong-ha’s plan. It’s actually a trap to frame the exalted Sun-joon with the banned book, and they’ve got the royal police force on alert to catch him in the act.

Not knowing this, the two parties meet in a dark shed, where they exchange the coded password.

Yoon-hee starts to make the hand-off, but to her surprise, Sun-joon grabs her wrist. Immediately, she thinks this is some sort of trick he’s playing in retaliation (and she still thinks he’s Wang), so she dashes outside. Sun-joon follows, asking, “Do you know how much I’ve been looking for you?”

I suspect he isn’t out to get her, but the sound of approaching policemen interrupts before he can explain. Yoon-hee assumes that he framed her with this scenario, and slaps him angrily.

Sun-joon grabs the book from her, then faces the first wave of officers, fighting them back rather impressively. However, he’s outnumbered by at least twenty to one, and turns to run.

But first, he shoves Yoon-hee down the hill to get her out of their way — although she doesn’t interpret it as a kind gesture — then takes off.

Elsewhere, In-soo’s clique toasts to Sun-joon’s imminent downfall. Yong-ha sighs in boredom that he thought Sun-joon would have put up more of a fight, almost disappointed to end it so quickly. Meanwhile, In-soo drinks in grim satisfaction.

Back in the forest, Yoon-hee grumbles at Sun-joon’s boorish behavior, not fully understanding the situation they’re in. Silently, Sun-joon grabs her and claps a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, pulling her out of sight of the police who are scouring the forest for them.

They huddle behind a large boulder, just as the lead officer pauses. As he turns toward their hiding spot, Sun-joon pulls Yoon-hee closer to him to pull her out of sight, but in the midst of this tense moment, her heart starts to pound.

It’s partly the panic of the moment but there’s definitely some of that omg-hot-boy-holding-me awareness in there, and Yoon-hee struggles to pull back and gain some distance. But Sun-joon, ever aware of the danger lurking, refuses to slacken his grip and holds her tightly to himself.


COMMENTS

First off, the plot:

Sungkyunkwan Scandal has been compared to Boys Before Flowers (F4 at school) and a number of cross-dressing shows (Coffee Prince, Painter of the Wind, You’re Beautiful). There are enough similarities that the comparisons are understandable, such as the part where the girl is forced to cross-dress in order to pay a debt. No better way to justify an extreme premise than to saddle the heroine with a sick brother and poor family, right? That makes her sacrifice noble and admirable, rather than perplexing.

Despite those points of comparison, though, I found enough about Sungkyunkwan to be fresh and different that I wasn’t even thinking of any of those other shows while I was watching. In fact, I thought that if I had to pick a show that seemed most similar, I’d pick Tamra the Island for the tone. It’s not quite as jokesy, but it has some of that similar freshness and a darker undercurrent hinting at deeper story stuff down the pipeline. This, in my book, is a good thing.

Perhaps we’ll get more of an F4 vibe later when all of these characters are at school together, but right now I don’t see anything of Boys Before Flowers in this story (which, again, is a good thing). I am very pleased that not only do these characters not all know each other, they don’t even like each other, particularly with the curious sabotage going on between Yong-ha and Sun-joon.

And most of all, I love that two of the three main dudes already know that Yoon-hee is a girl. (Okay, Yong-ha doesn’t have concrete proof, but he pretty much knows the truth.) That gets some of the familiar territory off the table — those “Oh no, they think I’m a boy, isn’t this awkward!” moments are fun to watch, but by this point they’re old hat. I’m interested to see if this drama makes twists upon the familiar scenarios.

As for the acting:

As expected, Yoo Ah-in totally commands the screen when he’s on, and he was ON. He was the least-known of the four main actors, but I was sensing he’d be the sharpest and most charismatic — he has a really fantastic ability to be a chameleon, and his dark assassin role in Strongest Chil Woo proved he’d be able to take this careless rebel character and make him intriguing.

Song Joong-ki is also very good, playing this bored hedonist type. He reminds me of the Valmont character in Dangerous Liaisons (or, for you younger folks out there, Sebastian in Cruel Intentions). Not quite as cruel, but he has a dark streak that I dig. I hope they play it out rather than cheering him up right away. I’ve been dying to see Song act in meatier roles for a while.

Park Min-young has been okay in past roles, but I wasn’t expecting too much of her. I think she held her own well, and although I won’t say she’s the best actress to do this type of role, I’m okay with her. For now.

Yoochun… erm… I wasn’t wowed, I’ll be honest. He wasn’t outright bad, and he’s not so weak that he drags the show down. But he wasn’t strong. He was a little flat, and yes, I realize that his character is supposed to be cold and supercilious. I think what I miss is the spark of charisma that the other characters have — his Sun-joon is a great character and I enjoy this setup where he’s cut himself off from everyone with his superior ways. But I wish he had a little more oomph — more emotion, more verve, more… energy. And that doesn’t mean he has to act OUT and BIG, but that he could stand to bring more passion to his acting.

Still, I think he has room to improve, and I actually like the chemistry between Sun-joon and Yoon-hee. I suspect that he wasn’t after her out of revenge (which is one way you can read his statement, “I’ll pay him back”) but out of some other reason.

Sageuk purists will probably be chafing at the liberties Sungkyunkwan Scandal takes, but frankly I’m much more drawn to the fusion stuff than the straight period pieces. Mostly because the fusion pieces allow for a sense of humor, and Sungkyunkwan knows when to play it light and free. I suspect that it will dip into some serious territory later — the seeds are being planted, that much is clear — but I hope the characters and concept are enough to keep the drama going.

LESSON 2 RECAP

At first the thumping heart is Yoon-hee’s, but when their pursuers leave and he deems them safe, Sun-joon finally looks down at her, and has a moment of startled awareness himself. Yoon-hee pulls back awkwardly, and demands her money in exchange for the book.

Right away, we have one of the reasons I responded so strongly to this drama; it’s beautiful to look at and to listen to. Take the following bit of background score, which is lush, lovely, and evocative — it reminds me of Tamra the Island or Return of Iljimae, actually. (That background noise is rain, not static.)

Elsewhere, awaiting word is In-soo’s in-group (clique? cadre? posse?). Upon hearing that Sun-joon got away, the reaction is frustration mixed with some admiration. In-soo is displeased but Yong-ha waves it aside, saying that traps and schemes always come with a twist.

Now safe, Sun-joon says he doesn’t have the money on him and promises to pay her later. Yoon-hee doesn’t trust him and wants to follow him home, to which he tosses out that he won’t throw away his integrity over “a mere 50 nyang.” That insults her, because it may be nothing to him but this money represents life to her — her brother’s and her own.

He gives her his word and asks for her name so he can leave the money for her at the bookshop. Plus, he’ll see her at the testing site for the next exam. She gives her brother’s name (Yoon-shik), but says she isn’t going to sit for the exam.

Sun-joon reminds her of the words she’d written on his clothing, and entreats her to sit for the exam. If the plight of the citizens bothers her so much, she should enter into government service fair and square, and make her case from the inside. He calls her “Scholar Kim Yoon-shik” — which is a mark not only of respect, as it makes them equals, but also his faith that she’ll pass the exam.

She scoffs at his idealism — she knows that the world isn’t a true meritocracy, and that the picture he paints is naive. She declares, with some bitterness, “I don’t think that Joseon is such a great nation.”

Aw, I love this dynamic already. So many layers and bits of meaning woven through it.

The king comments to Minister Lee, Sun-joon’s father, that he heard of his son’s little scene at the exams yesterday. (The other official by Kim Gab-soo’s side is Minister Ha, aka In-soo’s father, aka the lecher with an interest in Yoon-hee.)

Sun-joon’s father apologizes, but the king isn’t offended. Rather, he has decided to make sure that the next exam will be held properly, and announces his intent to personally attend. This causes scholars to burn their cheat sheets and hang their heads in despair with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Yoon-hee bursts into the bookshop to ask if Sun-joon has delivered the money, but he hasn’t. Hwang whispers of an opportunity to take the test for someone, but she reminds him of the king’s decree; this would put her life at stake. However, Hwang preys upon her desperation — the job would provide the needed 100 nyang.

That night, Yoon-hee mulls over her options, neither of which are desirable. Take the test and risk execution? Or not take the test and walk into certain doom as the war minister’s kept woman? Prostitute her brains, or her body? Which is the lesser of two evils?

On the morning of the exam, Minister Ha’s horrible steward arrives to collect her.She is dressed prettily and prepared for delivery — the scene recalls an animal being readied for slaughter — as her mother watches, heavy-hearted. Yoon-hee asks for a few moments to say goodbye to her family, and then is loaded into the sedan chair.

At the test site, Hwang waits with increasing nervousness at Yoon-hee’s absence, begging for extra time before the gates are closed. Thankfully, the latecomer arrives just in time…

…while back at home, the lady being seated in the chair reveals her face. It’s the real Yoon-shik, taking his sister’s place so she can take his.

(There’s something very melancholy and stirring about Yoon-shik, even though he has barely said a word thus far. Sound of mind though weak in body, he must feel miserable to be a burden and unable to help)

Yoon-hee takes a seat and waits for her “client” to make contact with her. As she looks around, a voice asks if she’s looking for her cheater contact. Nervously, she wonders if it’s Wang again — but no, the one who paid for her to take the test is Sun-joon.

(Aie! He “bought” her a seat at the exam to force her to take it! OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU SUN-JOON.)

But matters aren’t quite so simple as that. First, Sun-joon raises a hand to alert the proctors, announcing, “Look here! There is a person dirtying this test site!”

Yet when asked who it is, he names himself — and he meant “dirtying” literally, not metaphorically. He points to Yoon-hee’s ink-smeared scroll and asks for another, and this requires her to present her identification in order to receive a new testing sheet. This is his way of forcing her to use her real name (er, her brother’s). Under all this attention, Yoon-hee is compelled to give up her tag. Given a fresh sheet, she sits through the test.

She’s one of the last to complete the exam, along with Sun-joon (though it appears he’s stalling until she’s done, so he can follow her up). As they walk, she asks why he’s doing this. He says it’s because cheating is bad. She resorts to her go-to line whenever she can’t think of anything else to say, and retorts that he’d better pay for the book.

To their surprise, the test-takers are held back to await announcement of whether they have passed, to be delivered by the king. This is an unusual occurrence, and throws Yoon-hee into a panic at the prospect of facing the king directly with her fraud.

One by one, each person is called to receive results.

When she is called, Yoon-hee approaches in dread. The reason becomes clear a moment later when the king opens her exam sheet and reads her answer. Suddenly angered, he raises his voice in condemnation, and she drops to her knees to plead forgiveness. Clearly she hadn’t expected to be held back to explain herself, and now she has to deal with the fallout.

Again, her wit has gotten the better of her, as her answer is a cleverly worded admission of her intent to cheat. It finishes with the declaration that she has no right to enter government service.

The officials demand to know who called her here to cheat on his behalf, and she looks back at Sun-joon, who sits amongst the others, surprised at this turn of events. Yoon-hee answers that her contact didn’t come.

Sun-joon interrupts to declare that she is lying. He stands and identifies himself as the offender.

He explains that this he employed Yoon-shik to take the test — Yoon-shik has outstanding talents, but is unable to serve the government due to his unfortunate circumstances. This was his way of giving him a chance to take the test. And if someone as intelligent as Yoon-shik were unable to serve, Sun-joon had decided that he would not serve, either.

Have I mentioned that I love Sun-joon? (Also: It must be nice to have that unwavering faith in your stance — admirable, but aided by the power of his privilege. He may not intend to rely on his position, but it shrouds him like a protective cocoon.)

The king, however, angrily decrees that they will be dealt with severely… and instructs, “Go to Sungkyunkwan.” Both she and Sun-joon are ordered to live and board at the school, to spend all their time in pursuit of the righteous path. That is a royal command.

The king approaches Sun-joon and softens, saying with warmth that he will show the two of them the Joseon of which they dream.

Overwhelmed with how far she is in over her head, Yoon-hee falls to his feet in an almost-faint, then coughs loudly, claiming that (s)he is sick and dormitory life too hard.

That attempt doesn’t work, since he calls his royal doctor to examine this worthy young man. The doctor feels a pulse, and knows the truth immediately, announcing, “This person is a woman!” This angers the king and creates an uproar as she is condemned to execution…

…which, of course, is her guilty conscience in overdrive. In other words: Fake-out! In actuality, all she can do is to accept the king’s order. Worse yet, he promises to remember her face.

As they leave, Yoon-hee tells Sun-joon angrily that she had no intention of taking the exam. Leave that for the bored, privileged people like him.

Sun-joon says he was wrong after all, if she was the type to stand on excuses and throw away this opportunity. He hands her the money owed for the book, then leaves her with a few last words — that if she’s worried about her brother’s health, entering Sungkyunkwan is best, as scholars get medicine for free and a stipend. If she’s so foolish to overlook that, well, she’d be no good to the citizenry as a civil servant anyway. Ah, reverse psychology.

Booklender Hwang gives Yoon-hee 50 nyang as a “scholarship,” which makes her suspicious — is this some kind of loan? What’s he up to? He tells her it’s an advance, and since scholars will be given a stipend, she feels free to accept, not aware that Sun-joon provided the money (and made Hwang swear to secrecy).

Now Yoon-hee has the needed 100 nyang to repay the debt, and she delivers it to Minister Ha’s household and retrieves her brother, who has been beaten in punishment for their switch.

Yoon-hee is overcome with guilt but Yoon-shik tells her it’s okay: “I’m glad there was something I could do for you.” He’d never been able to rest easy with her working so hard for his expense.

Instead of being angered, Minister Ha laughs to hear of Yoon-hee’s actions, intrigued by the girl’s perspicacity. He can afford to play a li’l cat-n-mouse for now, because he figures she can’t hold out forever, and “I have never let go of a girl I’ve taken a fancy to.” Ugh, shudders! The guy is a Class A creep. I guess if you want a brilliant tactician planning your country’s wars to undermine the enemy, he’s your guy?

That evening, Sun-joon speaks to his father, who eyes his latest behavior at the exam with a little amusement and perhaps even pride. He chuckles to hear that the guy that Sun-joon spoke up for was accepted to Sungkyunkwan — if Sun-joon has faith in somebody, that person’s success reflects well on him, and by extension also Minister Lee. However, Dad cautions that Yoon-hee hasn’t yet “passed,” and adds — firmly, but not unkindly — that the same goes for Sun-joon. In his father’s eyes, until he has advanced and proven himself, he hasn’t passed muster either.

Yoon-hee’s mother is opposed to her entering Sungkyunkwan — and living in a dormitory with other young men — but Yoon-hee doesn’t have a choice, as it was the king’s order. This is why Mom had told her daughter that her studies would be a bane rather than blessing.

Yoon-hee says tearfully, “I want to live as a person.” If she has to be dragged off to be Minister Ha’s kept woman, she will forever be valued by her price, 100 nyang, rather than as a person. She wants to go to Sungkyunkwan, where she will be able to provide for Yoon-shik’s medicine on her own merits, earn a stipend, and improve her education. That is the path to living as a person.

Yoon-shik enters the conversation to take his sister’s side. Even though this means he will not be able to live under his own name, he argues that his sister has always lived for him, and asks for his mother’s approval.

And so, Yoon-hee prepares to enter the school, sent off with specially prepared food from her mother. She notices that her mother’s hair is no longer adorned with her ornament, which her mother presses into her hand, saying, “I’m not letting you go because you want to go, I’m sending you.” (This is her way of giving her approval.)

Mom warns her to endure hardship no matter what and to not lose her cool, because nobody must learn that she is a girl. Her brother gives her his identity tag and wishes her well.

On her way through town, Yoon-hee witnesses a loud argument in one of the food stalls — the proprietress angrily berates one customer for not paying for his liquor. The offender is Moon Jae-shin, who is hardly perturbed by the accusations; a little drunkenly, he swaggers off with a glib comment. This scene is barely noteworthy in an episode packed with events, but I mention it because it’s our only glimpse of Yoo Ah-in this episode (sob!).

Sun-joon is accompanied to the school by an emotional manservant, who says he’ll miss him. The servant points ahead to someone else in line, commenting that the “pretty young man” also came — Yoon-hee. Er, Yoon-shik.

Each of the new entrants is checked in at the gate, and both Yoon-hee and Sun-joon are recognized (albeit separately). I guess you don’t kick up a huge fuss at the testing site without registering in people’s memories.

Upon entering the courtyard, Yoon-hee looks around amidst all the hubbub, and is approached by fellow freshman BAE HAE-WON (in white). He came from the same school as Sun-joon and offers a friendly greeting. Interrupting them is a third frosh, KIM WOO-TAK, who makes a grand introduction that goes largely ignored. Hae-won has a melancholy, hapless air about him, while the quirky Woo-tak (wearing the glasses) is all big talk, but in a harmless way. (They’ll likely be comic relief characters.)

Yoon-hee walks around, familiarizing herself with the classrooms, library, and grounds, gulping a little when an upperclassman playing soccer takes off his shirt.

Sun-joon is the freshman with the most influential background and gets the VIP treatment by the school’s obsequious (and easily corrupted) chancellor. He gets the full suck-up treatment, as the man calls his father a close friend and offers to lend him these quarters if he doesn’t like his own.

Sun-joon wipes that smile right off the chancellor’s face by calling him out on his behavior, pointing out that he’s faking the closeness with his father and so forth. He also says firmly that he will decline any instance of special treatment.

JUNG YAK-YONG (played by Ahn Nae-sang) has been sent by the king to Sungkyunkwan, and hears this conversation. (He is a real-life person who was a leading philosopher of the day.) Jung asks if Sun-joon’s insistence on equal treatment will end up making things awkward for the others. Sun-joon answers that they shouldn’t give up at the first sign of discomfort.

Room assignments are posted, and Yoon-hee is startled to hear that they have to share rooms — no singles. And guess who she’s assigned to bunk with? This drama wouldn’t be interesting if she didn’t have to live with Sun-joon, now would it?

Yong-ha overhears her fretting and interrupts to say that there’s no need to worry, since that won’t happen and he probably won’t be around. A third person is on the list, but he hardly ever sleeps there. Yong-ha assures her she’ll get to use the room alone, which is pretty lucky for a new student.

She smiles in relief, and he swoops in to examine her reaction. Does she have a particular reason she needs a single room? She stammers no.

Yong-ha introduces himself, offering both his name and nickname — it appears each of our main characters will get their own nicknames, and his is Yeo-rim, which refers to his playboyish ways with the ladies.

Before she can react, he grabs her in a hug, which freaks her out, naturally. He whispers in her ear — further unnerving her — that she’ll be getting a nickname soon enough.

Yoon-hee enters her room expecting it to be empty, but to her horror, Sun-joon is already inside, settling in.

She protests profusely, saying she cannot share a room with him. He isn’t too keen on sharing his room either with someone who so easily denigrates their country, but he’ll endure. He advises her to endure, too.

To her surprise, a group of upperclassmen runs through the dorm area, dousing the lights and calling out the newbies. The incoming class gathers in the courtyard, where a light display is presented. Then, flour is doused over the newbies (which is still in practice today), and a select group of senior students comes out wearing elaborate masks.

In the administrative offices, one professor asks the others to stop the students, but the officials aren’t going to intrude on tradition.

We can guess who’s leading the activities — In-soo’s gang — though they remain covered as they start the tradition. Yong-ha declares that they will begin collecting offerings from each of them, and the new students are called up one by one to present the food they brought.

So they give up their offerings — some willingly, and some much more reluctantly.

Yoon-hee knows her food is humble — plain rice cakes made by her mother — and goes up reluctantly. Sure enough, the upperclassman handling the offerings (the loutish Byung-choon) kicks her basket aside, sending the cakes into the dirt.

She clenches her fists — she must endure, after all — and turns silently to return to her place. But then, she changes her mind and turns back, which quiets the proceedings as everyone watches rapt, freshman and upperclassman alike. She strides right up to Byung-choon and asks, isn’t he a student who came here to learn? Did any of their books say it was okay to mock food because it was humble?

Byung-choon stammers his defense, saying he wouldn’t have treated edible food that way. She returns, “If it’s not food, what is it?” He declares it’s not fit for dogs or pigs to eat. He moves to stomp on the rice cake with his foot, but the step is blocked by a hand. Not hers — Sun-joon’s.

With care, Sun-joon collects the fallen rice cakes and puts them back into the basket — silently, undramatically — and places it on the table with the other offerings.

By now all the senior students’ masks have come off in their curiosity, and Sun-joon says, “You’re right, it’s not food. Once you have risen to success, it is the sweat and blood of the citizens you will have to care for.” He offers one cake to the offender, saying, “So please partake.”

Byung-choon balks nervously, unwilling to eat something that fell on the ground. So Sun-joon takes a bite himself, and that causes quite a slew of reactions: Yoon-hee’s eyes widen, Yong-ha smiles in approval, and In-soo smirks.

Sun-joon places the rice cake in Byung-choon’s hand and challenges him to eat it, “If you’re not a dog or a pig.”

Enjoying this twist immensely, Yong-ha fetches the basket and puts a cake into the mouth of Lackey #2 (Go-bong) and takes a bite himself. Then he walks around with the basket and tells everyone to take one bite of the peasants’ blood and sweat.

Sun-joon addresses everyone now, saying that Sungkyunkwan is a place where they learn for the sake of the commoners. Turning to look specifically at In-soo, he declares that if you don’t agree, he won’t acknowledge him as a scholar.

Now In-soo gets up and says that Sungkyunkwan is where they prepare for their advancements, and learn how to bring order to society. It’s also where they learn who’s strong and who’s weak — and how the weak should act toward the strong. He vows, looking at Sun-joon, “I’ll teach this to you properly.”

One professor listens at a distance and wonders what this means — is he declaring his intent to expel Sun-joon from the school?

Now, they move on to the task portion in these traditional rites. The freshman class is given written instructions in riddle form, and whoever wins will gain a “big prize.” On the other hand, those who can’t follow the orders will get stripped of his shirt.

This time it’s Yoon-hee who approaches Sun-joon, advising him to hurry to make their time limit. She babbles a bit until he asks her what she wants to say, and she thanks him for his help. She heard In-soo is an incredibly powerful person and worries that he put himself on the line.

He tells her not to worry, because he didn’t do it on anyone’s behalf; he was acting according to his own principles.

She jokes about taking her time, not really believing that non-finishers will get kicked out without administrative reason, but he warns her that once you’re out, you’ll never get another chance to take the state exam or advance. That gets her in motion, and she hurries.

Each person has a slightly different clue leading them to a different location. One of In-soo’s cronies goes to Hyo-eun (In-soo’s sister) to request her aid in prepraration for her visitor — Sun-joon. She smiles a little in anticipation of meeting him.

Yoon-hee, on the other hand, figures that her clue leads her to gisaeng Cho-sun, and she is to “get her affection” via silk petticoat.

I’m presuming these tasks are meant to have obstacles, and Yoon-hee finds herself unable to see Cho-sun, who is the top gisaeng at the gibang (gisaeng house). Instead she is waylaid by a group of gisaengs — who, by the way, had been admiring her in Episode 1 but been rebuffed.

In her desperation to avoid being undressed and discovered as a woman, Yoon-hee bursts out of her room and runs away — but smashes into another room by accident.

Just her luck, this is the room where Cho-sun is attending to Minister Ha. This angers the man for several reasons: He was just about to get busy with his companion, and other guests recognize him and begin whispering.

However, he takes a good look at Yoon-hee’s face, and seems to recognize her. Pointing a finger, he declares, “You…!”


COMMENTS

First off, how beautiful is this drama, huh? Despite the trendy-romantic-comedy angle that they used to market this drama, I am responding much more to the more meaty storylines. (Although student shenanigans are, of course, very enjoyable to watch.)

But take, for instance, this contrast between Sun-joon and Yoon-hee. Unlike other supercilious heroes of kdrama yore, Sun-joon isn’t willfully snobby — like, say, Gu Jun-pyo or Hwang Tae-kyung. I love that he believes he’s a fair guy, but by very dint of his privilege, he’s buffered by his place in society. He’s the type for whom the term “ivory tower” was invented. As part of the elite class he’s therefore out of touch with reality — he of the “Oh, 50 nyang, what piddle.”

And then, Yoon-hee challenges him about the social gap between the high-borns and the low-borns. Oh, I’m sure Sun-joon is aware of their existence on a theoretical level, but she’s the one who gives him a concrete look at how dirty and miserable life is like on the bottom. She’s cynical, he’s idealistic.

In traditional Cinderella stories, Prince Chaebol swoops in and uses his luxury to save his girl, but hardly anyone else. In contrast, it appears Sun-joon’s code of morality won’t just help the girl he loves, but society on a grander scale. I love this setup.

And while I still think Yoochun’s playing his character with a flat affect, it almost-sorta works with his character’s noble earnestness. I’m liking Sun-joon more and more.

EPISODE 3 RECAP

Picking up where we left off, Yoon-hee avoids making eye contact with Minister Ha who seems to recognize her. Just as he points his finger at her and begins to speak, a gisaeng apologizes for the disturbance, explaining that this was all a part of the Sungkyunkwan initiation and he(she) is a Sungkyunkwan scholar. Remembering his anger, Minister Ha threatens that he will have Yoon-hee expelled for disorderly conduct to which Yoon-hee respectfully bows and offers her most sincere apologies.

Just as Yoon-hee turns to leave, the whispering of the peeking noblemen catches her attention and she realizes that they’re staring at the bare-shouldered Cho-sun. The woman in Yoon-hee can’t stand to see another woman being so embarrassed and so, to Cho-sun and everyone’s surprise, she gives her outer garment to Cho-sun. Yoon-hee then asks Minister Ha’s permission to take Cho-sun with her, explaining(slightly mocking) that the president of Sungkyunkwan was the one to make such demands in the name of initiation. Despite his anger, the Minister is forced to let Yoon-hee go because it is his son she speaks about—and of course he cannot protest unless he was to undermine his son’s authority. Even after Yoon-hee has left, however, Minister Ha can’t shake the inkling that her face was a familiar one.

Yoon-hee leads Cho-sun out of the room, venting that it’s because jerks like the Minister are in positions of power that Joseon is in such bad shape. Guys like him should all be thrown into the Han river. Giggling, a gisaeng asks her if she’s going to spend all night ranting when she’s finally met the gisaeng she’s been looking for all along—Cho-sun. By the surprise on Yoon-hee’s face, it’s clear that she only brought Cho-sun out to save her from an unpleasant night with the Minister.

Meanwhile, Sun-joon is still pondering over his own mission: “The flower of all flowers is the lotus, thus pluck the lotus of all lotuses, the Bu-yong flower.” Being the puritan that he is, Sun-joon is thinking flowers and lotuses in literal terms. It’s only when his man-servant comes to the rescue(knowing Sun-joon and his puritan ways) that Sun-joon grasps the figurative undertones of “pluck” and “flower”. Tehe. (Did anyone else find Sun-joon’s man-servant’s laugh absolutely contagious? Ha, Loved it!)

The “lotus” in question is none other than In-soo’s sister Hyo-Eun (Seo Hyo Rim). Of course the mission itself is a setup for Sun-joon to fail, thus as she and her brother’s minions await his arrival, she rehearses her lines of rejection to the praise and adoration of Byung-choon. Outside the estate walls, Sun-joon is bickering with his man-servant—he deems it impossible that In-soo would set up his own sister for ‘plucking’ and that he must be missing something.

Little do they know that away from others’ eyes, Hyo-eun does a 180 on her image. Tired of waiting, an annoyed Hyo-eun storms off to her room and begins stripping off her outer garments in annoyance. When her hand-maid reminds her of her brother’s friends outside, Hyo-eun retorts, “They can just stand punishment outside! All of them have such pathetic looks… where in the world are the people like these novel characters?” As Hyo-eun giggles over her story book, she pokes her maid with her feet and tells her to let Byung-choon and Go-bong know that she wants to rest for 1 shigak(1 shigak/gak=15 minutes) threatening that if the maid doesn’t, she’ll go outside in her under-garments. That’s enough to alarm the maid and she hurries out to let them know.

Byung-choon decides to take this time to use the restroom (and of course Go-bong & co. follow) and as soon as they leave Sun-joon stealthily enters the estate(without losing his noble air, of course), still contemplating the words Bu-Yong-Hwa(flower)—and what do you know, he spots the Bu-Yong-Dang sign above Hyo-eun’s room.

Inside, Hyo-eun mistakes Sun-joon’s approaching shadow as her maid’s and she throws open her doors to yell at her—only to find Sun-joon’s startled face staring back at her. Sun-joon hurriedly closes her doors but Hyo-eun reopens them and as he begins to protest, she shushes him with her finger…her eyes of adoration fixated on him.

Back at Sungkyunkwan, Yong-ha and In-soo share drinks. Yong-ha tells In-soo that he need not worry if it’s Cho-sun that he’s worried about, pointing out that In-soo has been constantly checking for news from the Gisaeng house. In-soo denies it, reassuring Yong-ha(and perhaps himself) that Cho-sun will not so easily be moved—she wouldn’t even blink if a man were to lay down his life for her. Yong-ha explains that is the precise reason he sent Yoon-hee…he wants to see her be stripped of her guise.

At the gisaeng house, Cho-sun asks Yoon-hee what it is she can do for her—is it not her undergarments marked with proof of her affections? (I think we all know the undertones of that mission). Yoon-hee admits that she’s right. Cho-sun then says, “All that is left for you to do is ask me then.” She moves closer to Yoon-hee and blows flour from her face. This is enough to unsettle Yoon-hee and she hurriedly gets up to leave, claiming that she is no different from Minister Ha—they’ve both come to beg for one night with her. Impressed by his(her) chivalry, Cho-sun suggests that Yoon-hee just take her undergarment—it is a gift to the one she’s given her heart to. (Painter of the wind, anyone?).

Yoon-hee unfolds the undergarment and begins painting on it to show that this is not a shameful undergarment but a beautiful memory. A smiling Cho-sun says, “Then I must write a poem in reply.”

Meanwhile, an awkward Sun-joon stands with his back to the still underdressed Hyo-eun(who has reverted back to being Miss Proper). He begins to excuse himself when Hyo-eun stops him—she can’t let him leave like this. Why? It’s because Byung-choon&co. just realized that Sun-joon might’ve slipped in to the estate while they were taking care of “business.” Byung-choon arrives just in time to see Sun-joon’s shadow inside but when he swings open the doors, there is only an underdressed Hyo-eun getting ready for bed.

Startled, Hyo-eun kicks an even more startled Byung-choon out and as soon as the coast is clear, she helps Sun-joon escape. Not before they share her fairy-tale moment—guy tells her he won’t forget this night, flustered girl trips, guy catches, girl is hit hard by cupid’s arrow. Of course.
On the road, Minister Ha still can’t shake his inkling and decides to turn back to the gisaeng house when his attention is turned to scarlet notes floating in the sky. He becomes alarmed and hurries home while a mysterious masked man sends exploding arrows all around the city. The arrows explode into scarlet pieces of paper declaring the secrets and scandals of the nation—and one of them fall into the hands of Yoon-hee.

The masked man is Hong-Byuk-Seo(we’ll be calling him the Red Messenger) and his next target is Minister Ha’s home. Just as the minister arrives home, he sends an arrow flying towards the minister. The arrow hits the main gate and a chase ensues. As Yoon-hee walks the streets while reading the scarlet note, the Red Messenger appears in front of her and unconsciously helps him escape by telling the guards she hasn’t seen anyone suspicious.

The chase ends when the Red Messenger hides behind Ban-chon territory, which the guards are prohibited from entering after hours.

Minister Ha is furious that an army of guards failed to catch one man but becomes intrigued when hearing that the Red Messenger disappeared into Ban-chon. The news reaches the King’s ears and he considers the possibility of the Red Messenger being related to Sungkyunkwan. He smiles as he muses that things are getting interesting…the Red Messenger is looking for the Geum-dong-ji-sa(kind of a Book of Kings, if you will).

Sun-joon’s father is alarmed at the mention of the Geum-dong-ji-sa. How did you take care of things, he accuses Minister Ha. The minister assures him that the book is long gone, but Sun-joon’s father warns that he must get rid of the Red Messenger. If he fails to do so, the Noron party will be endangered as a whole.

Outside the Sungkyunkwan gates, Yoon-hee is startled when Sun-joon grabs her shoulder. He reminds her that time is almost up and that she should hurry and Yoon-hee notices that he’s coming from Buk-chon.

The seniors of Sungkyunkwan begin checking the fruits of the freshmen’s missions and when they finally reach Yoon-hee, Yong-ha is sure of her failure. To his and everyone’s surprise, however, she offers up Cho-sun’s undergarment. Failing to hide his shock, Yong-ha asks if this really belongs to Cho-sun—the others suspicious that it belongs to another gisaeng—but when he unfolds and counts the flowers on the undergarment, he is assured that it truly is Cho-sun’s undergarment.

Byung-choon grabs it and begins to read Cho-sun’s poem: “Who would say that a short night is lesser than a long night? Such an enrapturing short night…I would not trade for any longer night.”

A stiff faced Insoo asks, “I’ll ask you again. Is it true? Did you see Cho-sun? And did she give this to you directly?” When she answers yes, In-soo clenches his fist silently in anger. Yong-ha on the other hand is thoroughly amused and lets out an adorable chuckle.

Yong-ha declares that the greatest prize is undisputedly Yoon-hee, who made possible the impossible. Yoon-hee receives her uniform, officially(or…unofficially) admitted to the university.

Next is Sun-joon. He announces that he was unable to fulfill his mission, saying that he did not even go to Minister Ha’s house in Buk-chon. Yoon-hee quietly protests that she saw him coming from Buk-chon but Sun-joon clears his throat to keep her quiet.

After preparations are complete, In-soo gives the ok for the punishment to begin(after a smug little speech) and several scholars come out to push him in.

Along the side of the creek, the school chancellor is waiting for Sun-joon to fall in with a custom made lifesaver. He grumbles that this is the problem with rich kids—they can’t do anything for themselves, forcing him to take matters into his own hands. “Why should an oldie like me have to run into save him at this time of night? This lifesaver is NOT for that inflexible prick Lee Sun-joon. It’s for me! The one you save is me! So you have to do it well!” And just as he swings to throw the lifesaver in, Yoon-hee cries, “Wait!”…resulting in a hilarious moan from the chancellor as the rope wraps around his neck.

Yoon-hee decides that she wants to use her one wish(the grand prize) on saving Sun-joon. Despite In-soo’s threats that if she uses this wish, he has the power to expel her, she insists that she wants to use it on Sun-joon.

When they return to campus, Sun-joon stops Yoon-hee. Yoon-hee says, “If you’re going to thank me, there’s no need to. I was just trying to ‘stick to my principles’,” she smirks at her own Sun-joon reference and goes on, “I don’t like being indebted to someone.” Sun-joon tells her that it might have been better if she didn’t get involved, “Since I wanted to change this tradition of ‘mission impossible’ initiation. I also can’t stand being indebted to someone, so if you ever have a request, let me know. If it’s something within my powers, then I will do my best to do it.” Ah, the budding of a friendship.

As Sun-joon returns to the dormitories, Yong-ha is waiting for him to have a word.

Yong-ha, who seems to have heard Sun-joon talking to Yoon-hee asks:

“Is that why? ‘There’s no need to keep the rules of something as meaningless as this initiation’…Is that why even though you went to Minister Ha’s estate, you claimed you didn’t? ‘I’d rather be thrown into the urine-filled creek than fall for your immature tricks,’ is that it? Is it pride? Competitiveness? Defiance? It’s for guys like you…the initiation. Guys like you who were born into rich families with stiff necks because you’ve never had to bow your head to anyone. It’s to humble guys like you. Why? Because this is Sungkyunkwan. It doesn’t matter who your father is, here, all of you are just fresh meat…So get off your high horse—this is the precious lesson that your seniors are teaching you,” finally smiling after his uncharacteristic serious talk. “So don’t take it all too seriously.”

He leaves as he pats Sun-joon on the back, but Sun-joon retorts, “Then you must not have passed your initiation. Because there is no other scholar who wears such flamboyant clothes as you do. Is this not a display of the wealth and power of your father?” Touché!

Sun-joon continues by saying that it was because Buyong-hwa was a chaste young lady and he did not see it fit to embarrass her in front of men—that is all. Yong-ha breaks out into a smile and congratulates Sun-joon on his entrance into Sungkyunkwan.

In-soo is being pampered by his minions while they complain that they could’ve gotten Sun-joon good if it weren’t for Kim Yoon-shik. Go-bong lets slip that Sun-joon specifically asked to be sent to the East Wing dormitory. Why is this a big deal? It has been Sungkyunkwan tradition for people of the Noron faction to stay in the West Wing, while the Soron stay in the East wing—even the school is divided by politics. Who does Sun-joon think he is, going against tradition? Does he think lightly of the Soron faction? Even the school chancellor refuses to allow it but Professor Jung suggests that it will be hard to do change Sun-joon’s self-righteous mind.

Yong-ha doesn’t seem too worried though. Despite his past failures in getting Sun-joon into trouble, Yong-ha is sure that Sun-joon won’t be able to stay in the East Wing for long because they have a secret weapon: the crazy horse, Guh-roo. He never shares a room with anyone, ESPECIALLY not a Noron.

Meanwhile, Yoon-hee is sitting, looking like a deer caught in headlights as Sun-joon undresses into his sleeping robes.

Sun-joon tells her to take off her clothes to sleep, but of course she has her own secret to keep and thus refuses. A cute round of bickering follows, and as Yoon-hee opens the door to leave the room, she runs into Jae-shin (aka Guh-roo). Jae-shin stares down the two of his roommates while In-soo and his minions bet that Sun-joon will pack his bags. Yong-ha’s the only one vote that he won’t…or at least, not immediately.

Jae-shin looks around the room, “What is all this?” Throwing their belongings on the floor he yells, “Get lost!” Yong-ha is pleased. Recognizing that Jae-shin must be the famed Guh-roo, but just as he’s about to introduce himself, Guh-roo tells him there’s no need. He won’t be seeing his face again. Sun-joon introduces himself anyway.

Yoon-hee suddenly remembers that Jae-shin was the one who saved her from the Minister’s henchmen and slowly tries to creep her way out when Jae-shin says, “Hey, you there…why are you here.” Yoon-hee freezes. “You must be crazy. Where do you think this is?”

She begins making excuses but Jae-shin moves past her towards Sun-joon. “Hey Noron. Why are you here?” Sun-joon doesn’t answer and moves to pick up his clothes. “I’m asking you. Why is a Noron bastard in this room…stinking up the place.”

Sun-joon explains that he was assigned here and he’s simply following the rules against segregation. Jae-shin accuses him, a Noron, of ripping apart the country but Sun-joon replies that right now, it is Jae-shin who is segregating this room. Does that make Jae-shin a Noron? With that, Sun-joon says that he will now comply with the rules and go to sleep.

Jae-shin is left speechless, so instead throws off his clothes and lays to sleep, laughing hysterically at Sun-joon’s insult. He’s never heard a worse insult than being called a Noron. Yoon-hee tries to sneak away quietly but Jae-shin kicks her down between him and Sun-joon.

Jae-shin looks at her and says, “Are you telling me to sleep next to a Noron bastard? From now on, this is your spot… forever.” Can that be my spot please? Thanks.

The minions outside are disappointed that no one packed their bags, and Yong-ha collects his winnings. In-soo on the other hand has another power tripping episode, threatened by Sun-joon’s refusal to comply with Sungkyunkwan tradition.

Yoon-hee spends a restless night between Sun-joon and Jae-shin, the dagger from her mom tightly gripped in her hands—her mother and brother at home praying for her well-being.

Sun-joon is up reading even before the morning call. As he’s about to leave the room to get ready, he sees Yoon-hee sleeping in an uncomfortable position and after a little hesitation, he begins to move her. Yoon-hee opens her eyes to the sudden movement, only to stare up into Sun-joon’s face. Fairytale moment! Kind of…

Startled, she hurries to get up, butting head with Sun-joon. He lands on top of Jae-shin… yeah I don’t think I have to explain what happens next.

It’s a beautiful morning at Sungkyunkwan as all the scholars wash up for the new day…but not without some whispering over Sun-joon’s staying in the East wing.

As the scholars walk to their classes, they are given instructions and offences that must be avoided by a professor…er… I mean, a student posing as a professor. He’s a student who’s had to repeat his years, “To more deeply understand the teachings.”

Everything is very ceremonial in Sungkyunkwan—eating meals must be first permitted by In-soo, and Yong-ha explains to Yoon-hee that even finishing your meals is based on a point system. Yoon-hee considers this as she eats, only to spit it all out into Yong-ha’s face when he calls her Dae-mul(Big One). She’s just earned herself a new nickname. Her peers make fun of her new Dae-mul status…even Sun-joon.

Meanwhile, the plot to force Sun-joon out of the East wing continues…almost. A few Soron scholars hoped to discuss plot details with Jae-shin, until they got too chicken to even speak to him.

Next plan, In-soo takes the reins. In-soo first warns Sun-joon that although he might think that he’s made an impression on the Soron for his non-segregating ways, the Noron are very unhappy with him. When Sun-joon replies that he didn’t do it to win anyone’s heart, In-soo tells him that he won’t last much longer before he comes crawling begging for mercy. “Lucky for you, I am very merciful to anyone repentant.”

Sun-joon replies that foolish hopes are bad for your health.

However, In-soo doesn’t back down. When his minions corner Yoon-hee to terrorize her for her friend-choice. They tell her she’s picked the line to climb because In-soo is the one with all the power. Or is she relying on her Dae-mul? They want to see this great package and as they begin to strip her, In-soo swoops in to the rescue. Or so she thinks…at first. He apologizes for the rudeness of his followers but warns that she should think and decide carefully using that great brain of hers to pick sides. She should keep in mind that he has the power to make her life in Sungkyunkwan a living hell.

Scared out of her wits, she finds Sun-joon in the library.

Yoon-hee asks, “Is my wish still valid? The debt you owe me from initiation.” Sun-joon replies that he will keep his promise, whatever it is.

“Will you go to the West wing? I trust that you will keep your promise. Lee Sun-joon, go to the West wing.”

COMMENTS

I think with every episode, the series and characters are growing on me. The first couple episodes, Song Joon Ki had me smitten with his portrayal of Yong-ha and I found that Micky Yoochun’s performance was mediocre if not barely sufficient. But I think Micky Yoochun’s performance is gradually getting better and more relatable. He’s not just that stiff neck snot all the time, or at least when he’s with Yoon-hee. You can see that Yoon-hee gets to him whether it sin a good or bad way. I can see that Micky Yoochun is loosening up with his acting, so I’m looking forward to seeing his improvement in future episodes.

Park Min Young is surprisingly endearing in this series, and also pretty convincing as a cross-dresser. I’m so thankful that they haven’t tried to pretty her up like they did for Park Shin Hye in the beginning of ‘You’re Beautiful’. Her voice is also low enough to be convincing but not disturbing.

As for the Red Messenger, I think we all know who is behind all that, but I don’t want to mention any names just in case some people haven’t caught on yet. Let me just say, I’m glad for this subplot because it makes this series so much more than just a bubbly romantic comedy but also a drama with political struggle, which I love. The Red Messenger kind of has an Iljimae feel, doesn’t he?

I enjoy watching this drama for its cute moments, hilarious sub-characters, and of course the pretty boys that give my eyes joy. Let’s just hope it keeps doing what it’s doing and not drag out to turn into a disappointment!

Also, if you’ve read this far, thanks for reading my first ever recap! I know it wasn’t perfect, but I’ll do my best to summarize better without cutting out important details!

ADDED: Just a short explanation about the Geum-dong-ji-sa. It’s a document written by King Yeong-jo that chronicles the pressures from the Noron faction to kill his son, Sado. It is said that Sado would often go on killing sprees in the Palace, thus with the pressures from the very powerful Noron faction, Yeong-jo was left with no choice but to lock up his son into a large rice chest… and Sado died 8 days later. This document, however, has been lost… which seems to be the doing of the Noron faction (hinted by the panic of Minister Lee, who is the leader of the Noron faction) according to this drama.

Jeong-jo, who is the king portrayed in SKKU is the son of Sado and the grandson of Yeong-jo. So it seems natural that the Soron Red Messenger, (Soron being the less powerful rival of Noron) would be looking for the document that would prove Noron’s malicious guilt.

I’m not sure how the drama will portray it, but historically it’s said to be written by Yeong-jo.

I think the definition of Geum-dong-ji-sa is “a document that chronicles the secrets and scandals of injustice to be passed onto their descendants.”

In real life we can’t say what the document really says and if it was really written by Yeong-jo because it’s never been found, but scholars believe it to be Yeong-jo’s confessions to let his descendants know of the pressures he faced in killing his son.

LESSON 4 RECAP

While somewhere across the campus Yoon-hee is asking Sun-joon to switch dorms, Jae-shin is being fussed over by his (only?) friend Yong-ha. Is he sick? That’s the only logical explanation why the “mad horse” Jae-shin would’ve spent a night in the same room with Sun-joon, son of the leader of the Noron political faction. After all, Jae-shin abhors anyone who’s a Noron. So why did Sun-joon get the a-okay to stay in the room?

Jae-shin hasn’t given his consent to anything just yet; he wants to see how long Sun-joon can last in the room.



Yoon-hee naively believes that the only way the mini-war with In-soo will end is if Sun-joon moves to the west wing, where all the Noron boys live.

Sun-joon wants to know what’s so wrong about following a simple principle. Sungkyunkwan (hereafter “SKK”) is supposed to be a place of equality, where birth determines nothing, especially not who lives where. Yet he’s being pressured to act against his principles by the majority and those with power.

The other students don’t care about his sincere intentions, but it’s mutual in that he doesn’t care about them either. “What I care about is your opinion.” (Swoon. Yes, I realize he doesn’t like-like her yet, but I’m still swooning here. What can I say? I’m a total sap.)

But Yoon-hee doesn’t have the leisure to consider anything other than survival. Her only desire is to make it through SKK in one piece; that’s her principle, philosophy and wish. The glistening tears and the desperate earnestness render Sun-joon at a loss of words.

Seems In-soo’s plan to get to Sun-joon through Yoon-hee will work.



The Red Messenger’s latest red leaflet reads that the thief of the Geumdeungjisa is a corrupt subject of the nation, and the king who ignores the blood-stained truth is a coward. The Geumdeungjisa is a mysterious book that supposedly tells all about how the Norons tricked King Yeong-jo into bringing about the death of his son, Crown Prince Sado. [History lesson provided at the end of this recap.]

The king orders the war minister, Minister Ha, to capture the Red Messenger to settle the matter. How they expect to catch anyone with a police sketch that only shows the eyes is beyond me, but wanted posters are dutifully put up around the city and guards are posted at the gates to check the eyes of everyone entering the city.

Minister Ha wants Red at all costs before the king’s private guards catch him first. He does have a lead: during the last chase, Red disappeared into banchon, the area around SKK (think Westwood near UCLA).

Yong-ha is still concerned about Jae-shin, but this time for a different reason. “Were you okay? Didn’t you *hic* last night?” Hilariously, Jae-shin has this nervous disorder where he hiccups around anything and everything female (this is gonna be loads of fun later). Yong-ha expected him to show some kind of physical reaction to Yoon-hee, but the hiccups must be mental because Jae-shin believes there isn’t a female for miles and therefore slept just fine.

Just as Jae-shin’s about to take a swig of his liquor, Yong-ha stops him and reminds him that it’s the first day of classes. If Jae-shin fails another class, he’ll be kicked out of school. And Yong-ha for one won’t let that happen. Lighten up, Jae-shin replies, this (seriousness) isn’t like you.

Yes, Yong-ha, you’re cutest when you’re cheeky and smirky (though your serious look is pretty hot as well!).



It’s time for the first lesson, and all the freshman (plus Jae-shin, who probably has to make up the class for failing it before) file towards the classroom. Do-hyun the super senior is the person to go to for the 411 on professors. Unfortunately, this is Professor Jung Yak-yong’s first year of teaching so all Do-hyun has on him are rumors and nothing concrete.

Rumor has it that Professor Jung was fired from his last government job for corruption and taking bribes.

I don’t know about corruption, but looks to me that Professor Jung will be that quirky professor who charms us as well as dispenses invaluable knowledge. Oddball professor that he is, he takes a chamber pot to his first class instead of books. The ever-serious Professor Yoo Chang-ik is appalled.



We see Jae-shin in proper school attire for the first time when Yoon-hee runs into him outside the classroom. Hilariously, he closes the door on Yoon-hee. Just wait until he starts mooning over her (I have my fingers crossed that this’ll happen!).

Inside, there are exactly two seats left: one beside Sun-joon and one beside Jae-shin. It’s a rock and a hard place, but it’s telling that Yoon-hee would rather sit beside Jae-shin. Unfortunately for her, Jae-shin decides he’ll take the class lying down. She’s stuck sitting beside Sun-joon.

This class is about the Analects of Confucius. Students are graded pass/no-pass at the end of each class, five no-passes will result in failing the class, and three failures at SKK lead to expulsion and other dire consequences.

Enter the chamber pot. Or shall we call it “the bribery pot”? A small donation will result in an improved grade. On schedule, Sun-joon’s forehead begins to wrinkle. Most students dump what coins or rings they have into the pot; Sun-joon and Yoon-hee pass on partaking.



Professor Jung collects quite a bit in his chamber pot. He claims the pot to be a widow’s cruse and proceeds to… put on a magic show? He pulls different colored cloths from it, sets fire to it by snapping his fingers and produces fruit from it, much to the amazement of most of his class.

Except, of course, Sun-joon, who calls for a stop to all this foolishness. It’s a waste of time. (Man, if I were his classmate, I’d instantly hate him…)

The other students clamor that the magic tricks are great fun while Sun-joon stays a stick in the mud. He asks if Professor Jung disregards the study of Confucianism and the classics because he is a believer of shilhak (practical learning). Professor Jung denies this and proceeds to smash the chamber pot on the floor (it’s now empty – Woo-tak mutters, “My gold ring…”).

There were lessons to be learned in what appeared to be foolishness: (1) A wise man is not limited in capacity. If he truly seeks truth, he should not be bound by his prejudices. How brave (of Sun-joon) to assume that Professor Jung hates the classics because he is well-informed of Western Learning. (2) A man of little education becomes easily stuck in his narrow-minded views and can become unnecessarily obstinate. Hence, one must study harder to better learn the truth. They must keep in mind that they’re SKK students now and no longer the big fish on campus in a small pond.

Jae-shin sits up, his face taking on an expression of respect.

“Your education comes from the blood and sweat of the people. Study hard and repay the debt. There is such a thing as ‘a better future for the people.’ It’s your duty to dream of a better Joseon. Please, let’s earn our keep.” Truly a wise man.

The only person who receives a pass for this particular lesson is Sun-joon. Reason being that the others happily enjoyed the magic show while Sun-joon was the only one who questioned the absurdity of the lesson. After all, wisdom is learned from the questions asked and not the answers. The world represented by the chamber pot no longer exists; in fact, a teacher is as useless as the pot. But one who questions will find the answers of his own accord. Like Sun-joon.

The Analects of Confucius are a record of the arguments between the inflexible Confucius and his smart students, all in an attempt to find a better world. Professor Jung suggests that they do the same.



Whether it’s the 18th century or the 21st, it’s never easy being the star pupil. Hae-won and Woo-tak sneeringly claim that Sun-joon’s passing mark is due to his father’s political influence (jealous much?) and we see Sun-joon lose his cool for the first time. He says that he should’ve used his father’s influence to stop cowards like these two from getting into SKK and wasting the country’s resources.

What could’ve ended up being a scuffle is stopped by Jae-shin’s laser glare, which makes Hae-won cower. Is Jae-shin feeling newfound respect for Sun-joon? We’ll have to wait and see to find out.

The other students decide to go drinking to celebrate their first day of classes and smooth things over between Sun-joon and the others. Sun-joon curtly declines the invite; he hates glossing over matters through drinking. The others drag Yoon-hee along, eager to begin a major Sun-joon gripe-fest.

Jae-shin calls Sun-joon out on his antisocial behavior. People come to SKK to hang out and form cliques, not to study. The “only I matter” and “holier than thou” attitude of Sun-joon’s doesn’t fit in at SKK.

Sun-joon astutely points out that by this reasoning, Jae-shin doesn’t fit in at SKK either, which Jae-shin willingly admits is true. But the difference between them two is that Jae-shin can leave at any time while Sun-joon needs to forge political connections and make allies if he wants to be someone someday. That’s what Norons do, and that’s the real reason Sun-joon is at SKK.

In other words, Sun-joon needs to choose: either he’s a human being or a Noron. According to Jae-shin logic, you can’t be both.

Then Jae-shin really drives the point home: “In the end, you’re no different from the other Noron guys you despise. So stop talking about equality between classes and pretending to be a human being. You’ll confuse an idiot like me.”

Time for some lightheartedness. In-soo’s self-indulgent sister Hyo-eun has fallen hard for Sun-joon and tries to express herself in a love letter. But everything she writes comes off as either trite or desperate. On top of that, she’s been pining and worrying so much, she’s gained wrinkles! She now looks (gasp!) at least twenty.



At a bar in banchon, the freshmen are having fun drinking and reenacting the lesson. We have Do-hyun pretending to be Professor Jung and Hae-won attempting Sun-joon. In this little parody, Sun-joon gets a no-pass for being a presumptuous show-off. Do-hyun’s magic trick is more up my alley: he makes Joseon boilermakers with red wine from Jindo (which I had in Korea and remember to be quite strong).

The first drink must be downed in one gulp (one shot!); apparently there’s a legend that says if you can’t drink it in one gulp, you’ll end up getting kicked out of SKK. Gullible Yoon-hee chugs like no tomorrow.

Then she’s pressured into eating raw octopus. She’s chewing diligently when she spots the bookshop owner Hwang gesturing to her.

Basically Hyo-eun wants to hire Yoon-hee to write a love letter for her, something that isn’t too trite yet not too desperate either. Yoon-hee understands immediately: “In other words, she’s mad for this guy but doesn’t want him to know, right?”

Hyo-eun’s hiding behind the bookshelves, and in her stead, her servant girl asks if Sun-joon is in the banchon as well. She’s heard of his illustrious reputation, that he is perfect physically, mentally, has a talent in writing and has sound judgment.

Yoon-hee smirks. Unfortunately, he’s SO perfect, he’d never show up to drink like the others.

Said Mr. Perfect is diligently studying in the library, but he can’t get over Jae-shin’s taunt that he’s no different from the other Noron guys. He ends up outside the bar, hesitant to go in, especially when he overhears the other guys trash-talking him. He probably doesn’t like these guys either, but even so, it’s gotta sting.

But Yoon-hee calls the guys out on their disgraceful behavior. She calls them cowards, pathetic and shameful. If they’re unhappy about their no-pass grades, they should’ve gone to Professor Jung. Or better yet, study their butts off and show up Sun-joon. (I love you, Yoon-hee. You’re pretty darn awesome as a guy.)

The other guys are taken aback; they thought Yoon-hee hated Sun-joon.

“I do hate him. More than you can possibly imagine. Even so, this isn’t right. He did nothing wrong today. You guys know that better than I do.” (Did I mention that I love her?)

Woo-tak spots Sun-joon outside when he goes out to pee. Yoon-hee is surprised that he came, but she invites him to join them. Of course, she can’t help taking a little jab at him, “Didn’t you say you hate solving altercations through alcohol?”

But see, he has this principle about joining in extracurricular activities. That boy and his principles.



But first he has to drink a shot in a single gulp. Only what should be a bowl looks like a basin. He isn’t one to back down so he chugs the whole thing, impressing everyone there. For the first time, he’s accepted by the others.

I told myself I wouldn’t spazz too much while writing this recap, but how adorable is his little burp after drinking?



In sharp contrast, In-soo is at the gisaeng house, fuming that Cho-sun refused to meet him. She’s supposedly ill, but she’s actually chatting with Yong-ha in the other room (who isn’t he close with?).

Yong-ha warns Cho-sun not to piss In-soo off too much. After all, In-soo’s the school president and the son of the war minister.

But Cho-sun isn’t impressed. She replies that as a soft-hearted person, Yong-ha should understand how she feels. Men can buy sex with their money and power, but never love. See, even gisaengs wish to be faithful.

Yong-ha correctly guesses that Cho-sun has feelings for Yoon-hee, something he definitely didn’t foresee happening (and very “Painter of the Wind”).

In-soo overhears their conversation, and he throws the gauntlet. He’s willing to bet that his power will be greater than her so-called faithfulness. Oh, do I smell even more trouble for Yoon-hee in the future?



Walking side-by-side for the first time like friends, Sun-joon tells Yoon-hee that he’ll keep his promise and move to the west dorm. He was a bit touched when she stood up for him, especially since he thought she didn’t approve of his passing grade. But she actually questioned his grade because she was curious about Professor Jung’s thoughts and the truth he spoke of. Her eyes are starry as she talks about this being the first time she was ever taught by a teacher in a classroom full of classmates. And she has Sun-joon to thank. In gratitude, she takes back her wish so that he longer has to switch dorms.

Sun-joon’s face twitches a bit, which Yoon-hee mistakes as him being touched by her words. But actually, he just needs to puke. Which he does. There goes his perfect image.



The inebriated freshmen hurry back to the dorms in order to meet curfew. They don’t tell us what the punishment for breaking the curfew is, but it’s implied that it’s something terrible.

But Sun-joon is out cold, leaving Yoon-hee to carry him back (I love this role reversal – we hardly ever see the girl piggybacking the guy). Drunk Sun-joon is adorable and useless as he falls all over the place. Gotta give Yoon-hee props for not ditching him.

Knowing that Yoon-hee isn’t back yet, In-soo orders the gates to be closed. She throws Sun-joon aside (ha!) and runs, but it’s too late.

Fortunately for our heroine, an adorably inebriated Yong-ha shows her a secret entrance, and she and Sun-joon are in time for the curfew check. I think Yong-ha’s already nearly won over by both Yoon-hee and Sun-joon. Can’t wait until the Joseon F4 become official.

Yoon-hee thanks Yong-ha profusely, but he says there’s no need since he’s simply untying the knot that he himself created. She doesn’t understand, but we do: he’s the one who decided on Yoon-hee’s mission, which was to send her to Cho-sun. That’s precisely what sparked In-soo’s jealousy and this little cheap trick for revenge.

Yong-ha mischievously reminds Yoon-hee that it’ll be just her and Sun-joon in the room tonight since Jae-shin probably won’t be home. And just as he expected, this freaks Yoon-hee out.



So where is the truant Jae-shin? Enjoying an illegal gambling session that’s soon crashed by the police. Jae-shin gets caught and is taken to the prosecutor’s office (so to speak, in modern terms) and comes face to face with the Attorney General, Moon Geun-soo, his father and the head of the Soron faction.

His father chastises him for his unruly ways, mentioning how his dead brother would be so disappointed. This is clearly a sore spot for Jae-shin because his voice drips with bitterness as he tells his father that he has no right to criticize. He can stand everyone else’s pointing fingers, but not his father’s.

Kickass fighting skills AND a troubled past? We’re in for an emotional rollercoaster with this tortured soul. And we now have a faint idea as to why he hates the Noron faction so much: his family is of the rival faction Soron, and there seems to be some backstory about the dead brother.



Sun-joon feels the heat of the alcohol and starts undressing, throwing Yoon-hee into a deep panic. She ends up rushing out when Sun-joon reaches for his pants. Ah, what the 800,000 Cassies of this world wouldn’t give to be in her position.

There’s a hilarious moment when Sun-joon wakes up in the morning to find himself nearly naked. He looks absolutely dumbfounded.



Jae-shin comes home to find Yoon-hee sleeping on the porch. He wakes her up, warning her that if she sleeps in the cold, she’ll end up with a twisted mouth. (“The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry,” anyone?)

Inside, Sun-joon is studying like nothing ever happened, to Yoon-hee’s disbelief.

How beautiful is this shot?

Anyway, Sun-joon actually doesn’t remember what happened, at least not until his servant tells him that he basically acted like a dog and everyone knows about it. That’s when he recalls the details and nearly chokes on the drink his servant brought. So the servant performs the Heimlich maneuver. Such a silly scene with such a beautiful background.



Yoon-hee points out that Sun-joon’s principles shouldn’t allow him to pretend that nothing happened last night. Sun-joon claims to only remember how Yoon-hee thanked him for helping her get into SKK. Oh, and she also begged him not to switch dorms.

Is that Sun-joon’s first mischievous smile? You’ve won me over, boy.

The king announces an archery tournament at SKK. The winner will receive 50 merit points and liquor issued by the king himself. Anyone who fails the preliminaries will be punished. It’s a team effort, meaning that if one person in your dorm room fails, everyone fails.

Yoon-hee’s a terrible archer, which leads to Sun-joon teaching her the proper stance and technique. His excuse is that he doesn’t want to fail the prelims because of her, but we’re not falling for that. We all know he’s incredibly grateful for her loyalty and care while he was drunk.

But it’s more than that. He honestly and openly admits, “It was the first time that someone wasn’t just a classmate. Kim Yoon-shik, you’re the first person to ever take my side.”

Do I smell love in the air?

Across the yard, In-soo and his posse see Sun-joon and Yoon-hee practicing together. Clearly this means that Sun-joon will not be switching dorms and that In-soo has managed to break neither Sun-joon nor Yoon-hee.

The archery competition has Minister Ha’s panties in a bunch. Crown Prince Sado used to love the archery competition at SKK, which explains why it was banned by King Yeong-jo after his son’s death. Bringing back the competition suggests that King Jeong-jo (son of the late crown prince) has something up his sleeve.

Minister Lee reaffirms with Minister Ha that the Geumdeungjisa is truly gone. But the uneasy expression on Minister Ha’s face tells us that might not be the case.

But Minister Lee doesn’t lose his cool. He suggests that if they watch the king and figure out his plan, a solution will come to them naturally.

I was hoping that Sun-joon’s father wouldn’t be a bad guy, but seems I’ll be disappointed. Sun-joon has such respect for his father, I’d hate to see him hurt when he discovers this side to his father.



So what is the king’s plan? Jung Yak-yong.

The belongings of the late Professor Kim Seung-hun of SKK were recently sent to the king, and they included a letter of resignation that’s actually a coded will. And the will is about the mysterious Geumdeungjisa.

That’s the reason the king has sent Jung Yak-yong to SKK, hinting that perhaps the Geumdeungjisa can be found at SKK.

Yoon-hee is practicing alone when she’s approached by In-soo and his posse. Dumb and Dumber (aka Byung-choon and Go-bong) tease her for playing lackey to Lee Sun-joon, but she denies this and says she’s doing everything of her own will. In fact, she starts expressing that will by questioning In-soo.

Yoon-hee: You claimed that a Noron staying in the east wing is against the rules.
In-soo: So I did.
Yoon-hee: You said I wouldn’t survive if I went up against you. You have enough power to make good on your claim.
In-soo: But?
Yoon-hee: But, sir, if it is a grave sin for a Noron to stay in the east wing, why can’t a powerful person like yourself change the official rules? If you changed the rules so that each student must stay in a particular dorm according to his political faction, Lee Sun-joon wouldn’t put up such a fight.
In-soo: In other words, Sun-joon has done nothing wrong. You’re right. I went overboard. I was narrow-minded. Let me make it up to you by giving you some guidance.



And by guidance, he means he wants to shoot an apple placed on her head, a la William Tell. It’s a terrifying moment; In-soo’s eyes spell murder and Yoon-hee has no choice but to face the arrowhead.

His pretense is that he wants her to overcome her fear of arrows, but we all know that’s a bunch of bull feces.



Fortunately, Sun-joon is informed of the situation.

We also have Yong-ha and Jae-shin in the area. Yong-ha is wondering why Jae-shin looks so gloomy when he’ll clearly win the competition. He is, after all, the best archer in school.



Sun-joon knocks In-soo’s arm just as the arrow is released, and he’s too late. But Jae-shin is on time and pushes Yoon-hee out of the way, saving her from a similar fate to that of Saint Sebastian. But it was a close shave, and she faints.



Professor Jung, who’s been put in charge of the infirmary during the competition, makes an astounding discovery in the school records: Yoon-hee is the late Professor Kim Seung-hun’s son (cough, daughter). And speak of the devil, the unconscious Yoon-hee is carried in by Jae-shin.

Jae-shin looks overwrought with worry, and Sun-joon looks no better.



Yoon-hee wakes up to what seems to be an empty infirmary and is quick to check if she’s been undressed. She seems to be missing something and is searching frantically when Professor Jung appears. He appears conflicted as he stares at her. Then he drops the bomb.

“Are you a girl?”

Hana Kimi, anyone?

COMMENTS

I’ll just come out and say it: Yoochun is a pretty good actor.

I had my doubts, particularly since I still remember what his acting was like back in the banjun drama days. But I’m impressed as he seems to get better and better with each passing episode. And while the character Sun-joon could easily draw a tepid and bored response from the viewers (seriously, he would’ve been majorly ostracized at my high school), it’s the little things like him burping and that mischievous smile that hook the heart. At least, it did mine.

The drama is shaping up to be full of mystique and suspense. I have to admit that I thought this would be a fluffy, trendy-drama-placed-in-sageuk-settings kind of series, and I’m happy to say I’ve been proven wrong. This drama has more depth and intricacies than I expected, particularly for any history buffs out there.

I particularly love the twist that Professor Jung discovers Yoon-hee is a girl right after he finds out she’s the late Professor Kim’s daughter. He could easily have her expelled (and worse), but now he won’t because she’s tied to the Geumdeungjisa affair.

Oh, and did I mention that I love Yoon-hee?

HISTORY LESSON

King Yeong-jo (son of Dong-yi) kills his son, Crown Prince Sado, by ordering him into a rice container, where he suffocates after eight days. For those who have seen “Yi-San” (and as implied in this drama), the crown prince was wrongfully framed of mutinous intentions, most likely by the Noron faction. However, some historians claim that the crown prince was a pervert and sadist, and that’s why his father had him killed. Either way, the crown prince’s son, King Jeong-jo (the king featured in this drama) spent the majority of his reign trying to clear his father’s name.

The Geumdeungjisa is supposed to be memoirs by King Yeong-jo, written in his later years when he regretted what he did to his son. It supposedly claims that the Norons tricked him into believing his son to be mutinous.

EPISODE 5 RECAP

After an unconscious Yoon-hee arrives in the infirmary, Professor Jung checks her condition only to be shocked at his discovery. He immediately goes outside and quarantines the infirmary—no one is to be anywhere near the building.

Thinking that Yoon-hee’s condition is far worse than they thought, Guh-ro’s temper flares up and he grabs for the nearest bow and arrow. Sun-joon stops Guh-ro, telling him that In-soo did this out of spite against him, so he should be the one to take care of it. Do I see the love triangle taking form? Fan-girl sigh. I love it.

Yoon-hee awakes and realizing where she is, she feels around her chest and begins searching for something. When she sees Professor Jung, she quickly tries to excuse herself.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” Professor Jung holds up what Yoon-hee was frantically searching for: her keepsake dagger.

“Are you a girl?” Yoon-hee freezes at the sudden question. Jung presses on, “Answer me, Kim Yoon-shik. I asked you if you’re a girl.”

Back in the classroom, Yong-ha’s curiosity over Yoon-hee is only made worse as he ponders over Professor Jung’s quarantine—not even the school doctor is let in. “Aren’t you curious about what happened to Dae-mul?” he asks Guh-ro, who seems to be more curious about the nickname Dae-mul. Yong-ha is sure that Dae-mul’s hiding a deep dark secret and by the looks of it, he seems determined to find out.

Yoon-hee drops to her knees and begs Professor Jung for forgiveness, explaining that she was merely trying to live within her desperate circumstances—she was just trying to provide for her mother and sick brother. Jung does not budge, however. He instead reprimands her for making excuses about her family and thus involving them in this heinous crime. They, too, will not be able to avoid punishment for condoning her entrance into the university.

Jung tells her to wait for her punishment to be decided as Yoon-hee realizes in horror what her excuses have done. He also warns her that no one is to find out about her secret until his decision has been made—that’s the only way not to make her crimes worse. Yikes!

Yoon-hee leaves the infirmary in a devastated daze as her classmates flock to her in concern. This has Byung-choon puzzled—what is it about Yoon-hee that has everyone hurrying to her rescue?

In-soo broods over this thought, sarcastically adding that Yoon-hee has pulled off what the King has so fervently wished for. As he draws back his bow, Sun-joon calls his out on his cheap tricks to which In-soo gives his final warning, “Come to the West Wing where the Noron belong, and I’ll make you my direct inferior. If you want, I can even make you my successor.”

Sun-joon: “What if I refuse?”
In-soo: “ This is why I call you naïve. You’re being stubborn has made youimpartial to Noron, Soron, and Nam-in.”
Sun-joon: “Is it wrong to be impartial?”
In-soo: “Impartial? Harmony amongst the factions? (sarcastic chuckle) I don’t believe in that kind of disgusting word-play. Impartiality is really the King’s cunning plan to drive out the Noron faction by unifying Soron and Nam-in powers. If you’re team happens to win this archery competition, you’ll be indirectly supporting the King’s efforts in front of the whole Senate. Are you planning on aiming your arrow at the Noron…no, at your own father?”
Sun-joon:“You’re right. I didn’t think so far to understand what it would mean if my team won. So…I’m going to have to do it… first place.
In-soo: “What?”
Sun-joon: “Whether it’s the King’s disgusting play on words or your own obsession with power… how will I know without trying?”

In-soo agrees to his challenge, keen on teaching him a lesson.

A shaken up Yoon-hee enters an empty classroom and breaks down in tears as she recollects Professor Jung’s harsh words. But alas! The classroom isn’t empty, with Guh-ro sleeping between desks. He wakes up to her sniffles and is about to ignore her and go back to sleep, but sits up instead. Yoon-hee notices and he awkwardly looks away, not knowing what to say or do but when she gets up to leave, he hurriedly stops her.

“You stay. I’ll disappear for you.” Awwww.

In-soo’s minions scoff at Sun-joon’s claim to victory as they enter into their private gazebo when an arrow suddenly flies straight past In-soo’s face. Guh-ro pushes past Kang Moo and approaches In-soo, “How does it feel?”

In-soo : “What do you think you’re doing?”

Guh-ro: “This is how it feels when you play with someone’s life… Re.mem.ber it well.. or else, I might just plant that lesson here,” as he pats In-soo’s chest. What a bad-ass sweetheart…

Meanwhile, Sun-joon is looking for Yoon-hee all around campus—the library, the dormitories. When he spots the backside of a small scholar, he clears his throat, thinking he found her—only it’s not. (Excuse me, who is this other cross-dressing girl? I swear she’s female…)

Sun-joon finally finds her coming out of the classroom. Yoon-hee begins to walk past when Sun-joon asks her if she’s okay. “Is your body feeling better now?” She silently nods and walks off.

The ever curious Yong-ha stops Professor Jung as he leaves the infirmary to ask what’s wrong with Yoon-hee—what could she possibly have that required such a strict quarantine? He’s been sleuthing around school medical records to see that there’s been no diagnosis nor any prescriptions made out for her but what he finds more interesting is that the professor didn’t even record her vitals. Yong-ha is being snarky… up until Professor Jung reminds him that school medical records are strictly off limits to scholars—he can be severely punished for this… Yong-ha immediately backs down (Ha! It’s nice to see him sweat for once!)

In the palace, Minister Ha and the Royal Senate are asking King Jeong-jo to retract his announcement of the archery competition. He ‘respectfully’ argues that the archery competition was banned by the deceased King Yeong-jo to discourage his descendants from enjoying the hobby that his insane son Sa-do so loved. “Your Majesty must respect the wishes of the Great King Yeong-jo and walk by his path.”

To this, Jeong-jo calmy replies, “Minister, the parent who believes his son to be a criminal buries him in their heart. But the child who has lost his parent spends his whole life trying to find any trace his parent left behind. That is the human’s way. Isn’t that right, Minister Moon?”

Jae-shin’s father begins to speak but when he makes eye-contact with Prime Minister Lee, he excuses himself, “I do not understand the connection between the archery competition and the human’s way, your Highness.”

Jeong-jo replies, “The archery competition was a hobby that my father shared with the Sungkyunkwan scholars. Please regard it as a son’s way of longing after his lost father. I am the King of this nation, after all. Shouldn’t I at least be allowed this much?”

Later that evening, the Prime Minister shares drinks with Minister Ha as he muses that the King is no longer the shameful young son of Crown Prince Sa-do. Minister Ha supposes that the years have made Jeong-jo’s heart weak against his father. The Prime Minister realizes they’ve severely underestimated the King’s plans…and that Jung Yak-yong plays a big part in it.

Jung Yak-yong walks amongst the memorials of former professors, troubled by Yoon-hee and the Geum-deung-ji-sa. He thinks back to an old memory when he makes a visit to his teacher’s home. Jung finds a young girl sitting outside in the cold, listening and repeating the lessons her father is giving to her brother inside. He suggests that she study inside if it’s so cold, to which she replies, “Mother thinks that reading and writing is poison to a girl.” Jung suggests that she quit, but she looks at him in confusion, “How is it you don’t even ask my opinion and simply tell me to do as my mother wants? I’m not my mother…I am myself.”

Impressed, Jung asks her name, but the girl’s mother calls out to reprimand her. The little girl hurriedly hides behind Jung and her mother turns away, unable to scold her daughter in front of a guest. When her mother leaves, the little girl stands and tells him, “Kim Yoon-hee. My name is Kim Yoon-hee.”

Later, he informs King Jeong-jo that Kim Yoon-shik is the son of the deceased Kim Seung-hun. The news pleases him, expressing that he’d like to meet Yoon-shik and entrust him with the task of finding the Geum-deung-ji-sa, but Professor Jung quickly protests. He claims that Kim Yoon-shik is still too young and inexperienced to give such responsibilities, and he also knows nothing of his father’s role in the matter. Although surprised by Jung’s reaction, the King tells him that he’ll agree not to meet him—just this once, and only because he puts great trust in Jung.

The next day, Sun-joon informs Yoon-hee that she’ll need to start practicing if she’s to be ready for the competition and she agrees. But easier said than done, she repeatedly fails to pull the string back while Sun-joon commands her to try again.

Meanwhile, Headmaster Choi is busy making arrangements for the King’s arrival, making sure that not a speck of dust, or a scratch on his throne will displease the King. He’s sure that this will put him on his way to a promotion and he wants nothing to get in his way.

The Headmaster handpicks the gisaengs to attend the competition, hilariously failing the ugly ones(minus the one who bribes him) until the beautiful Cho-sun arrives. Smitten by her beauty, he passes her with flying colors and she tells him that her and her gisaengs will see him at the competition.

Back at the gisaeng house, Cho-sun is busy selecting her fabrics and accessories while her juniors whisper that they’ve never seen her so excited. One junior reckons that Cho-sun might be doing all this out of spite because Yoon-hee never came back after initiation night—but her friend disagrees. No woman has that look on her face out of spite.

Yoon-hee’s still having a hard time even pulling the string and when the string snaps in her face, so does her patience. (Anyone else cringe at that scene? I swear that was a real cry of pain. Ouch!) She tells Sun-joon that she gives up, but Sun-joon isn’t willing to let her. “You haven’t held the bow properly even once. When are you going to stop treating this like it’s someone else’s business?”

Guh-ro cuts in, accusing Sun-joon that all he can think about is impressing the King and getting ahead—just like the rest of those Noron bastards. “An arrow almost went through her head. Can’t you see she’s scared?” He grabs Yoon-hee’s arm to leave but Sun-joon stops him. (Tehe!)

Sun-joon: “If she leaves right now just because she’s scared then she’ll never be able to hold a bow again. There’s nothing that can be solved by making excuses.”
Yoon-hee: “Don’t say that I’m making excuses so easily….because I’ve been desperately trying! While you were learning archery in luxury, I was busy trying to make a living so I’ve never even held a bow before. While you’re THE Lee Sun-joon, I’m just the pathetic Kim Yoon-shik, a Nam-in who has no family of prominence and can’t even remember his own father!”

He tells her that’s why she should take this opportunity to rise in the ranks but she doesn’t buy it. “Are you saying this is all for me again? Do you know what my life’s turned into because of you? You think that if you have a will, the world can be changed… when you know nothing of the real world. Grab this opportunity? For you, it may be just an opportunity… but for me, it’s an impossibility. For me, I need a miracle.”

Yoon-hee storms off and Sun-joon follows after her but someone cuts the rope holding up a pillar, and they come tumbling down on him.

His right shoulder is badly injured and Professor Jung tells him that although there’s no permanent damage, it’ll be hard for him to participate in the archery competition. His classmates, including Yoon-hee (who hides behind a corner), peak in when Headmaster Choi rushes in and freaks out about who would do such a thing.

The school is buzzing about the possibilities, In-soo being the most likely suspect.

In-soo merely scoffs at the rumor. His minions aren’t bold enough to pull it off, and he isn’t foolish enough to plan something so obvious. He’d rather have Sun-joon come under his control by his own will. Besides, “I’m the president. Do you think a brat like him could really match up to me?” Yong-ha remains silent. Oh, hubris.


The next day, Sun-joon gets ready for practice despite his classmates and manservant’s protests. When he sees Yoon-hee, he approaches with a bow in hand and pulls the string weakly with his left hand. “My left arm is a beginner and is pulling this bow for the first time…just like you. I’m going to pull off a Mol-gi (hitting bulls-eye 5 times, highest points rewarded)with this left hand.”

His classmates snicker at his confidence—he’ll need a miracle to pull that off. But Sun-joon tells Yoon-hee that if he needs a miracle, then he’s going to make one…because he needs Yoon-hee to compete.

Hyo-eun hears of Sun-joon’s injuries and runs to daddy, who is busy contemplating the King’s hidden motives. (I LOL-ed at this scene. Love comical Minister Ha.) She announces that she’s going to the competition but when her dad objects she suggests that he should be sending food and gifts to the scholars who are working hard—especially since he’s the father of the school president. He dismisses her idea at first but as she storms off, a mental lightbulb goes off and he tells her to make preparations.

Sun-joon improves immensely after practicing day and night(even during lecture). All eyes are on him, including Yoon-hee and even Guh-ro. Yong-ha’s sure that In-soo will win though—after all, Yoon-hee still sucks and Guh-ro won’t participate. But that has In-soo more ticked off—why is Sun-joon trying so hard to win an impossible fight?


A school ward tells Sun-joon that he was given instructions to turn off all the lights, but even after the lights have gone off, Sun-joon persists. As he continues practicing in the dark, flaming arrows suddenly land in several fire pits to give Sun-joon light.

The flaming arrows were shot by none other than Guh-ro, who happened to overhear a group of Soron’s saying that they should have broken Sun-joon’s legs too. The group trusts that Guh-ro will keep his mouth shut since he’s a Soron too but Guh-ro punches one and retorts, “Shut my mouth? Why? Because you know yourselves that you should be embarrassed? Say one more word… and I’ll make it so you never use that mouth again.”

Yoon-hee is watching Sun-joon practice when her thoughts are interrupted by Yong-ha. When he asks her what she’s thinking so hard about, she asks him why he’s at Sungkyunkwan.

An uncharacteristically serious Yong-ha muses, “Me? Well… I’m here to resist the miserable class system in this uptight country of Joseon…” and as he sees her face, he switches back to playful Yong-ha, “What can I do? I can only have concubines if I take the government exam… so I’ve got to bear the system.”

Yong-ha smiles as she leaves to her room where she remains pensive with her bags packed and uniform folded.

The next day, she looks for Professor Jung in the faculty room, perhaps to tell him she’s quitting, when Professor Yoo suddenly gives her a pop quiz. When she answers with the correct answer, he tells her she passed the last exam with an A+ and that her paper was “pretty good.” He tells her to take the book she was peaking at moments before, explaining that his teacher gave it to him also. She feels unworthy but he insists that if she feels unworthy, perhaps she can give it to a smarter student in the future.

Her classmates outside drag her to the practice grounds where Sun-joon’s manservant begs her to try and stop his master from practicing in the rain—if Sun-joon gets sick then he’s a dead man.

Yoon-hee runs out and demands that he stop.

Sun-joon: “I told you, if you need a miracle then I would make it.”

Yoon-hee: “And I told you not to get in my business! Why?! Why are you doing this to me?”

Sun-joon: “Look! It’s not all fun and games living as the son of a Noron. No one in this world can choose their parents or be born the way they want. There’s only one thing you can choose for yourself: today. How you’re going to live today. Did you say that you have no prominent family? You must fell the world is unfair! I’m sure you must also want to complain. So, are you going to live the rest of your life complaining and feeling sorry for yourself?”

He goes on to tell her that life may give you unfair circumstances, but it’s every man’s responsibility to face it and try to be rid of it—and you can’t face anything with a bent arrow.

As he walks off, Guh-ro approaches Yoon-hee and says that he doesn’t like seeing her get served with no resistance from her. “From now on if anyone points their finger at you, you give them your fist.” She’s surprised to find a release aid on her thumb as Guh-ro tells her it shouldn’t hurt anymore.

He then grabs her arms and shows her how to shoot (oh gosh, can’t breathe) but when she looks at the target, she’s surprised to see 5 arrows stuck in the bulls-eye.

With a new-found determination, she runs to the infirmary to tell Professor Jung that she can’t leave Sungkyunkwan—no… she won’t leave Sungkyunkwan, and the Professor can do nothing about it.

“Although the name Kim Yoon-shik is not mine, the exam paper that the King selected was mine. Also, His Highness was the one who ordered me to Sungkyunkwan… but how can you tell me I’m the only one in the wrong?” She wants to know what her crime is—knowledge is for the citizens… but aren’t women also citizens?
Professor Jung retorts that knowledge can be studied outside government walls… but Sungkyunkwan has no place for women.

Yoon-hee asks in tears, “Is it because men and women are different?” Jung answers yes and Yoon-hee adds, “Then what if I show you that men and women are not different? Then what will happen? You told me that knowledge is the asking of questions… about questioning the world around you?”

Getting on her knees, she asks him to give her a chance.

For the first time in her life, she questioned knowledge. For the first time in her life, she met someone who recognized her talents. And for the first time in her life, she met someone who took her side.

“Can you give a chance to someone like me? Give me a chance to ask questions to this world…Give me a chance to dream of a new world.”



COMMENTS

Okay first of all, GO TEAM GUH-RO!!!!!!! Second, GO TEAM SUN-JOON!!!!! Yeah, you heard me! I’m torn!!!
Sigh… Guh-ro has me swooning with his manliness, but I love what Sun-joon does for Yoon-hee as a character. He’s constantly pushing her buttons, not for the sake of upsetting her, but to push her towards progress. Sun-joon is always testing Yoon-hee’s limits to make a her a better and stronger person. For instance, in this episode, Yoon-hee was ready to give up—her bags packed, her mind made up(’cause I’m leavin’~ on a jet plane~)—but his success in getting Mol-gi gives her the courage to stick to her guns and stay at Sungkyunkwan. Yes, I know Guh-ro’s encouragement was probably a factor too, but I think Guh-ro’s more the umbrella character than the pusher. I just love how I see Yoon-hee growing into a stronger independant woman/man with the Sun-joon’s help.

I loved this episode because we got a better look at each character, like Minister Ha. He’s not just the bad guy, which he still is, but he’s also the father who spoils his daughter rotten. Even his bad side isn’t quite as malicious as the Prime Minister because he simply doesn’t have the calculating brains for it. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, is the King’s greatest opponent/rival. I won’t call him evil because I know that’s just how politics work, but he is definitely the brains of the Noron faction and I’m interested to see if, and how Sun-joon will clash with his father later on.

As for Gu Yong-ha, I always knew there was more than what meets the eye—especially with his bromance with Guh-ro—but I want to know how involved he is in the resistance movement. Is he, perhaps, the brains behind the Red Messenger? I don’t know, I’m just speculating. I think it’ll be interesting to see why he chooses to hang out with In-soo’s crowd and when he’ll join the Sun-joon crowd to finally form the Joseon F-4.

If you couldn’t tell by my comments throughout the recap, I’m totally smitten by this drama. It’s a perfect mixture of budding romance, friendship, political angst, family angst, and Yoon-hee’s personal growth. Park Min-young is adorable, Yoo Ah-in is dreamy, Song Joong-ki is so pretty, and Micky Yoochun is growing on me. I love that I can really see his acting improve with every episode.

Can’t wait for more!

LESSON 6 RECAP



“Please let me ask the world my questions. Allow me the opportunity to dream of a better tomorrow.”

Thanks to Sun-joon’s determination to create miracles – an act that impresses even Jae-shin – Yoon-hee is motivated to ask Professor Jung for the chance to make her own miracle. To save SKK from scandal and the king from ridicule, they strike a deal: if she comes out on top at the archery competition, he will allow her to stay. But if she fails, the punishment will be severe: her brother’s name will be stricken from the SKK student register and Yoon-hee will be put to death. That’ll teach her to be arrogant and assume that women and men are equals.

Professor Jung returns her silver knife and warns her that no one must know of her true identity. In fact, she must no longer be a woman; that’s the only way to save her family as well as herself.



Almost on cue, the rain stops as she steps outside and the sky is bright and clean. Though her heart is not entirely light, she now has hope and that is enough for now.

She approaches Sun-joon to ask for his help. “A miracle… right now I need a miracle.”



Guys like Do-hyun, Hae-won and Woo-tak are ready to give up on the competition, but Yoon-hee takes up the bow and arrow with determination. The problem is that though she’s got the heart, her body is unfit for archery. Every arrow she attempts falls flat within a few feet; she can barely pull the string back far enough for a real shot. Her inability to even attempt the challenge frustrates her and she throws down the bow and storms out.

But In-soo won’t let her give up; in fact, he wants to meet her and her team at the finals. He plans to crush them and prove to King Jeong-jo that he shouldn’t use the excuse of equality to fill SKK with nobodies from poor families that have no political connections and are of insignificant ancestry. And he’ll crush Sun-joon while he’s at it because Sun-joon reminds him of the king.

Yoon-hee’s eyes flash defiantly. “Will you wait for me at the finals? I believe it’s my turn to respond to your guidance. Is placing first at the competition a good enough response? […] Did you call me a nobody from a poor family and of insignificant ancestry? [If I win] I want you to apologize for ridiculing my family and me, and acknowledge that I am a student of SKK, handpicked by the king himself.”

But In-soo’s not bluffing in that he’s good enough to win the competition; he and his boys all hit the bull’s-eye.

No one could possibly beat Yoon-hee when it comes to blind confidence. But when it’s just Sun-joon and herself, she’s anything but confident. It’s true that she’s lacking physically, but as Sun-joon points out, if a man decides on a goal and stakes his life on it, he’ll find a way.

By which Sun-joon means she needs to undergo major Spartan training. Step one is to hang Yoon-hee from a tree and force her to do pull-ups in order to build up strength and stability in her arm muscles.

She protests wildly, to which he responds, “Just do thirty. Afterwards, even if you want to fly away, I’ll keep you firmly planted to the ground.”

(Swoon.)

As of yet she can’t even do one.

She doesn’t fare much better in the next courses, running up the mountain to build her leg muscles and controlling her breathing. She particularly feels that the breathing exercises are a waste of time. What she really needs to learn is how to shoot an arrow properly.

Sun-joon sets her straight, enlightening her that the person shoots the arrow, not the bow. If the person isn’t ready in body and mind, then practicing techniques is a waste of time.

Yoon-hee is disgruntled because he’s right yet again. She gives him a small shove and surprises herself by being stronger than she thought. Wax-on, wax-off.

Sun-joon tugs her hard towards him (oh, silly kids) to prove the point that she also needs to build up strength in her hand.

Jae-shin nonchalantly swings by the practice arena to check up on Yoon-hee but runs into In-soo instead. Seems In-soo is after Jae-shin as well; Jae-shin’s a brilliant archer but never takes part in competitions so In-soo never had the chance to beat him.

In-soo calls him a thug who cowers away from direct competition and relies only on his fierce glare. Is he gonna be upstaged by the effeminate Yoon-hee who has the guts to challenge In-soo for the top prize?

With a smirk Jae-shin tells In-soo to practice. After all, he doesn’t want to lose face by losing to that effeminate boy.



Rocky had it; the karate kid had it; and now Yoon-hee has it as well. A montage of her training as she goes from puny weakling to super Yoon-hee. She now does the pull-ups with ease (I LOVE that Sun-joon has a sun-dial) and races through the beautiful forest without losing her breath. In fact, she runs every chance she gets.

And her archery skills? Infinitely better. Sun-joon makes her aim at a makeshift mark, slowly increasing the distance. I love how at first Sun-joon makes sure to step FAR away in fear she’ll kill him by accident, but the farther he moves the mark, the closer he stays as his confidence in her builds.

Yoon-hee’s dedication leads to drastic improvement. She spends every waking moment practicing, and Sun-joon is there to help her every step of the way.



Now Jae-shin, he watches her from afar. In fact, he starts taking care of her in roundabout ways. For example, dropping an apple near her while she’s eating. He thinks he’s being inconspicuous, but we’re all noticing, especially Yong-ha (finally an appearance from our Yeo-rim!). Yong-ha’s taken aback since he has never seen his stoic friend act like this before.



Even while studying, Yoon-hee exercises her right arm by pulling on a strap attached to a tree limb. She falls asleep, however, and her head falls onto Sun-joon’s shoulder. There’s a feeling of something falling into place, and he shows a gentle smile.

Ah, young love.

I only hope he isn’t as traumatized as Han-gyul was when he finds out the truth.



Yoon-hee is hitting the target every time now, though she’s yet to hit the bull’s-eye. Her tremendous improvement doesn’t go unnoticed by Professor Jung and Professor Yoo.

Yoo Chang-ik: Student Kim Yoon-shik has a great talent for archery.
Jung Yak-yong: It took him five days to even shoot properly. He’s a long way off from hitting the bull’s-eye.
Yoo Chang-ik: But he knows that he’s miles behind everyone else and deals with the fact that he’s pathetic, incompetent and insignificant. He doesn’t give up on himself. What greater talent is there to be wanted?



When Jae-shin sees Yoon-hee struggling to hit the bull’s-eye, he finally gets involved. Fortunately for her, he has the perfect medicine. In a moment that undoubtedly made everyone of the Moony faction swoon and reach for their smelling salts, he sweeps Yoon-hee off her feet and carries her away.

His medicine is to cure her injured hand by dunking it in alcohol. He tells her of something called “the thrill of anticipation” (relishing the taut moment before release). Archery is about holding out until the right moment, when the feel of everything (bow, arrow, myself) is just right. That’s the perfect time to release.

And she can’t reach that moment with an injured hand; hence no bull’s-eye.



So why does she want to place first? To advance her career or for the sake of her pride?

Neither. “I want to show myself that I can do it, that I can place trust in myself. After all, everyone needs at least one person who believes in them.”

Jae-shin comments that she must’ve learned her eloquence from Sun-joon. Well, she learned how to make a fist from Jae-shin, and she holds it up to playfully threaten him into attending the competition. “I’ll take care of the winning part. You just fill the head count.”

She remembers to thank him for the thumb ring he made for her and sends a most beautiful smile his way.

HICCUP!

(Squeal!)

Jae-shin recognizes something female in Yoon-hee at a subconscious level and starts hiccupping like mad. It’s almost too adorable for words because he looks absolutely bewildered. Yong-ha witnesses this bout of hiccupping and confirms what he’s been suspecting all along.



Facing off again are In-soo and Sun-joon, neither budging an inch as they exchange poorly veiled threats about knowing no sympathy and learning how to accept defeat.

The tension is broken (or perhaps heightened) by Hyo-eun’s appearance, who has come to provide meals for the SKK student body. She’s a little too demure upon greeting Sun-joon, and In-soo begins to doubt Sun-joon’s claim that he didn’t figure out the mission the night he almost took a urine bath.

Upon hearing that his father is on campus, In-soo stops by the headmaster’s room (and interrupts some major butt-kissing). Minister Ha dispenses (very shameless and sly) advice.

“When attacking an enemy, a surprise attack is the way to go. You have a better chance of winning if you don’t give them time to defend themselves.”

Good advice for war. Terrible advice in terms of sportsmanship.



Yoon-hee is in a good mood, plucking imaginary arrows and no doubt imagining “the thrill of anticipation” when she witnesses Sun-joon and Hyo-eun together. The look on her face is complicated as something registers inside. She’s feeling upset (and jealous) but she has no idea yet as to why.

Meanwhile, Yong-ha is thrilled that his friend is hiccupping; this proves that Yoon-hee is a girl. His bubble is burst, however, when they spot Hyo-eun and company. Jae-shin mistakenly concludes that that’s why his fem-dar is going off like crazy.

Yong-ha fills Yoon-hee in that Hyo-eun is the reason Sun-joon lied about his mission; Sun-joon wanted to protect her reputation from gossip. Yoon-hee recognizes Hyo-eun as the silly girl for whom she was hired to pen a love letter (to Sun-joon).

Yong-ha, the great creator of nicknames, comes up with the perfect nickname for Sun-joon: Ga-rang. “Ga” which means beautiful and “rang” meaning husband. In other words, the perfect husband.

“It fits him,” Yoon-hee admits begrudgingly.



Oblivious about the strained relationship between Sun-joon and In-soo, Hyo-eun uses her brother as an excuse for her coming to SKK, claiming that In-soo was worried about Sun-joon’s injury.

Sun-joon sees right through her lie and tells her not to come back. The law forbids women to come into SKK. If the daughter of a noble family breaks the law so easily, what kind of role model would she be to the people?

Hurt by his declaration, her eyes fill with tears. And in the first honest moment she has with another person (other than her servant), she tells him, “I won’t ever come back to SKK. So next time, will you come to see me?”

This is the moment that I truly come to like Hyo-eun. For the first time she’s vulnerable yet isn’t afraid to be herself and show that vulnerability. After all, no matter what the time period, it’s never easy for a girl to ask the guy out first.

King Jeong-jo is looking forward to the archery competition because he believes that the competition is when his most fervent wish will begin to come true. It’s an earnest wish that he shared with his longtime friend, the late Professor Kim Seung-hun, and for which Professor Kim gave up his life. That’s the reason the king feels indebted to Yoon-hee.



That night, Yoon-hee is on her way to practice when she runs into Professor Jung. He reminds her of their deal and advises her to back out now. If she does, he’ll guarantee that her family will be spared.

But Yoon-hee’s eyes are clear and strong as she responds, “I’m finally standing in front of the target of my life. Until I shoot all the arrows given to me, I will not give up.”

If that was a test, she passed with flying colors.



Each shot Yoon-hee fires inches closer and closer to the center of the target. And when the final arrow pierces the bull’s-eye, she is thrilled beyond belief. Behind her, Sun-joon stands witness to her achievement, a knowing look on his face.

He knew all along that she would succeed. After all, when has he ever set his mind to something and failed? He was the one who found the leading scholar (and cheat) of the town and made him into a SKK student, or did she already forget?

She’s miffed at him for turning her achievement around to make it his, and she scoffs at his new nickname, Ga-rang. She’s walking away when his voice reaches out to her.

“I’m proud of you, Kim Yoon-shik. Good job. You did well.”

Between Yoon-hee and Sun-joon, there’s a strong bond blossoming, the you-complete-me kind of friendship that helps them become better people through each other. I think that’s the reason that though I often suffer the Second Male Lead Syndrome (Jae-shin…), this time I can’t help leaning towards the main couple.



Minister Lee and Minister Ha arrive at Cho-sun’s gisaeng house for a little rendezvous when the Red Messenger lets fly another arrow, showering more red leaflets. What follows is a crazy chase scene in which Red literally jumps along the rooftops. All is fine until he witnesses a conversation between Minister of Justic Moon (Jae-shin’s father) and Minister Lee. Basically Minister Lee calls Moon incompetent; if he had done his job, Red wouldn’t be running around wreaking havoc.

Red ends up being surrounded twice, getting away by fighting valiantly each time. In the process, part of his mask gets sliced off and he receives a wound to the side from an arrow. Thankfully, he escapes over the houses and slips into banchon where the guards can chase him no more.

Red slips off his sliced mask and confirms what most of us already knew: it’s Jae-shin. And he’s severely injured.

The latest red leaflet reads: Right now Joseon belongs to the Noron. But the blood-stained Geumdeungjisa will reveal itself. Soon the Noron will no longer sit in power but be tied to the rack intended for criminals.

Minister Lee is certain that Red is an idealistic young man, naïve and childish in his beliefs that justice will prevail and that he can change the world with a single arrow. And with these literary skills? He has to be a SKK student. This means the competition may be the perfect opportunity to capture Red, and it will be Minister Ha’s last chance to redeem himself.

Take note here of Minister of Justice Moon’s uneasy face. He just might know the truth about his son’s extracurricular activities.

Poor Jae-shin hangs over a low wall and watches the SKK staff and Professor Yoo discuss Red’s escape into banchon. One of the staff members mentions that Red has an injury and is bleeding profusely.

That’s when Jae-shin falls off the wall with a loud thud. The staff members perform a rather cursory search and talk about stray cats, turning a blind eye. It’s nice to know that the SKK staff is on Red’s side.



Yoon-hee and Sun-joon lie awake with worry.

Sun-joon attempts to reassure Yoon-hee. “The Gul-oh I know doesn’t fit in at SKK. He doesn’t care for rules and customs. But I also know that he’s not the irresponsible type to let someone’s hard work and hopes go to waste.”

But that’s exactly why Yoon-hee is worried. If Jae-shin hasn’t shown up yet, he must be in real trouble.

And she’s right because he’s practically bleeding to death in the infirmary. He pulls out the arrow, and the pain is so great that he falls unconscious.



The following morning, preparations for the competition are well underway. The students are dressed according to their dorms: purple for east and teal for west. Joining the festivities are Cho-sun and her girls, which incites excited catcalls. Boys will be boys.

Outside of SKK, the regular folk are in as much a festive mood. Bookshop owner Hwang will be providing a live broadcast of the competition for anyone who pays three nyang. Yoon-hee’s mother is in the crowd (next to Soon-dol, Sun-joon’s servant) and shows interest upon hearing SKK news.

Meanwhile, the king has heard about Red’s latest exploits. He orders that all efforts to capture Red be put aside for today. Today he wants to leave everything complicated behind in the palace and just enjoy the competition.

It’s possible that the king knows that Red is a SKK student and wants to protect him. After all, he sent Professor Jung to SKK to find out about the Geumdeungjisa. But then again it’s just as likely that he doesn’t know. We’ll have to wait to find out.



Jae-shin regains consciousness in the infirmary and concludes dejectedly that he won’t make it to the competition.

Of course In-soo and his lackeys don’t miss this chance to rub it in. They taunt Sun-joon and Yoon-hee for dreaming of equality and harmony between political factions when they can’t even handle their roommate.

Though Yoon-hee tries to keep the faith, they’re running out of time.



As the final roll call is being taken, Jae-shin is staunching the blood from his wound. He certainly looks to be in no condition to join the competition, let alone stand up. Yet he manages to clean himself up and sneak around the campus in order to make roll call.

Meanwhile undercover men under the orders of Minister Ha spread across the campus to perform their covert mission of capturing Red. Or killing him, whichever is more convenient.



Finally, it’s Yoon-hee and Sun-joon’s turn, and still no Jae-shin. As promised, Professor Jung disqualifies them from the competition and gives them no-passes.

Jae-shin is on his way and trying to jump a wall when he gets caught by Minister Ha’s undercover men. The head henchman holds up the sketch of the Red Messenger, and it looks like Jae-shin is done for.

In-soo is disappointed that the trio is disqualified. It would’ve been the perfect chance to show the kingthat he was foolish for thinking there could be such a thing as equality as well as harmony among the factions. Almost too arrogant for words, In-soo claims that his goal was to beat King Jeong-jo, not Sun-joon or Yoon-hee.

“Talk of equality and harmony no more. You guys proved that such things are impossible.”

“Who says they’re impossible?”

Enter Jae-shin. (Get ready to fall in love with Moon Jae-shin if you haven’t already.)

“Dae-mool, I came to fill the head count.”

Smiles all around.



COMMENTS

At first I was miffed that Professor Jung didn’t cut Yoon-hee any slack, especially knowing that the late Professor Kim Seung-hun was his teacher. But then I realized that’s lame and he would fail as a character if he was one-dimensional like that. So I decided to have faith in Professor Jung, and I was right to because he pulled her out of her “oh woe is me” and excuse-filled rut and gave her something to work towards. In fact, he killed two birds with one stone: he allowed her the chance to win and legitimize her spot at SKK AND become stronger along the way. Professor Jung, you deserve an apple.

And in terms of relationships, I’m most interested in Sun-joon and Jae-shin. They’re starting to understand one another and really come together as a team. Jae-shin has newfound respect for Sun-joon after the latter succeeded in five bull’s-eyes with his left arm, and Sun-joon acknowledges Jae-shin for his loyalty. I can’t wait to see some bromance here.

This final shot is for swui who mentioned the little boys who steal the scene every time they appear.

LESSON 7 RECAP


Professor Jung announces Yoon-hee and Sun-joon’s disqualification just as Guh-ro is being man-handled by Minister Ha’s subordinates. With a knife to the neck, things are looking bleak for him when Yong-ha comes to the rescue, in his know-it-all way of course. (Did anyone else squeal when he went from smiley to threatening? Argh!)

He reminds them that palace guards aren’t allowed behind Sungkyunkwan borders—and he’s not the only who’s seen them. At that precise moment, Headmaster Choi comes running with his minions in search of Guh-ro and left with no choice, the guards let him go.

In-soo is busy flaunting to Sun-joon and Yoon-hee that he was right about the harmony of the factions being impossible—but Guh-ro approaches saying, “Who said it’s impossible? Hey Daemul, I’m here to fill my spot.” All three share smiles, and I die. Poor Yong-ha is left not smiling because Headmaster Choi is busy bombarding his bum with uncomfortable patting as a sign of his appreciation.

In-soo goes on to express his surprise at Guh-ro sharing Sun-joon’s sentiments, but Guh-ro replies, “I don’t agree with him. In fact, I agree with you—because I don’t believe in the King’s plans for harmony either. If I were him, I wouldn’t join hands with the Noron who killed my bloodline.” (Referring back to the Sado incident).

Just as Byung-choon begins to protest, Guh-ro continues, “Dae-mul! Are you ready?” She nods adorably. “Hey Noron. I’m only doing it today… harmony or whatever.” Sun-joon smiles and announces that they’re ready. They smile again, this time including Yong-ha, and I die a second death.

The competition finally begins with King Jeong-jo’s first arrow and as the three roommates walk to the grounds, they’re joined by Yong-ha—and the Jal-geum Quartet are born. Jal-geum, meaning trickling, is the tag that the admiring gisaengs give them to describe the pee-in-your-pants reaction to their combined beauty. Gross, but completely relatable.

As the Jal-geum Quartet pick their bows, Yoon-hee comments on Yong-ha’s fancy bow but when Sun-joon notices that he has no matching arrows, Yong-ha sheepishly replies that the foolish trader gambled it away. Guh-ro tells him that he should get a new bow then but Yong-ha is all about appearances and replies, “Color-matching…don’t you know?” with a smack at Guh-ro’s injured side. Guh-ro flinches at the pain which Yong-ha notices, slightly concerned.

He’s right to be concerned because Minister Ha is on the Red Messenger’s tail. He instructs his subordinates that the Red Messenger is injured so it should be obvious when he shoots multiple arrows throughout the competition. Plus, he has a very distinctive method of archery which will be hard to miss. The Red Messenger is to be found without error and most importantly, in secret. He cannot be taken in by the King’s forces.

Minister Ha later assures Minister Lee that things are going according to plan. King Jeong-jo suddenly inquires about both minister’s sons and muses, “Then who shall I cheer for?”

Professor Jung begins giving instructions to the participants, “Every competitor gets three arrows. The bulls-eye counts as 10 points and the scores get lower as you go farther out. The competition will progress from quarterfinals, semifinals, then to the finals where the winner—the jang-won, will be decided. The jang-won team will receive a cup of wine from his Highness himself and extra credit.”

With the ringing of the bell (and broadcast preparations complete), the competition begins. For every competition there is a betting pool and bookseller Hwang is ready to take them. Hyo-eun walks in confidently declaring her bets on Sun-joon’s room and the competitor introductions begin. This leaves most of the betting party doubtful about their team, but Hyo-eun sticks to her bets on Sun-joon.

Yoon-hee is up first and all eyes are on her. She shoots her first arrow and to the delight of her teammates (and Cho-sun), she manages to get a 9. She gets an 8 for her second shot which is more than a decent score compared to the rest of the round’s competitors and manages to win the whole round with a score of 26 (to Go-bong’s horror. Literally laughed out loud!).

Yoon-hee’s delighted, and so is Cho-sun, but Sun-joon’s approval is what Yoon-hee wants most. Sun-joon, however, throws her off her glory horse and tells her, “Wake up. You’ve only shot one round of arrows out of the 12 you’ll have to shoot the whole competition. Do you think we’ve already won?”

She apologizes and seeing her dejected face, Sun-joon asks, “Are you sick somewhere? You’re suddenly so obedient. Look—your face is flushed,” as he reaches out to touch her face. Yoon-hee quickly pushes it away and tells him not to worry… she’ll focus and do her best. Sun-joon looks at his rejected hand as she walks off. Oh brother, a big fat DUH~ to the both of you.

Sun-joon’s up and performs perfectly with 10’s on all three tries, as does Guh-ro, who’s being closely watched by Minister Ha’s subordinate. Cho-sun is closely watching Yoon-hee while In-soo is staring daggers into her smiling face. Yong-ha watches In-soo watch Cho-sun, slightly worried for Yoon-hee. A staring contest within an archery contest, hm?

To no one’s surprise, In-soo and Kang-moo also get perfect scores as the news of both In-soo’s and Sun-joon’s team spread through the city like wildfire. Both teams make it to the finals, as Yoon-hee’s mother watches the scores nervously from Hwang’s shop.

The two teams, and everyone around, take a short break before moving onto the final round. Yong-ha visits the gisaeng’s tent almost immediately, not to simply loiter, which he still does, but to give Cho-sun warning. “Just for today, maybe you should try hiding your emotions?” Cho-sun fails to understand so Yong-ha explains, “He got the nickname Daemul because of you…and he even almost died because of you…the only scholar that comes into your field of vision, Kim Yoon-shik. I’m saying this for his sake so it’d be good if you took this warning to heart.”

Why is he so worried? Because knowing In-soo, he’ll do anything to beat the brat that stole Cho-sun’s heart away—which is exactly what he does. In-soo puts his “trust” in Byung-choon to bring him victory…no matter the method.

Yoon-hee hands Guh-ro a water canteen as he rests and he compliments her that she’s done better than he expected. Yoon-hee replies, “It’s because you had me worried all night. I’m competing with fire in my veins.” Laughing, Guh-ro begins playfully harassing her, only to have Sun-joon find them. He thinks back to how she quickly pushed his hand away and smiles bitterly, “That’s no good… How can a scholar who is so inconsistent strive to do great works?” Sun-joon looks down at the two water canteen in his hands and walks off.

During their adorable bout, Yoon-hee unknowingly drops her bow and runs off with Guh-ro chasing after—leaving Byung-choon to pick it up. Uh-oh.

Yoon-hee runs into In-soo but even before he can really say anything of substance, Cho-sun approaches with a crowd of admiring scholars. She apologizes for her rudeness the last time In-soo was at Moran-gak. He forgives her and Cho-sun says, “You told me to wait and see whose power was greater, mine or yours. I’ve come to give you my answer.”

She walks over to Yoon-hee amidst the scholars’ cheers, Guh-ro and Sun-joon looking on. Yoon-hee greets her and Cho-sun tells her, “I’ve come to return what you left with me,” wrapping Yoon-hee’s ripped up hand with a scarf, “I give the affection you left with me that night back to you. I hear that you have suffered greatly because of me. I don’t wish my affections to be a burden to you…so I return it back to you. Like this scarf, my heart will always be tied to you. You are the man that I, Cho-sun, chose. So, can I trust that you won’t kneel to anyone, for anything?” She kneels at Yoon-hee’s feet to the cheers of the scholars—and to In-soo’s rage.

The finals begin with the king wishing all 6 men good luck—he’ll be cheering for the winning team.

Professor Jung instructs them that the finals will be a 1:1 competition, each picking their opponent from color-coded sticks in a cup. Sun-joon is matched with Byung-choon, Jae-shin(Guh-ro) is matched with Kang-moo, and what do you know—Yoon-hee is matched with In-soo.

Sun-joon wins his round by a margin of 2 points, but Guh-ro struggles and—despite his Yoon-hee and Sun-joon flashbacks, and hiccup inducing cheer from Yoon-hee—the pain of his injuries get the best of him. Lucky for Guh-ro, his poor performance leads Minister Ha and his subordinates off his trail—surely the Red Messenger can’t suck so badly at archery.

It’s finally Yoon-hee’s turn as Guh-ro walks down in shame. He begins walking past her when Yoon-hee says, “ You’ve messed up all my plans. My skills are top secret but thanks to you I’m about to unveil it in front of all these people.” Guh-ro turns to look at her and she continues, “I guess it can’t be helped…” she flashes a smile, “I’ll just have to use my secret weapon.” Displaying her skills with an adorable wink, she finishes, “The thrill of anticipation.”

Guh-ro walks away, not knowing how to feel, “It’s a talent… driving people nuts.”

The air is so tense that you could probably cut it with a knife as everyone awaits the final round to begin. Even the king is almost sure that the outcome is as good as decided but Headmaster Choi points out that Yoon-hee couldn’t even hold a bow straight only days before. “Perhaps he at least has his father’s fighting spirit,” the king ponders, his subjects around him puzzled at the reference.

All eyes are on Yoon-hee and In-soo—even Minister Ha, who seems to begin recognizing her face…or, not. He supposes that Yoon-hee might be the Red Messenger. The final round begins and Yoon-hee shoots an 8 while In-soo shoots the bulls-eye. Her second arrow also hits the 8 point ring and In-soo shoots another 10, assuring his followers that they’ve won.

It’s the final arrow and In-soo looses focus as he looks around him, especially at Cho-sun. He shocks everyone, including himself, by shooting a 5—a single angry tear escapes. This puts Yoon-hee in a better position—if she can just hit the bulls-eye, her team wins.

Yoon-hee nervously begins her shot when the bow string snaps. She hurriedly runs down to grab another and fortunately for Byung-choon, she grabs the bow he planted. Yoon-hee pauses to gain reassurance from Sun-joon, “Honestly, do you think I can get jang-won? Since you can’t speak empty words.”

Sure enough, he speaks frankly, “No. Your shoulder holding out the bow is still weak, your arm pulling the string has no strength, and your breathing is uneven. So, you don’t have to use all your strength to become jang-won.” Yoon-hee looks down, discouraged, but he takes her hand and continues, “However… I at least admire these hands. You lived as a jang-won while you practiced…so even if you don’t pass, even if you lose…to me, Kim Yoon-shik, you’re already the jang-won.” He pats her shoulder with a smile, “Daemul, go show them the skills of a jang-won.” Yoon-hee’s heart soars.

Remembering all her practice, Yoon-hee stands firm and pulls back the bowstring—but she realizes something’s wrong as the string cuts deep into her hands. Professor Jung comes to see what’s wrong but even with her bloody hands Yoon-hee assures him she can do it. Yoon-hee pulls back again, ignoring the pain in her right hand, and releases. 10 points! They’ve won and everyone’s celebrating (minus In-soo’s crowd).

Yoon-hee immediately looks for Sun-joon and is relieved when she spots his smiling face. “Jang-won!! We’re the jang-won!” He notices her bloody hands and, proud that she persevered, gives her a pat.

Guh-ro also noticed her bloody hand and he’s about to bust someone’s nuts after he inspects her bow, but thankfully Yong-ha stops him. “Even if you don’t get involved, they’ll get their share of scolding.”

Both of them look towards a furious In-soo—his stooges tremble in fear as they run away. Byung-choon is in disbelief that Yoon-hee won with her hands cut up.

As promised, the king pours the winning trio a bowl of wine as he tells them that their “harmony” makes them better accomplished than he. “Lee Sun-joon, Moon Jae-shin, Kim Yoon-shik… I shall put my hope in you. It’d even be better if you could share the secrets on how to achieve harmony from political divide. Don’t you agree, Left State Minister?”

Minister Lee replies, “How can one call himself a grown man without the idealistic hope he dreams in his youth?”

“In youth?” Jeong-jo muses. “It is said that the state and the father are one…so it seems that you, Minister Moon, and Left Minister Lee, share your sons with me. Aren’t you curious which father these sons will grow to resemble?”

Minister Ha and his subordinates still haven’t been able to pinpoint the Red Messenger’s identity on any particular scholar, but our hero Guh-ro sits in his room with his injury, chuckling quietly at the day’s incredible events.

Professor Jung treats Yoon-hee’s shredded hand, discouraging her further that, “You may be able to stay at Sungkyunkwan, but you’ll never be able to become a Sungkyunkwan scholar as a girl. That’s just how scary the world’s principles are. No matter how much you try, it’s impossible for you. So…”

Yoon-hee cuts him off and tells him, “You won’t convince me just by telling me it’s impossible. From the moment I decided to learn despite my being a girl, I have never heard the world ‘possible.’”

The scholars are out celebrating and everyone’s pouring Sun-joon celebratory drinks—but he learned his lesson the last time. He cleverly acts like he’s drinking and when no one’s looking, he pours the alcohol in the jar he brought along. This works out just swell for him—until Yong-ha finds the jar and demands he drink it all.

At that moment, Hyo-eun walks into the room and claims that he’s kept his promise—since he’s in a place where she could be with him, he’s actually the one who came to her. Still stuck in her delusions, this one.

She offers him a gift, telling him she embroidered it thinking of him. Her petty lies are soon exposed when Yong-ha recognizes the waist-band to look just like the rare work of a famous designer, but of course she insists that she worked hard on it to make it look so. Yong-ha changes the subject as he wonders where Dae-mul could be.

Daemul…er, I mean… Yoon-hee is outside the tavern, practicing words of thanks to say to Sun-joon. Taking a deep breath, she enters the room which is filled with the chanting of her peers, “Garang! Garang! Garang!” Do-hyun pulls Yoon-hee to her seat, but all she can is the image of Hyo-eun with her arms around Sun-joon.
When Sun-joon and Yoon-hee finally make eye contact, she looks away, downs her drinks, and leaves.

Of course, Yoon-hee’s got the wrong idea—Hyo-eun was just tying the waist-band she made around Sun-joon—but the damage is done as she looks at her reflection and realizes how foolish she was being. After all, she is a ‘he’ to Sun-joon. When she sees Sun-joon’s reflection in another mirror, she turns to leave but stops when he asks her why she’s out her.

“Is your hand okay?” he asks, grabbing her hand.

She replies coldly, “What is it to you?” and walks away.

The rain begins to pour, both literally and figuratively, but when Yoon-hee arrives back near school an inebriated Byung-choon picks a fight.

Byung-choon: “Spiteful punk. I should have known that poor people like you are unflinching compared to people like us. How could you endure that pain? Even when that glass powder is ripping through your skin? Do you wanna succeed that badly?”

Yoon-hee: “Was that your doing?”

Byung-choon: “Yeah! I did it! What are you going to do about it?”

He pushes her to the ground but Yoon-hee gets right back up and punches him, “Cheap bastard.” Byung-choon freaks out at his bloody nose but Yoon-hee continues, “You didn’t lose to me. You lost to your cheap self!”

Byung-choon punches her back and the two engage in a muddy fist fight. (Wow, can I just say, Yoon-hee is one bad ass girl!)

Later, Yoon-hee attempts to clean herself off at the well where Yong-ha volunteers his help—we all know he just wants to strip her though. She quickly refuses.

“What’s the big deal? We’re both men. I’ll throw you a nice bucket full of water,” Yong-ha offers.

When she refuses again, Yong-ha asks her why, to which Yoon-hee has no answer.

“Tell me…with no hesitation.”

Yoon-hee hurriedly makes an excuse that she has a huge scar that she doesn’t like to show anyone. Yong-ha finally gives in, telling her that there’s a place where she can bathe in private—no one will go near the place because it’s supposedly haunted by the ghost of a woman who loved a Sungkyunkwan scholar.

Taking the suggestion, she readies a tub of hot water after carefully observing that she’s alone, and finally bathes. Meanwhile, Sun-joon is on the search for her and Yong-ha is convincing himself that what he wants to see is not a maiden’s body—he’s merely a scholar seeking truth. Okay~ Yong-ha. Whatever makes you sleep at night.

Yoon-hee is enjoying her bath in the privacy of the haunted building when Guh-ro peeks in to see why the lights are on in his secret hideout.

And to his shock, he sees Yoon-hee’s fair maiden body bathing by candlelight. Hiccup!



COMMENTS

(How cool are these animations?)

First, I’d like to apologize for all my fangirl moments throughout the recap—but I’m sure all of you will agree when I say that this drama puts you in a state of mind where you’re not quite yourself.

Dun, dun, dun. Guh-ro’s the first to find out Yoon-hee’s secret (albeit Yong-ha has a pretty good idea). I’m thinking he’s going to be her guardian angel—a set up for millions of girls’ heartbreak. Oh the woes of the girl who falls for the second lead.

Anyhow.

I’m relieved that the Jal-geum Quartet have finally started coming together—I dont think I could’ve waited much longer. Not that I’m complaining. I’m glad that we the viewers get to see how their friendships bud and progress. I think it’s interesting that Yoon-hee seems to have this power to draw people to her, thus becoming the common denominator in the quartet (well, minus the Yong-ha+Guh-ro bromance). It’s also interesting that Yoon-hee almost looks up to Sun-joon like a father figure—she’s constantly looking for his reassurance and approval.

I’ve thought this from Episode 1, but I really enjoy the scenes where Yoon-hee looks at her reflection as she self reflects. Episode 1, she looked at her reflection as she considered her circumstances, and then again when she was guilt ridden about her cheating ways. This episode, she looks at her reflection again, realizing how foolish she was to forget that she’s living as Kim Yoon-shik right now…not Yoon-hee.

I’ll be interested to see how this story unfolds—what’s behind Yong-ha’s smiling facade, will Sun-joon stick to his guns about harmony, will the Jal-geum Quartet all get involved with the work of the Red Messenger? I’m dying to find out.

Btw, how cute is this intro cartoon?

ESSON 8 RECAP



Like the irresistible pull of gravity, our three leading men zero in on hyang-gwan-chung, a place where only those involved in the ancestral rites are allowed. What follows is chaos: Jae-shin will do anything he can to stop the others from peeking inside while Yong-ha is determined to get past his friend. Sun-joon? He just looks confused.

So Jae-shin does what he can and bangs on the door to alert Yoon-hee, thankfully giving her enough time (a little unrealistically) to clear the tub, snuff out the candle and hide. Meanwhile outside Jae-shin and Yong-ha are wrestling on the ground, giving Sun-joon the perfect chance to open the doors. To what seems to be an empty room.

Jae-shin finds his cool again – only to be sent into a slight panic again when water drops from above his head and he realizes that Yoon-hee is hiding on top of the shelves. Fortunately, neither Yong-ha nor Sun-joon notice, and Yoon-hee shows off some super-human reflexes by catching falling candlesticks and candles. Professor Yoo and the staff show up, and the boys get into trouble for being where they’re not allowed.



Back at the dorms, Yong-ha points out that Yoon-hee isn’t back yet, and Jae-shin barely manages to refrain Sun-joon from leaving again to look for Yoon-hee. Jae-shin tries to keep himself in check, but he’s clearly overdoing it and Yong-ha is onto him.

Hurrying home from the bathing debacle, Yoon-hee runs smack into Professor Jung, who guesses correctly that she’s the reason behind the ruckus at hyang-gwan-chung. He warns her again that she mustn’t forget that she’s not a girl at SKK – yet she also mustn’t forget that she IS a girl and let her guard down. Her life is on the line, and she must take responsibility for the path she chose.

In-soo is having a grand ol’ time terrorizing poor Byung-choon for the archery tournament loss (but really, why is he blaming others when he missed the bull’s-eye on purpose?). He tells his minions that he intends to make good on the apology that he promised Yoon-hee. But that crazy laugh tells us that he’s up to no good. In fact, he can’t decide if he should set things up so that the king kicks Yoon-hee out himself or if he should have the harmonious roommates turn on each other.



Two of the said harmonious roommates are struggling with insomnia, each for his own reason. Sun-joon is worrying about the way Yoon-hee brushed him off coldly earlier, and Jae-shin can’t get the image of what he saw out of his mind.

Unaware of the mental pandemonium she’s causing, Yoon-hee returns to the room, and thinking that her roomies are fast asleep, she quietly slips under the covers. Her presence alone incites Jae-shin’s hiccups again, and he rushes out. Only to find Yong-ha waiting outside the door.



Left alone, Sun-joon begins scolding Yoon-hee for disappearing and for fighting with Byung-choon. Almost petulantly, he asks if she’s starting to take after Jae-shin (jealous much of their close relationship?), but alas, our heroine is already fast asleep.

Outside, Yong-ha asks if Yoon-shik is a girl. Jae-shin scoffs at the question, but this is Gu Yong-ha he’s talking to, the guy who can guess the color of a girl’s underwear from the smell of her foundation. And he’s been friends with Jae-shin for 10 years now; he knows well about the hiccups.



In order to prove Yong-ha wrong, Jae-shin bravely ventures back into the room. But he starts imagining Yoon-hee in female garb and with a long braid. Hiccup! Suddenly self-conscious of his (lack of) clothing, he puts on another layer, dropping a handkerchief in the process. It’s the kerchief Yoon-hee gave him when he saved her from Minister Ha’s thugs, and Jae-shin recognizes Yoon-hee from the incident.

In his single room, Yong-ha is rolling around in frustration. He starts mumbling about Yoon-shik being a girl and fooling the king – but strangely, he’s okay with that. He actually kind of understands it. What he can’t stand is that she’s trying to fool HIM, Gu Yong-ha. I don’t know whether he’s innately liberal-minded or just has a one-track mind, but I love that he’s so accepting of Yoon-hee’s secret. After all, Sun-joon will probably freak out badly enough for the whole party.



Adorable Jae-shin has the handkerchief stuffed in his mouth to stop the hiccupping, but it’s not really working. Then he sees something that disturbs him more: Yoon-hee curled up against Sun-joon. Oh, he definitely can’t have that!

Morning comes, and a dumbfounded Sun-joon wakes up to find Jae-shin snuggled up against him. He pokes at Jae-shin and gets a scream as a morning greeting: “Back off!”

Yoon-hee points out that it’s unlike Jae-shin to sleep with his clothes on and wrapped up in a blanket. The best excuse he can come up with is that he might have malaria. Yes, malaria.

Which leads to the funniest moment in the entire episode: Sun-joon trying to back away inconspicuously and feeling his own forehead for a possible fever.



Yoon-hee and Yong-ha meet in the bathroom, where Yong-ha tries to fish for information. Yoon-hee lies and says she never went to hwang-gwan-chung; how could she when the place is haunted by a female ghost? She’s Dae-mool after all; what better hauntee for a vengeful female ghost? She advises Yong-ha to avoid hyang-gwan-chung as well; his playboy ways won’t win him points with the female ghost.

Not as slick as he’d have everyone believe, Yong-ha freaks out at the thought that the light they saw that night was actually a ghost.



Twice a month (the 8th and the 23rd), the SKK scholars are allowed to go home, and they’re given allowance to boot. They’re reminded of the rules to be kept: upkeep the proper decorum expected of a SKK scholar and don’t return with forbidden items (like racy paintings). After all, in a few days is the soon-doo-gwan-jang, the exam given by the king.

Yoon-hee is pretty excited to be going home with her allowance; Yong-ha not so much because the ghost story still has him shaking in his boots.



While the headmaster is trying to convince Professor Yoo to let certain items be allowed (after all, they might end up in their – cough, the king’s pockets), Professor Jung is making bioptic glasses to give to the king on the day of the exam.

As for the exam, the king already has an exam question in mind, and there’s more to it than a simple answer. He has a particular person (persons?) in mind who he thinks will answer correctly. Whoever it turns out to be, be it Minister Lee’s son Sun-joon, King Jeong-jo declares he will have his way.



Sun-joon waits outside the gates for Yoon-hee, medicine for her sick brother in hand. If he expected gratitude for this gesture, he’s disappointed; her reaction is lukewarm. And things get worse moments later when In-soo has some bundles tossed at Yoon-hee’s feet. He has collected all the leftovers from the kitchen and decided to give it to the student who needs it most: the poor Namin who’s smart enough to know when to lower her pride. After all, she wanted recognition as a SKK scholar; if she truly is one, then she should know that the food served at SKK is the sweat and blood of the people. Everyone knows that this is just plain wrong, but the logic of it has Yoon-hee unable to reject the gesture.

Yoon-hee accepts the “gifts” (with clenched fists) and thanks In-soo, much to the horror of Jae-shin and Sun-joon. Jae-shin tries to stop her, but she persists; her family will be grateful.

It’s a terrible moment for Sun-joon as it dawns on him: he’s not much different from In-soo. Sure, In-soo was malicious intentionally, but Sun-joon has scarred Yoon-hee’s pride in much the same manner by offering what he considered a kind gesture but can be taken as charity from the receiving end. His ideals, grand and right as they are, were formed in the safe bubble of his secure upbringing; he has lived too sheltered from reality.

In-soo drives the point home to both Sun-joon and Jae-shin: “You want to live in harmony? You can’t with Kim Yoon-shik. You’ve never known what it’s like to grow up lacking something. So let’s get along, us similar people.”

In terms of the Joseon society, In-soo’s not wrong. But no need to fear. Soon our Jal-geum Quartet will fight against the currents.



Sun-joon comes home to find his family preparing to celebrate his father’s birthday. He’s taken aback because usually his father doesn’t accept gifts nor does he ever throw a party. But this year, he’s doing both. (As a side note, in the short seconds we meet his mother, I really liked her. She seems to have class and the mother-son moment was very endearing.)

Sun-joon and his father sit down to play a game of ba-duk (go in Japanese), a strategic board game with white and black pieces. Minister Lee compliments Sun-joon for the archery competition win and tells him that he’s doing well for now by sticking with his diverse roommates. After all, it’s not time yet to turn against the king.

Sun-joon questions whether going against the king is an inevitability and the right thing to do.

In a sharp tone, his father lectures him that the nation is owned by the nobility. In history, the royal family has done nothing except leave the people to ruin and bow down to foreign powers. And this so-called political harmony that King Jeong-jo keeps pushing is his roundabout way of trying to bring authority back to the royal line.

Then a warning: Don’t do anything that’ll confuse people, like hanging out with a Namin and a Soron.

Sun-joon replies that he doesn’t think of his friends in those terms. Kim Yoon-shik is intelligent and cares deeply for his family. Moon Jae-shin is beyond loyal. He has much to learn from them.

Minister Lee pulls the father card and silences Sun-joon.

This is, I believe, what they call the calm before the storm.



A very worried Jae-shin follows Yoon-hee from a distance. Yoon-hee stops by a rice cake store and buys some for her family. Two starving children stare at the rice cakes with hungry eyes, and our kind Yoon-hee offers them two pieces. I’m sure her heart breaks as much as mine when the older sister gives both pieces to her little brother. So she gives them more, and you can practically see the hearts coming out of Jae-shin’s eyes. Seriously, how can you NOT fall in love with this girl?

Yoon-hee also stops by a trinket shop to buy an ornamental hairpin (bi-nyeo) to replace the one her mother sold to buy her rice cakes when she first went off to SKK. While she’s there, she fingers a pretty pink hair ribbon and almost buys it, but stops herself when she spots Hyo-eun nearby.

When she walks away, Jae-shin walks up and fingers the same hair ribbon. For an excited moment, I think he’s going to buy it for her, but alas, the writers cannot have our manly Jae-shin buying a hair ribbon. He spots some suspicious characters following him, and he rushes away to do what he does best.

At the same shop, Hyo-eun has seen both Yoon-hee and Jae-shin show interest in the hair ribbon, so she buys it, thinking that’s what guys must like.

Jae-shin separates one suspicious guy from the others and manhandles him to get information. Turns out he’s not the one being followed. Minister Ha has ordered Yoon-hee to be followed (under the pretense that she may be the Red Messenger, but we know it’s really because she’s the late Professor Kim Seung-hun’s offspring).

In the scuffle, Jae-shin has lost sight of Yoon-hee. Suddenly, it’s not just about her being a girl. She’s somehow involved in political intrigue as well. “Just who are you, Kim Yoon-shik?”

Minister Ha is flabbergasted that Minister Lee is throwing a birthday party, but his smart son already has it figured out. Minister Lee wants to gather his side together to show the king who has the REAL power in this nation.

Minister Ha asks for information about Yoon-hee, saying that he has a debt to Yoon-hee’s father and he thinks Yoon-hee will come to settle that debt. In-soo declares Yoon-hee not brave enough to do that. But Minister Ha isn’t reassured; the king shows much interest in her.

Again, In-soo reassures his father that he needn’t worry; he plans to make Sun-joon his man. And he’ll use his sister (and her blind love) to accomplish that.



Said lovesick sister is having her fortune told by the fabulous medium Bak-soo (played by the hilarious LEE WON-JONG). He works through tarot cards, and the more he curses, the better his fortune-telling. But he’s not perfect; he mistakes Hyo-eun for Yoon-hee and comments that Sun-joon is unable to recognize the woman in front of him. One of the tarot cards show a bear, which stands for the dense Sun-joon. She’s gotta show him that she’s a woman and change him into a human being. (This is a reference to the origin story of Korea. For more info, go here.) He offers her a solution, but whatever he whispered into her ear, she’s indignant and refuses to do it.



On the other side of the café, Yong-ha is enjoying a little QT with his gisaeng friends. When he hears how spot-on this medium is, he comments that he should have his heart changed. All women eventually bore him, and he wants to find one who will keep him interested. (Yoon-hee??)

Cho-sun comments that she’d like to meet that woman if he ever finds her since undoubtedly she’ll be a great, rare find.



Our rare find Yoon-hee stops by the bookshop on her way home to tell the owner Hwang that she can’t do the love letter (commissioned by Hyo-eun). Her excuse is that she has no experience writing love letters. He tells her that he doesn’t WANT to accept love letter jobs, especially since they don’t leave much of a profit. And what profit he might’ve made goes right into Sun-joon’s pocket. Which is when Hwang accidentally spills the beans about Sun-joon fronting the 50 nyang that Yoon-hee needed to repay Minister Ha.

Uh oh.

This news of unwanted charity, doubled up with what happened with In-soo just moments ago, rightly infuriates Yoon-hee. She’s so spitting mad that she leaves her belongings behind and storms down the street, not even noticing Cho-sun when she steps forward to greet her.

The devastated Cho-sun refuses to buy the beautiful clothes she had intended to buy. “What if he doesn’t even notice me when I’m wearing more beautiful clothes? Then I have no more excuses left.”



Sun-joon is pensively going over the events that happened with Yoon-hee, realizing that his charity hurt her pride and that he had been thoughtless. Soon-dol tells him of a visitor, and from behind it looks like Yoon-hee. Only it’s not; it’s Hyo-eun dressed up as a guy (that’s what Medium Bak-soo told her to do).



Meanwhile, the birthday party is well underway at Sun-joon’s house. Minister Lee asks the Prime Minister to please tell the king that everyone gathered is enjoying the food and alcohol that he sent. Yes, Minister Ha adds, tell him that a great number of people came to celebrate.

But the Prime Minister refuses (we’ve seen him in several scenes with the king, and he’s clearly on King Jeong-jo’s side). In a cleverly stated poke, he says he fears that people will gossip about Minister Lee wanting to show up the king and prove who has the real power. And that’ll only hurt Minister Lee’s reputation.

Minister Lee is disgruntled by this reply, but he responds just as curtly that the king knows how dedicated he is to the country. Assuming that the king will misunderstand is underestimating him.

Touché.



Disturbed by Hyo-eun’s dress-up, he tells her not to drop by like this. That’s when she practically jumps him to slip a charmed piece of paper into his clothes. Apparently if he keeps it on his body for 15 minutes, he’ll fall in love with her.

But just as we expect, Sun-joon calls her out on her foolishness, stating that he hates such things. In fact, he’s unwilling to be a friend or a lover to a person who believes in such foolishness. You can practically hear Hyo-eun’s heart crack into two when he says he never wants to see her again.

The tears well up in Hyo-eun’s large eyes. All pretenses stripped aside, she’s finally honest with him. She isn’t usually this type of person, and she hates the things she’s doing, but she can’t help herself. Her heart flutters so when she thinks of him, but she knows that he doesn’t feel the same about her. (And this line just about kills me every time a second lead says it) But it’s okay because she likes him a lot, enough to make up for his lack of love for her.



Hyo-eun dashes away, but Murphy’s Law doesn’t let her off so easy. She runs smack into a table of food being carried to the guests. With all eyes focused on her, she’s a deer caught in headlights. To us modern folk, it may not be such a huge deal, but back then, it is a HUGE deal for a girl to be caught at a guy’s house without a chaperone. The implications are… well, let’s just say that marriage is possibly the only way out of this hole.

Sun-joon tries to lead her away, but she can’t move a muscle. Gentleman that he is, he carries her away to help her save face. Oh, I shudder at what will transpire because of this little act of chivalry.

He reassures her that nothing will happen, but she stops him mid-sentence with a kiss on the cheek. Understandably, she’s even more smitten with him now. Get ready to collect her registration information to join the Smarty faction (actually, she’s like our president).

Meanwhile, Daddy Lee is NOT happy about this turn of events. At least, he didn’t expect it at all. Minister Ha implies that it’s been going on for a while, though he found out about it only recently. He pretends to pass it off lightly, saying that kids will be kids and they’re just reckless in their youthfulness.



Sun-joon is walking Hyo-eun out when Yoon-hee arrives. Upon spotting Sun-joon and Hyo-eun together, she turns on her heels and rushes away. Leaving Hyo-eun to Soon-dol, Sun-joon goes after her. He stops her, wanting to hear what she came to say.

And every word from Yoon-hee’s mouth is imbued with hurt. “Did you enjoy your little joke all this time? You must’ve been so amused seeing me all excited to be a SKK scholar.”

He doesn’t understand, but he does two seconds later when he hears the words “50 nyang.” And for a moment, he’s at a loss of words.

“I don’t ever want to see your face again.”

COMMENTS

I can’t help talk about the Yoon-hee/Sun-joon dynamic today. I mentioned in my previous recap that theirs is the you-complete-me friendship (love), that they complement each other. This episode in particular showed us this. The more these two interact with one another, the more you can literally see them grow as individuals.

First, Lee Sun-joon. Stick in the mud, uptight, self-righteous. Doesn’t look like he’s ever had a friend, and Yoon-hee might very much be his first. As we witnessed, he’s lived his entire life in a safe little bubble, having learned what he knows through books and his father. There isn’t anything wrong with this; it just placed him on the other side of the stone wall that separates idealism from reality. And Yoon-hee comes picking at the stones with a little axe. With her help, I hope to see him become the bridge that allows the coexistence of idealism and reality.

Second, Kim Yoon-hee. I’ll just say what I honestly feel. Set everything I love about her aside, and she’s a bundle of inferiority complexes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame her for it. In fact, if I were here, I’d be a constantly raging bull. What I want to say is that she’s pretty jaded and cynical in her view of the world, the opposite end of the spectrum from Sun-joon. On the other side of that wall. Which is why they’re so dang perfect for one another. They balance each other out.

Let me just wrap up this recap with this final thought: Who else thinks the stoic Kang-moo will one day bust a cap in In-soo’s behind? No? Wishful thinking? But I swear there’s something more to that guy…

LESSON 9 RECAP

As an angry Yoon-hee begins to turn away, Sun-joon stops her and tells her to let him first explain—but even before he gets the chance, Yoon-hee spits out in hurt and bitterness, “I’m so greatly indebted to you…if I had known, I would’ve at least been more obedient.”

Sun-joon tells her not to act childish, “You needed money then, and I had it. You can pay me back from now on. What’s the problem?”

Yoon-hee: “You should have said something! You should have… said something.”
Sun-joon: “And what if I did?”
Yoon-hee: “Then I probably wouldn’t have taken it! I might’ve kept using ridiculous loans… but I wouldn’t have taken your money.”
Sun-joon: “What kind of foolishness is that?”
Yoon-hee: “That foolishness is what people call pride. That pride that you’d die to protect…why can’t I have it? Did you pity me? Up until now, I was just powerless and pitiful to you. So you thought I’d take any helping hand offered to me. Right?”

When Sun-joon can’t answer, she delivers the final blow: “You have no right to criticize Ha In-soo—no, you’re worse than him. At least he knows that he’s a bad guy.”

Both are left in a daze after the confrontation, but Yoon-hee makes a stop at Hwang’s store to collect work—she’ll even write the love letter she refused earlier.

She returns home in female attire and wordlessly hugs her mom. She asks Yoon-hee if there’s something wrong but she tearfully answers that she’s just glad to be home. The family shares a quiet dinner, albeit hesitantly at first—the food In-soo had given Yoon-hee sharply contrasting with their usual meals (plus, they feel apologetic for the burdens that Yoon-hee’s had to embrace for them).

At the Moon household, Guh-ro is rewrapping his wound when his father comes in with medicinal herbs and fresh bandages. However, Minister Moon’s concern is accompanied by admonition—Guh-ro should distance himself from Kim Yoon-shik.

Guh-ro: “Why? Because he’s a powerless Nam-In who won’t help me rise in ranks?”
Minister Moon: “When are you going to stop rebelling against me?”
Guh-ro: “When are you going to stop living as a Noron’s puppet? That day, I died with my older brother. When you protected your position with the silence of your own son’s death, you lost both sons.”
Minister Moon: “With that power, I’m going to protect you. Hanging out with Kim Yoon-shik is too dangerous. Minister Ha thinks he is the Red Messenger.”
Guh-ro pauses: “What do you mean?”
Minister Moon: “Kim Seung-hun. The man who sacrificed himself trying to protect the Geum-deung-ji-sa with your brother—he’s Kim Yoon-shik’s father.”

Dun dun!

Speak of the devil, Yoon-hee asks her mother what she so loved about her father. “He never even bought you a silver hairpin, but you chose him over your own family. Didn’t you ever regret it?”

Her mother answers that she does regret it: “After I sent you off to Sungkyunkwan, I regret it every day. If I hadn’t turned my back on my family, I wouldn’t have had to live as such a shameful mother.”

Sun-joon, on the other hand, is paying the consequences for his earlier actions with Hyo-eun—the two have been betrothed. Wedding preparations will be made as soon as Sun-joon leaves Sungkyunkwan. Sun-joon looks slightly troubled but Hyo-eun is on Cloud 9 at the news.

Outside the Kim household, the real Yoon-shik joins his pensive older sister outside. He asks her if everything is really okay and Yoon-hee reassures him with a smile that everything’s peachy. “From now on, I’m going to try even harder. After all, I have to live up to your name don’t I?”

Break is finally over and everyone’s busy showing off their new toys—Hae-won’s got a bejeweled ink container, Woo-tak’s got a flashy new spectacle chain but the King of Extravagance, Gu Yong-ha himself has got them all beat. A golden mini figurine of the Chinese royal palace! He’s waited a year for this baby and you can tell how much he adores it by the way he pets and coos at it.

Guh-ro’s looking around campus for Yoon-hee when a mysterious pair of feet stealthily approaches the dormitories.

Yoon-hee is about to walk past Sun-joon when he stops her(why the wrist grabbing?! Argh!)—he has something to say…and something to hear. Yoon-hee flashes a forced smile and tells him that she overreacted before… “You don’t need to worry about it anymore, because I’m ok. I promise to pay you back slowly.” Sun-joon tries to tell her that’s not what he meant but Yoon-hee plays dumb and continues, “Oh yeah, I forgot to say thank you. Thank you for everything.”

As she walks away(not before a brief pause), In-soo calls out at Sun-joon, “Hey brother-in-law. I hear there’s an exchange of wedding talks.” Sun-joon explains that it’s all a big misunderstanding but In-soo sarcastically replies, “You know less about your father than me. Whatever your father has set his mind to, not even the King himself can change that.”

Alone in an empty classroom, Yoon-hee writes the love letter for Hyo-eun(to Sun-joon) but her thoughts get the best of her and she messes up. Guh-ro’s still looking for her and when he finds her walking outside, he begins asking if she knew everything…but even before he can further question her, something goes terribly wrong at the school: there’s been a burglar in the dorms.

Everyone’s valuables are gone, including Yong-ha’s beloved figurine. Oh, this does not sit well with him (I love angry Yong-ha). The thief’s even gone through the school’s medicine supplies.

An emergency meeting is called and every student is asked of their whereabouts at the time of the robbery. Everyone seems to have an alibi except Yoon-hee, who at the time was alone in the classroom writing Hyo-eun’s love letter, but of course no one can prove her claims are true. It doesn’t help that Byung-choon points out that Guh-ro was looking all over for her but she was nowhere to be found.

Things make a turn for the worse for Yoon-hee when the school assistants run back with news that they’ve found the culprit—Kim Yoon-shik’s identification slab. It was found at the local pharmacy where the culprit sold off all the stolen goods.

A shocked Yoon-hee insists it wasn’t her, but the murmuring has begun as everyone looks at her with accusing eyes. In-soo smirks while the rest of the Jalgeum Quartet share looks of disbelief. In-soo steps forward and reprimands Yoon-hee for her shameful act—not only did she steal from her classmates, but she also stole medicines that belong to the poor citizens. “You dare try to sell that medicine for money?”

Sun-joon cuts in to protest—“Yoon-shik has a sick brother and he probably used the medicine for him.”(Uh… so we’re assuming she is the thief?) He proposes that the best way to find out is to send someone to her house and get the facts straight…but of course, Yoon-hee can’t have anyone snooping around her household for fear of her secret getting out.

Her refusal only buys her more suspicion and In-soo asks permission to run a student trial—to everyone’s surprise, King Jeong-jo arrives and volunteers himself to be the judge. He announces that this will be his examination for the students.

It’s an outrage, according to Minister Ha but Minister Lee reminds him that the King is not one to act without thorough calculations. “This may be a greater test for us than the Sungkyunkwan scholars.”

Alarmed, Minister Ha asks, “Are you saying that His Majesty personally got involved…in order to protect Kim Yoon-shik?” Minister Lee only nods in reply.

“Kim Yoon-shik… you’re expelled,” the King announces, to the delight of In-soo and his minions. But Jeong-jo continues, “That is, if you are the real culprit of this robbery.” His test is simple: those who believe Kim Yoon-shik is guilty, prove it. Those who believe Kim Yoon-shik is innocent, prove it.

Despite the Headmaster’s protests, King Jeong-jo remains resolute—“Do you think that these students deserve to be given a proper test? If Kim Yoon-shik is indeed the culprit, then this school has nurtured a thief. You, Headmaster, and the rest of the professors and scholars have no right to teach and uphold the laws of this land. But if Kim Yoon-shik is innocent, those who deem him guilty are also undeserving to uphold the law. That is why I’ve chosen this as my test to you.”

Jeong-jo gives the Sungkyunkwan scholars 2 days access to the city’s government office as the status of an intern in order to investigate the case.

After the king’s departure, In-soo reinforces to Yoon-hee that she will in fact be expelled—she simply won herself 2 more days till then. He’s going to prove her guilt, along with the rest of the Sungkyunkwan scholars. Even Yoon-hee’s classmates can’t help but prove her guilt—they believe her innocence but can’t bear to receive failing marks.

It’s just the Jalgeum Quartet left, but Sun-joon begins his interrogation: “Did anyone see you in the classroom during the day?” When she answers no, he continues, “What happened with your ID?”

Yoon-hee asks him if he’s doubting her but he goes on, “Why didn’t you let someone check your house? Didn’t you know that was the easiest way to prove your innocence?”

Guh-ro cuts in, “Can’t you see that she’s being framed?”
Sun-joon: “So what? What does your blind faith change about the situation? Kim Yoon-shik is still just a shameful thief who dropped his ID at the pharmacy.”
Guh-ro: “What…are you saying that since this is the King’s test, you can’t receive failing marks for believing in Yoon-shik?”
Sun-joon: “Of course.”

Guh-ro’s fists are about to fly but Yong-ha stops him—“Since we’re the only ones who believe in Yoon-shik, we should all just get along.”

“All of you stop it,” Yoon-hee begins. “I didn’t steal anything… so I’ll take care of it.”

Sun-joon: “How are you going to take care of it. Did you say he’s been framed? You’re going to need evidence rather than words to convince me.” Agh you devil’s advocate, you!

Guh-ro’s determined to get that evidence, but first, a confrontation with In-soo. He’s sure that this is all In-soo’s doing, beginning with the medicine that he supposedly gave Yoon-hee as a gift…it was always his plan to use that medicine to frame her. In-soo simply scoffs at the accusation, “This is why I can’t be kind to poor people. They always stab you in the back for your kindness. I can’t help that his cheap upbringing turned my grace into vendetta. That’s why I’m warning you to be careful too.” Fists are about to fly again, but Guh-ro is stopped by the threat of making matters worse for Yoon-hee.

Yoon-hee is looking up references to help her efforts, but when she sees Sun-joon doing the same she tells him, “If you’re helping because you pity me, then you don’t need to try so hard. If you feel sorry for me because there’s no one who believes me, then I don’t need your help. So, instead of worrying over getting failing marks just…”

Sun-joon: “Do you really think I’m worried over failing?”
Yoon-hee: “You’re the one who was interrogating me because of your suspicions.”
Sun-joon: “Do you really think of me that way? Is that why you refused my help? Was I just a Noron boy who only cares about his grades to you? I never suspected you in the first place. Like you said, I never start anything that’ll fail. If you’re going to get hurt over some questions, then what are you going to do by yourself in front of the King? Listen well, Kim Yoon-shik. Even if we go to the government office, no one will be on your side. So if you’re going to prove your innocence, you’re going to need to prepare yourself well.”

Professor Jung expresses his doubts over his students’ abilities to prove/disprove Yoon-hee’s innocence… not necessarily just because of Yoon-hee’s case, but because the King’s real objective is to find the Geum-deung-ji-sa. The king is testing the students in order to find the one he can entrust the task of finding the Geum-deung-ji-sa.

Our Jalgeum Quartet set out the next day to investigate in their adorable intern uniforms—all except Gu Yong-ha who refuses to be homogenized. He argues, “How can anyone think up brilliant ideas when they’re stripped of their identity?” Besides, Yong-ha doesn’t need the uniform since he has his trusted companions to go to the government offices for him. Yong-ha’s determined to find the culprit—not for Yoon-hee’s sake, but for the sake of his beloved figurine. Oh Yong-ha, you silly boy.

Guh-ro reassures Yoon-hee—afterall, Yong-ha’s grown up in the market district and he probably knows where to get the inside scoop.

As the trio begin making plans for investigation, Yoon-hee spots a teenage boy filling his knapsack as he walks the streets. They make eye contact but almost as an act of defiance, the boy continues his thievery. The fruit lady catches him and cries “Thief!” and a hoard of city guards come running after him.

Both Sun-joon and Guh-ro reach to push Yoon-hee out the way, but Guh-ro is just a little quicker and he holds her in a protective embrace. Sun-joon, who was pushed the other way, looks at the two with a complicated gaze—but we all know he’s just jealous. Guh-ro on the other hand, is holding Yoon-hee without really holding her. Oh yeah, and of course the hiccups are back.

Yoon-hee spot Woo-tak’s spectacle chain around the boy’s neck, and with that information Guh-ro quickly takes off after him. Sun-joon and Yoon-hee(who are still a bit awkward after the fight) go to the government office as planned, only to find that the guards play games and sleep all day. And when they finally do decide to work, they go around the marketplace terrorizing the poor merchants who don’t have a license to sell.

The injustice committed by the guards are witnessed by all four of the Jalgeum Quartet—Guh-ro lead to the market street after losing the boy by running into Yong-ha, who’s been doing his own private investigation in the back-streets. It’s a sobering moment for all of them as they see for themselves just how corrupt and unjust the current system is. Even when Yoon-hee confronts the chief of guards, he retorts that he’s simply upholding the law.

King Jeong-jo and Professor Jung are observing the four as Jung makes the observation that it seems that the quartet are one step closer to finding the bigger thief. I’ve got an inkling that there’s much more meaning behind the King’s assignment. He wants them to learn “Fury—fury against oneself for being so helpless against the corrupt world.”

Back at Minister Ha’s estate, the leader of the legal merchants is busy complaining about the King’s efforts to regulate prices. He’s also looking for ways to allow the lower class citizens to sell products legally. This is all disadvantageous for the higher class merchants but Minister Ha reminds him that the Noron are backing them—so what is he complaining about?

Along with a bribe, the merchant leader asks Minister Ha to attend the merchants’ “meeting” and repeat his reassurances.

The Jalgeum quartet are at the local tavern drinking their anger away—actually mostly Yoon-hee—when Yong-ha explains that it’s the legal merchants who are paying the guards, so of course they’re going to work to maximize their profit… and that profit is going into the pockets of the Noron faction.

When they spot a couple of drunk guards walk in, they’ve got mischief on their minds. Sun-joon—who half-assedly protests—writes the word “thief” on the guards’ face and Yong-ha cries “Fire!” The guards awake, and the adorable quartet flee. Ah, youth and friendship.

Of course, the merchant meeting is not so much a meeting as it is a party and the quartet make plans to infiltrate the estate—there’s a list of transactions that they must find hidden within the storage of the estate. It’ll prove that the products that the guards destroyed today are actually being taken to the legal merchants and being sold again to the people for a higher price.

Yoon-hee volunteers herself to go, since after all, this is her mess but both Sun-joon and Guh-ro protest at the danger and volunteer themselves. Yong-ha suggests that all four should just go, hand-in-hand—“We’ll meet here at Hae-shi(9:30-10:30pm)”

This is actually Yong-ha assisting Sun-joon’s ploy to get Guh-ro and Yoon-hee out of the picture—and with only a note, the two are off to the merchant’s party. Sun-joon explains, “It’s safer for one person to look for the list. Yoon-hee’s not quick minded enough, and Guh-ro’s fiery temper…”

Yoon-hee and Guh-ro go after them—she can’t stand to feel indebted again.

In-soo takes a breather outside and spots Sun-joon creeping towards the storage. When he sees Yong-ha amidst the gisaengs, his suspicions grow stronger. He asks Yong-ha what he’s doing here, to which he answers, “I’m here because I’m the son of the household that leases out land to the merchants. And you? Ah, yes yes…I forgot that the merchants and the Noron were one family, right?” In-soo isn’t fooled and asks his father to secretly call some guards over—they’re going to have to teach their future in-law a lesson.

Guh-ro tries to stop Yoon-hee—times like this, it’s more helpful to stay put. Yoon-hee is worried too…just as they worry for her, she worries for them. Guh-ro begins to tell her that he’ll go instead, but when they overhear a couple passing guards talking about a fool attempting to break into the estate, Guh-ro tells her to go and warn them—he’ll stall the guards as much as he can.

Yoon-hee arrives in front of the estate but is denied access—that is, until she sees the gisaengs enter and has a brilliant idea.

The guards arrive at the estate and are beginning their search—if they don’t find him, the merchant warns, the Noron won’t be safe either.

Sun-joon, who just found the needed list, is getting a little nervous. The doors begin to open, he grabs the nearest candle stick, only to find Yoon-hee dressed as a beautiful gisaeng.

He’s shocked—she runs into his arms.



COMMENTS

Finally, the friendship between the Jalgeum Quartet are in full bloom. Oh yes, I know the Jalgeum Quartet was already beginning to form a unit by Episode 7, but I feel that this was the first episode where they actually become real friends. They care for each other, take sacrifices for each other, and best of all, they horse around. I think that’s what excites me most about this drama—not the adorable romances or the political/personal angst (which I love too)—but the story of friendship. It’s exciting to see them grow, and like I’ve mentioned before, I’m so glad that this drama started them out hating each other. It makes such the greater impact.

There’s a lot of substance in this episode. We now know what exactly happened to Guh-ro’s brother and where all his anger stems from. We also know (although we’ve had an idea before) that the king never moves without a deeper, ulterior motive. It appears that he’s giving Kim Yoon-shik a chance to clear his name, but in fact his real goal is to find the “real” thief, meaning the upper classes, and also find a means to make trade easier for the lower classes. I don’t want to say “use” with it’s connotations, but he’s essentially using the Sungkyunkwan scholars to push his honorable cause. Plus, he’s testing the quartet if they’ve got the guns to handle the assignment he’d like to give them.

There is just a little thing that bothers me about this drama. I’ve felt that Sun-joon has, from the very beginning, treated Yoon-hee much like he would a girl. I don’t mean the way he treats Hyo-eun and other obvious females, but I mean in the general sense that his vocabulary is always more tender. And the wrist-grabbing: it’s a simultaneous Oooh! and Eeek! reaction from me. I love it, and yet there’s a part of me that is puzzled—especially because he wrist-grabs so much even before he sees her as a gisaeng. I dont know, just a trivial thought.

As for In-soo… I think he’s so complex, it’s hard for me to figure him out. I know there’s a lot of you out there who believe In-soo lost the archery competition on purpose, including my partner, and I can totally see how it would appear so. But there’s a part of me that refuses to see him that way. His reactions after the tournament seem to tell me otherwise. Plus, look at the way he looks at Cho-sun. It’s not so much tender loving care as it is a burning desire to possess her. I don’t know. This is just my opinion and I think the creators probably made it to be so ambiguous so we would have these debates. All in good fun.

I agree with red_pill and her curiosity towards Kang-mu. There’s something there… and I hope we’re not all just imagining it.

Now if only Yong-ha’s story would elaborate. I’m dying to know his story.

LESSON 10 RECAP



With the guards getting closer, an already panicky Sun-joon stands stunned as the beautiful gisaeng(?) holds him close. It’s only when she tells him who she is that it really hits him, and he drops the account book in shock.

Outside, a nervous Yong-ha asks In-soo if the thief has been caught, to which In-soo smugly replies, “No worries. He’s a rat swimming in poison.”



Said rat is being pushed down to the ground by Yoon-hee as she pretends they’re engaged in some inappropriate activities in order to throw off the guards. It succeeds and they’re left alone. Yoon-hee awkwardly explains that dressing up as a gisaeng was the only way she could get into the house.

He blames her for making him drop the account book and turns around to try and calm his pounding heart. It doesn’t work because his hand shakes when he takes the book from her, immediately making her concerned. He snatches his hand away and bumps open the door to a secret room that houses a lot of secret ledgers with the illegal transactions between the merchants and the Noron officials.

Yoon-hee wants to take one but Sun-joon talks her out of it. It’s far too dangerous, so dangerous that even the king wouldn’t be able to save them.

The guards tell In-soo that they found no one except a guy and a gisaeng fooling around, so Cho-sun is questioned. But all her girls are with her. Suspicious, In-soo orders the guards to find the mysterious gisaeng and her lover. On the way he runs into his father, who is also desperate to confirm that the secret ledgers are untouched.

The doors to the secret room are found wide open and Merchant Song is sent into a frenzied panic. The ledgers will be the ruin of both the merchants and the Noron officials. In fact, if the thief isn’t found, there will be no tomorrow for the Noron faction.



Sun-joon and Yoon-hee are hiding behind some stacked items when In-soo catches sight of the edge of Yoon-hee’s skirt and walks over. In a moment of impeccable timing, a gaggle of gisaengs turn the corner and interfere. Sun-joon and Yoon-hee are gone, and In-soo only finds Yong-ha, who asks cheekily, “Why are you so angry this time? Did the rat escape?”



The usually brave Yoon-hee finds herself unable to jump down from the wall she’s perched on. Sun-joon finds this amusing and holds out his hand, but retracts it almost immediately when he sees her smile. He stutters for her to get down. The sound of guards approaching does the trick, and he reaches up for her as she jumps down.

They’re chased down the streets but manage to elude the guards by ducking behind a cart. Their relief of getting away is cut short when they realize they’re holding hands.

Awkward.



Did we ever hear see Sun-joon pour out his true feelings? No? Well, here we go:

“Did you pity me? To come for me at this hour, moreover in that dress… Did you think me weak and helpless and unable to succeed? You came to help because you pitied me?” (Didn’t we hear this somewhere before? Touché. Our Ga-rang must’ve taken lessons from Baek Seung-jo.) “You assumed I’d accept any help that was offered to me? I don’t pity you just like you don’t pity me. At first, I didn’t want to waste your talent. Then I needed you. If I were to ever have a friend, I wanted it to be you. I just didn’t know how to go about it since I’ve never done this before. I’m sorry, Kim Yoon-shik.”

And just like that, all the defenses and walls she built up, all the attempts to resolve her feelings towards him, come crashing down. And she did try so very hard to stifle her emotions.

Taken aback by the tears, Sun-joon does the typical guy thing and apologizes, though he has no idea what he’s done wrong. He just doesn’t want her to cry anymore.



Meanwhile, poor Jae-shin is worried to death about Yoon-hee. And it definitely doesn’t help that Yong-ha comes back alone. One look at Jae-shin’s bust lip, and Yong-ha figures out that Jae-shin helped delay the guards. He’s quick to reassure his friend that Yoon-hee is safe. “Friend, I’m Gu Yongha. Think I’d leave such a pretty boy alone in that den of lions?”

And we find out that Yong-ha was behind the gaggle of gisaengs. Having overheard the girls mention seeing Yoon-hee, he set it up so that they’d shield the two while they ran.

“Dae-mool exceeded my expectations. I knew he was pretty, but dressed up like that, I felt my heart a-pitter-patter.” Even the great Gu Yong-ha felt something for our pretty heroine.

Jae-shin is raving mad that Yoon-hee would do something so dangerous. But then Yong-ha reminds him that Jae-shin is the one who sent Yoon-hee to the merchant house. And Yoon-hee did the safest thing she could do to save Sun-joon.

In-soo stops Cho-sun and her girls on their way out and asks her who this extra gisaeng is. Cho-sun denies any knowledge, and In-soo replies that he knows she’s cohorts with Yeo-rim.

That’s when she puts him in his place. “Since when did you nobles ever lower yourselves to work with us lowly gisaengs? If you have anything else to say, come to Moran-gak. As a customer.”

Merchant Song is relieved that the ledgers are all in place, but he shouldn’t be because he just lost what leverage he had against the Noron nobles. Minister Ha is furious that the merchant thought to control the nobles with such evidence and he orders the ledgers to be burned.

Yoon-hee is back in her menswear as she and Sun-joon walk back to SKK. She’s worried that they won’t be able to find the thief since he’s recorded simply as a ban-in (someone from banchon) and they only have one day left.

Sun-joon has other things on his mind, like the smudge of lipstick left on her lips. She wipes it away, but now it’s like he can’t see anything else other than her lips. Gulping loudly, he turns and walks away briskly.

“Fool. Why did you dress up like that if you can’t even handle it well?” Sure, pretend to be meanie to hide the fact that your heart’s beating like a hummingbird’s.

An oblivious Yoon-hee keeps prancing around him, making cute faces.



Jae-shin the worrywart is driving Yong-ha nuts with all his pacing, but fortunately Yoon-hee and Sun-joon walk in (looking mighty cute together). Now that he’s confirmed that Yoon-hee is alright, Jae-shin plays it cool again. Nice try, buddy. You’re as transparent as Sun-joon is.

Once again, In-soo is plotting away since Sun-joon slipped through his fingers. He orders his posse to find the real thief first and make it so that Yoon-hee and her friends can’t find him.



Yong-ha concludes that the thief must be someone who can come in and out of SKK without being suspected; in other words, someone who works at SKK. He proves his point when he flings the door open and sends into flight a little eavesdropper. Clearly, the little boy is worried about his family member (the thief) getting caught.

The same little boy has the bad luck to run smack into In-soo while he’s running away, and In-soo notes that he came from Yoon-hee’s room.



Apparently Jae-shin has changed the sleeping positions for good, settling down in the middle. When Yoon-hee turns towards him, he inches toward Sun-joon, eventually snuggling up against the oblivious boy. Sun-joon tries to point out that he’s sleeping in the wrong place, but Jae-shin tells him to shut it.

Of course then Yoon-hee rolls towards him, making him panic and wrap his arm around Sun-joon. Tee hee.



The following morning, Yoon-hee is too nervous to eat. She wants to go to banchon now. But Jae-shin and Sun-joon both say, “Sit,” and Jae-shin adds, “Eat. If you complain about being hungry later, I’ll knock you to the ground.”

But the person who successfully gets her to eat is Professor Jung. He comments that she’ll be a real thief if she doesn’t eat. After all, the cost of her one meal can provide enough gruel for two to last two days. So if she lets that go to waste, she’s pretty much stealing from the people.

Yoon-hee determinedly sits down and stuffs herself.

Byung-choon has overheard Yoon-hee mention banchon, and In-soo’s group comes to the same conclusion: that the thief has someone on the inside.



Our beloved Jal-geum Quartet starts scouring banchon with a drawing of the thief boy, but to no avail. It’s not that no one recognizes him; it’s more a matter of loyalty. The banchon people will protect their own no matter what.

The trip to banchon has opened up Yoon-hee’s eyes; she had no idea the people were so poor. Half of these people do work fit for dogs and the other half are slaves to SKK. Is that why the thief stole from SKK?

But our upstanding citizen Sun-joon cannot excuse thievery, no matter what the circumstances. He’s more worried that they’re out of time and won’t be able to clear Yoon-hee’s name. He suggests that they take a different approach.

Well, they need to hurry because In-soo is hot on the trail and already found out who that little helper boy from the previous night is.



Sun-joon’s different approach is to do a little research (see, only he would suggest that), and it pays off. The Jal-geum Quartet finds out that this theft was the only ban-in related record in the account book and there were no other thefts in SKK in recent years, meaning the thief is not a repeat offender. He must’ve suddenly needed money, possibly for a wedding, moving costs, funeral costs or to pay for ancestral rites.

They find out that prices for salt and the cloth used to dress the deceased have skyrocketed recently, meaning the thief might have used the stolen items to barter for either. And there’s only one helper boy whose family member (mother) passed away recently. It’s Bok-dong, the eavesdropper.

Our fearless foursome split up to search for Bok-dong’s brother Bok-soo, but unfortunately In-soo finds him first. Bok-soo drops the salt he is carrying and tries to run, only to be blocked by Kang-moo. In-soo warns him against running away – it’s an acknowledgement of guilt. He then offers Bok-soo a bribe in exchange for his silence. Just until the exam that’ll be in two days.



The Jal-geum Quartet stumbles upon Bok-soo by accident. Bok-soo demands to see their proof that he stole from SKK, and Yoon-hee holds out the account book and mentions the fact that Bok-dong is a helper boy. That’s more than enough proof.

But Bok-soo scoffs at their proof. What can they possibly do? Turn him over to the police? (Yong-ha stands up indignantly but immediately steps back when Bok-soo glares at him. “Good eyes you’ve got there.” Yeah, Yeo-rim, leave the tough guy act to Guh-ro. By the way, how adorable is it that he’s holding Bok-dong in his lap?)

Bok-soo has the advantage. He lives in banchon, where even the police can’t walk in and arrest him. Yoon-hee doesn’t understand how Bok-soo can be so confident. Bok-soo counters that he did nothing wrong. The SKK scholars eat and study thanks to the blood and sweat of the people. So why can’t he get a cut of the pie?

Sun-joon points out that that doesn’t justify the theft.

Bok-soo: Then what should I do? I have to hold a funeral for my mother. Until the day she died, she never had any decent medicine and never got checked by a physician. If that isn’t bad enough, she always suffered without ever getting to wear nice clothes. Shouldn’t I be allowed to dress her up as she leaves? But I don’t even have money to buy her clothes. Try as hard as I can, I can’t pay for it. So that’s it? The poor and the helpless can’t even have basic human rights? What kind of world is that? And you want me to help you? Get out. You guys were born into rich families, you deserve to suffer a little.”

Yoon-hee’s had enough and walks away, and she’s followed by Sun-joon. He tries to stop her, but she has nothing more to say when everything Bok-soo said is right. In fact, he reminds Yoon-hee of herself, before she was lucky enough to meet Sun-joon and get this special chance to be at SKK. If not for that, she might be in the same position Bok-soo’s in.

Byung-choon and Go-bong watch as Yong-ha and Jae-shin also leave Bok-soo’s house. They happily report back to In-soo that Bok-soo will keep his end up the deal. In-soo is immensely pleased by the idea that the king will kick Yoon-hee out of SKK.



Hyo-eun accompanies her father to visit Minister Lee for a formal introduction. She’s acting like the proper lady she’s actually not, and a couple of times her father signals to her like a catcher in a baseball game, keeping her in check. Minister Lee is firm and a bit curt, but in the end he accepts her.

On her way home, Hyo-eun rages about being terrified of Sun-joon’s father. She’s determined to learn Chinese since she plans to convince Sun-joon to study abroad in China once they’re married. Then in the next moment, she’s squealing about how cute Minister Lee’s eyelashes are; they remind her of Sun-joon’s. Just plain nutty is what I say.

Minister Ha reports to Minister Lee that Merchant Song has been removed from power thanks to his foolishness. He should’ve known that if he plays with fire, it’ll be his own hand that gets burned. Those silly merchants don’t know any better.

Minister Ha mentions in feigned nonchalance that someone saw Sun-joon at Merchant Song’s house that night. He’s a young man who already knows the way of the world. It’s a poorly camouflaged poke, and Minister Lee knows it. He acquiesces that he must be a foolish father since he hears his son’s news through others.

But there’s no need to worry. All the secret ledgers were burned.



Or so Minister Ha thinks. Actually, Yoon-hee swiped one without Sun-joon knowing it. And this ledger is the real reason Yoon-hee couldn’t ask Bok-soo to testify on her behalf. Because Bok-soo isn’t the real culprit here.

Jae-shin is furious and asks if she’s okay with getting kicked out. I mean, why’d she come to SKK at all when she’s gonna give up so easily?

Yoon-hee: I’m not sure. The only thing I’m sure of is that as long as ledgers like these are made, there will always be boys like Bok-soo. But I can’t see the point of turning Bok-soo in to prove my innocence. I don’t know if I have the right to do that.



Sun-joon is left flipping through the ledger and he recognizes all the Noron names. It’s an indirect implication of his father, and everyone knows it. He tries to play it cool, pretending that he’s okay (but everyone knows that he’s not). In fact, his head’s full of a mishmash of images, and in the end, Bok-soo becomes tangled up with the angry Yoon-hee pre-SKK. The Yoon-hee who couldn’t see what was so great about their nation.

Yong-ha is particularly worried, telling Jae-shin that Sun-joon’s going through a lot of heartache. The ledger doesn’t directly mention Minister Lee, but in the end, everything points to him. He wonders what Sun-joon will do with the ledger.

Jae-shin’s guess is that Sun-joon won’t do a thing. After all, no matter what terrible thing his father did, they’re still father and son. That’s what sucks about that relationship, and we know he’s speaking from experience.

Yoon-hee is just as confused as Sun-joon, and she wallows in the library. Professor Jung comes upon her and asks if she’s accepted her guilt.

Yoon-hee claims that she’s innocent, and that fact won’t change even if the real thief isn’t found.

No, Professor Jung sets her straight, she will still be guilty. She can feel bad for the suffering people all she wants, but if she can’t help solve their problems, she’s also guilty. And if she can’t even prove herself innocent, she’s no better than being guilty and deserves to be kicked out.

Yoon-hee’s not gonna take that sitting down. She gets in the final word when she asks: “You said women have no right to exert authority. But sir, isn’t it strange? Why is Joseon the way it is when it’s men with that right who have always ruled?”

You go girl.

Yoon-hee goes looking for Sun-joon and finds him dealing with his complicated thoughts by practicing his archery. She tells him frankly that she plans to bring forward the true thief – the men in the secret ledger. But she decided that if anyone should start something with this ledger, it should be Sun-joon.

Sun-joon: Is it because of my father? That means I might make the other choice. I… might let you down.
Yoon-hee: Then that’ll be that. I trust you, more than I trust myself. You’re always pushing yourself. Putting up a prickly front and constantly talking about principles. That’s your way of doing your best to become a good person. This time will be no different. Whatever choice you make will probably be the right one. Even if it’s different from what I’m thinking.

(Swoon. Yoon-hee rocks.)



Jae-shin is back at Bok-soo’s house, washing Bok-dong’s feet. He’s talking to what seems to be air, but Bok-soo’s actually standing to the side, listening. He tells Bok-soo that Yoon-hee is under suspicion for something she didn’t do; he should understand how it feels to be unjustly treated.

Then he tells Bok-soo that eavesdropping can become a habit, as can running away. So far in the series, the “it’ll become a habit” saying has been Jae-shin’s catchphrase, and we finally find out why. Turns out his brother used to say that to him. “Don’t cry all the time, it’ll become a habit. Don’t lie, it’ll become a habit. Don’t run away, it’ll become a habit.” And sure enough, Jae-shin had picked up the saying like a habit.

See, little brothers watch their older brothers from behind and follow in their ways. Does Bok-soo want his little bro to become a petty thief or a scaredy cat? The thing is, Bok-soo still has the chance to live as a decent human being.

In a moment that contrasts with In-soo’s bribery earlier, Jae-shin lends Bok-soo money to pay back the items he stole. And he has faith that Bok-soo will do the right thing since his little bro Bok-dong is watching his every move.

The stickler for rules Sun-joon breaks curfew to go talk to his father.

Sun-joon: I have something to ask, Father. You always taught me that the most important thing to a scholar who wants to better the world is his beliefs. You said a true scholar will leave even his family if they stand in the way of those beliefs. Do you still believe that? You know that though I’m lacking, I’ve always worked hard to follow your footsteps.
Minister Lee: For which I’m glad.
Sun-joon: Father, should I continue to follow your words?
Minister Lee: You’ve wasted your time coming here. You are my son. Until now you’ve never once gone against my word. And I’ve never once doubted that you will.

That night, the three roommates spend the night apart, each caught up in their own thoughts. Sun-joon reads a book and struggles with the decision he must make. Yoon-hee sits alone in the dorm room, and outside the room Jae-shin stands watch.



Finally, it’s the following morning. Yoon-hee is looking for Sun-joon, but he’s nowhere to be found. And despite Jae-shin’s hopes, Bok-soo hasn’t come either.

In front of the students and the professors, King Jeong-jo asks Yoon-hee if she found the real thief. She starts to answer no, but Jae-shin cuts her off, saying that given a little more time, the thief will turn himself in for sure.

In-soo won’t stand for that. He points out that the deadline was the day prior, and therefore Yoon-hee and her friends have failed the exam. The king acknowledges that Yoon-hee has failed to find the thief in the time allotted.

“The thief is right here.”

In walks Sun-joon, ledger in hand. (I knew he wouldn’t let us down.)

“The true thief of the theft in question is in this ledger here, Your Majesty.”

You go boy.

COMMENTS

Sun-joon the character has been slowly evolving since we first met him, and mostly they’ve been in smaller ways: learning to deal with other people, learning to bend his principles just a little, sacrificing himself for others, etc. But this time, it’s huge. He’s going up against Daddy Lee, and this is no small deal. The man he’s looked up to his entire life might be involved in this huge scandal that’s hurting the people – and he’s turning in the evidence to the king directly. It’s a make or break situation, and I’m glad to see that he’s looking strong at the end of the episode. Strong, confident and determined.

Oh, and FABULOUS cameo by LEE MIN-HO (of Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child) in the role of Bok-soo. What a great child actor. If only my mother hadn’t mentioned that he looked like Tablo in certain angles, I would’ve enjoyed his appearance without the giggles.

As a final note, I noticed that the replies in the recap of episode 8 got pretty messy. Please, let’s keep this clean and nice. It’s okay to disagree, but it’s not cool to fight like cats and ruin everyone’s fun. As Jae-shin would say, that could become a habit.

LESSON 11 RECAP



Sun-joon claims the true thieves are in the ledger, and he’s not just talking about the theft at SKK – he’s talking about countless other thefts occurring around the nation. With prices skyrocketing, the people have no choice but to go against the geumnanjungkwon, the law that permits only licensed merchants the right to business, and turn to illegal means. Therefore, the true thieves are the law that favors only the haves, the officials who serve money rather than the people, and the politicians who stand behind this all.

In-soo objects. This case is about Kim Yoon-shik’s guilt, nothing more, nothing less. He advises the king to punish both Yoon-hee and Sun-joon for failing the test and misinformation, respectively, and set right his authority as king.

They’re interrupted by a rough voice: “So how do I go about doing this? Being a witness or providing evidence or whatever.” It’s Bok-soo, come to turn himself in. He drops to his knees and confesses that he is the thief.

The king asks why Bok-soo chose to come forward now. Isn’t he afraid of the consequences?

Bok-soo: I came because those guys there did something irreversible to me. I am a ban-in from banchon. We’re called halflings because we’re poor and helpless. And I had planned to live no better than those expectations, to live however I wanted. But… but… darn it. […] They treated me like a person, like an equal, and made me want to live like a decent human being. That way, the kid who follows me from behind will also lead a decent life.

The king fails In-soo and the other students, not simply because Yoon-hee was proven innocent, but because they didn’t question Yoon-hee’s guilt, not even once. Particularly In-soo, as student body president, should’ve considered the possibility that Yoon-hee could be innocent. King Jeong-jo declares that he doesn’t need officials who don’t care for the people. This is how he plans to set right his authority as king.



King Jeong-jo gives Yoon-hee the responsibility to decide Bok-soo’s punishment. She declares that there’s no way for him to pay for his crime. The only way he can try is to work for SKK and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. Essentially, she’s letting Bok-soo off the hook while giving him a job. Yoon-hee, I’m impressed more than ever.

The king counters that her sentence is too light. The king kicks it up a notch and tells Bok-soo to keep an eye on the quartet and make sure they always maintain their good intentions.

The king affirms to Sun-joon that the true thieves are in the ledger. With a smile, he says that it’s now his turn to do something about it.

Needless to say, our lovely Jal-geum Quartet passes the exam with flying colors.



In-soo gets called in by Professor Jung, who proceeds to point out a strange occurrence. The medicine that Yoon-hee supposedly needed and the medicine that was stolen and sold don’t match up. There’s one ingredient in particular that has a physical twin – an amateur wouldn’t be able to tell the difference easily. Therefore, whoever stole the medicine (Byung-choon) grabbed the wrong kind, unintentionally proving that Yoon-hee didn’t steal and that there is another thief aside from Bok-soo.

Professor Jung didn’t reveal this in front of the king in order to give In-soo the chance to repent and confess. Yet In-soo remains remorseless, drawing Professor Jung’s criticism that the ban-in boy In-soo considers inferior is actually superior to the SKK student body president.

So it’s really no surprise that In-soo cuts Byung-choon loose (and therefore also stops providing money for Byung-choon’s sick mother).



Yoon-hee thanks Bok-soo for his courageous confession, but Bok-soo says Jae-shin BEGGED him to come. Jae-shin basically acknowledges it by strongly denying it.

With the first genuine smile we see from him, Bok-soo warns: “Lead honest lives. I’ll be following you from behind.” That wins a smile from Jae-shin.

Jae-shin denies doing what he did for Yoon-hee’s sake, but as Yong-ha shrewdly points out, he sure didn’t do it for his grade (not a three-time failed student like himself). That earns Yong-ha a hard jab in the ribs.

Meanwhile our Ga-rang has a confrontation with In-soo, who asks him if it’s denial or blind faith. Sun-joon should know that the merchants paid for the slush funds of the Noron faction. And who else is behind all this but the head of the Norons, Sun-joon’s father?

But Sun-joon has faith that his father has not done anything to disappoint him. And his actions were done in order not to disappoint his father.

In-soo doesn’t think the ledger will change anything. If the king attempts to make changes, Minister Lee will do anything to stop him. And Sun-joon will find out the true face of the father he so trusts.

Yoon-hee has witnessed the whole thing and she meets eyes with Sun-joon, causing her to drop the books she’s holding. She apologizes for burdening him with such a huge responsibility and says she regrets swiping the ledger in the first place.

Sun-joon claims that they both did what they had to do, and so there’s nothing to be sorry about. In fact, In-soo may very well be right that they’ll accomplish nothing.

“Even so, good job, Lee Sun-joon.” (Parallel to when Yoon-hee first hit the bull’s-eye. I love these parallel dialogues.)



Yoon-hee: You did well. Whatever comes of it, what you did was great. […] I’m going to remember this moment for a very long time. Someday when we leave SKK, we won’t be able to stay together. But I will remember us in this moment, the worries, the fear, the happiness. And all our classmates. I think that’ll help me live as a better person. So if you ever have to make another difficult decision like today, please remember that there was once someone who believed in you more than himself.
Sun-joon: No. Stay by my side like this indefinitely. Watch me and make sure I’m going the right path. That way I’ll be able to look at you and remember this day. So Kim Yoon-shik, stay with me.

The waffy moment is ruined by Sun-joon looking at Yoon-hee’s lips. He practically forbids her to ever wear women’s clothing again. It’s a terrible moment for Yoon-hee; in essence, he just told her to never be her real self.

If only she knew it was because he’d probably have a heart attack the next time. Sun-joon resorts to chanting, “He’s just a roommate, he’s just a roommate,” in a pointless attempt to brainwash himself into denying his feelings.

Minister Lee and Minister Ha discuss using one of their men in the palace to destroy the ledger. And to keep the king silent, Minister Lee will remind him that he’s on the throne thanks to the Norons, and there are plenty of other princes around to replace him.

Oh, Sun-joon, how terribly and utterly your faith will shatter.

Cho-sun interrupts the sinister meeting to tell them that the Red Messenger is wreaking havoc outside.



Jae-shin (aka. Red) shoots an arrow with a red leaflet attached: “Who speaks of Joseon as lacking? The only ones who lack are the powerless people. You government dogs that protect the foul riches of the merchants, how does it feel to get fat off the rice they throw to you? Under the geumnanjungkwon, the people starve and the Noron grow richer. The secret of the geumdeungjisa will soon punish the corrupt Noron. How about realizing who your master is and serving them accordingly?”

The professors and the headmaster study the leaflet, finding it hard to believe that it was written by one of their students. Professor Jung takes a closer look, noting the brush style and attitude, and claims that it was written by a real man.



A real man who is busy covering his clothes with the alcohol stash underneath the porch to take on his drunkard persona once more. He overhears Sun-joon and Yoon-hee discussing the Red Messenger inside the room. They surmise that it might be someone close to them (oh, finger touch!).

Jae-shin comes in and lies down between the two. When Yoon-hee asks if he’s been drinking, he answers in the positive and kicks her to the side, telling her to sleep as far away from him as possible since he reeks.

But Sun-joon wants to talk about their new sleeping arrangement and why Jae-shin insists on sleeping in the middle. He doesn’t understand it and offers to move if Jae-shin prefers sleeping towards the wall. But Jae-shin’s unwilling to go into detail. So Sun-joon turns to Yoon-hee for her opinion. It’s a strange “Do you want to sleep next to HIM or ME” moment, and we viewers would’ve had a field day with her answer. Only Sun-joon becomes distracted (again!) by her lips and hurriedly ends the discussion, saying they should go to bed.

Oh, you adorable boys.



The king proclaims the abolishment of the geumnanjungkwon and the establishment of free commerce. When the court officials cry against it, he reaches for the ledger, planning to use it as leverage to get his way. Only he doesn’t end up using it because Minister Lee agrees to the abolishment of the law, stunning Norons and non-Norons alike. He takes it a step further and says that the officials who received bribes should be arrested.

Minister Ha doesn’t understand, but this is politics. You’ve got to be able to play both fields, whichever suits your needs. And it’s way more necessary to appeal to the masses and win over their support (as tonggong, the new law, will certainly do). That’s how the Norons have stayed in power for a hundred years.

What they should focus on is stopping the brushfire that Jae-shin’s latest leaflet threatens to light before it gets out of hand.



The news spreads throughout SKK, worrying some (Professor Jung) and angering others (yeah, that’s In-soo eating his words). And through it all, our Jal-geum Quartet has become closer than ever.

Turns out Professor Jung is worried because the king plans to use the Quartet to fulfill his longtime dream to find the geumdeungjisa, use it to gain control over the Noron faction and build a new Joseon. That was the true motive behind the test: to find those worthy of this noble cause.

Professor Jung is particularly worried for Yoon-hee and Jae-shin who lost a father and brother, respectively, due to the geumdeungjisa crusade. And Professor Jung himself lost a teacher who was also a good friend. He doesn’t want to lose his students as well.

But the king is unwilling to watch his people suffer any longer under the rule of the Norons.

By order of the king, the Jal-geum Quartet is called into the palace. They don the official uniform required within the palace, and to separate himself from the other lemmings, Yong-ha wore very flashy clothes underneath. No way he’d give up his individuality, not even for the king.



The king confides that abolishing the geumnanjungkwon has been a long-cherished wish of his, and he was finally able to do it through them. In thanks, he gives them each a gift.

Yong-ha receives back the mini golden replica of the Imperial Palace.

Jae-shin receives the poem his brother wrote in the state exam (the one where Yoon-hee declared herself a cheat, only a different year); the king kept it because it was so well-written. Turns out, his brother was a brilliant writer as well as student body president of SKK.

Sun-joon receives a compass. The king questions him whether he ever doubted his father; Sun-joon is unable to answer. So the king tells him of an Islamic saying: As long as the needle of the compass wavers, it is never wrong. “Your eyes are wavering now. Don’t ever forget this feeling, the one that stands vigilant against your family and even yourself.”



Yoon-hee receives the block puzzle that King Jeong-jo played with in a previous episode; it belonged to her father, the late Professor Kim Seung-hun. This is when Yoon-hee first finds out that her father was a professor at SKK, a fact that her mother hid from her. She had grown up thinking that her father was just a scholar who lost his life at the hand of bandits.

Gathering her courage, Yoon-hee asks, “Do I really resemble my father?” She asks because she no longer remembers his face.

The king gives her the best gift of all: “Your kind eyes, your determined mouth. You look exactly like my good friend.”

Minister Ha is sure that the king intends to use Sun-joon against his father, but Minister Lee doesn’t believe it possible for father and son to become enemies and go against the moral laws regarding family. But this doesn’t sit well with Minister Ha because back when they pushed for Crown Prince Sado’s death, they claimed that the moral laws could be overlooked for the sake of what is right.

Wait, that was a confession, right? Where’s a voice recorder when you need one?

Yoon-hee visits the hall of deceased SKK professors, and finds the wooden tablet with her father’s name. There, face to face with her father, she asks him, “I wonder about the world you hoped to protect with your life. What is it like? And why is that I didn’t know you were here until now?”

Sun-joon thanks his father for helping to establish the new law of free commerce. Oblivious to the inner workings of the Noron faction, he took it at face value and is happy that his father didn’t let him down. In fact, he is reassured that he can continue to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Minister Lee’s hand falters for just a moment at Sun-joon’s declaration of faith. He quickly changes the subject to Sun-joon’s engagement; it is to be hurried.

Sun-joon tries to explain that he and Hyo-eun don’t have that kind of relationship, but Minister Lee cuts him off. She doesn’t look the type to bother her man, and that’s good enough for a wife.



I’m thinking Minister Lee isn’t a good judge of a character because Hyo-eun looks like she can be a great bother to Sun-joon, as proven by how she pesters Hwang, the bookshop owner, for a book that’ll teach her how to make Sun-joon hers.

Buh-deul, her hilarious maid, has a better idea. Using Hwang as a dummy, she shows Hyo-eun how to literally knock down a man (implied to be followed by, well, having her way with him). But what Hyo-eun wants is a book that’ll teach her how to make Sun-joon fall deeply in love with her. (Hyo-eun, I’ve got a book recommendation: He’s Just Not That Into You.)

Hwang pulls out a red book (the title literally translates to: “Do This on the First Night and You, Too, can be Hwang Jini.” [info]). Yong-ha shows up with impeccable timing to scold Hwang for trying to sell a book that was written in the Dark Ages.

Yong-ha warns Hyo-eun against being too eager to undress for Sun-joon. It might work on Yong-ha, but not Sun-joon. And in a moment she might come to regret, she asks him for help.



The plan is take him to a deserted island, an unfamiliar place to help him relax. And the mood has to be just right, because both men and women are easily swayed by the right mood, mistaking that feeling for fate. The decorations are chosen, the food is bought, the boat is booked, and the stage is set.

The problem is Sun-joon would never go alone with Hyo-eun. So they’ll have to make it a group meeting for now, and Yong-ha will work it out so that the two are left alone on the island.

They agree to meet the following day around 5:30PM at the Mapo dock.



Still emotional about her father, Yoon-hee discusses the matter with Jae-shin. He guesses that her mother didn’t tell her because she thought that was best for her. Yoon-hee wonders aloud what her father was like.

Jae-shin notes that her pants bottom is untied and he squats to tie it for her. (SQUEAL.) “Why bother asking? I’m sure he was a good person. Like father, like son, right?”

She says aloud what we’ve all been thinking, that his “mad horse” nickname Guh-ro doesn’t really fit him since he’s actually a teddy bear. He’s always been there whenever she needed help. Another grateful smile from her kickstarts Guh-ro’s hiccups.

The king has awarded the Quartet a holiday for their achievement, and Yong-ha suggests to Sun-joon that they spend it on a boat ride with some lovely ladies. Of course Sun-joon turns him down, to which Yong-ha playfully asks if he doesn’t like lovely ladies. Or does he actually like men?

That hits a sore spot for Sun-joon, who walks off in a huff. Yong-ha watches him go and remarks that Sun-joon’s indignant response only heightens the suspicion.



Meanwhile, Yoon-hee and Jae-shin are looking at a wanted poster of the Red Messenger tacked onto the bulletin board. She asks if he knows who Red is, and he feigns disinterest (still hiccupping). Yoon-hee claims she knows and makes Jae-shin nervous.

“You’re the Red Messenger, aren’t you?” Yoon-hee’s words shock Jae-shin so much that he stops hiccupping, and Yoon-hee points this out triumphantly. She was just joking to cure him of his hiccups.

Their playful moment is witnessed by Sun-joon, whose face hardens as he walks away. “Kim Yoon-shik is just a roommate. Just a roommate.”



Sun-joon isn’t fooling anyone, not even himself. In his disturbed state, he starts imagining Yoon-hee everywhere in the room. There’s a Yoon-hee by the clothes hangers, a Yoon-hee studying at her desk, a Yoon-hee lying on the floor. And they’re all smiling so cutely.

Yong-ha comes in and starts fussing over Sun-joon, saying that he looks pale and sick. He’s come to convince Sun-joon to go on the boat ride. When Sun-joon refuses again, Yong-ha lies down on the floor, planning to lie there until Sun-joon agrees.



Yoon-hee and Jae-shin come in, still talking about the hiccups, and Sun-joon is so upset that he doesn’t even notice he’s holding his book upside down (but Yong-ha does).

Yong-ha is very interested to hear that Jae-shin has stopped hiccupping. He reveals that he once suspected Yoon-hee of being a girl, but that no longer interests him. He’s found something else he’s more curious about.

In-soo tells his father that one of the Jal-geum Quartet is definitely the Red Messenger. He’s to keep a close eye on them while Minister Ha sets a trap.



Sun-joon can’t get a hold of his confused feelings, and in a desperate moment, he agrees to the boat ride. Yong-ha tells him to come out to the dock at 5:30PM, then curiously changes the time to 3:30PM. And he’s to bring Yoon-hee and board the boat with her.

Oh Yeo-rim, what are you up to now?

Sun-joon invites Yoon-hee out without giving her specifics of what they’ll be doing, but it doesn’t matter to her. She’s beyond giddy. At the arranged time, she and Sun-joon board the boat and set off for the deserted island.



Yong-ha confesses to Jae-shin that he sent the two away to have a little QT. Jae-shin shoots off like a bullet, and Yong-ha reveals part of the reason he set up this trick: he wanted to get Jae-shin back for trying to hide his feelings from him.

At the dock, Jae-shin discovers that due to the darkening clouds, there are no more boats willing to cross the river. Hyo-eun also shows up at the dock, asking about the boat she booked.

Meanwhile, Sun-joon and Yoon-hee arrive at the island to find a little pastel tent set up with food and cushions and everything. This is Hyo-eun’s work, and she also set it up so that the boat won’t return until the following day.



Sun-joon tells Yoon-hee that they’re at the island for a group date, and understandably she’s angry – well, understandable to us but not him. She’s actually angrier at herself for having certain expectations; she should’ve known better since he thinks she’s a guy.

Sun-joon explains that Yong-ha said that no man can deny women, and he assumed Yoon-shik would agree since he’s a guy. She tells him to have fun he wants with girls and goes running to catch the boatman, who’s already leaving. Sun-joon tries to stop her, and she clocks him.

At the same time, Jae-shin clocks Yong-ha, yelling, “What the hell did you do, you jerk!”

Back on the island, Sun-joon catches Yoon-hee from falling, and she pushes Sun-joon away. He slowly falls back towards the water.

COMMENTS

Time after time, I find myself talking about Sun-joon the most, but I feel it’s sort of inevitable since he’s the character that’s changing the most. And if episode 10 was about him discovering his blossoming feelings for Yoon-hee, we see the beginnings of an inner struggle in episode 11. We’ve finally hit that gray area, where his moral code and principles aren’t so clear anymore in the battle against his feelings. I’m interested to see how this will develop, if he will grow anguished or if he will decide that love is love, regardless of gender, and be a man ahead of his time (I know he’ll eventually accept her, but I’m talking about the process here). I read a comment somewhere that if he were to stay in character, he wouldn’t be able to accept Yoon-hee once he discovers she’s a girl and tricked him. But I actually think that’s a pretty narrow view on his character. If he were still the same guy he was in, say, episode 2, or even episode 6 right now, I might agree because that means he’s unchanging and unbending. But as we’ve witnessed, he’s a lot more pliable than we give him credit for. He follows his principles because he believes them to be right; if he discovers one of them was wrong, I have no doubt he would throw it away in a heartbeat.

As a side note, Hyo-eun and Yong-ha, is this a possibility? I thought I saw a look back when Hyo-eun first visited SKK and Yong-ha looked at her from afar, but it was so fleeting that I thought I imagined it. But episode 11 has me thinking that there just might be something up the writer’s sleeve. On one hand, I’m against this possible pairing because it’s too convenient: Hyo-eun can’t have Sun-joon, and ends up with his buddy Yong-ha? Come on. But then I see them together, and I see chemistry, and I remember that Yong-ha doesn’t want a boring woman, and I think, hey, Hyo-eun is anything but boring.

LESSON 12 RECAP

It’s fisticuffs everywhere, as Yoon-hee knocks Sun-joon down in the water, and Jae-shin clocks Yong-ha a good one, drawing some blood. Is it weird that I find that hot?

Yong-ha doesn’t think his offense is really that bad, but Jae-shin tears him a new one for messing with people, as if everything is a game. Nail on the head—that’s pretty much his M.O., but as his best friend you have a right to call him on it. Jae-shin, of course, is worried that “something” might happen, knowing that Yoon-hee is a girl.

I love how in dramas people always freak out about a man and a woman being locked in a place overnight, because “something” might happen. It’s the funniest euphemism to me, because they always make it sound like sex is a “thing” that happens to people, like catching a cold or something. It’s hilarious. Can’t two people just choose to have sexy fun times? It’s a rhetorical question to k-dramaland, not a gripe at Joseon Crack. Personally, I find Guh-ro’s concern overwhelmingly adorable.

And so does Yong-ha, who calls him out in turn, for showing his true concern for Yoon-hee. This was his goal, in fact, in orchestrating this crazy can’t-catch-a-boat scenario: to confirm his suspicions that 1) Yoon-hee is a girl, 2) Guh-ro knows that Yoon-hee is a girl, and 3) Guh-ro lurves her like a puppy.

On the Island of Pent-Up Feelings, it starts to rain, and Sun-joon catches a cold. They rush to put the tent back up, and end up inside together, feeling awkward. This would’ve had more impact if you weren’t already roommates, but it’s still delightfully tense.

Back on the peninsula, Hyo-eun cries that it’s all her fault, wanting to be trapped on the island in Sun-joon’s stead. Yong-ha is surprised at her earnest concern for the stiff and boring Sun-joon, wondering what on earth she sees in him. He sweetly puts a spoon in her hand, telling her to eat something warm to stop from shaking. Aw.

It eventually stops raining, but when Yoon-hee looks back at Sun-joon, he’s fallen asleep. She tries to shake him awake, but he falls onto her shoulder. She realizes that he’s running a fever, complete with purple lips and freezing hands. She warms his hands with hers and takes off her outer layer of clothing, to use as a blanket. What about his lips? Aren’t you going to warm those too?

She thinks to gather twigs and build a fire (smart girl), so she starts the night-long project, not realizing how difficult it is to make fire when everything just got drenched in rain water. But she keeps at it, starting the fire and watching over Sun-joon.

She warms his hands, and lies on top of him to keep him warm. Rawr!

Meanwhile, Jae-shin scours the town for boats, offering up his weight in nyang for someone to take him across to the island. But no one will go this late, and in this weather. It’s not fated to be, for you to rescue her from this, but I love that you try so hard.

Yong-ha catches up to him, asking how he could possibly be so worried about two strapping young men trapped together on an island. Or is the fact that they’re both men the part that worries him? Haha. No, but that’s certainly what Sun-joon’s got swirling around in his head. Yong-ha pats his cheek and leans into his ear, “I’m always on your side.”

I think it’s equal parts wanting him to win the girl, and wanting Guh-ro for yourself, and I love that about you.

Sun-joon wakes up to find Yoon-hee curled up next to him, face covered in dirt and hands covered with cuts. He sees the massive pile of firewood she gathered, and reaches out his hand to her face, just as she stirs awake.

Sun-joon: “I didn’t do anything.” HAhahaha. He yells at her for being so stubborn, showing his concern and gratitude in his ass-backwards way. She doesn’t even hear his nagging, as she feels his forehead and beams that his fever has broken.

Guh-ro returns to his empty dorm room, left with nothing to do but be alone with his feelings. Yeah, he deals with that as well as you’d think.

Yoon-hee and Sun-joon sit by the fire, and she puts up a brave front, saying that Hyo-eun seems like a good girl with a pretty face, and a pretty heart. She acknowledges the match, and Sun-joon stupidly agrees with her. Gah, I love this—she’s saying it to distance herself because it’s what she thinks he wants, and he’s doing it to distance himself because he thinks he can’t love her.

She asks what he likes about Hyo-eun, which he can’t answer, since he’s never thought about that stuff. She tells him it’s simple—someone who makes your heart race, makes you think of them, makes your day bright or cloudy. Sun-joon jumps to the conclusion that Yoon-hee must have someone like that in her life, to hear her talk that way. She asks if he intends to get engaged, and he tells her that it’s his father’s idea, and that he has no interest in the matter.

That makes her break into a smile, and she rewards him with an apple…with a cricket on top. She freaks out in a girlish scream, throwing the apple onto his lap and hiding her face, making Sun-joon smile from ear to ear. He teases her with it, and they have a good laugh.

Before the break of dawn, Yong-ha shows up to offer Hyo-eun a ride to the dock. He gallantly swoops her up onto his horse, and tells her to hold on tight (oh, you), as he takes her to her beloved.

Yoon-hee starts to doze off, and Sun-joon gives her a little apology, for bringing her here, because of his feelings…

Without understanding his actual meaning, she tells him that it’s okay, because it felt good to be able do something for him. She dozes off, and he watches her sleep, looking at those lips…

He starts to lean in… (Omo!)

…nose thisclose to her cheek…

And then he catches himself, his hand balling up into a fist, as he pulls away, realizing what he’s about to do.

Gah! The angst, the push and pull of his desire against what he thinks is right…it’s SO PERFECT. It’s great dramatically regardless of who the players are, but it’s another level up, when the makeup of his character is so rooted in Right vs. Wrong.

He heads to the shore to beat his heart into submission, which is when Hyo-eun comes running to him. She locks onto him in a heartfelt embrace, tears flowing in relief. She takes his face in her hands, so happy to see that he’s okay, which is of course exactly when Yoon-hee arrives on the scene.

Yong-ha clocks her reaction, and wonders aloud, “Did something happen, or didn’t it?” Wouldn’t you like to know?

Back at Sungkyunkwan, it’s time for open house and another big sports match, this time a game resembling hockey. The teachers worry about the class war that usually breaks out on the field (in the form of actual fighting).

All the students start to back the Soron dorm, assuming that the Jalgeum Quartet will win, as they are in the King’s favor. This makes In-soo more glowery than usual, as the wheels start turning in his head.

Sun-joon walks Hyo-eun home, and when she asks in a roundabout way if she can come to the open house, he answers in his Sun-joon-esque way that it wouldn’t be against the law. Haha. She interprets that to be a heartfelt invitation, which just makes me nostalgic for those teenage crushes where we’ve all taken such blank words and imbued them with so much meaning. Sigh.

Yong-ha and Yoon-hee arrive back at school, and Yong-ha explains that open house is the reason why he’s still here at Sungkyunkwan—it’s the day when women can enter campus freely. He notes that Sun-joon will surely invite Hyo-eun.

He notes her reaction, tsk-tsking the love triangle that only he knows about. He tells her that it’s a shame, since there’s someone whose blood ran dry, waiting for her…

Jae-shin, in true manly fashion, takes out his sexual frustration on a poor defenseless ball and stick. I sort of love that the man of action has been rendered useless in this scenario, making him feel doubly pent-up.

Yong-ha shows up to call attention to the fact that he waited up all night for Yoon-hee, taking the opportunity to manhandle him again. God, the skinship between these two is enough to fuel a spinoff series.

He tells him that something happened to her on the island, sending him running like the wind…

…only to be stopped by Yoon-hee, asking where he’s running off to so fast. He looks back at Yong-ha, who blows him a kiss. Cheeky boy.

She apologizes for making him worry, and he says in his usual gruff way that he didn’t worry and for her to go rest. She walks away and he does too, but then something dawns on him (Feelings? Is it…feelings?) and he turns back around.

He marches up to her purposefully, swinging her around to face him. Omo…are you going to kiss her? You look like you’re going to kiss her!

Jae-shin: You…you little…from now on, you stay in my sights at all times. Wherever you go, whatever you do, stay in my sights. Because I thought I was losing my mind.

SPLAT.

…

If you keep making me faint like this, I’ll never get through this episode.

Yong-ha returns to his room to find Sun-joon waiting for him, desperate for some advice. Yong-ha tells him to spill his beans, as he’s better at keeping secrets than he appears. Sun-joon asks if it’s the law (not legally, but law of the universe) for all men to like women. Without hesitation, Yong-ha answers, “No. Where is there a law like that in the world? It’s instinct.”

Sun-joon asks if it’s natural that rather than a girl he hardly knows, he feels more comfortable around his friends. Yong-ha doesn’t let him skirt the issue, asking directly if he’s saying that he likes guys. He starts to stammer, trying to ask but not ask…

Yong-ha: You want to be close to him? Touch him? Ah, I’ve experienced that before…Guh-ro.

Okay, you’re really not making this easy. Peel…self…off…floor.

Yong-ha says that he’s felt that way about Guh-ro, enough to question whether or not he likes boys. Well, that’s definitely what I always suspected about your overcompensation, lady-killer-wise. If the two of you end up as the second pairing, I may die of happiness right then and there.

He hands Sun-joon the book that’s always saved him, and warns him to only read it when he’s alone. He ends with these parting words, “It’s a sin to hate, but how can it be a sin to love? No matter who it is.” Aw, I love you more than words right now.

Sun-joon sneaks a peek in the red book of hetero-normative instincts, and his eyeballs nearly pop out. Heh.

Meanwhile, In-soo comes up with a plan for keeping the Noron-Soron war at bay during the match. He comes up with a “random” method of team division. This is, of course, just a way to split up the Jalgeum Quartet, and it works—Jae-shin / Yoon-hee on one team, and Yong-ha / Sun-joon on the other.

Yong-ha sees right through this, noting that In-soo is simply pitting Noron (Sun-joon) against Soron (Jae-shin) anyway. He asks why he’s also on team Noron, and In-soo replies that he’s one of them, calling him “my person,” like a possession. Yong-ha retorts with fire in his eyes, “Who says? I’m Gu Yong-ha. I have no plans to be anyone’s ‘person.’” Ooh, learned a thing or two about being a badass from Guh-ro, eh?

He softens to his usual self, as he adds that if In-soo wants to keep him around, he should make it more fun, because right now he’s being really boring. Ha. I do enjoy the consistency of his bored playboy character.

Jae-shin takes Yoon-hee out to practice, and he starts out yelling because he can’t really express anything else, but then he softens up and finally shows her how to properly hold the stick, holding her hands in his. She looks up at him with her giant doe eyes, smiling, and he gets so uncomfortable that he breaks away.

Sun-joon watches them from afar, his heart heavy from the jealousy, compounded with his feelings that aren’t…supposed to be. He practices nearby, hearing Yoon-hee say all the things to Guh-ro that he wants to hear. I do so enjoy the dynamic of Yoon-hee looking up to Jae-shin, and Sun-joon’s jealousy of that, not romantically, but even if they were three boys.

He walks away suddenly, trying to tamp down his feelings. Yoon-hee follows, and he hides, putting his hand over his thumping heart. Aw.

Later that night, the King gets news of a disturbing turn of evens—the Red Messenger kills three royal guards, and steals money to give back to the people. Even the King notes that this is uncharacteristic of the Red Messenger, but these actions can no longer be ignored.

Aw, crap. A fake Red Messenger? What will Guh-ro do?

The King regrets having to do this, but murder can’t go unpunished. He orders the Red Messenger captured at once.

Minister Ha is the one behind Fake Red Messenger, and brags to Minister Lee that they won’t have to worry, since eventually, the imposter’s actions will lead to the real Red Messenger’s capture.

Minister Lee thinks the plan is riskier than he’d like, and threatens to take back their kids’ marriage plans. Basically, he dangles up Hyo-eun’s entry into his family as a prize—if Minister Ha can catch the Red Messenger, they’ll discuss marriage. Damn. You’re cold AND powerful. And it’s bizarre to think that Guh-ro’s capture will lead to Sun-joon’s engagement if this all goes according to plan.

Guh-ro reads the news the next morning, scoffing. You shouldn’t be scoffing. This is going to get you sent to the head-chopping place! Hire a lawyer! And a CSI team.

Open House begins at Sungkyunkwan, and the ladies arrive in their best dresses. Yong-ha reigns as the big man on campus, with a row of girls a mile long trailing behind him. Now we know why it’s his favorite day.

Yoon-hee’s mother arrives as well, and Professor Jung finds her first. She’s shocked to see him, as she knows him from her husband’s days as a professor. He tells her that he knows about Yoon-hee being a girl, and she says that she’ll take all the blame and take Yoon-hee away at once. But Professor Jung knows Yoon-hee well enough by now, and tells her that there’s no stopping this girl.

He confesses that Yoon-hee sparks a desire in him to teach her, and that SHE is teaching HIM that men and women…can be equal. He starts to say that perhaps someday in Joseon…

But her mother wonders why Yoon-hee must be the one to pave the way. As Mom, of course she wants to protect her daughter from the pain and struggle. I hate to break it to you, Mom—your love for her breaks my heart, but there’s really no way she’s going to live quietly the way you want her to.

Professor Jung tells her that it’s because of Yoon-hee…because of his smart, talented daughter, that her husband wanted a governorship. He wanted to create a new world where his daughter could use her gifts. Oh my god, I might be crying. I’ve never met this man, but he sounds epic.

Over lunch, Yoon-hee asks her mother why she was never told about her father, and Mom just pleads with her to safely finish her studies and return home quietly, so they can look back on this time and laugh about it. You’re in for some rough waters, Mom. If that’s all that education was, the world would never change.

Cho-sun arrives on campus as well, searching high and low for Yoon-hee. In-soo sends for her first, and she sits down for tea. After giving due diligence, she gets up, saying quite clearly that he isn’t the person she came here to see. He grabs her wrist, holding her back.

She keeps her calm, saying coolly that she feels sorry for him—how is it that he thinks that everything in this world exists for him to possess? She asks for him to let her be, and walks away. She’s nine kinds of awesome. I really wish we saw more of this character.

In-soo just gets lost in reverie, remembering that she wore something similar the day he first met her, when she came to his house at the age of ten. Ah, so first love, eh? That doesn’t make you less creepy for wanting to possess her, but I see why you’re so fixated.

Yoon-hee thinks about her mother’s words as she hides in the library, and Guh-ro finds her there, asking why she’s hiding on a day like this. After all, she’s got the name Daemul to live up to. Heh.

She marvels at seeing him in the library, of all places—she’s never seen him in here before, and he nonchalantly says it’s because he’s read everything in here. She scoffs, and then pauses…no, it couldn’t be…she checks the books, and sure enough, his name is there on all the cards. She looks up at him, impressed. You TOTALLY did that just to impress her, you lovesick fool! Hahaha.

They sit down to eat together, and Yoon-hee teases him for not having a single girl here to visit him, let alone anyone in his heart. Jae-shin: “So? That’s why I’m eating with you.” Swoon.

Just then, Yoon-hee sees Sun-joon across the way, and Jae-shin catches her looking at him. Gah, the looks! The silent looks in this love triangle are enough to wring my heart dry.

When two girls realize who Jae-shin is, they rush over to either side of him, sending him hiccupping and running away in fear.

Hyo-eun calls Yoon-hee over to their table, insisting that they eat together, and she almost manages to slip away, until Cho-sun arrives. Commence dinner of most awkward proportions.

Within about two milliseconds of awkward tension, Cho-sun gets the score. She watches Sun-joon carefully, making Hyo-eun think that she’s eyeing him in the other way. She plays up her flirting, feeding him, which just raises Yoon-hee’s ire, making her tend to Cho-sun, which irks Sun-joon, who turns to Hyo-eun as a distraction. Hahaha. It’s a merry-go-round of passive-aggressive flirting.

Sun-joon assumes that Yoon-hee’s heart belongs to Cho-sun, and Yoon-hee assumes the same of Sun-joon and Hyo-eun. But Cho-sun gets up abruptly, saying that she shouldn’t have come here tonight, declaring that Yoon-hee’s heart doesn’t belong to her.

Whoa. She calls her out on it right there on the spot, declaring that she’ll guess to whom her heart really belongs…

She walks over to Sun-joon’s side, gives Yoon-hee a look, then kisses Sun-joon on the cheek.

COMMENTS

What a fan-friggin-tastic episode. This is really the most compelling love triangle I’ve seen in a while, because most lead pairings are so overtly ahead of the pack. Despite knowing that Sun-joon and Yoon-hee are meant for each other, I enjoy the dynamic of the various hurdles, most of all because of the situations and feelings that they stir for all involved. Jae-shin’s growing relationship with Yoon-hee, from hyung and protector to oppa and love interest is so cute it kills me. It’s not even like I want him to get the girl, (Okay, I want at least one hot kiss before Sun-joon gets the girl—let’s be real.) but I adore his changes as a character because of his growing love for her.

As for Sun-joon, I love how far he’s come…to question his sexuality, to question the law. For his character, it’s an epic shift, and one that I think will take the story to new heights.

LESSON 13 RECAP

Cho-sun’s peck on Sun-joon’s cheek shocks everyone at the table—especially Hyo-eun, who momentarily forgets herself and has a jealous fit until Sun-joon’s surprise brings her back to her façade, and she feigns a faint. Cho-sun reassures her that a straight arrow like Sun-joon isn’t enough to tempt her. She was just being spiteful because her beloved Yoon-shik couldn’t take his eyes off Hyo-eun.

Cho-sun asks the forgiveness of her rudeness and leaves with Yoon-hee following after her. In fact, Cho-sun knows exactly who Yoon-hee actually likes and instead of being angry that her love is unrequited, she’s worried for Yoon-hee:

“I’m more worried about you. To want someone who can’t be yours…being hurt while also hurting the other. Even so, you can’t abandon your feelings and so every day you find yourself lost in hell. That’s what first love is.”

The idea leaves Yoon-hee pensive and she returns to the table to apologize to Sun-joon and Hyo-eun for the disturbance but Sun-joon dismisses her and the terrible angst begins! Yoon-hee’s classmates see that she’s feeling blue and accompany her to some drinks, but quickly regret the decision as she drowns her sorrows away with alcohol.

Sun-joon drinks in frustration also while keeping an eye on an increasingly inebriated Yoon-hee as she loses her composure. He wants to go over to her but of course our kdrama hero does the complete opposite of what his heart wants and tells Hyo-eun he’ll walk her home.

Yoon-hee’s classmates also take the opportunity to ditch. Guh-ro overhears the escapees’ conversations about Yoon-shik’s heartbreak over Cho-sun and amused at the idea, he goes to pick her sloppy mess up. (Oh, and of course Sun-joon stands as witness.)

As Guh-ro carries Yoon-hee back to the dorms on his back, the most adorable(and heartbreaking) misunderstanding ensues when Yoon-hee pounds his chest and complains: “You bastard.”

Guh-ro: “What?”
Yoon-hee: “Even when others cursed you, to me you were such a thankful person…I’ve always only received from you. You don’t even know how I feel…How could you…”
Guh-ro: “Are you… are you really calling your godly senior a bastard?”

He chuckles, I die.

Guh-ro lays Yoon-hee down to sleep but quickly runs out when her unsuspecting sleeping face gets too much for him to handle. (Squeal). Outside, he meets Sun-joon and demands to know what he’s doing: “What were you doing while he drank himself to that state? Weren’t you even worried?”

Sun-joon retorts coldly, “Why should I need to worry about that? If you’re so worried for him, then you can take care of him.” Taken aback by his response, Guh-ro grabs Sun-joon’s collar but Sun-joon delivers the final blow, “I never want to hear the name Kim Yoon-shik from your mouth again.”

King Jeong-jo receives requests for the Red Messenger to be brought to justice—as of late, he’s gone haywire, murdering guards and stealing the riches of the people. He’s also pointed his next target to be Un-jong-ga—but Jeong-jo is not fooled, finding the Red Messenger’s pattern change to be suspicious. Thank you, k-drama gods, for not making Jeong-jo a fool!

Of course, this is all Minister Ha’s ploy and by this time tomorrow, the Red Messenger will be caught and he promises the fake that he will keep his word with whatever deal they made. Oh nooo’s—not you…just kidding, I won’t give it away.

The next day, the games begin and the heat is on between the two teams. The gisaengs are in a fix—the Jalgeum Quartet are broken up—whoever shall they cheer for? At least the Headmaster’s happy about the team roster since there’ll no longer be any bickering between the Noron and Soron faction—all thanks to In-soo. Speaking of which, In-soo is giving Byung-choon the “This-is-your-last-chance-fo-real-don’t-eff-it-up” look.

Sun-joon and Yoon-hee are still as angsty as ever and despite her efforts to make peace, Sun-joon won’t have any of it. If only you knew, dear Yoon-hee, the hurricane of feelings your boy is dealing with right now. She swears to Guh-ro that she’s going to try her best today—not out of spite, but to show Sun-joon that she can do just fine all by herself. After all, they can’t always be on the same team forever.

Guh-ro grasps her arm and ties her sleeve down for her as he tells her she’s not alone…please Guh-ro, don’t leave me alone either!

When the actual game begins, In-soo repeatedly (and suspiciously) passes the ball to Yoon-hee with a creepy Buddha smirk on his face—this is all a part of Byung-choon’s plan. Go-bong is to cover Guh-ro, who’ll probably stick by Yoon-hee’s side, and it’s Byung-choon’s plan to hit Yoon-hee in the head with his stick while acting like he’s going for the ball…although…I don’t really see how that’s going to look natural, with the ball on the ground and Yoon-hee’s head nowhere near it… but whatever.

Byung-choon’s plans are constantly thwarted by Sun-joon’s aggressive playing—yeah, Yoon-hee and Sun-joon have got their own battle to fight. Sun-joon pushes past her and hits a goal in but then looks on at Guh-ro helping Yoon-hee up. What’d you think was going to happen?

Guh-ro’s furious at Sun-joon for playing so aggressively against Yoon-hee, and Sun-joon’s furious at Guh-ro for getting involved in her business. Uncharacteristically losing his temper, and to the surprise of everyone watching, Sun-joon moves to throw a punch but is stopped by Yoon-hee. (Ooh, I like angry Sun-joon!).

Yoon-hee reprimands him for trying to use violence when it’s just a game, “Aren’t you ashamed?” Turning to Guh-ro, she spits her venom, “Don’t worry about it. He’s not even worth our time.” Youch.

Of course, through all this, Yong-ha looks on at the action in amusement. Yong-ha’s out of the game with an “injury” but Professor Jung points out to him that he’s always watching on the sidelines. “Which is it? Are you afraid of fighting? Or afraid of losing?”

Yong-ha, slightly taken aback, “I don’t know, probably…both?” Ah, finally, a defining character flaw!

Despite Yoon-hee’s words, it’s now on like donkey kong between Sun-joon and Guh-ro but unbeknownst to them, Go-bong and Byung-choon take the opportunity to steal the ball and finally take a strike at Yoon-hee. In-soo’s waiting for the ball with his creeper face and passes to Yoon-hee when he gets it. Our innocent heroine takes it as a lucky break but Yong-ha finds it suspicious—there’s no way that In-soo would make so many mistakes.

Sure enough, Byung-choon’s waiting with his stick up (um, a little too obvious, don’t you think?) as Yoon-hee dribbles the ball and needless to say, Guh-ro catches sight of Byung-choon’s stink eye and runs over to hold him down. Go-bong joins in on the wrestle and Yoon-hee tries her best to side step the three as In-soo watches the struggle.

Catching sight of Cho-sun’s smiling face, In-soo decides to get involved and strike Yoon-hee himself…slow motion, he winds up, he strikes, Sun-joon takes the blow and he and Yoon-hee fall to the ground. (Just…no words for this action sequence.)

Everyone’s horrified, especially Minister Ha who can’t find the words to properly apologize to Minister Lee. (Oh, and Headmaster Choi and his hilarious screech!) Minister Lee dismisses it as nothing more than a game but of course, that’s just Minister Lee’s way of saying he’s really pissed off. The engagement’s probably out of the question now. A snarky grin from me!

With that, the first half of the game is over and it’s pretty much a sh** out of luck situation for In-soo.

Yong-ha adds his two-cents: “I know that you were out to get Kim Yoon-shik from the beginning. That was really unlike you…to get your own hands dirty like this. Makes no sense.”
In-soo: “What makes no sense are those guys. How can something like this happen? Who the hell is Kim Yoon-shik, that the Left Minister’s son would throw himself for him?”

Headmaster Choi is busy trying to make amends with Minister Lee but he’s more interested to know about Kim Yoon-shik, “What kind of kid is he?”

Yoon-hee’s sitting in a daze when Guh-ro hands her a water canteen but instead of taking it, she begins blaming herself for Sun-joon’s injuries. She can’t take it anymore and runs off to go see him…and the second lead heartbreak begins.

Sun-joon’s in the infirmary and although his eye are open, he’s still a little delirious from the blow as he sees/thinks back to all his memories with Yoon-hee and imagines her at his bedside. When he finally comes to, it’s not Yoon-hee by his side but a concerned Hyo-eun. He sits up and she tells him that now that she’s seen him awake, she’ll take her leave, adding, “About our engagement…our family will no longer pressure you into this marriage. So please take care of yourself.”

But with Yoon-hee’s entrance into the infirmary, Sun-joon gets up and asks Hyo-eun, “Will you…marry me? Please… marry me. Up until now, I’ve never failed to accomplish what I willed. I’ve also never failed at what I’ve tried. I’ve also never broken a promise. And I’m going to keep it that way. I’ll always try my best—”

A heartbroken Yoon-hee can’t stand to hear anymore and leaves the room as an equally heartbroken Sun-joon continues, “If you’re okay with someone like me…will you please hold me back?”

Yoon-hee runs off in tears and Guh-ro peeks into the room to see what the big commotions about…and realization strikes! Drunk Yoon-hee wasn’t calling him a bastard…it was Sun-joon all along. Three heartbroken souls and one enraged viewer…yeah, I’m writhing in rage.

Guh-ro finds Yoon-hee crying alone and tells her, “There are some things…that no matter what anyone says, you don’t feel any better. But even if you can’t feel better, you can make yourself forget. You just have to bug the hell out of your body…it’s pretty useful and I think I might try it out myself for the first time in awhile…you should try it too.”
Gosh, how do you always know the right thing to say, Guh-ro.

The second half of the game begins and Yoon-hee takes Guh-ro’s advice—she’s playing harder than the first half and so is Guh-ro. The two make quite the combo—Guh-ro blocks, Yoon-hee shoots, and they win the game.

Sun-joon looks on at their victory celebration while his manservant gushes at the changes he sees in his young master—Sun-joon throwing himself to save another? Who would’ve ever thunk it! Sun-joon claims that’s all in the past now, but Minister Lee’s not so convinced—he’s concerned for his changed son.

When Yoon-hee runs into Sun-joon, she tries to thank him but he tells her that he would’ve done the same for anyone, “So there’s nothing to be thankful or feel sorry about.” As he begins to leave, Yoon-hee adds:
“The two of you… look really good together. I wanted to tell you congratulations,” and Sun-joon wordlessly walks off.

Everyone’s washing up and Yong-ha’s feeling a little playful again when he sees Yoon-hee walking by. He owes her a bucket of water and he intends to throw it to her because surely she’s not going to not wash up after all that sweaty exercise. Guh-ro comes to her rescue again as he makes up some bogus errand Yoon-hee needs to run, leaving Yong-ha getting adorably up close and personal with Guh-ro. Yong-ha+Guh-ro pairing for the win!

Back in the infirmary, King Jeong-jo is having a few words with Professor Jung about the trap being set up for the Red Messenger tonight. The Red Messenger, who he believes to be a Sungkyunkwan scholar, needs to be protected at all costs—and that job falls on Professor Jung. Only the Messenger knows where the Geum-deung-ji-sa is, and if he’s caught, not even he the King will be able to protect him.

Guh-ro looks over the Fake Red Messenger’s message and knows it’s actually an invitation for him to show himself. The rest of the school is also buzzing about the Red Messenger over dinner, the unanimous opinion appearing to be that the Red Messenger deserves to be caught—after all, he’s just a thief and a murderer.

Guh-ro asks Yoon-hee if she’s of the same opinion and when she tell him she’s sure he’s Sungkyunkwan scholar, he momentarily freezes. Yoon-hee goes on to explain:

“All of the Red Messenger’s notes were beautifully written,” Guh-ro smirks smugly but she continues, “Tsk tsk tsk…that guy sure is pathetic,” Guh-ro freezes, “I mean, he writes all those beautiful words in Chinese characters… does he expect the uneducated people or women who only know Hangeul to be able to read it or not? He’s senseless, I say, senseless. I mean, who is he trying to reveal the truth for? With that kind of mindset, how is he going to change the world?”

Guh-ro stares at Yoon-hee, she stops chewing, and he bursts into laughter. “You’re right. Red Messenger… that pathetic fool,” and he laughs some more—whilst both my nostrils burst with bloody streams… too graphic?

Guh-ro’s euphoric and so am I, but grumpy Sun-joon can’t take anymore and leaves and Yong-ha notices that something’s up. So he catches up with Sun-joon in the library and points out that hiding out in the library instead of eating is something that not a betrothed man, but a heartbroken man would do. Is it because he’s jealous?

Before Sun-joon can even reply, Yong-ha waves him off telling him that he gets it—surely someone as stiff necked and proper as Lee Sun-joon wouldn’t indulge in an emotion like jealousy… right? He continues, “If the person you like has someone else in their heart, then I’m sure that even Confucius himself would feel envy, indignation, wrath, and jealousy. Because that’s what it means to be human. Is it Lee Sun-joon-like to trick your own feelings? I’m just… curious.”

Meanwhile, In-soo’s plans to catch the Red Messenger but he gets called to the Headmaster’s office where his title and privileges as President are revoked. According to Professor Jung, his true sin lies in the fact that he shamed Sungkyunkwan’s name for all the people to see, thus he should be punished for them to see also. You reap what you sow.

Palace guards make preparations for the Red Messenger’s capture, as does Professor Jung’s preparation to prevent it. No one is to leave the school tonight but of course Guh-ro’s wall climbing skills are no match for the school staff.

Yong-ha, on the other hand, is THE Gu Yong-ha—he catches Guh-ro as he’s making his escape.

Yong-ha: “Going somewhere, Guh-ro? If it’s for a game of cards, I’ll play with you…and if it’s for a drink, there’s a lot in my room.”
Guh-ro: “You can’t win against me.”
Yong-ha: “The Red Messenger is just the bait. The one they really want is you! Don’t you get it?”
Guh-ro: (Taken aback at his knowledge) “You…”
Yong-ha: “Did you think I wouldn’t know? Did you think I was a fool who wouldn’t even know what his only friend of 10 years was up to?”
Guh-ro smirks and tries to leave, but Yong-ha grabs him (and I’m already dead on the floor): “Don’t go. Aren’t you afraid? You could die!”
Guh-ro: “Afraid? Why would I be afraid? It’s not like living is that much better than dying.”
Yong-ha hits him in anger: “If living isn’t better than dying… then what am I? Go. Just go and live the way you want…and disappear.”
Guh-ro: “Then am I supposed to just watch as my brother’s life work is being tainted by some petty thievery and murders? When it’s because of me? Living like that… is that really living?”

Tearful Yong-ha can’t reply and Guh-ro runs off into the dark after reassuring him that he’ll return unscathed. (From this point on, it’s my soul-less body writing, because my soul decided to go bye-bye from the overload of awesomeness.)

The Fake Red Messenger is up to his/her rogue antics when the real Red Messenger appears and manages to injure the imposter before he/she escapes. The injured fake finds sanctuary in a storage room and unmasks herself—(fake gasp) Cho-sun!

The palace guards surround the real Messenger and things are looking dismal for him when he receives a devastating gash to his gut—but when two mysterious men come to his rescue, Guh-ro manages to make his escape. The mysterious men are the king’s men and he’s glad to hear the Red Messenger managed to make his escape.

Back at school, Yoon-hee feigns coincidence when she runs into Sun-joon at the library. He tries to leave but she asks him if he’s avoiding her. He coldly replies, “What a surprising delusion. Is Kim Yoon-shik important enough for me to avoid?”

“Are you still mad about the Open House night?” When he begins to walk away, she continues, “Was it all worth nothing to you? All the times we shared in the past… were they so trivial that it’d all break down from a small misunderstanding? Or is it because your feelings for that girl are so great?”

Sun-joon tries to avoid the questions, but Yoon-hee presses on, “I told you. Once we leave Sungkyunkwan, we’ll never see each other again. Until then, can’t we just get along as mere roommates? Is that really something that I can’t even hope for? Answer me.”

Trying to press down his feelings, Sun-joon replies, “Listen well Kim Yoon-shik. I have no intention of going back to the way things were.”

Hurt, Yoon-hee runs out in tears. A few silent moments pass before Sun-joon runs after her.

Yoon-hee’s running her feelings away when a bloody masked man falls in pain before her. She carefully approaches, realizing that it’s the Red Messenger, when he suddenly pulls her into an embrace.

He manages to tell her, “It’s a good thing I managed to stay alive.” And with that, Guh-ro unmasks himself.



COMMENTS

I was punching and kicking the air throughout this episode—unlike the previous episodes where it was out of pent up euphoria, this episode it was out of rage. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean I didn’t like the episode, because I loved it. And it’s also not because I thought the angst was unnecessary, because I know it’s necessary for the dramatic process, but it was simply because k-drama angst always kills me (I enjoy it, but it kills me… yeah yeah I’m a masochist). A giant step backward for Sun-joon, who was well on his way to shedding the rules and principles that bound him—however, I understand that the internal struggle is necessary so that the leap he makes later on is that much greater. It’s just frustrating to watch him digress, that’s all I’m saying.

Lots of heartbreak this episode. Heartbreaking for Yoon-hee who doesn’t understand the real reason for Sun-joon’s coldness—the fact that she finds the need to deny her womanhood (again)and assure him that she only has eyes for Cho-sun just so that he’ll talk to her—utter sadness. Heartbreaking for Sun-joon, who’s heart is feeling things that his whole life philosophy reprimands—the fact that his proposal to Hyo-eun is more like a desperate plea for salvation. Heartbreaking for Guh-ro who mistakenly thought Yoon-hee was angsty over him only to find out it wasn’t—and yet he is still the dark knight in shining armor. And lastly, heartbreaking for Yong-ha, who for the first time showed raw emotion for Guh-ro.

I’m shipping Yong-ha and Guh-ro simply because I think I have too much testosterone in me and brotherly love trumps romantic love. Okay, not always, but that’s how much I love the Yong-ha+Guh-ro brotherhood. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the other pairings—but maybe it’s because Guh-ro’s the only person that Yong-ha seems to truly love/care-for. I’m not going to suggest that it’s romantic… although, I honestly think his feelings could go both ways.

Another thing about Yong-ha I appreciate is the fact that he’s kind of the glue for the Jalgeum Quartet. If it weren’t for him, the relationships would simply be a love triangle—but because he exists, they become a brotherhood (er… I know Yoon-hee’s a girl, but you know what I mean.) He’s always got the right thing to say to Sun-joon, Yoon-hee, and Guh-ro to get their minds thinking—i.e. his little talk with Sun-joon this episode about what it means to be human. We’ve also finally got a definite character flaw—he’s kind of a coward. The first thing Yong-ha asks Guh-ro when he’s about to set off is, “Aren’t you afraid?” That’s also probably why he doesn’t belong to a particular faction, and has such an ambiguous relationship with In-soo—he’s afraid to be on the losing team.

In-soo is such a complex character, I can’t seem to figure him out. I kind of feel like he’s a Gu Jun-pyo on crack—his ego is way out of wack which skews his perception on reality. Feel sorta sorry for him, especially because he seems to never win against Yoon-hee. Throw the guy a bone~

LESSON 14 RECAP



“Good thing… I stayed alive.”

Quite possibly the hottest injured guy ever, Jae-shin pulls off his mask and reveals himself to Yoon-hee. Unbeknownst to them is that In-soo and his guys are looking for Jae-shin – while Sun-joon looks for Yoon-hee. It’s the latter who spots Yoon-hee randomly sweeping the grounds in an attempt to hide Jae-shin’s tracks and follows her to hyang-gwan-chung where Jae-shin is bleeding extensively.



The wound is more serious than Yoon-hee thought and she’s struck dumb for a moment. Then she tears off a strip of her uniform and wraps it around him (I literally cringed because that doesn’t seem very hygienic to me). He reaches up to touch her face, but the pain overcomes him.

Sun-joon peeks in to see Yoon-hee and Jae-shin together, and they look awfully intimate since he doesn’t know about the wound. Add one more misunderstanding to the messy pile of Sun-joon’s emotions. As he rushes away from that scene, he bumps into the Three Stooges (Do-hyun, Hae-won and Won-tak) who are on their way to hyang-gwan-chung because of some silly superstition that the virgin ghost can help them get better grades. This CAN’T be good.



Really, is hyang-gwan-chung the ONLY secretive place in an all-guys school? Somehow I find that hard to believe, but In-soo and his posse head that way as well.

Meanwhile, Yoon-hee is trying to find ashes to staunch Jae-shin’s wound when a blindfolded man walks in, led by Yong-ha. Once again proving that he just may be omniscient, Yong-ha has brought a physician to treat Jae-shin. Of course moments after treating Jae-shin, that physician is spotted by In-soo and duly questioned to reveal that he treated a wounded man. When they reach hyang-gwan-chung, there’s no one there but they find Yong-ha’s fan. Could Yong-ha be Red while putting on a flamboyant peacock façade to throw everyone off his scent?



This logically leads them to our Yeo-rim’s room. For the first time ever, we see Yong-ha looking uneasy, but he plays it cool as In-soo tells an interesting story about a wounded Red Messenger slipping into SKK. There’s a dangerous moment when Yong-ha spots Jae-shin’s clothes sticking out from underneath the folding screen, but it’s quickly pulled in before In-soo sees it. In fact, Yong-ha stands up in front of the folding screen and blocks it with his entire body.

In-soo tells him about the physician and holds out the evidence that Yong-ha is involved: the fan. So how does our brilliant Yeo-rim get out of this one? He mocks In-soo for even suspecting for a second that Yong-ha might actually be Red and thanks him for being entertaining for once. As for the fan, well, he let the helper boys have it and someone must’ve dropped it in hyang-gwan-chung.

Insulted, In-soo warns Yong-ha that he doesn’t give second chances (wait, then why is Byung-choon back to being one of your hunting dogs?).

If Yong-ha’s not Red, then it should be the boys in Yoon-hee’s room, but no one’s in. That’s when it hits In-soo that Yong-ha was acting awfully suspicious in front of the folding screen. On their way back, they run into Professor Yoo and Professor Jung. It’s against the rules to be out of bed so late, but they’re excused since they’re after the Red Messenger, public enemy number one.

(Might I add that I find Go-bong delightfully hilarious? Like how he outright worries about poor Red who must be bleeding somewhere – and he doesn’t realize that he’s taking the wrong side. In-soo’s friends need to either convert him or leave him.)

In-soo returns to Yong-ha’s room with the staff in tow and sweeps away the folding screen to find a stack of racy red books. Ah, Yeo-rim, your porn stash saved the day.

Back in what seems to be the faculty room, Professor Jung sets In-soo in his place. It is literally against the law to search any SKK students on campus; it is only allowed under order of the king. There is a loophole to this in that the school president can dish out punishment, but alas, In-soo’s president status has been suspended for two weeks. So if he exerts any authority as president during this time, Professor Jung will make sure that he loses the position permanently.



Back in Yeo-rim’s room, he opens the secret closet behind the curtains AND the folding screen, and there’s our dear Dae-mool and Guh-ro. Yoon-hee asks how Yong-ha seems to know everything. Jae-shin answers for him, “He’s THE Gu Yong-ha. The persistent guy who’s been following me around for ten years.” Heh.

Glad that his friend is back alive ,Yong-ha rubs Jae-shin’s hand to his cheek. Jae-shin promptly pulls away, claiming Yong-ha to be unmanly, but the expression on his face shows that his words have only affectionate bark and no bite.

Yong-ha unnecessarily warns Yoon-hee that she mustn’t tell anyone, including Sun-joon. Don’t waste your breath, Yeo-rim, our girl is smart.

As for Sun-joon, well, he’s turned to the comfort of alcohol (drinking with a pointed pinkie!). I imagine it’s hard enough realizing that he’s “gay,” but to witness the boy you like with another guy… My heart goes out to him.

In-soo, too, has turned to alcohol to vent about losing Red from right underneath his nose. Kang-moo warns him that now’s not a good time (since he’s temporarily lost his privileges as president), but In-soo rebuffs him. He’s NOT afraid about that. He’s more concerned about catching Red, since it’s clear that he’s somewhere in SKK.



Fake Red, also known as our delightfully charismatic Cho-sun, has been hurt as well in the scuffle with Jae-shin. Minister Ha tells her not to continue her gisaeng duties for a few days. She reminds him to keep his promise (what promise? Is this related to her family?). “Before it’s too late, just once, I want to live as a decent human being.”

But I imagine Minister Ha has bigger things on his plate. Like Minister Lee’s wrath at yet another failed capture attempt. Ha blames the mysterious men in black who saved Red, which Minister Lee confirms to be what we’ve all been suspecting, that they were sent by the king. The king wants the geumdeungjisa, which would make the Norons traitors to the country.

Many clues lead Minister Lee to believe that the geumdeungjisa is at SKK: Red is a student there, the king sent Professor Jung Yak-yong to teach there and the king visits SKK way too often. And he’s worried about what the king wants to accomplish AFTER gaining control over the Norons.



Professor Jung brings to the king blueprints for a primitive lift that’ll decrease the construction time needed to build the Hwansung castle from ten years to three. Pleased, the king rolls himself a new cigarette, and the sharp-eyed Professor notices that the king is actually smoking poppy, which works as an anesthetic. And so we learn that the king’s health is in dire conditions – which explains why he’s so anxious to get the Jal-geum Quartet to find the geumdeungjisa.

In exchange for getting the Quartet involved, Professor Jung extracts a promise from the king: If ever the king finds fault with any of the Quartet, he will turn a blind eye. (Professor Jung, thank you for creating a loophole with which to save Yoon-hee’s life, and even possibly Jae-shin’s as well.)

Once that’s promised, Professor Jung promises to bring the Jal-geum Quartet in the morning.



Morning comes and Jae-shin wakes up to both Yoon-hee and Yong-ha asleep at his side, having nursed his wounds all night. But of course he pretends to be asleep when Yoon-hee wakes up. Boy, don’t smile like that, you heart-breaker, you.

Yoon-hee heads back to her room where Sun-joon wakes up. I love it how the first thing he does is tie his clothes and make himself presentable. Old habits die hard.

Things are still tense between Yoon-hee and Sun-joon. Yoon-hee tells him that she understands things can’t be the same as before so he can stop treating her so coldly. Outside the room, she runs into Soon-dol who tells her that the engagement date has been set.

Soon-dol rebukes Sun-joon, noting that his master has managed to chase away yet another could-be friend. So what is it this time? What is Yoon-hee lacking for Sun-joon to torment her?

“He’s not lacking. It’s because… my feelings are overflowing.”

Add another heart-breaker to the list, please.

Yoon-hee and Jae-shin meet in the library, and by chance, Jae-shin ends up pulling Yoon-hee close to keep her out of harm’s way – only to be spotted by the Three Stooges. Their suspicions of something’s-up-between-those-two are further aroused when Jae-shin pulls her close again to tell her she’s making it too obvious that he’s Red. The Stooges gossip that it’s no wonder Sun-joon looked like he saw a ghost the previous night when his roommates are, cough, a couple.



As expected, the gossip spreads like a Californian brushfire. Pretty soon, the rumor goes from “Sun-joon saw them together” to “Sun-joon says he saw them together – and says they’re darn right freaky.” In the end, the headmaster finds out from posters hung in the bathroom stall. Expectedly, he freaks out. But things are now beyond the control of the faculty.

When the rumors lead to sparks between the Soron and Noron factions, In-soo steps in to remind everyone that SKK has its own judicial system that can be implemented to settle this matter. Which is how he gets everyone (minus our main characters) to clamor for the withdrawal of In-soo’s suspension as school president. Once he’s reinstated, they plan to hold a jaehwe, a student body disciplinary meeting, to judge Yoon-hee and Jae-shin for their possible homosexual activities.

Cornered, the faculty has no choice but to acquiesce. Hence, the jaehwe is announced, and if Yoon-hee and Jae-shin are found guilty (by majority vote), their names will be stricken from the SKK register and they’ll never be able to take any civil service exams and hold any offices.

Jae-shin accosts In-soo, demanding that the latter cancel the meeting. In-soo will cancel the meeting if Jae-shin can explain what he was doing at hyang-gwan-chung, but of course Jae-shin can’t answer without blowing his Red cover. And this time, In-soo’s backed by the Sorons as well; they want Jae-shin to clear the Soron name in front of everyone.



In the library, Yoon-hee asks Sun-joon if he saw them at hyang-gwan-chung. When Sun-joon refuses to respond, Yoon-hee declares that she’s a man and the idea of her liking another man is preposterous.

Sun-joon takes her words to heart. “I see. It is preposterous to like another man. Then watch how you act so others don’t misunderstand your feelings.” Read: So I don’t misunderstand your feelings.

In-soo interrupts their conversation to name Sun-joon as the main witness at the meeting. After all, he saw them that night and he’s their roommate.



Our omniscient Yong-ha reads In-soo like an open book. He understands that because the upright and principled Sun-joon is now the main witness, the meeting will have an impression of fairness and have more credibility.

But for In-soo, homosexuality isn’t the issue here. The fact is the two in question were seen embracing in hyang-gwan-chung, and this can mean one of two things: one of them is the wounded Red or they’re lovers. Whichever it’s proven to be, they will be kicked out of SKK. And Sun-joon, a man of principle and the sole son of Minister Lee, will have to turn his back on them; there’s no way he’ll let a homosexuality rumor dirty his family’s honor.

Essentially, if In-soo has his way, he will dominate all four of the Quartet: he’ll have two kicked out, make Sun-joon a traitor to their friendship, and isolate Yong-ha.

When Jae-shin can’t find Yoon-hee, he worries and asks Sun-joon about her whereabouts.

Jae-shin: Where’d he go, worrying me like this?
Sun-joon: Is this your way of worrying? Putting the person you care about in a difficult situation, a place where he’ll be scorned by the world? Is that how you worry? If you really care for Kim Yoon-shik, you should’ve never let this happen.
Jae-shin: It’s none of your business. I’ll take care of our problem –
Sun-joon: (dropping the formal tone) Then do it right so I don’t have to concern myself.

Yoon-hee is missing because she’s being questioned by Professor Jung. When it comes to the jaehwe, the school president rules supreme and not even the king can contest the final decision made by the students. So he needs to know the truth in order to save her before the meeting; once it’s underway, he can’t help her.

But she can’t expose Jae-shin. All she can say is that she and Jae-shin did nothing wrong.



Yong-ha is beside himself with frustration, demanding to know if Jae-shin intends to reveal himself like In-soo wants. Doing so would mean being convicted of murder, arson and theft, and lead to being executed. Yong-ha claims he’ll kill Jae-shin himself if Jae-shin tells the truth.

But Jae-shin knows it’s a bluff since Yong-ha has fists like cotton. Besides, he hasn’t made up his mind yet about what’s the right thing to do. And by right thing, Yong-ha guesses, Jae-shin means what is best for Yoon-hee.

From outside the room, Yoon-hee overhears every word.

Meanwhile, the frantic headmaster is eager to dissuade Sun-joon from testifying; he’ll do what he can to get Sun-joon excused. Imagine if Sun-joon takes the stand and people assume he’s gay as well because he shares a room with the other two!

But Sun-joon won’t go against the jaehwe rules by backing out now.

So the headmaster tells him to deny all knowledge; don’t even try to help those two! Being branded a homosexual is like a death sentence to a nobleman.



The other students start bullying Yoon-hee, immaturely throwing vegetables and salt at her and jeering (Koreans believe salt chases away bad luck). She meets eyes with Sun-joon, who looks like he’ll walk away, but he wouldn’t be the Sun-joon we know if he did. A single glare from him silences everyone, and as Jae-shin looks on, he leads Yoon-hee away.

Once alone, Yoon-hee asks Sun-joon to help them at the jaehwe. What she can tell him is that she and Jae-shin are innocent. She’s keeping her silence for him, and she needs Sun-joon’s help to protect him.

But that’s the wrong thing to say to the emotional mess that is Sun-joon. “Do you realize how big this predicament is? If things go wrong, your life could end up in the gutter. Yet even now, you worry about Moon Jae-shin more than yourself.”

She counters that she doesn’t expect him to understand since he’s always so honorable, but she pleads for him to trust her just this once.

Sun-joon: How much more must I do? Because of you… how much longer must I do such foolish, pathetic and stupid things that I normally wouldn’t do? (He walks away)
Yoon-hee: What else can I do? You’re the only person I can think to go to for help.



While on campus Jae-shin threatens students against bullying Yoon-hee, Yong-ha is at a bar, desperately doing what he can to save his best bud. He’s lobbying for not-guilty votes by buying drinks all around.

But Byung-choon and Go-bong crash the party with a valid point: the fact that the jaehwe is happening is in itself a guilty verdict. Jae-shin and Yoon-hee’s fates have already been decided and they’re doomed. Yong-ha’s one hope lies in that the verdict will be decided by majority vote, but Go-bong points out that no one will openly vote against In-soo.



Yoon-hee overhears talk of Sun-joon’s impending marriage, and she tries to temper her emotions through reading. But Jae-shin won’t let her wallow in misery. He knows something that’s twenty times better than the book, and he takes her to his usual nook in the tree that boasts a pretty impressive view of the city. He lied; it’s at least a hundred times better.

When asked why he became the Red Messenger, Jae-shin responds that it was an outlet for his frustration and the only way he could stay alive. Pretty much the same reason that Yoon-hee came to SKK.

And we finally hear more about Jae-shin’s brother: “I knew a guy who said he could hear the entirety of SKK breathing from up here. He’s the one who told me that SKK’s main gate opens up to the lowest, poorest area of Joseon, banchon, and not to the king’s palace.” In other words, SKK scholars should exist for the betterment of the people, not for their own political aspirations. And it’s this wise brother whose memory Jae-shin wants to honor; he wants people to know that Moon Young-shin once existed.

There, standing above the rest of the world, Jae-shin touches all our hearts: “Kim Yoon-shik. Kim. Yoon. Shik. I’ll make sure that name isn’t sullied. And I’m sorry. I wanted to say that before this day is gone.”



Sun-joon visits his future father-in-law, who marvels that he’ll soon become in-laws with Minister Lee. It was a difficult process that required a lot of groveling and crawling on the belly. He offers Sun-joon some unsolicited advice: Don’t be too rigid. It’s no good to stand up against the world, especially if you want to be someone with power.

Hyo-eun walks Sun-joon out. She tries hard to match his mood, but when she slips her hand into the crook of his arm, he brushes her away. It’s all a bit heartbreaking.

Minister Lee knows that Sun-joon doesn’t like Minister Ha, who has dreams of grandeur he doesn’t deserve and will do anything to attain them. But he also knows that Minister Ha will do whatever he must for Sun-joon’s sake, and that’s good enough for a father-in-law.

Sun-joon informs his father of his wish to leave SKK once he’s betrothed. His excuse is that he isn’t ready yet to take the next step after SKK, which is to prepare for office.



The jaehwe is called to order. Most people seem in favor of proclaiming Yoon-hee and Jae-shin’s guilt, waving around the guilty side of their vote paddles. Yoon-hee momentarily puts her hand over Jae-shin’s to keep him calm.

When questioned, Yoon-hee vehemently denies that she and Jae-shin have a homosexual relationship. But she’s unable to reveal what they were doing at hyang-gwan-chung that night. At a standstill, In-soo calls the main witness.

Sun-joon takes the stand and is asked directly: Did he see them at hyang-gwan-chung? In fact, they’re lovers, aren’t they?

Sun-joon’s reply is the last thing anyone would expect.

“The homosexual person… is me. I am a homosexual.”

Did Sun-joon just sentence himself to certain social death?

COMMENTS

Today I want to talk about Gu Yong-ha. I know there are a lot of disappointed viewers out there because he’s not getting a back story, but I actually think it’s better that we don’t know. It adds to the mystique that is Yeo-rim. I don’t want to know exactly how and why he ended up the awesome, (nearly) all-powerful guy that he is (THE Gu Yong-ha) because that’s like explaining to me the inner mechanisms of my Galaxy S phone – I don’t need to know all that, I just need it to work brilliantly (ooh, shiny).

And I also like to imagine his life myself: lonely boy growing up in the middle of the marketplace with money being his only companion until he meets the mysterious Jae-shin who is manly as well as pure and righteous, an embodiment of a better world. And suddenly, he sees that he can use his natural charm, wits and money for something other than, well, himself.

Or maybe he was just born fabulous.

As a final note, for those who have seen episode 15, how jealous am I that Cassie gets to recap that one? <3