Love is in the air for our two love birds and things couldn’t be better for the couple. While there’s still many more memories to create and many more details about each other that they’ve yet to learn, there’s no denying that the two have incredible chemistry with each other. Hye-jun and Jeong-ha make each other a better person.
Also, a bit of a side note but I’m finally caught up in my recaps! Yay! It wasn’t easy and it won’t get any easier but I can finally sort of breathe and relax for now (until the new episodes air the next 2 days of course). The break won’t last long, but I’m going to definitely cherish it. Hehe.
Record of Youth: Episode 8 Recap
Hae-na stops by Hae-hyo’s bedroom to chat with him about her day. She mentions how she saw Ji-Ah earlier at school (which Hae-hyo adds onto by saying that Jin-woo also happened to see her as well) before they transition to talking about Hye-jun. Mama Hae-hyo joins her kids as well and she presents all the other scripts that Hae-hyo has been offered. She’s going to stay as the tiger mom that she’s been with Hae-hyo and she’s not going anywhere even if he tries to push her away. She has a big plan lined up for her son and all they need is just that one project that will be a huge hit for Hae-hyo. Hye-jun and Jeong-ha spend some time together to celebrate Hye-jun’s good news. After sitting and listening to some music together, the couple munch on some donuts and coffee (milk for Jeong-ha since coffee keeps her up at night haha). Jeong-ha wishes to keep things as fun and calm as possible when in a relationship; she rather not take things too seriously or realistically when dating. Hye-jun agrees and they go on to talking about Hye-jun’s role. Jeong-ha volunteers to die Hye-jun’s hair to black to prepare him for his upcoming drama. We love a supportive partner!
Mama Hae-hyo isn’t afraid to bring up information about Hye-jun to Mom such as the new role he got or how Hye-jun is in a relationship. Of course, Mom is taken aback by all this news as she didn’t hear anything from her son herself. Mama Hae-hyo compares her life as a mother to Mom’s and pretends as if she’s much busier taking care of her kids than Mom is. Mom tries not to show her disappointment on her face, but it’s obvious she’s not feeling so great. Hye-jun is taking good care of himself and Mom congratulates him in their family group chat. Dad isn’t so confident upon reading the text messages. He’s doubtful about whether or not Hye-jun did really get the role.
Hye-jun stops by Manager Min-jae’s apartment for another meeting. While cleaning Hae-hyo’s bedroom, Mom receives another visit from Mama Hae-hyo once again who follows up with her about the search for a new cook. Mom’s managed to recruit Jin-woo’s Mom to help out and it’ll be up to Mama Hae-hyo to contact her herself. Mom also assumes that Mama Hae-hyo found out about Hye-jun’s relationship news through Hae-hyo and is shocked that he would be dating someone after his break-up with Ji-Ah. Mama Hae-hyo warns Mom though that Hye-jun isn’t in a position to be dating anyone, but Mom just shrugs it off. She’s just grateful that her son is succeeding.
On the bus ride to work, Jeong-ha receives a phone call from Dad. She’s happy to talk to him and they chat for a bit before hanging up. When Jeong-ha arrives at the salon, everyone – including Jin-ju – glare at Jeong-ha and it’s obvious that people still perceive her as the villain at the salon. Upon reviewing her appointments for the day, Jeong-ha is approached by Jin-ju who wants to kick her out. She’s going to try to find ways to eliminate Jeong-ha from the salon. Jeong-ha is fed up with Jin-ju’s evil tactics and refuses to let Jin-ju stomp all over her. Even when Jin-ju is close to slapping her, Jeong-ha stops her by holding her arm. She’s not going to let Jin-ju have her way. The whole altercation between the two is secretly recorded by someone at the salon.
Hye-jun receives the scripts to the first three episodes of his new drama, Gateway, by Min-jae. He’s determined to study as much as possible to best prepare for the medical drama so he stops by the library that he often frequents and chooses books about Emergency Medicine to study. CEO Lee meets with two reporters to just chat and talk about Do-ha, but their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Min-jae. Unlike what CEO Lee assumes and wants, the reporters like Min-jae and find her to be a kind lady. CEO Lee and Do-ha meet with the director and writer of the new mini-series that he was offered. He’s willing to take up the lead role in the drama, but he’s curious as to who his supporting cast members are. When Hae-hyo is mentioned as one of the possible options, he’s quick to advocate for Hae-hyo and he voices his support for the model-turned-actor. He wants to work with Hae-hyo.
It’s another harsh and hard day at work for Gyeong-jun. He upsets not only a customer at the bank, but he also overhears his colleagues badmouthing him in the restroom. He receives a scolding from his manager and is warned to listen to his superiors and to try his best. What he’s doing is not enough and he needs to try harder. After work, Gyeong-jun meets up with Hye-jun for dinner. What was a day of being scolded and looked down upon at work all of a sudden turns into something else. Gyeong-jun’s boss as well two colleagues take interest in Hye-jun and are impressed by his looks and his career as a model. They recognize him! Gyeong-jun makes sure to not invite them to dinner and our two brothers go off to eat on their own. Haha.
Gyeong-jun drinks a little too much at the restaurant and he goes off on a drunk ramble. He first points out how much easier Hye-jun has it with his handsome looks. Everyone treats him nicely because he’s handsome. But Gyeong-jun moves on to expressing his gratitude to his younger brother. After his scamming incident, Hye-jun didn’t say anything bad about him and treated him out to some food. Gyeong-jun’s thankful for that. He realizes just how much Hye-jun is growing up. With Gyeong-jun getting chattier and chattier by the second, Hye-jun carries him home and they arrive home safely. Of course, Dad only worries about Gyeong-jun when he finds him whining over his scamming incident. Mom diverts her attention to Hye-jun and cares for him. The mother and son pair chat about Hye-jun’s new role in the medical drama. Mom’s a bit disappointed that Hye-jun didn’t say anything about it to her, but Hye-jun was worried that things would fall through like they did last time. Even if it did, Mom wishes that Hye-jun would feel comfortable enough to lean on her and go to her during rough times. As they both know, Dad doesn’t treat Hye-jun the greatest and it’s something he’s going to have to improve on as time passes.
Mom also hints to Hye-jun about his relationship so Hye-jun briefly mentions about Jeong-ha to Mom. He’s even willing to introduce them to each other and Mom agrees. She’s excited. Hye-jun stops by Jeong-ha’s house to dye his hair black. Jeong-ha prepares for the procedure and she finishes everything perfectly. Hye-jun’s content and satisfied with the hair dye and the two lovebirds even bicker about smaller things like how to apply lotion. Lol. Things are off to a great start for Hye-jun and he’s doing well in his medical drama. Mom and Grandpa watch while the episode is airing and Grandpa is so happy he even sheds a few tears. Gyeong-jun and Dad arrive home after the episode finishes airing so they miss out on the episode itself. Dad doesn’t find it a big deal and Gyeong-jun doesn’t seem to have much interest in the drama either. Mama Hae-hyo pretends as if she’s not interested, but she’s unable to pretend for long. After overhearing Hae-hyo chat with Hye-jun on the phone about his drama, Mama Hae-hyo catches up with her son.
She reassures Hae-hyo that he won’t have to worry as his new drama with Do-ha will surely be a success. Hae-hyo wasn’t even worried about it in the first place, but to Mama Hae-hyo, everything is a competition. Speaking of Do-ha, he grows jealous and envious of Hye-jun when girls at the bar he’s spending time with shows more interest in Hye-jun than they do with him. CEO Lee is also in disbelief in Hye-jun’s rise and can’t get himself to admit that Hye-jun is succeeding. Even the ahjummas at the sauna are in love with Hye-jun thanks to his role in the new drama and Min-jae chimes in on how she personally knows the actor herself. Hehe. After filming ends, Min-jae goes to pick Hye-jun up and they walk out of the building together. Along the way, Hye-jun is stopped by a lady who requests for Hye-jun’s autograph. It’s the first of many autographs that Hye-jun will sign and his fans increase the bigger his drama gets. It doesn’t take long until Hye-jun finds himself swarmed with crowds of fans at his filming set.
With Hye-jun’s success and rise, CEO Lee faces more challenges and finds that Do-ha is slowly getting replaced by Hye-jun. Even a commercial for a cosmetics company that Do-ha was originally signed to will now be given to Hye-jun. CEO Lee and Min-jae pass by each other while at the company’s office and they exchange a few words with each other before resuming with their day. CEO Lee sure is jealous and upset at how successful Hye-jun is becoming and pretends as if he and Min-jae are on neutral terms, but Min-jae hasn’t forgotten about CEO Lee’s betrayal. Hye-jun and Jeong-ha make their way to the salon together. Jeong-ha’s Mom wants to stop by her workplace to visit her that day, but Jeong-ha pushes for another day. She’s busy with work and has plans. With that, Jeong-ha heads inside the salon first. She’s still wary of being seen together with Hye-jun.
So Hye-jun heads inside the salon afterwards and is quickly greeted by the director of the salon and some employees who are also his fans. Things aren’t going so great for Jeong-ha who disappoints one of her clients for not putting on her make-up correctly. The client puts on a big show for everyone at the salon to see and Jeong-ha is humiliated and ridiculed. She sits by herself after work to reflect on the moment and Hye-jun is close to comforting his girlfriend. However, he’s pulled in at the last minute by Su-bin who suggests that he wait for now. Jeong-ha will be even more embarrassed if she knew that Hye-jun witnessed the incident himself. While hanging out with Ji-Ah at school, Hae-na receives a phone call from her brother. Hae-hyo invites Hae-na to join their dinner party that they’ll be holding for Hye-jun that night. Jeong-ha might feel lonely and excluded so Hae-na is free to join. Ji-Ah follows up with Hae-na on Hye-jun and learns that he’s been busy with his drama as well as his new relationship. She’s a bit curious and intrigued by the news.
The director of the salon checks in with Jeong-ha after work and reassures her that she will be fine. As long as Jeong-ha manages to keep Hye-jun as a client, they will be okay. While stopping at a cafe for some coffee, Jeong-ha overhears Jin-ju gossiping about her with the same client who scolded Jeong-ha earlier at work. It turns out the client and Jin-ju planned everything all along as a way to bring Jeong-ha down. Jeong-ha, of course, isn’t so happy with the revelation and she pours Jin-ju’s beverages over her head (OOOH, THERE YOU GO JEONG-HA! YOU GO GIRL!!). Jeong-ha no longer wants to work with someone as evil as Jin-ju, but she’ll be sure to expose Jin-ju to everyone once she does leave.
Grandpa continues to practice his modeling by attending his modeling academy. At one point, he loses his balance while walking and almost falls over, but he manages to catch himself in time. The modeling coach encourages Grandpa to keep trying and working hard. Hye-jun succeeded so Grandpa can too. CEO Lee arrives back at his office and finds Do-ha waiting for him. Do-ha checks up on the commercial with the cosmetics company that he had been a model for for the past three years, but CEO Lee can’t manage to to tell Do-ha about the news. Instead, Do-ha just remains hopeful and requests for CEO Lee to take care of his family matters for him. With that, he exits the building and CEO Lee continues to remain stressed. However, he pulls out his hidden card and makes a phone call to a reporter.
Min-jae meets with Hye-jun to discuss his possible commercial campaign with the cosmetics company as well as his next project now that filming for Gateway has concluded. While Min-jae feels as if a romantic series is Hye-jun’s best bet, Hye-jun would rather go with a historical drama as his follow-up project. He wants to be in dramas that he will enjoy and not dramas that will necessarily get him more money or fame. With that, he grabs the script to the historical drama before exiting. Min-jae is unsuccessful in persuading him to take on the romantic series. CEO Lee meets with the reporter and is set on pulling off his evil antics to take Hye-jun down. He purposely brings up his history with Hye-jun and how they used to be in the same agency together. He even has the nerve and audacity to bring fashion designer Charlie Jung’s name into the conversation (OMG NO HE DIDN’T!! HE DID NOT GO THERE!).
Dad and Jin-woo’s Dad walk home together after work. Dad can’t help but continue to worry about Hye-jun despite his recent success. Things worked out well for Hye-jun too at first with his modeling career so Dad is afraid that history might repeat itself. And so the celebration for Hye-jun’s successful drama takes place! Jin-woo, Hye-jun, Hae-hyo, Hae-na, and Jeong-ha all celebrate and hang out at a restaurant and everything seems to be going well (except for Hae-na and Jin-woo who are both awkward with each other). Hae-na then receives a phone call from Ji-Ah who wants to invite herself to the dinner party. Hae-na can’t completely say no, but thankfully Hae-hyo jumps in to save everyone from the mess.
He meets up with Ji-Ah first for some dinner and attempts to stop Ji-Ah from showing up to the dinner party. Ji-Ah doesn’t think it’ll be much of a big deal; she believes that her presence won’t affect anybody or the party. She also has a hunch that Hae-hyo harbors feelings for Jeong-ha which she uses to threaten him. With that, she makes her way to the same restaurant where Jin-woo, Hae-na, and Hye-jun are. Upon seeing Ji-Ah, Hye-jun remains careless. He doesn’t say much to her nor is he interested in her. Oof, that must have hurt for Ji-Ah. Jeong-ha leaves the party early to meet up with her mom. Her mom had stopped by Jeong-ha’s old workplace only to discover that Jeong-ha had quit working there for a while now.
Mom takes her anger out on Jeong-ha when they reunite at Jeong-ha’s house. She nags at her daughter and worries as to how Jeong-ha plans on paying off her house now. Jeong-ha’s emotions overwhelm her and she ends up bursting into tears. She was forced to grow up quickly as a young child and Mom always criticized Dad for being poor and unemployed. Now things have changed as Dad is successful and rich while Mom is still trying to support herself and her new family. Mom is insulted by Jeong-ha’s comments and she quickly leaves the house. Jeong-ha can only continue to cry as there’s too much going on for her. That night, she texts Hye-jun to see if he’s awake, but our beloved actor is asleep. He doesn’t see her text that night.
Hye-jun purchases his first brand new car and drives Min-jae home after car shopping (YAAAY!). He meets up with Jeong-ha afterwards and the couple head to pray together afterwards. After the prayer session, the two lovebirds chat a bit about what they prayed for. Hye-jun admits that he prayed for Jeong-ha since he can tell that she seems stressed out about something. He also apologizes for not being as responsive with his busy schedule. The cloudy weather takes over and it soon begins to rain so Jeong-ha and Hye-jun sit inside the car to protect themselves from the rain. Jeong-ha admits that she used to hate the rain, but she no longer feels that way. Hye-jun also brings up their relationship and what they hope will happen in the future between them.
Hye-jun remains optimistic and he voices the words “I love you” to Jeong-ha. She repeats the same words back to him and they hold hands in the car while continuing to chat. A scene of Hye-jun and Jeong-ha in the bedroom together flashes on the screen and that night, the couple have some fun by dancing in the rain. Based off of the book that Hye-jun gifted Jeong-ha, there’s a certain page in the book that describes Hye-jun and Jeong-ha’s relationship with each other. It reads,
The old man told the children to wait inside until it was no longer raining.
Do you remember the first day we met? We were in the rain from the very beginning. Grown-ups have to go outside even in the rain. When I’m with you though, even the rain is enjoyable.
My Thoughts:
Wow, who knew that trying to capture a screenshot of Hye-jun and Jeong-ha playing and dancing around in the rain would be so difficult? Haha. Jokes aside, this episode proved to be quite an interesting and compelling watch. From Hye-jun’s rise thanks to his drama to CEO Lee’s evil antics to bring him down to Jeong-ha’s issues with both work and family to even Ji-Ah’s appearance, so many things happened in this one episode. There were a lot of things happening, but that’s also what made this episode such an intriguing watch.
I’ll keep my commentary for this episode short by saying that 1) I’m glad Hye-jun wasn’t so impacted and affected by Ji-Ah’s appearance (just yet). I don’t know how strong he’s going to keep up this front and if his feelings are going to waver the more he interacts with his ex-girlfriend, but I was happy to see just how strong he held it together when they reunited. I mean, it was expected that Hye-jun not show such a big reaction since he is in a loving and cute relationship with Jeong-ha, but I was also sort of worried that he would somewhat break because of how painful the break-up with Ji-Ah was. I mean, the drama had been hinting about their past relationship a bit and Mom even expressed her worries for Hye-jun when she learned that he was in a new relationship. She didn’t think he would find a new girlfriend given just how heartbroken he was over Ji-Ah. It was one thing for Hye-jun and Ji-Ah to see each other again, but to show up unannounced just like that? Hye-jun really did not care and I loved it. I hope things continue to stay this way, but I have a bad feeling that Jeong-ha and Hye-jun’s relationship will be tested with the arrival of Ji-Ah and Hae-hyo’s determination to go after Jeong-ha. The competition and love square (?) might just get more intense and it’ll be interesting to watch how things go for our couple.
I felt so satisfied watching Hye-jun succeed with his drama. I mean, I think it especially paid off given that we witnessed just how much he had to go through just to get to where he is. From the constant criticisms from his own family to a betrayal by CEO Lee, Hye-jun really went through it all and suffered so much because of those around him. It was nice to witness and watch him rise and go above and beyond what people originally expected of him. They didn’t think he was going to go far and not many people believed in him. That’s why it felt so satisfying to see him actually succeed and win everyone’s heart and interest overnight (not literally but you get what I mean). Things are shaping up for our aspiring actor and while the competition or setbacks aren’t going anywhere soon (ugh, I really despise and loathe CEO Lee!), Hye-jun will bounce back regardless of what it is that comes at him. He’s a warrior.
I’m glad that we’re also starting to see more of Jeong-ha and her backstory. The first few episodes primarily focused on her as a make-up artist who also happened to be Hye-jun’s girlfriend. Now the drama is exploring more of Jeong-ha’s life and providing us that insight into her family background as well as her professional life which is nice to see. Sure, she’s Hye-jun’s girlfriend and there’s no denying that they make an adorable couple, but there’s also so much more to her than meets the eye. She still isn’t on the best terms with her mother and she stood up for herself against Jin-ju. Jeong-ha is such a strong character with a backbone that I feel like people underestimate. They take advantage of her or just assume she’s someone they can walk over, but as we saw in this episode, Jeong-ha is not someone who you want to mess with. She’s also a warrior. It’s maybe this determination and ability to bounce back from challenges and adversity in life that makes Jeong-ha and Hye-jun so fitting for each other. Times aren’t going to get easier, but they have each other.
Extra screenshots from the episode~
MaryMeKpop 