Our former child actor’s comeback puts him once again in the public eye, unearthing the painful past he wants to keep buried.
The silver lining of that setback is having our leading lady by his side for emotional support. Who knows? Perhaps, this couple can pick up where they left off.
My Youth Episodes 3 and 4 Highlights
“What is with the change of heart, deciding to be in this?”
Having gotten Hae on board, Je-yeon recommends the documentary as Tae-rin’s next project. Originally, Tae-rin isn’t keen on joining this because it will make people gossip about her child actress days, the image she wants to shed away. But Je-yeon convinces her to do it, or Tae-rin just gives in because the other project is a daily drama starting in a month that many others have turned down, and she doesn’t want to be a last-minute replacement.
Another one unfond of the documentary is Je-yeon’s boss, the talent management company CEO, Kim Pil-do (Jin Kyung), who is also Seok-ju’s mother and Hae’s supposedly stepmother. Pil-do claims Tae-rin might be at a disadvantage as people will be more curious about Hae than her. Yet as Seok-ju rightfully points out, she just hates Hae. Which she attributes to Hae being prickly.
The arrangements for the documentary get underway. Je-yeon asks Hae not to let anything slip about their past. But it won’t take long for these two to give themselves away. While shooting, the camera closes in on Hae. Thus, triggering an almost panic attack. Noticing this, Je-yeon checks on Hae and offers to connect him with a psychiatrist. But he brushes it off as an aftereffect of not standing before cameras for long, though it is palpable that he is traumatized.
In flashbacks to Hae’s mother’s funeral, we see Hae standing there devastated, surrounded by reporters who were fishing for something to cover. When they couldn’t get footage of Hae’s tears, they jumped at the chance to capture debtors barging in to collect their money. No wonder the sound of camera flashes still traumatizes Hae.
“Can’t you just hold me one more time?”
Back to the documentary, the shooting goes smoothly. The more time Hae and Tae-rin spend together, the more their old bickering dynamics resurface. When Seok-ju sends Hae flowers to congratulate him, Tae-rin gets curious about their relationship yet pretends to be nonchalant. While Je-yeon is shocked to hear about Pil-do and Hae’s connection.
We experience more family drama after the promotional materials are released. Hae’s estranged father, Sunwoo Chan (Jo Han-chul), drops by the flower shop to see Hae, who is rightfully displeased to see him. Also, we get a meeting between Pil-do and Hae, where she jabs at him as usual.
Through another flashback, we see Hae plead with Pil-do to look after his younger sister while he serves in the army. Yet she flat-out refuses. Instead, it is Seok-ju who brings Hae’s sister in. (He also tutors her in the present timeline.) Which probably helped the two guys get closer and develop a brotherly dynamic, though Hae keeps denying it.
An article gets released with an old news video attached, putting Hae in a tight spot. As a kid, Hae earned his first role by chance after the child actor got sick. Winning the Best Actor award for this role, Hae became popular and landed many commercials and a sitcom with Tae-rin. Yet the sitcom director dropped him, arguing that Hae had grown bigger and people wouldn’t believe he was a year apart from Tae-rin.
Turning obsessed, Hae’s mother had him go on a diet. Yet, it couldn’t revive his career. Desperate, she fell victim to a fraud, lost everything she had, and took her life. Hae was the first one to find her body, and the police suspected Hae’s family might have been involved in the fraud since the culprit was the director of Hae’s debut work. So, the other victims barged into the funeral and harassed Hae.
In the present, Hae revisits his trauma and almost gets sucked into his misery if not for Je-yeon pulling him out of it through a back hug. She is sorry that Hae has to go through this, promising to sort it all out. (Pil-do takes the article down using her connections.) But all Hae wants is for her to hold him again, which she does.
However, that progress goes out the window after Pil-do tasks Je-yeon to get Hae’s signature for the appearance contract to ensure he won’t quit along the way. Hae is disappointed that Je-yeon is there for professional reasons. While Je-yeon is sick of being stuck in the middle.
“You seem to have a pretty low emotional threshold.”
Meanwhile, we get another coincidental meeting between Tae-rin and Seok-ju when he saves her from some strangers trying to scam her on the street. As it happens, they are both headed to Hae’s shop, and we can tell Seok-ju has a crush on Tae-rin, too, and recognizes her beyond her actress identity. Je-yeon joins them, too, and it is delightful to see our quartet in one place.
The next shoot takes place in a seaside village. Which has Hae reminiscing about his childhood days, as he was born by the ocean. Things happen, and our leads stay behind while Tae-rin and the filming crew return to Seoul. The bad weather has all the inns fully booked, and they barely find a room to stay in for the night.
“A heart that yearns for a friend, now parted.”
The next day, with some help from Je-yeon, Hae wraps up his work. And they are ready to return to Seoul. Except, they are out of gas, and it might prove hard to catch a ferry because of the weather. Hae sets out to get some gas, and Je-yeon follows him. On the way, Hae makes a move on her, and Je-yeon reciprocates.
My Youth Episodes 3 and 4 Musings
The drama maintains a slow pace that gives off introspective vibes. Nothing much is happening, but the characters are endearing enough for us to stick it out. It is mainly Hae and Je-yeon’s story, but we hope Tae-rin and Seok-ju will get more screen time. The four of them together feel like old friends, and it is interesting to watch their dynamics. For now, we are enjoying the ride and curious about what is yet to come. More on the romance, please, and less on the family drama and scandals.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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