As the reality of his condition sinks in, our former child actor encounters further troubles. But instead of relying on our heroine and pulling through it together, he pushes her away, walking down the noble idiocy path.
He isn’t the only one with problems, though. Our leading lady is struggling, too, and it culminates in a tragic outcome.
My Youth Episodes 7 and 8 Highlights
“For a guy who is complicated and overthinks everything, how are you supposed to deal with him?”
Hae’s flustered reaction makes Je-yeon worry he has a change of heart. But he assures her it isn’t the case. He is just in a tough spot right now, though he doesn’t explain any further. All sorts of absurd situations go through Je-yeon’s mind except for Hae being sick. Anyway, now that she has confessed her feelings, she will push through this until the end.
Despite her firm resolve, Je-yeon has no idea what to do next. According to Tae-rin, Je-yeon should make a move so Hae would think only about her. However, the poor girl comes across as pushy and cringeworthy, and most of her moves ultimately fail.
“I guess I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Meanwhile, Pil-do decides to assign Je-yeon to another department to cater to the wife of an actor whom she wants to sign. Rightfully, Je-yeon feels betrayed after learning of Pil-do’s decision. It isn’t about the company car or the house, but all the hard work Je-yeon poured into her job that was deemed pointless in a minute. She is still on a break, but as things stand, quitting might be Je-yeon’s only option.
Sensing something is off with Je-yeon, Hae shows up in front of her house that night. Thus, lifting her mood. They plan to hang out together the next day. And Hae resolves to come clean about his illness to Je-yeon. But he collapses and gets transferred to the hospital.
An oblivious Je-yeon waits for Hae at the meeting spot, yet it starts pouring. Mad, she heads to Hae’s house and knocks hard on the door, mistakenly thinking he stood her up. By the time Hae arrives, he finds Je-yeon freezing by the door.
Instead of being honest, Hae claims something came up, so he couldn’t show up. Luckily for him, Je-yeon forgives him. Actually, she is relieved to see he is fine. She was worried that something bad had happened to him.
Je-yeon wants Hae to promise he won’t disappear like this again and make her worry. But Hae can’t make a promise he can’t keep. So, he suggests they break up, leaving Je-yeon shocked.
“I guess I needed time to process it, too.”
Luckily, this noble idiocy doesn’t continue for long (or so we thought), and Hae admits to being sick. Drowning her sorrow in alcohol, a drunk Je-yeon drops by the flower shop, declaring she will forget about Hae, and then storms out. Following after her, Hae reveals the truth. He is fine with Je-yeon moving on from him. But he doesn’t want her to think his feelings for her were shallow.
Taking some time to process her feelings, Je-yeon bursts into tears and lets out all the pent-up emotions. She feels for Hae, wondering how tough his life is. Instead of regretting it later, Je-yeon heads to see Hae and talk things out. Frustratingly, he doesn’t hold on to her and just keeps going on about how serious his condition is. At least, he knows he is an idiot.
“You came to me to abandon her, but I refused to do the same.”
Amidst all this, a woman suddenly appears, claiming to be the mother of Hae’s little sister, Eun Nu-ri (Choi Jung-woon). It is the same cliche story of abandoning her child when things are tough and then showing up out of nowhere, asking to see them. If this had happened before Hae knew he was sick, we guess we would have kicked out that brazen woman. Yet, worried about how Nu-ri will get by should something happen to him, Hae decides to tell Nu-ri about her mother. Though we want to argue that Seok-ju is a much better option.
In other disturbing news, Hae learns that Chan (his father) and Nu-ri have been in contact behind his back. It breaks his heart that Chan knows about Nu-ri’s photography talent when Hae is clueless about it, probably because Nu-ri doesn’t want him to worry about money.
Confronting Chan about meeting Nu-ri in secret, Hae argues that the thing he can’t forgive is abandoning one’s child. He raised Nu-ri despite barely making ends meet, as he didn’t want to be like Chan. In tears, Hae asks why Chan abandoned him. Was he much of a burden? He kept waiting for Chan, but the latter left him behind. Sometimes Hae wishes he had inherited his father’s irresponsibility so he could live freely without caring about anything. But he is nothing like Chan.
“It is time you paid me back.”
With so much time on her hands and no one to hang out with, Je-yeon heads to see her family. Which gives her some recharge. Surprisingly, the first thing she does once she is back in Seoul is to come up with an excuse to spend some time with Hae.
Asking him to make good on his promise to teach her how to ride a bike, they head to a park. Je-yeon tells Hae she missed him during their time apart and kept thinking about him. Ending things like that doesn’t feel right to her. But no matter what she says, Hae’s stance remains the same. He doesn’t want to burden her. Instead of making her worry and cry, he wants to make her happy. But he won’t be able to. Je-yeon calls Hae out on giving up without trying. But alas. He even lies about not liking her before taking off.
In the bathroom, Hae gets a nosebleed, probably a symptom of his condition. And when he returns to where he left Je-yeon, he doesn’t find her but spots blood on the ground. It isn’t certain yet, but Je-yeon might have been rushed to the hospital after getting into an accident. She kept experiencing pain in her stomach earlier, but we don’t know if that caused the accident.
My Youth Episodes 7 and 8 Musings
Many things happened this week. However, it feels as if nothing happened regarding our leads’ relationship. We are back to square one, with one side trying to get close and the other pushing them away. We can understand Hae’s concerns, but he isn’t helping anyone here, not Je-yeon nor himself.
Hae believes it is selfish to ask Je-yeon to stay by his side when he might collapse at any moment. But ironically, Je-yeon ended up collapsing first, as if relaying a message that no one knows what might happen in the future. So, the only thing we can do is keep living and try our best.
It isn’t easy, but Hae needs to realize that distancing himself from other people and staying alone isn’t the solution. He is hurting the people whom he cares about. Poor Nu-ri got heartbroken thinking Hae wanted to get rid of her when he suggested she meet her mother. She even handed over her savings to him, assuming it was because of money.
There is no telling how this story will conclude. Hae will either miraculously recover or he will eventually pass away. But either way, we hope he makes the best of his time with Je-yeon. At least we got some cute moments between Tae-rin and Seok-ju to balance out the melodrama. Is it too much to ask for a happy ending for both couples?
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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