We didn’t know that an apple can be utterly sweet until Joseon showed us the way in the 4th episode of Our Blooming Youth.
In the latest episode of Our Blooming Youth, Lee Hwan, and Jae-yi are moving to a more comfortable connection thanks to the recent discoveries they found about Min’s family’s poisoning and the Crown Prince’s poisoned arrow incident a year ago.
From there, they agree to uncover the cryptic intentions to reveal their hiding enemies.
Interestingly, Jae-yi is pitted to compete against her fiancé Sung-on in a serial murder case being investigated, per Lee Hwan’s order.
abbyinhallyuland watched Our Blooming Youth on Prime Video
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04| 05 & 06| 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | 15 & 16 | 17 & 18 | 19 | Finale + Series Review |
Our Blooming Youth Episodes 4 Highlights
Promising to unravel the mystery of the cases haunting Lee Hwan, Jae-yi moves to use her investigative skills to solve her task in 10 days.
Meanwhile, her friend Ga-ram was already taken by Myung-jin as an apprentice while her fiancé Sung-on feels dejected learning she could have failed to survive when she was chased. But Sung-on is still hopeful that they will reunite.
Reconnecting after a long time, Lee Hwan comments on how Jae-yi still possesses a baby face. It was revealed how when she was young, she was left with no choice but to get money from young Sung-on who was with young Lee Hwan and gave the wrong direction to their house, to help someone about to be sold as a slave.
Faintly not liking that she thinks Sung-on is more handsome than him, Lee Hwan smiles fondly recalling how his best friend is smitten by her. However, he feels a bit awkward as she flippantly helps him with his robe. The kind of awkwardness that smells romance.
Jae-yi gets to the bad side of the other eunuchs when she casually kept mentioning the word “cut” since it is a forbidden word to eunuchs owing to the requirement of their job to cut their private parts.
Singlehandedly, she carries a big box and was almost hit by a stick in the game the prince and the princess are playing. Fortunately, Sung-on caught the stick.
It appears Princess Ha-yeon has a crush on Sung-on as she feigns not knowing how to play the game so he can coach her how to. From afar, Jae-yi sneaks a glance at their interaction.
“I’m sure I saw his face but I can’t remember.”
Under Lee Hwan’s order, Tae-gang brings Jae-yi to Myung-jin’s place and the two friends reunite silently. Surprised that she was pulling a corpse to their destination, Jae-yi softly chides Tae-gang. Looking like Christmas came early, Myung-jin excitedly agrees to fulfill Lee Hwan’s autopsy order.
Tae-gang asks Jae-yi to look at the dead body per the prince’s instruction and reveals that he is the messenger he sent to bring gifts to Min’s household but died, unfortunately.
After a quick catch-up with Ga-ram, Jae-yi reports to Lee Hwan about the cause of death of the messenger. Apparently, the poison used to kill him is the same poison that harmed Lee Hwan when he was hit by an arrow a year ago.
They also deduced that the messenger was killed on his way since in the presents he sent, there was a secret letter included which Jae-yi did not receive. Recalling the day the gifts were given to her father, Jae-yi is also baffled because she knows she saw the person but she can’t remember the face.
Arriving at the conclusion that they were both targeted by the same villain, Jae-yi deemed finding the reason why the secret letter was sent to get one step closer to the culprit. Meanwhile, Lee Hwan informs her of the lecture that Sung-on will be giving. She also needs to attend it as part of his entourage.
“Integrity can’t be made by one person’s will and trust. Now I know that the reason he didn’t trust you wasn’t because of his arrogance. If you let personal things bind you, how will you be able to become a loyal subject?”
Bothered by his recent discovery that his father could be plotting something against the Crown Prince, Sung-on visits his father and asks about the turtle token he got from the Office of Taoism worker who fled.
It turns out that the turtle token was given to the ministers and other officials by the Ming dynasty envoy two years ago. Lecturing his son for lying to the prince and hesitating because of personal reasons, Minister Han expressed disappointment in his son.
The day of Sung-on’s lecture arrives and he declares the three murders that happened in the capital to be a case of serial killing. He also asserts that the next killing will most likely happen at the East Gate. However, Jae-yi who was asked by Lee Hwan to share her opinion thinks differently. She requests for the second body to be checked while Sung-on wants to expedite mobilizing troops to capture the culprit.
Weighing their arguments, Lee Hwan both acquiesce to their suggestions to protect the possible murder location and also give a chance for Jae-yi to investigate the second body.
“I don’t miss a single opportunity to boast, but I also don’t miss an opportunity to compliment or an opportunity to give an award.”
Seeing Jae-yi at the library, Lee Hwan asks her to look for a specific book and leaves the room. Whining about not giving her a little help since he has an impeccable memory, she finds it and beams when she sees an apple and a letter from him.
While munching on the yummy fruit, she reads his letter that says along with his arrogance, he does not miss acknowledging merits. It draws a smile on her face.
The next day, Lee Hwan even checks if his new eunuch enjoyed his gift disguised as an apology. Responding she did, their eyes met beaming at each other comfortably.
Our Blooming Youth Episode 4 Musings
Writer Jung is treating the viewers early on with her prowess in conceiving romantic scenes in Our Blooming Youth. It is also refreshing since we know how capable she is in drawing those scenarios in modern-set dramas, so creating ideas in the Joseon-set series, and making them similarly sweet is just a gift.
On this note, we can predict how painful the expected love triangle between the two best friends and Jae-yi will be when the truth comes out.
In the meantime, it is also energizing to see who would win the investigation war set by Lee Hwan to his best friend and new eunuch. Based on the next episode preview, the two are going all out with their separate probes.
Not missing Lee Hwan’s strange action, Right State Councilor Jo already moves to find out details about Jae-yi, and we’re hoping Lee Hwan has made preparations about it already since he pretty much knows that anything suspicious around him is bound to be scrutinized by his enemies.
At some point, we would see the six characters work together to defeat the threats and intended grave actions of Lee Hwan since he has also been commissioning our new favorite Joseon geek, Myung Jin who is establishing quite a chemistry with Ga-ram.
Speaking of that, the flashbacks featuring Jae-yi and Ga-ram also generates smile easily, and we can’t wait for the cute mischiefs they can do when Jae-yi is no longer bound to hide her identity.
Who will find the culprit of the serial murder case?
Witness how Lee Hwan and Jae-yi uncover the secrets and fight against their enemies in Our Blooming Youth every Monday and Tuesday on tvN.
Photos: tvN Drama
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