“The Midnight Romance in Hagwon” Episodes 13 and 14 Recap

June 24, 2024
K-DRAMA RECAPS

Trouble abounds in the penultimate week with our leads’ secret romance getting out in the open and people swarming over to use the situation to their advantage.

Our star instructor heroine is at the risk of losing everything she has achieved so far. But with a few good people on her side and our male lead having her back, our leading lady pulls herself together to face another day.

Bunny S watches The Midnight Romance in Hagwon on Viu

Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 |

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon Episodes 13 and 14 Highlights

“You were the one who let that chance go because you are so caught up in your romantic relationship with your young pupil.”

Surprisingly yet not unexpectedly, Witch was already privy to Hye-jin and Joon-ho’s relationship. She didn’t mind turning a blind eye as long as Hye-jin joined her side. But now, the situation is different.

After filling Woo in on the details, the two women concoct a plan to reveal Hye-jin’s secret and bring her down. Hye-jin might not care about the stolen materials, but a scandal this big can be fatal to Hye-jin’s career.

With Hye-jin out of the picture, Woo and Witch settle to recruit Chung-mi to their side using the material as bait. Despite having known about Hye-jin and Joon-ho for a while, Chung-min has kept mum about it. But will her stance remain the same even after getting such a tempting offer to become the next Seo Hye-jin?

When compliments don’t work, Woo spills the tea. The academy is about to go bust. And the ball is in Chung-mi’s court. Will she stay on a sinking ship, or jump ships and achieve the level of success she always dreamed of?

“Did you get caught?”

On her end, Hye-jin wishes to deal with this matter honestly. Having made up her mind to come clean about everything to Kim, Hye-jin meets Joon-ho to make sure he is also on board with her decision. And since the guy never wanted to date in secret, to begin with, Joon-ho is down with Hye-jin’s plan.

From the stolen materials to Woo’s plan to resign and snatch the other instructors, Kim is shocked. But Hye-jin and Joon-ho’s relationship is old news to him. Shockingly, Kim has been aware of it all along even before they got together. In reality, Kim was planning to scout Sang-seob and promote Hye-jin afterward to avoid people gossiping about Hye-jin and Joon-ho’s close relationship.

Kim may have looked the other way all this time. But he won’t sit back and watch his academy get shut down because of our leads’ upcoming scandal. Instead, Kim wants to deny everything and transfer Joon-ho to another academy to nip that scandal in the bud. Except, Hye-jin isn’t about to throw Joon-ho under the bus to save her skin. Even if she gets doused in nasty water, Hye-jin will face it head-on.

“Can I speak as equals, man to man?”

No matter how well Hye-jin prepared herself to face that storm, experiencing it for real hits differently. Instead of hiding or avoiding it, Hye-jin resolves to take the bull by its horns, joining the meeting the other instructors arranged to explain herself. But instead of listening to Hye-jin, they gang up on her, accusing her of playing favorites and using her authority to support Joon-ho just because of her feelings for him.

Joon-ho shares the same sentiment as Hye-jin. If they explain themselves, the others will understand, right? After all, they are all intellectual people who teach students. Yet Joon-ho is wholly oblivious to how vicious the other instructors can turn, not having the slightest bit of interest in the truth and only wanting to snatch what they can get.

What should have been a discussion between rational adults almost turns into a physical fight between Joon-ho and another instructor who crosses the line and tries to escalate the situation to his advantage.

“You are so talented that you seduced your own student.”

Further complicating things, the mothers have a whale of time gossiping about Hye-jin in such a disgusting and crude way and condemning her to her face. But they can’t be more disgusting than Witch who pretends to be surprised at the news she spread herself and Woo is as cool as a cucumber, waiting for the situation to go worse.

Watching everything she worked hard for crumbling down while unable to do anything to stop that, Hye-jin can no longer stay strong and bursts into tears. Joon-ho’s situation isn’t any better, having students whisper about the rumors during class, with some taking it too far and asking if Joon-ho dated Hye-jin while in school.

“I wanted to be with you today no matter what but I can’t say no to this appointment.”

To show everyone that he won’t let go of Hye-jin’s hand no matter how tough it gets for them, Joon-ho leaves a supporting note for Hye-jin on her desk. He could have texted Hye-jin, but Joon-ho knowingly did this to show the others they wouldn’t break apart that easily.

Joon-ho’s note was enough for Hye-jin to cheer up and muster up the courage to go on. But unbeknownst to her, Joon-ho is totally scared. He tries to put on a brave face. But on the inside, it breaks Joon-ho’s heart how their relationship might cause Hye-jin to lose everything she worked so hard for.

We end this week with Hye-jin walking in on a teary-eyed Joon-ho, and I don’t think she agrees with his thoughts. So, let’s hope they have an honest conversation and steel their resolve to stay together no matter what others say or do to break them apart.

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon Episodes 13 and 14 Musings

Plot-wise, those episodes were my favorite so far. How the drama ended its penultimate week on a cliffhanger without forcing tension or misunderstandings had me in awe. I thought the arguments we got over the last two weeks were the drama’s way of building up a breakup between our leads. But this wasn’t the case.

Never has it crossed Hye-jin’s mind to break up with Joon-ho or blame him for entering her life and ruining the career she spent her youth building. Instead, Hye-jin told Joon-ho loud and clear that she loves him and the only thing she wants from him is to love her too with all his heart and effort and always be with her.

Typically, when a scandal breaks out, we either get noble idiocy and one party breaking up with the other because they “love” them or people getting in the way and forcing a couple to break up. Yet this wasn’t the case here. We have two mature adults who try to handle their relationship with honesty and are on the same page about protecting their love.

Luckily for our leads, they have a few good people on their side. Be it Chung-mi resolving to turn down Woo’s enticing offer and stay with Hye-jin or Sang-seob feeling bad and trying to get out of teaching the students who signed up for his class after ditching Hye-jin’s. (Side note: it says a lot how Hye-jin didn’t hide her feelings and kept crying when she realized it was Chung-mi who entered the room.)

It is surprising in a good way how both Chung-mi and Sang-seob ended up being such endearing secondary characters, though the former was introduced as someone who will do anything to succeed, and the latter was presented as an annoying fuddy duddy.

Initially, I found Witch interesting but her actions this week turned her into a typical villain destroying things she couldn’t make hers. I never liked Woo, so I have nothing to say about her. But the one confusing me is Kim.

On one hand, he regards the academy as his top priority, but on the other hand, he seems genuine in wanting to protect Hye-jin. Though Kim considered it, he didn’t throw Hye-jin under the bus to appease the other instructors. Still, the way Kim pestered Joon-ho into quitting felt quite uncomfortable, especially the part about Joon-ho’s parents being well off and how he could easily take a break for a while.

The drama has always been distinct in its approach. And with only one week left, I hope it keeps it up. Stick the landing please without any last-minute break up or time slip.

Photos and Videos: tvN Drama

 

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Bunny Sonaki

I am Bunny. Just like you, I am smitten with Kdramas and look forward to watching every Kdrama out there, but is that dream ever possible since they keep showering us with new dramas every day? For me, Kdramas are my comfort zone and a warm hug that makes it possible to face up to whatever life throws my way.

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