Our time travelers’ time is almost up. And they have a lot on their plate. Be it enjoying the sweetness of love, handling family issues, or figuring out the purpose behind their trip into the past.
But perhaps they might need to revisit some problems they thought were already solved. We are treated to many cute and swoony moments in the penultimate week. Our two ships have successfully sailed. And we have now successfully entered the dating era.
Bunny S. watched Twinkling Watermelon on Viu
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | 09 & 10 | 11 & 12 | 13 & 14 | Finale Week Recap + Series Review |
Twinkling Watermelon Episodes 13 and 14 Highlights
“My 18-year-old dad is much cooler than I thought.”
After successfully rocking the stage, our boys got a chance to compete in the national teen band competition. But to do this, they need a newly written song, not just a cover. Hence, Lee-chan’s suggestion to go on a song camp. But this means Eun-yu and Chung-ah have to tag along.
And while Lee-chan took Eun-yu’s rejection coolly, he can’t muster up the courage to approach Chung-ah after their last encounter in front of her house. He has Eun-gyeol convince her to attend the camp. But after she turns the offer down, Lee-chan has to take matters into his own hands.
“You said first that we could be friends. And you said you liked me. How could you take it back after making my heart flutter?”
He follows her around quietly and stares at her from afar. But when Lee-chan spots some boys insulting Chung-ah, he teaches them a lesson. The four end up at the police station, where only grandma’s arrival saves the day.
Seeing no other way to talk to Chung-ah, Lee-chan enlists Eun-gyeol’s help, having him lie to Chung-ah about Lee-chan going to beat up the boys once again. Thus, she rushes over to the practice room to stop him.
But awaiting her is a pleasant surprise. She suggested they be friends and told Lee-chan she liked him. So how can she take this back now after making his heart flutter? Also, she didn’t attend the festival though Lee-chan had prepared a song specially for her in sign language.
And since she has no plans to come to the camp, he will play it for her now. Touched, Chung-ah hugs Lee-chan tightly, and he hugs her back as well. Our ship is finally sailing.
“You know, if you are hurting, just accept it. Only you know how much you are hurting.”
Our time travelers’ ship is sailing just as smoothly. And guess what? They have finally learned each other’s true identity. But the best part was their opening up to each other about their pain. Having spotted Eun-yu’s anxiety pills, Eun-gyeol replaces them with candy, hoping Eun-yu can let go of those bitter memories and enjoy the sweetness of life. Also, instead of the pills, he can become her friend who always listens to her.
So far, Eun-yu has always kept it bottled up lest people see her as a spoiled girl with no actual worries. But this time, she opens up to Eun-gyeol about her friend’s suicide and the temporary hearing loss she suffered from after that. And like Eun-gyeol says, there is no scale to measure people’s misery. No one has the right to judge our pain. And we don’t have the duty of getting our pain acknowledged by others.
“If anyone tries to harass you again, call me right away.”
At the train station, Eun-gyeol and Eun-yu walk hand in hand, and joining them in the dating era are our teenage parents, with Lee-chan getting jealous when Chung-ah smiles at the other boys. To make sure she isn’t bored, Lee-chan catches Chung-ah, a kitten looking just like him. (The boy is already smitten.) And we get this couple’s first kiss in the swooniest way ever.
Lee-chan tells Chung-ah to call him first if someone tries to hurt her again. And in case there are only payphones around, he teaches her a special tap as their sign. And unfortunately, Chung-ah might need urgent help sooner than expected.
“I am not alone anymore. In this house you are the queen and your slaves whom you pay do whatever you tell them to. But there is an entire world out there”
The evil stepmother gets wind of the fight with the boys and slaps Chung-ah. But our girl is no longer alone. She has friends by her side and the knowledge that there is an entire world outside this suffocating house. So, she stands up to herself, earning her a second slap. But this time, she slaps this evil woman back, to everyone’s shock and our satisfaction.
In retaliation, the evil stepmother breaks down the fax machine to stop Chung-ah from contacting Lee-chan and has her locked up in the attic. In a heartbreaking flashback, we see young Chung-ah trying and failing to have her father help her get away from this evil woman. But busy as usual, Chung-ah’s father focuses on his work and leaves the evil woman to do as she pleases.
“They didn’t ask us before bringing us into the world. They can’t get off this easily after giving birth to us.”
But this time is different. Chung-ah has a family now: Eun-gyeol, Lee-chan, grandma, and Eun-yu. And throwing the stepmother’s threats down the drain, Eun-gyeol gets Chung-ah out of the house. They head together to the guest house, where grandma welcomes Chung-ah with open arms, assuring her that she can stay with them if she doesn’t want to go back to this messy family.
Hearing about the abuse Chung-ah has faced throughout her life, Lee-chan gets fuming mad. How is Chung-ah’s busy money-generator father any different from the father who abandoned him and grandma and got off with money from the restaurant to gamble it away? Neither Lee-chan nor Chung-ah asked to be born, so how can their fathers leave them behind after bringing them to the world? Those two really went through so much to raise their children with the love they never got.
“The date of Yi-chan’s accident isn’t the day before the festival. The accident didn’t happen yet.”
Another one facing some family drama is Eun-yu. Being too brilliant to brush off all those loving looks Grandpa Viva is giving her and adding to this some gossip about his musical career being ruined because of a rumor about having a child out of wedlock, Eun-yu digs into it further, concluding the biological father her mother talked about might be grandpa Viva. What if Eun-yu’s reason for coming to the past isn’t to break her parents apart but to reunite her mother with her biological father?
But as if there isn’t enough family drama going on, we end our penultimate week with shocking news. The accident where Lee-chan lost his hearing hasn’t happened yet. And it seems we are getting another ominous accident here. The boy has gone through a lot. Can’t he get a break already?
Twinkling Watermelon Episodes 13 and 14 Musings
What a cliffhanger! While there is no denying that the accident is a significant plot point, watching Lee-chan get hurt three times is too much. Also, there are many plot points the drama can cover about him aside from the accident.
For instance, getting him healed from the trauma regarding his father or getting him to college. There is also the matter of real Se-kyung’s return and her reconciliation with her biological father so that she can break free from her suffocating life.
There is too much to cover without getting a third accident but only one week left. Which has me worried about not getting enough time to explore the present after the changes this trip caused.
Let’s cross our fingers the drama sticks the landing and gives us a satisfying ending to this superb drama.
Brace yourself for a ride full of adventures, music and mystery as Eun-gyeol navigates the unknown in Twinkling Watermelon!
Photos/Videos: tvN Drama
