Another Chance
Episode 3 of Record Of Youth begins with Hye-Jun and Hae-Hyo doing their fashion shoot. It’s here Hye-Jun admits that his self-esteem has hit rock bottom. Meanwhile, I-Yeong heads home and finds Ae-Suk there working. As they talk, she struggles to keep her composure in the wake of I-Yeong discussing how Hae-Hyo got the movie role. Ae-Suk bites her tongue though, especially given how out of touch this family are and their differing values. As we soon see from a flashback, she told Hye-Jun she’s working at Hae-Hyo’s temporarily. After some time, he came around to the idea of her working there. Despite lying about her situation, Ae-Suk continues to berate what’s happening and how much she misses her own Mother. Elsewhere, Jeong-Ha comes under fire at work again – this time by a bride-to-be. Thankfully Su-Bin sends some pictures of Hye-Jun which help cheer her up. Especially given they remind her of what he had to say about following her dreams. Hye-Jun’s new manager Min-Jae also helps him follow his dreams, telling him to postpone his military enlistment for 2 years. The reason? She’s found her passion in working with him. For now he thinks it over… and what better way to do that than with a night out accompanied by Jeong-Ha. As she talks openly about money, we flash back in time and see exactly why. One of her previous jobs saw her working as a financial advisor. They continue to get along, sharing a drink and face-timing with Hye-Jun’s grandad. When it starts raining, Hye-Jun heads out and buys an umbella to keep her dry. She waits for him at the bus-stop, leaving her the umbrella and getting on the bus himself. She clutches her scarf left by Hye-Jun and comments how she doesn’t feel alone. When Hye-Jun awakens in the morning, he finds a pretty hefty amount of money wired to him. Apparently his job at the fashion show was so good, he’s been given a lot more than he initially thought by Charlie Jung. Elsewhere, Hae-Hyo shows up at the make-up salon and requests Jeong-Ha do his make-up. This obviously doesn’t go down well with the rest of the staff… until Hae-Hyo specifically requests her to do it. As she starts patching him up, she mentions how she’s trying hard not to fall for Hye-Jun. After all, the whole fan/celebrity deal is something she believes will never work. Hye-Jun goes out for drinks with Hae-Hyo but he’s called away on business. As he mrntions the movie he’s now doing, Hye-Jun struggles to hide his disappointment. He eventually takes his leave and sits with Jeong-Ha. Together they watch her videos surrounding fashion shows. In particular she wants his grandfather to get involved given how good he looks for his age. Aftr brushing off her ideas, Hye-Jun visits Min-Jae and gives her share of the money he received from the fashion show. She tells him not to leave for military service. After all, if he does do this and comes back then no one will remember who he is. She advises he stay in the fashion business, give up on his dreams and instead make an easy profit. Compared to what Hae-Hyo has managed to do, Hye-Jun is torn over the best way of moving forward. This catches us up to the end of last week’s episode as Hye-Jun heads in and sees Jeong-Ha, asking her for a haircut as he’s leaving for military service in 10 days. As they talk, he eventually thinks twice and leaves. Ae-Suk meanwhile sits with her friends and family but receives a call from I-Yeong about losing her earrings. As she nonchalantly tells her where to find the missing items, Jin-U’s Mother tells her she should just quit. Despite being grateful for helping to put food on the table, it’s obvious that she isn’t enjoying it as she keeps comparing her family to theirs. Meanwhile, Hye-Jun embraces Jeong-Ha’s idea about his grandfather getting involved in the fashion show. So much so that he starts signing him up for lessons. Midway through he receives a call from Min-Jae carrying good news. He meets her for lunch and she divulges exactly what’s going on. She’s managed to bag a brand new film script from Choi Se-Hun titled “Normal Person”. Despite the small role, it could be just the ticket needed to break into the movie industry. Back home, Hye-Jun breaks the news to Ae-Suk about his movie role. She encourages him to give up but Hye-Jun wants to follow through. When Yeong-Nam finds out however, he loses his temper and starts throwing meat at him. As Ae-Suk stares him down, she tells her husband she’s done with him.
The Episode Review
If there’s one thing Record Of Youth excels with, it’s the characters. Everyone here has great chemistry together and Hye-Jun’s troubles are very relatable. He’s obviously been through a lot and it’s made all the more difficult by his family telling him to give up. This, of course, is a very common situation and partly why so many people end up in the rat race. With this small movie role secured, it could be just the ticket Hye-Jun needs to make it in the big time. I’d imagine we’ll see him clawing and scraping to the top over time compared to Hae-Hyo who, I’d imagine, will see all of this fame blow up in his face. So far so good though and this drama leaves the door wide open for the remaining episodes.
