Recap: “Faith” Episode 19

Joonni: If you wanted to define bittersweet, this would be the episode to do it for you. Never have I felt so torn emotionally for so many people all at the same time. We have one couple who gets happy news but we already know how that is going to end up. We have another who believes that their ending will be sad and tries desperately to make the most of their time together. Beware- this episode will leave you crying and smiling like a loon all at the same time.

Softy: It’s so hard to fathom these two are the same person. The current Eun Soo is so vibrant and full of life, but this Goryeo version is more serious, dignified, and reserved. Like she has seen and felt too much heartache and sadness to be this carefree and happy like ES is now. That does not bode well for us and what kind of ending we might be getting, but it sure does make for some interesting turn of events.

Episode 19

Young packs Eun-soo’s belonging as she changes. He tells her that the only person who knows Young is with Eun-soo is Deok Heung and that he thinks Deok Heung is on the same side as the Yuan envoy. Just as Young starts to complain that Eun-soo is taking too long, she comes out, asking, “If the Yuan envoy says he wants me, do I have to go with him? Even if I say no?”

As Young ties the bundle on Eun-soo, he replies, “Do you still not know how this world works? We have to run away before it becomes a royal order so let’s hurry up.” Eun-soo asks, “So are you saying that you’re going to go with me as I run away? You, the Woodalchi daejang?”

Young, pushing her out the door, says, “Go ahead first. I will follow after I say goodbye to the king.” Eun-soo asks, “With the present situation, do you think he will give you permission?” Young replies, “I’m not going in order to get permission.” Eun-soo asks worriedly, “So you’re going to resign? Because of me?”

Young reminds her that since she is under the king’s protection right now, the envoy will request her from Gongmin. He explains, “I don’t want his Majesty to have to make that kind of decision and if he does consent, as his servant I have to make sure you go to Yuan. Do you understand her?”

Eun-soo replies that she does and Young just looks at her. She asks why and he replies that it’s because he is nervous, separating from her. Eun-soo says, “So come quickly. Before I get into trouble.” Young calls for Dae-man to escort Eun-soo and she leaves with him.

Do-chi reads a letter from the Yuan envoy to Gongmin. The envoy is requesting Gongmin’s presence at the assembly he has gathered with Goryeo’s senior statesmen. Gongmin is angered that a Yuan envoy assembled his ministers without him knowing and is now calling him to attend. “He is giving me orders?”

Young runs into Noguk on his way to see Gongmin. She smiles at him and says that Gongmin waited for him yesterday and today. She wonders if Young’s lack of presence was because his heart was hurting due to the Woodalchi’s sacrifice. Young assures her no. Noguk tells Young that Gongmin kept on worrying about how much Young’s heart would ache over the loss of his men. Young smiles and says, “He would have.” Noguk and her party leave but Lady Choi looks back at Young before following her.

Gongmin enters the meeting room and sees the Yuan envoy standing there. He asks, “So are you the one that called out the king of a country?” The envoy introduces himself as Son Yoo and tells Gongmin that he came to Goryeo not as a mere envoy but someone with the power to act and decide on behalf of Yuan.

Son Yoo says to Gongmin, “The emperor of Yuan said this. ‘Many kings have sat in the Goryeo throne just in the past few decades but every single one has been incompetent. I can’t believe in the king of Goryeo anymore’.” Gongmin glares at Son Yoo as the other ministers also flare up in anger over Yuan’s insult.

Gongmin asks defiantly, “And?” Son Yoo questions whether Gongmin ever “scorned” the royal seal sent by Yuan and failed to protect the palace. Gongmin confidently answers yes. Son Yoo states that Gongmin’s actions are the justification for Yuan to dethrone Gongmin and make Goryeo part of Yuan. (Joonni: Oh, no beating around the bush. Love it. Moving fast.)

Gongmin replies, “That’s not possible,” so Son Yoo states, “Then you will have to fight Yuan’s army.” This doesn’t faze Gongmin. Son Yoo asks, “If you fight, will you be able to win?” Gongmin replies, “There are things in this world you have to fight for even if you can’t win.” Son Yoo reminds him that it is Goryeo’s citizens that will be caught in this fight. Gongmin counters that no citizen will fear a fight to protect their country.

Son Yoo tells Gongmin that even though he holds a Yuan governmental position, he is a Goryeo person. He claims that he came to Goryeo to help it remain an independent country. Gongmin looks at him with suspicious confusion.

Young tries to see Gongmin but an eunuch tells him that only people who have been called to the assembly can enter.

Son Yoo tells Gongmin that he has with him a decree from Yuan that makes Deok Heung king of Goryeo on that condition that he will be the final king of Goryeo and hand the country over to Yuan. Gongmin guesses that Deok Heung already agreed to do that. Son Yoo confirms.

Gongmin returns back to what Son Yoo said before about a way to save Goryeo. Son Yoo lists the terms for that to be possible. The first is that Gongmin will start to use the seal given by Yuan again. The second is that Gongmin will execute the high doctor as she is the one that cast a spell over the king and a head warrior. (Joonni: Ah! This is worse than being sent to Yuan. *wrings hands*)

Gongmin informs Son Yoo that Eun-soo has no power but Son Yoo replies that rumors about her have spread to Yuan. He insists this is the best way to ensure Goryeo’s continued sovereignty.

The ministers leaves the assembly in deep discussion as Young watches them pass. Son Yoo walks past Young without any recognition until the eunuch announces Young to Gongmin. Son Yoo looks back at Young as Young is denied a meeting with the king- Gongmin doesn’t want to see him. Young asks if something is wrong and Do-chi just repeats the Gongmin said he didn’t want to see him. The Woodalchi shake their heads in the back.

Gongmin sits alone in the room, deep in thought and worries.

Young is organizing his chest when Choong-suk comes in to report that there was any order to add more men to the Woodalchi. Young says, “In truth, for the past seven years, it was you who lead the Woodalchi.” Choong-suk shyly smiles and replies that in some ways, yes.

Young starts to give an order for Choong-suk to have some men follow Son Yoo around but he stops, realizing he is leaving. He just asks if Gongmin slept late yesterday too. Choong-suk tells him yes. Young informs Choong-suk that he thinks Deok Heung is next to the Yuan envoy and starts to order him to add more bodyguards to Gongmin, but once again he stops mid-command. He just looks at Choong-suk straight in the eye and says, “Don’t think after something’s happened. Always think before. The king is someone who thinks too much so if he is staying up too late, make sure you take the king to the queen. Also, take care of them all.”

Choong-suk bows and firmly replies yes at first but looks up at Young curiously when the words start to sink in. Young points to his chest of personal belongings and tells Choong-suk to get rid of it as he sees fit. Young leaves his room as Choong-suk asks, “What do mean get rid of it?”

Dae-man is relaying to Eun-soo his life story. He tells her he started to live in the mountains by himself at around nine or ten. He met Young when he was around thirteen and the first time they met, he bit Young on the hands and legs. He would run away but Young would chase after him, causing him to bite Young again. This chase went on for about five days.

A man in dark clothes and hat approach Dae-man and Eun-soo so Dae-man stands in front of Eun-soo, as if to protect her. When Eun-soo asks why, Dae-man tells her he couldn’t hear the man’s footsteps. He adds, “I don’t want to fight a guy like that.”

Young waits impatiently for Lady Choi and immediately asks why Gongmin won’t see him as soon as she comes. He starts to tell her what he will do if Gongmin doesn’t give him permission to leave but Lady Choi interrupts to say, “He gives you permission. He said to leave quickly.”

Flashback to Gongmin ordering Lady Choi in a panicked voice to tell Young to leave quickly with Eun-soo, without looking back. Noguk adds her greetings to Eun-soo.

Lady Choi informs Young that officially, Gongmin agreed to hand over Eun-soo. “So we have to make it like you left before knowing that so you don’t become someone who disobeyed a royal order.”

Young asks, “Why does Yuan want her? What can she do there?” Lady Choi asks tentatively if Young can just stay here and let the Suribang escort Eun-soo to the portal. Young replies, “There are only twenty days left until the next full moon. You want me to give all that up and part with her here?” Lady Choi warns, “You might have to exchange everything you’ve worked for just for those twenty days. You also might not be able to return if you leave like this.”

Young replies, “For the past seven years, I lived in this palace. But no matter how hard I try, there is not much to remember from those past seven years. There is nothing to exchange.” Lady Choi sighs with resignation and warns Young not to get caught. She tells him that the Yuan envoy doesn’t want to take Eun-soo to Yuan; he wants to publicly execute her.

Young asks worriedly, “If there is no high doctor, what will happen to the king?” Lady Choi starts to tell him but Young interrupts her- “No, don’t tell me. I can’t remain here anyway and if I leave like this, I have no right to return. What can someone like me do for the king?” (Joonni: There goes one piece of my heart.)

Deok Heung asks Son Yoo what Gongmin said- did he agree to get rid of the doctor and use the seal again? Son Yoo replies yes. He also asks if Deok Heung sent his henchman to deliver a message to Eun-soo. He knows it was a message telling her to run away. He wonders if Deok Heung did it so Gongmin wouldn’t be able to execute Eun-soo because he can’t find her.

Deok Heung’s cool facade falters before he laughs and explains that he did it because Eun-soo was once his fiancé. Son Yoo asks if Deok Heung did it to send Choi Young away from Gongmin too. Deok Heung replies, “That person is useless.

Young lingers a look at his headband and touches his short hair before putting it away in his robes when the Suribang sister comes out with Eun-soo and Dae-man. Young whispers something into Dae-man’s ear before leaving with Eun-soo. Son Yoo’s henchman watches all this.

Deok Heung says to Son Yoo, “Look how easily the head of the bodyguards of the king left his master and men. That’s the kind of man our king relied on.” Deok Heung prods Son Yoo to carry out Yuan’s decree and get this over with. Son Yoo states that he thinks this king seemed like he will go to war if they pressure him. Deok Heung replies that the king doesn’t have either the guts or brains to do so. Son Yoo cool-headedly states that his job is to minimize the consequences while producing the maximum results. “My job is to bring Goryeo to Yuan with the least amount of sacrifice. If I need you, I will request your help.” Deok Heung looks frustrated with Son Yoo’s lack of urgency.

Young leads Eun-soo to a tree so she can rest. He kneels in front of her to examine the poisoned spot. She tells him not to worry- the spot hasn’t gotten bigger and she hasn’t shown any symptoms. Young confirms, “You said you could get treated immediately when you go to heaven, right?” Eun-soo assures him yes- it will only take one examination and one shot. Young replies, “I will believe you,” and wraps up her arm again.

Eun-soo is stretching her shoulders when Young asks her, “What are you doing,” as he pats his shoulder for her to lean on. When she doesn’t immediately lean on him, he pats his shoulder again saying, “Here.” Eun-soo leans on his shoulder, with a resigned expression that says, “Only because you asked.” (Joonni: But we know how she really feels inside. Hee!)

Young asks, “You can’t walk very much, can you?” Eun-soo replies that she has never had to walk this much in her world. “In this world, I’ve walked so much.” Young wants to know if there was anything she liked after coming here. Eun-soo takes her time to ponder and Young asks worriedly, “None? Not even one?” Eun-soo bolts up as if a light came on in her head and exclaims, “There is one!” Young looks at her expectantly and asks, “What?” Eun-soo replies, “Do it again.” Young asks again, “What?” Eun-soo replies, “That.” She imitates Young terse and direct manner of asking, “What,” “What is that,” “What are you doing?” Young smiles at her imitation and puts his arms around her shoulder, brining her closer to him.

Gongmin holds a meeting with his statesmen and military leaders.  He wants to find out exactly how many soldiers he has all over the country and recruit some more. He also promotes Ahn Jae so he can command the military in times of emergency. He orders Ahn Jae to prepare for war and discipline the soldiers. Ahn Jae stands up to protest. He suggests that Gongmin put Young in charge as Young has never lost a battle, small or large, and soldiers will definitely follow Young’s lead. Gongmin interrupts Ahn Jae to firmly order him again to conduct the military affairs. Ahn Jae accepts the duty.

Gongmin asks Lee Jae-hyun if there is any more information about Yuan’s internal affairs. Lee Jae-hyun reports that rebellion inside Yuan is getting stronger. He asks Gongmin if he is really going to go to war. Before that, he wants to go to Yuan and meet people there first.

Gongmin tells him that their goal is to make sure that Yuan doesn’t start a war on their own. “I want to show that if they want our land, they will have to spill their blood first. What you think, daejang?” Everyone in the room looks around uncomfortably as it hits Gongmin that Young is no longer there by his side. (Joonni: There goes another piece of my heart.)

Ki Chul asks Deok Heung, “Did you say that they are on the run?” Deok Heung confirms and Ki Chul, looking very ill, walks menacingly toward Deok Heung asking, “Why is my doctor with him?” Deok Heung stutters that he only found out recently and came to report because he thought Ki Chul would like to know. He starts to ask for Yuan’s royal seal back but Ki Chul interrupts him to growl, “How did you find out? Why is she with him instead of in the palace? She, who is supposed to be in my house and with me!”

Ki Chul’s anger grows as he begins to channel his power to his hand. Deok Heung tries to tell Ki Chul that he has a secret plan to bring Eun-soo back but Ki chul has had enough of Deok Heung’s shenanigans. He tries to use his power on Deok Heung but his own arm starts to freeze up, even forcing Eum-ja to back away.

Ki Chul laments not being able to go after Eun-soo himself. Eum-ja and Hwasooin offer to go find her. He orders Yang-gak to send out a message to all wild gangs, thieves, and criminals- that whoever catches Eun-soo and kills Young will be rewarded 1000 nyangs. Ki Chul struggles to say, “There is no time…no time.”

Eun-soo approaches an inn but Young stops her to check out the place first. Not sensing any immediate danger, he and Eun-soo enter the inn and they find themselves in a large room with other wild looking men and two guys with hats covering their face inside the buidling. Young protectively puts his hands around Eun-soo shoulders and leads her to a table and orders food. Eun-soo sees the other men drinking and asks Young for a drink too. When he shakes his head no, Eun-soo pulls out her aegyo and Young, who is no longer able to say no Eun-soo, doesn’t refuse again. (Joonni: Our ruthless warrior is but a wee lamb in front of Eun-soo. Hahahahahahaha!)

Eun-soo calls out loudly for the serving lady, calling attention to herself, so Young immediately pulls down her hand. Eun-soo orders a drink and Young looks around nervously as one of the men leaves the building. Outside the building, the man pulls out the “Wanted” poster for Young and Eun-soo. (Joonni: Those portraits are hilarious, especially Young’s hair. Is he recognizable without that hair anymore??? ROFLMAO.)

Eun-soo cheers with Young as the man reenters the room and shares the information with his pack. Eun-soo notices that Young is not drinking and asks if he won’t drink. Young allows himself to take a sip as Eun-soo remarks that this is the first time they drank together. She asks if he doesn’t like to drink and he replies, “No, not a lot.” Suddenly he says to her, “Imja, when I say, ‘Now,’ you have to duck.” As soon as Eun-soo demonstrates how, Young exclaims, “Now,” and starts to fight off the men that are trying to capture Eun-soo. Notably, the men in the hat just continue to sit quietly and have their drink.

Young looks around the fallen men and notices the white pages sticking out of one of them. He examines the papers as Eun-soo comes over to see. He notes that the reward money for Eun-soo is high- “Our journey is going to get more difficult.” Eun-soo looks at the pictures of herself and Young and wonder if they look like that. (Joonni: I love how Eun-soo is handling all this because being a nervous wreck around Young right now is not going to help him any.) Young suspiciously eyes the hooded men still sitting quietly and drinking.

Noguk enters Gongmin’s room in a huff and Gongmin sheepishly explains that he was just about to get up. Noguk silently cleans up Gongmin’s table before facing him to ask, “So what is today’s problem? New problems come up every day. While I can’t listen to all of them together, I will listen to today’s problem. I came to listen, worry together, and stay up all night together.” (Joonni: Okay, that just put back a piece of my heart. I can never say it enough. Noguk is beyond awesome.)

Gongmin, pleased with his darling wife and queen, smiles and tells her that today’s problem is that Yuan demanded that Gongmin do something to ensure Goryeo’s independence but he doesn’t have the seal or Eun-soo right now with him. Noguk asks if Gongmin will fight when Yuan brings its soldiers if he can neither produce the seal or Eun-soo. Gongmin: “That’s what I don’t know and why I can’t sleep.”

Gongmin asks what would Noguk do if she was the mother of a citizen that just received an order from the king to come fight a war. Noguk ponders a bit but before she can answer, she suddenly gets nauseated and struggles to hold it back. Gongmin worriedly holds her up and calls for help. Lady Choi and Do-chi run in and look at each other knowingly. Noguk leaves the room with Lady Choi and Gongmin asks Do-chi, “Why is my queen like that?” Do-Chi answers with a sly smile and Gongmin looks at him like he has gone crazy. (Joonni: Notice how he calls her “my” queen. Squee!)

Jang Bin examines Noguk and with a smile, looks over at Lady Choi. Lady Choi claps her hands and jumps for joy.

Jang Bin reports to Gongmin that Noguk is pregnant and Gongmin looks shocked and happy. Jang Bin does warn him, however, that Noguk needs to be careful. Gongmin asks if he can go see Noguk right now and Jang Bin answer yes.

Gongmin rushes into Noguk’s room and gazes lovingly at his glowing queen.  He asks if she is okay and she reassures him with a happy smile. With tears in his eyes, he says, “I don’t know what I did to meet someone like you. My queen.” He slowly and softly embraces her and says, “Thank you.” Noguk embraces him right back. (Joonni: Okay, my heart is whole again. For now.)

Eun-soo struggles to fall asleep at the inn. She looks around and doesn’t see Young so she goes outside. She sees him pacing and standing guard. She stands behind him and when Young notices her, she sits down. Young goes over and sits next to her and explains that he thought there might be someone planning to attack during the night. He tells her to not worry and just sleep.

Eun-soo stares at him knowingly so Young asks her why. She points to where Young was looking at before and asks, “The palace is in that direction, right? I noticed that you were looking in that direction last night too.” Young doesn’t deny it but he tells her again to go just go in sleep since she can’t even keep her eyes open. Eun-soo says, “You’re worrying right now about your king, right?”

Young looks away and doesn’t answer. Eun-soo continues, “Then let’s do it like this. Just take me to village where there portal is and go back.” Young replies that he can’t go back because Gongmin chased him out, unable to look upon a Woodalchi like him. Eun-soo asks, “What kind of Woodalchi?” Young replies, “A warrior who hesitates to use his sword dies. A warrior who hesitates can’t protect the king.”

Eun-soo asks if Young ever spent a day in his entire life doing what he wanted instead of what others wanted and asked him to do. Young replies, “Yesterday….and…today.” (Joonni: Okay, now my heart is overflowing. What is this drama doing to me?!)

Young suddenly senses danger and gets up. He quickly grabs Eun-soo and ducks as a dagger comes flying their way. He brings her inside the inn and tells her to stay inside because this time, he thinks he will see blood with these men. Young steps outsides and confronts the men with hats from before. He kills one and Eun-soo watches through the window as he kills the other. She gasps in worry and horror.

The Suribangs are talking with Deok-man and Dol-bae. They talk about how Deok Heung is on the same side as Son Yoo and how Deok Heung has been meeting a lot of people. Shi-wool adds that Yang-gak has been buying up a lot of medicine these days. The Suribang sister scolds Shi-wool for not finding out what the medicine is being used for.

Choong-suk reports to Gongmin that Deok Heung is staying with Son Yoo at the Young-bin-gwan. It hits Gongmin that Son Yoo knew, before he even asked for these things, that Gongmin didn’t have the seal and Eun-soo. He orders Do-chi to give whatever the Suribang needs and orders Choong-suk to ask the Suribang to find out what the state of affairs is between Ki Chul and Deok Heung. Gongmin wants to know what went wrong between them.

Someone uses the Yuan seal, that we saw Son Yoo use before, to stamp a letter and envelope.

Son Yoo has come to Gongmin for the seal and Eun-soo. He repeats that he will ask Yuan to leave Goryeo alone if Gongmin follows the two terms. Gongmin asks him why he is using such a convoluted scheme, since he came to get rid of Goryeo anyway. Son Yoo: “Yes, that was the order I was given.” Gongmin: “Just do what you came to do without all the conniving. Then I will fight you with all my strength.”

Son Yoo states that he came to choose between two possible kings- one that declares that he will go to war in order to protect Goryeo and another that will give up Goryeo just to save his own life. Gongmin snorts in disgust and asks, “Then what should I do to appeal to you? Should I dance for you?”

Son Yoo walks closer to Gongmin and reminds him once again that he asked for two things- the royal seal and Eun-soo. He will come tomorrow again for them. He adds, “But I can’t wait longer than four days.”

Son Yoo tells his henchman that he needs the doctor so that Gongmin’s decision is easier. He orders the man to find Eun-soo and kill Young. He heard that Young is a skilled warrior but with Eun-soo by his side, he won’t be able to showcase his full strength. “With your level of skill, you’ll be able to handle him.” (Joonni: Duuude, you should have been there at the almost-wedding.)

A guard hands one of Noguk’s ladies an envelope. The lady gives it to Noguk, saying she was told the Yuan envoy wanted this letter delivered to her directly. Noguk reads the letter and a quizzical expression takes over her face. She quickly hides the letter as Lady Choi enters the room.

Eun-soo zig-zags in front of Young as she complains, “Why doesn’t it make sense? You taught me how to ride a horse and how to use a dagger so I want to teach you something in return.” Young replies, “No, thank you,” but Eun-soo pulls at his robe to stop his rapid gait. She informs him that what she is about to teach him now is a magical spell used often in heaven. “So you, general, use it well, and teach it to your Woodalchi men too.” (Joonni: I love how Eun-soo keeps calling him jang-goon, which is the modern way of saying general, as if to keep reminding him that he is a general who has to go back to his king and men.)

Eun-soo closes her hand into a fist and pumps it- “Aja!” When Young doesn’t follow her, Eun-soo stomps her feet and uses aegyo again but this time, Young won’t stoop that low into non-manliness. Eun-soo says to herself at his disappearing back, “Is it that hard? It’s just two words!”

Eun-soo chases after Young and forces him to stop again. She describes how here in Goryeo, people make promises only with words. Eun-soo imitates how Young made his oath to her- “The price of an oath of a Goryeo warrior is his life.” Young finally cracks a small smile at that. Eun-soo shows him how to make a promise the modern way- with a pinky swear and stamp. She also shows him how to swipe hands, as if you are making a copy of the contract. “If you make a promise like this, you don’t have to risk your life anymore.” (Joonni: This episode is just full of little daggers, isn’t it? Trying to kill me slowly and sadistically.)

Young replies that he got it but Eun-soo wants to show him something else. She starts to demonstrate how to do a high-five but when Young doesn’t comply, she pleads cutely, “Please do it. Are you not going to even when I am begging you so pathetically?” Young relents and holds up his hand. She tells him that this motion doesn’t need any words- “You just speak with your heart.” She high-fives his hand saying, “Cheer up and do well.” She high-fives his hand again, saying, “Try this with the king too.”

Eun-soo asks Young what he is thinking and he replies, “What is this person thinking?” Eun-soo tries to high-five him again but this time, Young clasps her hand and pushes her in front of him, saying, “Don’t follow me but stay in front so I can watch you better.” Eun-soo begs to teach him more but he just says in his usual Youngish-way, “Stop.”

Eun-soo and Young walk into a village and they take note of all the soldiers. Eun-soo asks if all the soldiers are after them and Young replies no- they are provincial soldiers and seeing how new their clothes and weapons are, they must be newly recruited. Seeing the look on Young’s face, Eun-soo urges him to go find out what’s happening; she will wait for him the clinic. Young asks worriedly if there is something wrong. She assures him that she is just getting some medicine just in case. “Come pick me up there.”

Eun-soo goes inside and asks for some medicine. The doctor is treating a child so he asks her to wait. Eun-soo looks at the child’s rash and suggests that the child has atopy. Of course the doctor has no idea what she is talking about. Son Yoo’s henchman is watching Eun-soo secretly.

Young approaches some men waiting in line and they tell him that if he wants to sign up for the military, he should do it fast since all the former slaves that the king released some time ago are signing up in droves because they can get clothes, food, and armory. One of the men corrects the other- they are not slaves but soldiers- “Soldiers that protect the country.” Young asks one of the soldiers if anything is happening at the border but when the soldier replies to Young in banmal to just get in line, Young changes his speech into banmal too and demands to see the soldier’s superior. (Joonni: Ha! Young has never had soldiers talk to him that way before.) The other soldiers rush over to confront Young but Young sees a suspicious guy loitering about and decides to just go to Eun-soo. He sees a group of men with bows and arrows watching him and Young takes off running for Eun-soo. (Joonni: She always comes first. Sigh….)

Eun-soo shows her poisoned spot to the doctor and asks if he recognizes it. He tells her that there is no antidote so Eun-soo mutters curses at Deok Heung for lying to her again- “I knew it.” The doctor tells her that he can lessen the pain with acupuncture treatments. Eun-soo asks him to show her how because there is someone she doesn’t want to show her pain to. The doctor replies, “I will teach you because you are pretty.”

Son Yoo’s henchman comes upon another man waiting to attack Eun-soo. When the man declares that Eun-soo is his bounty, the henchman attacks and kills him with a deadly and swift attack.

Young runs over to Eun-soo and she waves happily at him. She mouths, “What’s wrong,” when she sees Young looking around. He walks over to her and pulls her up with his hand and they walk away together, hand-in-hand. He smiles at her as she smiles at him. (Joonni: I just can’t stand this anymore- my heart is in chaos with all this feeling of happiness and dread.)

Noguk is helping Gongmin dress but he tells her to just sit- “Wife, I can do it.” Noguk smiles to herself so Gongmin asks why. She replies secretively, “Nothing.” Gongmin tells her he will be back soon. “I am going because I have to go myself and get this taken care of.” Noguk tells him to take his time so Gongmin asks why. She replies that she is going to the temple to pray for Gongmin and their baby’s safety. Gongmin offers to go to the temple directly after he is done but Noguk tells him she will go alone. Gongmin argues that praying together would be more effective so Noguk gently tells him to do his work first because “other people will laugh.” Lady Choi smiles in the background. Gongmin agrees and he steps forward to touch Noguk’s belly but he looks back at Lady Choi, embarrassed. (Joonni: This couple too. Oh, this chaos in my heart and brain! This drama is tearing me apart.)

Ki Chul welcomes Gongmin to his house. Gongmin says he heard a rumor that Ki Chul was not well. Ki Chul assures him that he is healthy. He adds that he is surprised to see Gongmin in his house with so many of Ki Chul’s soldiers present. Gongmin tells him that he knows Ki Chul has the seal because he is the one that brought the letter making Deok Heung the substitute king with the Yuan seal on it. Ki Chul laughs as he replies, “I can’t deny or confirm.” Gongmin asks, “Will you give it to me?”

Deok Heung hears from Ja-woon that Gongmin is at Ki Chul’s house. He figures that the king went to get the seal. Ja-woon wonders if Ki Chul will hand over the seal. Deok Heung replies that Ki Chul will because Ki Chul is halfway to losing his mind and he is only focused on one thing and doesn’t care about the seal.

Ki Chul asks Gongmin, “If I give it to you then what do I get in return?” Gongmin offers to release him from house arrest. “I heard there is somewhere you really wanted to go.” Ki Chul, without any hesitation replies that he will give Gongmin the seal and calls for Yang-gak to go bring the seal. Gongmin can’t believe how easy Ki Chul is giving it up and stares incredulously at him.

Ki Chul asks Gongmin not to mock him. “There is nothing I couldn’t have. I got everything I wanted. If I wanted I could have become the king. King Ki- what would have ben so hard about that?” Gongmin agrees that Ki Chul could have done that. Ki Chul, placing his hand over his right chest, says, “But in one corner of my heart, there was always a black hole that couldn’t be filled. Then I met the person from heaven. She says that aside from this world, there is another world. It doesn’t matter what kind of world it is. I want to go there.” (Joonni: You can see the madness in Ki Chul’s eyes.) Gongmin asks, “If you end up going there, do you think that hole in your heart will be filled?” Ki Chul replies, in hopeful and pitiful delusion, “Wouldn’t it?”

Deok Heung says to Ja-woon that people keep using him and making him overstep the line. “All I wanted was to live quietly reading books, but people won’t leave me alone. I didn’t want to go this far but people kept pushing me.” He shrugs off his responsibility and adds like the coward that he is, “So what can I do?”

Lady Choi worries like a mother that the weather is cold and Noguk should pick another day to go to the temple. Noguk tells her that her heart won’t sit still with worry so she has to do something to focus. Lady Choi suggest that they take a large party just in case, including Jang Bin, but Noguk says she just wants to go quietly and simply.

At the temple, Lady Choi leaves Noguk to pray by herself to order the Moogakshi to keep other people away. Lady Choi happily wonders to herself how beautiful the baby will be, regardless of sex, with such beautiful people as parents. (Joonni: *weeps*) She goes back to Noguk but Noguk has sneaked off and Lady Choi and crew panics, unable to find her.

Noguk has entered a small, dark room by herself and states out loud that she came because of the Yuan envoy’s letter. She says in Yuan that she is the Yuan emperor’s daughter and she came to get the letter how mother is supposed to have sent her. When no one responds, Noguk tries to leave the room but the doors close on her one by one, trapping her inside.

Eun-soo and Young run through the woods as the guys with arrows keep following them. They come upon a rocky hill and Young tells her to wait for her here. He leaves and as Eun-soo gets up, her hair tie with the bell gets caught in a tree and rolls underneath some rocks. Eun-soo digs the bell out but something flashes in Eun-soo’s memory so she digs deeper and finds a moldy bottle. Eun-soo opens the bottle and finds a letter inside, written on the pages of her diary.

A guy with his arrow is aiming for Young but he can’t see him suddenly. He searches, surprised, and turns around to see that Young has steathly come up behind him. Young finds and kills the others in the group and rushes back to Eun-soo.

Eun-soo hides the bottle when Young comes back. He asks her what’s wrong after seeing how pale and stricken she looks. She tells him it’s nothing and just asks him to hug her. Young sits down and wraps his arm around her shoulders and asks once again what’s wrong. Eun-soo doesn’t answer as she looks back at the place she found the bottle.

We see the shadow of Eun-soo, dressed in ancient robes, kissing the bottle before placing it under the rocks. In voice over, we hear the letter’s content. “You are probably the one who is reading the writing hidden here. If you are reading this writing, it means you are with that person right now. I remember everything about that day- that person’s honest gaze as he looked at me…his warm chest. Yes, Eun-soo. I am your future self.”

Preview for Episode 20

G: I have to go! I have to find her myself. Her body is not in good condition and the weather is cold. What is she doing and where is she?  Is there no news of the daejang?

ES: If something were to happen to our king and queen…

Young: What did you hear?

G: Start.

SY: There was something I requested from you. Are you ready?

Softy’s comments:

This scene almost had me bawling. She asked an innocent harmless question “have you spent even a day out of your entire life just doing what you want – and not what others told you to do -not what they asked you to do.” But he doesnt look at her and replies quietly in the most honest way “yesterday and today.” That just gutted me. two days. that’s all he ever got to do what he wants? that seems so unfair and tragic at the same time. what kills me even more is once she is gone, he wont even have any more of these kind of days. I dont know what’s going on with ES – not sure if she is from the future or what, but one thing is for certain. if she knew the events in his life would unfold like this, she should have stepped in sooner and prevented him from living like this even a day longer.

I never thought I would complain about this, but she is giving him too many wonderful memories. With every caring word, every loving gesture, every cute action, she is leaving him just one more thing to miss about her. just look how quickly he got used to skinship. He just reaches out and holds her close at the drop of a hat now. it’s going to make it so unbearable for him to continue living without her once she is gone. he is going to hear her “azza” cheer in his head each time he feels low. He is going to remember how to high five, make a pinky promise, stamp, and copy. It seems pretty cruel to keep making someone fall more madly in love with you if you still intend on leaving. The bigger problem is how we will react to their moment of separation. Not only will there be lots of tears, I fear a group chant of weeping viewers bawling and crying out half hearted “azzas” headed our way.  Mine will be the first and loudest that starts it off.

I am beginning to think something is in the water in this country that seems to just sap all the fun and life out of people the longer you live there. there is no spontaneity, no wild abandon, no living for the moment. why must there be so much gloom and doom? I think that is why ES seems like a breath of fresh air – just enlivening every place she goes and every person she interacts with. no wonder someone like Young who has just about given up on life is so drawn to her. more importantly – no wonder he doesnt want to let go of all that. by embracing her, he is holding onto joy and happiness – all in her bubbly personality.

Written before it aired: I love his new haircut, not just cuz he looks great, but more for what it represents. Even though it probably wasn’t just for her, I love how he altered his appearance to visually signify a new persona. It means he is changing inside out. He is not the same man who kidnapped her without thought or conscience.  He stopped being that cold indifferent person a long time ago. He learned to smile more freely. Instead of holding onto a faded memory of a past love, he is now pursuing the real deal. Maybe you could attribute most of his changes in personality due to falling in love, but it goes deeper than that. Losing his dear woodalchi, feeling lost in his own country, and knowing he will never feel this happy again if she isnt in his life has forced him to view his world differently. His loyalty to Gongmin is no longer enough to secure him here in Goryeo and we have to see how deep his love goes to make him choose to follow ES to her world.

Just call me the “Kdrama whisperer” for Faith. Even though I can’t tell you exactly how each character thinks and feels before they act, I still have a sense of what two of the actors are like in real life. I seem to have this connection to this drama that is getting really uncanny now that they added this new character Son Yoo played by Park Sang Won. It was one thing to have seen LMH in person a few years ago cuz I never spoke to him. All I did was get to stare at him through the store window in direct line of his vision as he signed autograph for fans. There wasn’t a massive crowd so I could take my time to study his features and mannerisms. I remember thinking he had a very soft smile. The ones that don’t beam, but are polite and sweet. Even though he knew people were taking his pictures, he still stretched his face by moving his jaw muscles around cuz his cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. He kept drinking from his water bottle too. YAI does that too, but he keeps drinking from being restless and antsy cuz he wants to get out of there. LMH took his time drinking and didn’t seem to mind doing the fan signing at all. he didn’t rush through it like most people and made sure to shake hands and smile when he makes eye contact as he hands over his autographed photo. He also made eye contact with the crowd outside the window each time he drank cuz he would smile right at us before he swallowed. But this new actor is different. Years ago, I had a one on one conversation with PSW on the street and shook his hand. I remember how sincere he was and attentive. His laughter seemed pretty genuine too when I told him my grandmother was a huge fan of his. I never dreamed I would ever be recapping anything he was in cuz he is from the “makjang” genre I tend to stay clear of. Not to mention he is so old I thought he was retired from acting. Since he is like the LMH for my grandmother’s generation, I never really considered him to be that much of a celebrity. Now tonight I am going to be recapping with this actor on my tv screen and translating his words. That is beyond surreal for me.

Joonni’s comments:

I will be brief today because this was a solid episode that had so many sweet, little moments of absolute goodness, and while the episode itself wasn’t very exciting, the drama still went forward at a nice pace- so much that this episode went by really fast and easy.

This drama has been such a joy to recap and obsess over because we have four characters- FOUR!!!- that I admire and worship. I saw especially today in the way he deals with Young and Son Yoo, how much Gongmin has grown in confidence, knowledge, and inner peace. There is just so much love between the four main leads and it just bursts out of every scene they have together. But every sweet moment today was tinged with sadness, ripping my heart in two.

As for what this time-traveling thing is…So I’m guessing that in Eun-soo’s past travel to Goryeo, Young died and she went around leaving clues at pivotal points. Thus the rock. In that timeline, Eun-soo and Young had made it this far but somehow Young ended up dying so Eun-soo left another clue at this rock. She remembered how her hair tie fell off that day and rolled under the rock and knowing that it will happen again, she left a letter so that next time, Eun-soo will be able to find it. Am I making sense? So she calls herself the future Eun-soo because this is Eun-soo past the moment at the rock. Interesting that Eun-soo is still there in Goryeo. Does that mean we have hope?