Making Nationals
In episode 5 of Twenty Five Twenty One, Hee-Do decides to take Yi-Jin’s inspiration and use it to fuel her going forward. After their fencing match, she hands over one of the swords from their skirmish earlier on and flamboyantly waves goodbye to him.
Yi-Jin and Hee-Do have been dating for a little over a month and their mother has been eavesdropping on the two of them. She’s curious about their relationship and asks Hee-Do about it.
Hee-Do believes that given how much time she’s spending with a boy, Seo-Yeon isn’t focused on her schoolwork. Seo-Yeon retorts that she is actually trying out for the National team. ..
In Min-Chae’s journal, she reflects on her experiences in the present day, which include being jealous of her mother’s glamorous life. However, reading her journal and realizing that she went through great efforts to make it to where she ended up gives her a newfound respect for her mum. The hours of grinding and working behind closed doors is something only Hee-Do’s journal confirms.
Jeong-Hyeon is a competitor on the National Team, and he challenges Hee-Do to a match. Hee-Do makes it all the way to the final, but she loses. This story makes it across to the news, and people are interested in what happened.
The mother of Hee-Do is shocked when she hears about the reporters’ intention to take a picture of her son for the paper. She is concerned for his safety and wants to do whatever she can to stop them.
The match begins and although Hee-Do starts off with a 4-0 disadvantage, all of this is just a ploy to learn the girl’s fencing. Off the back of this, she storms to a 6-5 lead.
Jeong-Hyeon uses every dirty trick in the book to try and put off Hee-Do. Coach Yang is there for her though, convincing Hee-Do to trust in herself and her skills. Hee-Do eventually wins the final. In doing so, she manages to make it onto the National team.
To celebrate her victory, she wants to ring Yi-Jin but doesn’t actually know his number. Instead, she decides to run down there in the morning. However, further drama ensues when she heads in to eat with Coach Yang over her win.
Yu-Rim shows up and she’s not exactly happy. That bitterness is now reciprocated by Hee-Do, who promises to still be her rival going forward.
Hee-Do returns home to find that Yi-Jin has quit his job at the bookstore and moved out. This appears to be a direct result of an earlier incident involving Yi-Hyun surrounded by the guardians of the bullies, right after Yi-Jin made threats. ..
The team is still trying to find Hee-Do, but it’s no good.
Yu-Rim agrees to hand over the number for Hee-Do to contact him. She also tells Hee-Do to get in touch if she manages to get through to him.
After a year of being apart, Yi-Jin and Yi-Hyun reunite in Pohang, Korea. They hope to start fresh and forget the past. ..
After their long journey home, the family is overjoyed to see each other again. Their mother is especially sad to have lost their father recently and so agrees that Yi-Jin should finish up middle school in Korea. ..
Hee-Do poses for a picture with her mother watching on, unhappy about the chosen image. Despite putting in all her effort, she still finds flaws in Hee-Do’s resolve and what she has accomplished. ..
Yu-Rim is Hee-Do’s teammate on the national team tryouts.
Despite Yu-Rim mentioning snoring, it’s actually her who snores loudly that night. So much for being a light sleeper too she doesn’t even wake up when Hee-Do drops some tapes on the floor. These tapes are to help her sleep, and they happen to be recordings from Yi-Jin’s time as a broadcaster.
The two characters have a strong relationship, with Yi-Jin trying to support his brother and Hee-Do continuing to prosper in the National Team. This dynamic is very interesting and makes for a great read.
The National Team is currently training hard and Ji-Woong and Yu-Rim are growing closer together. However, they have skipped a month in time and are now training even harder. This is a sign that the National Team is ready to take on any challenge.
Hee-Do is struggling to keep up with the training and is not performing at her best. She even falls ill and is sent to stay in a separate room from Yu-Rim to avoid getting infected. ..
Yi-Hyun, a new student at school, quickly finds himself ostracized by his old friends for being employed as a janitor. Yi-Jin, Yi-Hyun’s older brother and the only person he seems to open up to, tries to encourage him to be more open about his job and his feelings. ..
Yi-Hyun tells Yi-Jin that he never wanted to move to Seoul in the first place. He resents that he has had to give up all his friends and everything he held dear in Korea. He’s been struggling ever since, and tells Yi-Jin not to use him as an excuse for moving. This hits him hard, as Yi-Jin realizes he is the one who wanted to run away. ..
That night, he uses the payphone to listen to Hee-Do’s encouraging message. While working the fish market that night, he fences news flashes out on the little screen by his stall.
The Presidential Cup Fencing Competition is underway and Yu-Rim is dominating. However, Hee-Do ends up coming in third place. ..
Yi-Jin grins, happy that his friend is making her dreams come true. This gives him renewed hope and vigor, as he turns the water on to spray into the air; symbolic of their ties in the past. As it starts to snow, Yi-jin looks up into the air…only for the scene to switch over to Hee-Do as she too puts the taps up to sprinkle water in the air.
As the episode comes to a close, it’s Yi-Jin’s turn to leave a message as he promises to come and see her when Full House Volume 15 is released. It’s a really beautiful and touching message, and as Hee-Do sheds a tear, we fade to black.
The Episode Review
Twenty Five Twenty One is a film with a really nice message, which is reflected by the two protagonists and their differing fates. ..
Yi-Jin, a young man in his early twenties, has been forced to move and live on his own since Hee-Do, his beautiful and talented sister, passed away. Despite the challenges, Yi-Jin is living life to the fullest and has seen his dreams come true. However, he has had to deal with the loss of Hee-Do and her support along the way.
This situation is heartbreaking because the distance between Yi-Jin and Hee-Do is so great. Seeing them both leaning on the other via voice messages is such a good way of setting up their romance and the ending has some beautiful montages too.
The OST in this show is really well done and the final song is an amazing banger. It perfectly captures the agony and bittersweet nature of love, while also showing that both characters are growing closer together, despite the physical distance between them.
This one’s starting to heat up now, with a really nice tone and vibe throughout. Roll on the next episode!
