Values
Jae-Kyung and Hee-Do are getting along better now, but Jae-Kyung has a confession to make. She won’t go to college because she wants to be a journalist. Jae-Kyung is surprised and disappointed, but her mother is more than happy for her daughter to pursue her dreams.
As Yu-Rim and Hee-Do discuss this very notion, they overhear Coach Yang berating one of the players, Ye-Ji. She’s not happy about fencing and just not passionate about it like she used to be.
Ye-Ji wants to explore other options and see what she can do. So she broaches the subject of just not showing up the following day after Coach Yang refuses to let her quit. He-Do and Yu-Rim decide to stick up for their teammate, making a bold decision not to train until Yang relinquishes her idea and allows Ye-Ji to quit.
Ji-Woong shows up to see Yi-Jin at the station while he’s working. After exchanging pleasantries, he hands over one of the photos he took on holiday, the one Yi-Jin wanted of Hee-Do.
As the police arrive, Seung-Wan stands up to face them, refusing to be intimidated. He tells the officers that he was only trying to help Ji-Woong and that he didn’t mean to hurt her. The officers take Seung-Wan into custody, and Ji-Woong is taken away in handcuffs.
Yu-Rim and Seung-Wan argue with the police, but eventually Seung-Wan agrees to help the police enforce the no-corporal-punishment rule. Yu-Rim thanks him before leaving, and Seung-Wan watches as she walks away.
Yun-Seong goes to UBS HQ and meets with Yun-Seong’s boss, Yi-Jin. Yun-Seong knows that Yi-Jin is not going to let him interview Seung-Wan because he is Seung-Wan’s cousin. Yun-Seong tells Yi-Jin that he wants to do an interview with Seung-Wan but Yi-Jin doesn’t want to let him. Yun-Seong leaves and goes back to his house.
Coach Yang won’t let Ye-Ji quit unless she makes it to the quarterfinals of Nationals. She’s not sure if she’ll be able to make it, but Yu-Rim and Hee-Do decide to help her. They allow her to train after hours, they take her out for runs, and they even do practice matches too. ..
Eventually they make it to the stadium, intending to support Ye-Ji no matter what. Yi-Jin is there too, reporting on the baseball, and he ends up spending time with Hee-Do that night. Its’ incredibly cute, with Hee-Do making excuses so they can spend longer together and also stand under the umbrella despite it not actually raining.
Just after they part ways, Hee-Do’s ex, Ho-Jin, shows up to talk. He admits that he still cares about Hee-Do and calls her cutie pie again. The thing is he knows Yi-Jin is the reason they’ve broken up given she admitted to him that she was thinking of someone more than her boyfriend. ..
Ho-Jin continues on, claiming it’s getting in the way but Yi-Jin, sticking up for Hee-Do, little does he know she’s actually waiting around the corner listening to every word. ..
Ye-JI’s final match takes place in the morning and she manages to win her game. Hee-Do and Yu-Rim are over the moon and hurryly hug her as they learn she’s made it. Coach Yang approaches, asking if she’s willing to compete in the quarterfinals. Ye-JI says no, wanting to quit and pursue something different. Coach Yang actually wants Ye-JI to stay, so she agrees to compete in the quarterfinals. ..
At school, Seung-Wan does her best to try and spread the word about Seo’s abuse. Seung-Wan brings up school terms about being abusive but in reply, Seo wants her to write a letter of apology. She refuses to and also refuses to accept the school’s ridiculous code of conduct that’s not being upheld. So given she’s the best student at school, she decides to quit and study at home instead.
After Seung-Wan’s mother talks to her daughter, she decides to support her and allows her to quit. Before that though, she marches up to Seo, telling him he needs to apologize or she’ll go straight to the Parent’s Association. The other kids are incredibly proud of Seung-Wan and what she’s done, and they even see her off with a celebratory cake too.
As they kiss, the world around them starts to fade away. The only thing left is the two of them. As their lips meet, they know that this is it. They will never see each other again but for this moment, they are happy.
The Episode Review
In this episode, we see more of the different kids and their values in life. Seung-Wan stands up for her own values and even drops out of school to protest against an abusive teacher. It’s courageous to see her mum take her side too. Seeing everyone else take the teacher’s side appears to be indicative of a larger problem that we won’t get into here! ..
Meanwhile, Ye-Ji manages to work hard with Yu-Rim and Hee-Do’s help, getting into the quarter final just as she promised Coach Yang. Of course, she then drops out after which is perhaps obvious but still garners a lot of respect to see her take this stance and stand by her values.
The episode starts with a bang, as the team is called in to deal with a new threat. They quickly realize that this threat is much more serious than they thought and must take action if they want to stop it. The team works together to come up with a plan and soon realizes that this is not going to be an easy task.
Twenty Five Twenty One ended its latest episode with another strong performance. ..
