Echoes Of Youth
Does Yi-Jin make it back to Korea?
In the latest episode of Twenty Five Twenty One, Yi-Jin (played by Yoo Seung-Ho) receives some good news; an unlikely glimmer of hope in the wake of a horrific incident. In a cafe, he gets talking to an American firefighter (played by David Strathairn). “Don’t you just want to quit?” Yi-Jin asks, as the fireman points out the duty to their jobs. ..
Yi-Jin is excited to learn that he has been accepted for the foreign correspondence position. This will give him the opportunity to further his education and learn more about the world. ..
Hee-Do is sad to hear that her friend Yi-Jin will be returning home in a month’s time, but she is excited to see him. Unfortunately, this is the same time that she will be away on a competition. The pair will not be able to see each other during this time.
Hee-Do is not surprised that New Year’s Eve happened. She tells him to stop feeling sorry for her and hangs up.
Two Months Later
Ji-Woong’s fashion site is a success and he’s been doing well. Yu-Rim shows up to see him though, and they have dinner together. They learn about his past and family. ..
Yi-Jin arrives in Korea but ends up with the wrong bag. Hee-Do has the bag, and when Yi-Jin drops it by her place, he doesn’t wait around. At least until she chases him outside and confronts him.
He knows they’re drifting apart and Hee-Do understands that this is just a natural part of life. These two are in a very different place from where they started. They both mean a lot to one another but ironically they end up breaking up at the exact place where they first met – outside Hee-Do’s house. ..
When the others find out that the pair have broken up, they are shocked and the mood immediately drops at dinner. Hee-Do tells the others that she is over for good but accidentally drops her phone in her soup.
Do Yi-Jin and Hee-Do break up?
Unfortunately, because that phone is on a couple’s plan, the woman needs Yi-Jin’s consent to cancel the contract. Yi-Jin shows up in his suit but it’s awkward and eventually they’re forced to sign away their contract. It’s a bittersweet moment, especially as this almost feels like signing a divorce contract. ..
When they both leave, Yi-Jin wonders if this is the right thing to do. Yi-Jin isn’t so sure but for Hee-Do, she’s had six months to think about this. It’s here Yi-jin opens up and reveals the hell he went through in the US; all the grief and anguish from people around him didn’t allow Yi-Jin to actually miss her. Yi-Jin even reveals that because of all this, her support was burdensome. ..
Everything sours when Hee-Do leaves Yi-Jin at the tunnel alone. The silence that follows in this moment, as the pair break-up for good, is beautifully done.
After this, Hee-Do doubles down on her fencing but she overexerts herself and ends up in the hospital with exhaustion. She regrets what she said to Yi-Jin during the break-up, writing down her thoughts in her diary. ..
Yi-Jin’s diary is left behind on the bus when she and her friends leave for their weekend break. It is filled with thoughts and feelings from the past week, as well as some new ideas and plans for the future.
Do Hee-Do and Yi-Jin get to say goodbye? Do they get back together again?
Shin Jun-Hyeok is a trainee reporter who has just graduated from college. She’s been covering the news for her school’s paper and she meets Yi-Jin while doing a story on the city’s new stadium. He’s crying, having made a silly mistake, but it seems like they have something in common: their past.
Yi-Jin is also hung up over Hee-Do as well, and he ends up dreaming of her running up the beach alongside a red payphone and hugging him. That red payphone of course, is a nod back to the earlier moments in the season where the pair used to ring and listen to the voicemails.
Yi-Jin is back home, and she opens the package. Inside is Hee-Do’s final diary, which she lost on the bus. The diary is actually from Kim Eun-Su.
Yi-Jin looks through the entries and sees all the moments before he went to New York where their relationship was on the rocks. Just to underline all this, Hee-Do even writes down the “my support isn’t reaching him anymore” line. ..
It is through Hee-Do’s inner thoughts that we learn about her struggles with being alone. Yi-Jin’s PTSD is very similar to Hee-Do’s, but Yi-Jin has had to deal with being alone on a much deeper level. Hee-Do has struggled to make sense of their relationship, and it is through her thoughts that we are able to understand her better.
When Hee-Do learns that Yi-Jin is leaving, and Yi-Jin understands that Hee-Do regrets what she said, the pair race to catch up with one another. When they do, the pair say their goodbyes in a teary exchange as they go their separate ways and continue on with their lives, separately.
7 Years Later
We follow Hee-Do as he makes his decision to choose his replacement, and how that choice affects the station and the people who work there.
According to the woman, he is young and would be a great choice to replace the current establishment; youth to highlight innovation. ..
Coach Yang has been coaching Hee-Do for 20 years and knows her inside out. Hee-Do is a great fencing coach, but she’s decided that she doesn’t enjoy winning as much anymore. So naturally, Coach Yang supports her decision to retire from the sport.
Seung-Wan is now in charge of making reality shows on TV but she’s called away by her mum to a funeral. Naturally, Hee-Do, Ji-Woong and Yu-Rim all show up. Yi-Jin does also appear later on, signing his name in the registry.
Ji-Woong learns that his friend, Ji-Hwan, has opened a clothing brand and is doing well. Yu-Rim meanwhile has retired from her fencing school and is now making a good living.
As for Seung-Wan, she soon meets up with Yi-Hyun again and immediately asks for his number. Meanwhile, Ji-Woong shows up to see Yu-Rim, surprising her by dressing as a fencer. He approaches and eventually proposes to her.
Why does Hee-Do decide to give up fencing?
Yi-Jin and Hee-Do sit down for an interview, and it’s clear that they’ve been through a lot. The montage that follows shows their dedication to one another and their professionalism. ..
Yu-Rim and Hee-Do retire from fencing after a long and successful career together. They both agree that the best part of their time together was being against each other, and they think the same thing.
As Min-Chae enters the comic store, it is closing down. The owner begins packing away the items, and Min-Chae can see that it is going to be difficult to keep the store open.
The envelope contains a package for Hee-Do, which was left behind by Yi-Jin many years ago. This is likely something she left behind when she showed up to see him.
Despite all this time passing, Hee-Do drops the diary back to Min-Chae. It’s the diary!
Does Hee-Do get her diary back?
Min-Chae decides, after this experience, that she’s going to pursue ballet and write even better stories than her mother. ..
Hee-Do looks through Yi-Jin’s diary and finds an entry in which she regrets what happened between them and apologizes. ..
How does Twenty Five Twenty One end?
It’s been a few weeks since the break-up at the tunnel, and both parties are still trying to work through their feelings. But one thing is for sure: they still care about each other.
Hee-Do thanks Yi-Jin for always being there for her when she was growing up. Yi-Jin, in turn, thanks Hee-Do for supporting him through the tough times, even if things didn’t turn out the way they wanted. ..
Thanks to Yi-Jin, Hee-Do understands what breakups actually are. Remember, this is a throwback to her earlier break-up at the hands of “cutie pie”, where the pair discussed what a break-up was like. In fact, Hee-Do actually foreshadowed this by claiming that she “wanted to experience a break-up”. Unfortunately, now she has.
The two people say goodbye before leaving. ..
Is there a post-credit scene?
In a post-credit sequence, Yi-Jin, the protagonist, starts using the Barro website but can’t remember his log in details. He clicks the forgotten password button, and enters who his first love is.
Fans of K-drama may be interested in learning that Barro is actually the website that shows up when you search for “WWW,” which is likely the writer’s previous drama. It seems as though they are in a shared universe, so it’s possible we’ll see a cross-over in the future. We’ll see!
The Episode Review
After yesterday’s incredible episode, Twenty Five Twenty One ends with a rather subjective and pretty rushed ending by all accounts. ..
The main point of this article is that those who still held out hope that Hee-Do and Yi-Jin would get together are likely to be bitterly disappointed. The ending of Hee-Do and Yi-Jin’s story was very disappointing, especially given how their story ended up.
The whole part of Min-Chae’s potential father was a definite driving point for some of this, but I also think the pair weren’t meant to be together either.
Twenty Five Twenty One is a show about the highs and lows of young love. It follows the characters as they navigate through their first loves and all the emotions that come with them. ..
The ending of the book feels sloppy and unfinished. I’m not sure why we didn’t get more scenes during the present, allowing us to tie up loose ends.
It would have been more fitting, I think, if one of the group had died and everyone attended the funeral. That way, Yi-Jin and Hee-Do could meet back up again, this time with their respective partners and families, really hammering home how much these characters have changed and grown over the years. ..
We’re left with Hee-Do and Yi-Jin both still leaning toward their first love, but not really resolving anything. It’s not even like this is an open ending; it’s just sorta…over.
I understand that many people are going to be disappointed with the finale of “The Crown” because it ended abruptly. ..
The ending of Episode 15 in particular left many viewers feeling unsatisfied. Despite the abruptness of the end, it seemed like the two characters were already on a path away from one another. Episode 15 only made things worse by adding an additional layer of complication.
This chapter definitely needed more time to really flesh out everything and expand on Hee-Do and Yi-Jin’s lives in the present day timeline.
I didn’t dislike this finale, per-se. It definitely could have been better but there’s enough to reinforce the heartache of youth.
Did you enjoy the ending of Game of Thrones? Hate it outright? Let us know in the comments below!
