5 Moments In Episodes 13-14 Of "Our Blooming Youth" Where The Truth Came Out

“Our Blooming Youth” picks up the pace this week as we head into the last quarter of the show. Skirmishes occur and are quelled, secrets rise to the forefront, and Crown Prince Lee Hwan (Park Hyung Sik) and his favorite eunuch, Min Jae Yi (Jeon So Nee), finally reach a new threshold in their friendship. But other eyes are watching, and Hwan still has more enemies than friends, even if he may have an unexpected ally in an even more unexpected place.

Warning: spoilers for episodes 13-14 below.

1. The Tae Gang dilemma

We left off on Jae Yi accusing Tae Gang of being the messenger who delivered a copy of the same ghost-sent letter Hwan received to her father on the day her family was murdered. Tae Gang (Heo Won Seo) vehemently denies the accusations and puts two and two together to realize that “Go Sun Dol” is in fact Jae Yi. Hwan has no idea what to do with the two of them so he separates them for now. While Jae Yi is certain that Tae Gang was the man who met her father and was part of the Byeokcheon crew who cursed the monarchy, Hwan isn’t so sure. For starters, Tae Gang was with him on both occasions, so he couldn’t have been in two places at once.

Yet, Jae Yi recalls Ga Ram (Pyo Ye Jin) mentioning how Kim Myung Jin (Lee Tae Sun) had run into Tae Gang in public, only for Tae Gang to act like they’d never met. And he was in disguise to boot. Are there two Tae Gang’s running around? At any rate, Hwan’s Tae Gang dislikes and distrusts Jae Yi even more, but comes around when Hwan explains her predicament. To his credit, Tae Gang tries to talk it out with her, saying that it wasn’t him and that he feels just as wrongly accused as she must feel. As far as convincing speeches go, that one’s on the money and leaves Jae Yi with plenty of food for thought. But both she and Hwan agree that it’s best to leave Tae Gang on a separate mission from theirs for now.

2. Jae Yi’s feelings

While we’ve seen Hwan’s feelings in depth throughout the show, we hadn’t gotten similar insight into where Jae Yi’s heart belongs, until this week that is. And what a revelation it was. When Hwan, Jae Yi, and Han Sung On (Yoon Jong Seok) venture on the outskirts of the capital to interrogate the man involved in contaminating Hwan’s water during the hunting ceremony in the first few episodes, Jo Won Bo (Jung Woong In) sends assassins after the same man to cover up his role in trying to make Hwan appear cursed. The assassins make quick work of stopping Hwan’s interrogation before it begins and begin to fight Hwan, Jae Yi, and Sung On. The latter two fall off a cliff during the battle, and Hwan completely loses it, believing that he’s lost them forever. Despite being badly injured himself, he sobs thinking that he truly is cursed to lose those he loves.

Only, Jae Yi and Sung On are relatively unhurt and washed up some miles from him. Her leg is injured and Sung On is bewildered when she insists on finding Hwan instead of returning to the palace. They search for hours, and she falls quite a few times but refuses to stop. She’s terrified that Hwan is hurt, and her inner monologue finally reveals how she actually feels about Hwan.

She’s shot him quite a few cheeky smiles. Heck, sometimes she’s all but radiant around him. Yet, that conversation in his room where she asked to be his Head Eunuch seemed to solidify that she had no interest in the prince but rather in a future that she could carve out for herself. Only, it turns out that Jae Yi was lying. She tearfully thinks to herself that she suggested it believing it to be the only way she could stay near Hwan. She vows that she’ll confess to him when she finds him, and she does.

Their reunion is spectacular. The relief in Hwan’s eyes as Jae Yi and Sung On run to him and the way she hugs him while Sung On gapes makes for a great moment. Until Hwan collapses. Jae Yi and Sung On end up having to take care of him through the night while secretly smuggling him back into the Palace without alerting anyone to his condition. Alas, the time for confession isn’t now. But it comes quite quickly.

3. Jae Yi’s indirect confession

As a woman, Jae Yi was taught early on that speaking her mind would only get her in trouble, so it makes sense that she expresses herself in an indirect fashion at times. Looking back, she’s been telling Hwan that she’ll choose him, protect him, be his Head Eunuch, and stay by his side many times over. But Hwan’s only ever seen those vows as ones made by a loyal, grateful friend. He doesn’t imagine she feels what he does. And it’s hilarious because these two are actually so obvious and still oblivious about each other. For example, Jae Yi is “kidnapped” by fellow eunuchs who toss her in a shed and try to force her to divulge secrets about Hwan. If she does, she fails the loyalty test (a great idea, actually). Hwan finds out about this and drags his very injured self out of bed just to make sure Jae Yi isn’t badly injured (she frees herself easily and nearly reduces the eunuchs who were testing her to tears). She gets a little cut during the escapade, and he treats it. Personally.

How do neither of them see it at this point?

He’s upset about her getting hurt. She’s determined to stay by his side and says as much. Then he brings out the big one: she should return to Sung On because it isn’t safe to be around him. Jae Yi gets a little teary-eyed, wondering why he keeps asking her to leave him. When Hwan tries to insist, she blurts out that she’s in love with someone so she can’t go back to Sung On anyway. Even if she does, it would only be to apologize. Ouch. Poor Sung On. Hwan is dumbstruck by the fact that Jae Yi has someone she loves and says the most hilarious things, like wondering how she had the time to fall in love when running around as a eunuch, haha.

He can’t let it go even the next day and quizzes her about it. Jae Yi grouses that the man she’s in love with is intelligent but a bit of an idiot, haha. Hwan sees this is as a sign that she should cut off all feeling for the man and gapes when Jae Yi insists that she can like who she likes.

Oh, you two.

But bigger trouble is brewing around Hwan and Jae Yi because the Palace is finally onto how oddly tight these two are, and hell is about to break loose.

4. The Queen’s secret network of spies

The Queen (Hong Soo Hyun) remains one of the most underrated characters in this show. Brilliant, beautiful, and kind, she’s such a well-written female character, and it’s fantastic to see. It turns out that the person leaving all those secret messages in the Palace on Hwan’s activities and so forth is Hwan’s Head Maid! And the recipient? The Queen’s Head Maid! She directly relays them to the Queen, who seems to be secretly working toward undermining her insane uncle’s plans, but also somewhat in league with the supposed Byeokcheon bandits.

She hasn’t been aware of Hwan and Jae Yi’s investigations thus far, but this week she learns that “Go Sun Dol” is wary of Tae Gang at the moment. She tells her Head Maid to warn “him” to be careful, but it isn’t sure who she is referring to. It’s a shame that she doesn’t know that her goals and Hwan and Jae Yi’s seem to be aligned. They want to know what happened 10 years ago and how it correlates to the present, the ghost-sent letter, and the murder of Jae Yi’s family. They also wouldn’t say no to delivering justice and getting rid of Jo Won Bo. And the Queen absolutely wants that. Here’s hoping that they become allies soon because Jo Won Bo has finally figured out who the mysterious Go Sun Dol is. And life is about to get insane in the palace.

5. Jo Won Bo knows the truth

A group of spies have been watching Ga Ram for some time and are well aware that she frequents as a man to study under Myung Jin. But no one puts it together until they search Myung Jin’s apothecary and come away with several posters of Jae Yi. They take these to Jo Won Bo looking for a reward, and he quickly puts it together. The reclusive Crown Prince keeps venturing outside in disguise with Go Sun Dol to the same apothecary Jae Yi’s maid studies at. One look at the poster of Jae Yi tells him all he needs to know: the prince has been hiding a known criminal in his quarters. And Jo Won Bo is delighted.

Next week promises a minefield in the palace, with Jae Yi having to navigate the worst person possible knowing her secret. It doesn’t help that Hwan has basically no power in the palace and even the King (Lee Jong Hyuk) knows that he’s all but a puppet. Granted, he knows he has loyal friends in Left State Councillor Han Joong On (Jo Sung Ha), Sung On’s father, and Chief State Councillor Kim An Jik (Son Byung Ho), but they all know that the Jo clan’s power extends across the country.

The King has put plans in motion for Hwan’s betrothal to a member of Joong On’s family to prevent the Jo family from forcing Hwan into marriage and turning him into a puppet too. With this impending marriage hanging over our duo’s heads, will they finally be honest with each other? With six episodes left, we either have a long wait for a confession or a sudden outpouring of feelings. Here’s hoping it’s the latter!

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Shalini_A is a long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and attempts to write the greatest fantasy romance of all time. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!

Currently Watching:  “Our Blooming Youth,” “Call It Love, “Taxi Driver 2”
Looking Forward to: “Gyeonseong Creature,” “Ask The Stars,” “The Girl Downstairs,” The Worst Evil,” “Black Knight,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Demon,” “Dr. Romantic 3,” “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s next drama.