This by far is my favourite episode (that may definitely be because of the waterfall/rain scenes… :p)~

The characters are really forming very nicely, as are the relationships.

This episode felt a lot lighter, but that may be due to how frequent our two mains spent time together. There were a lot of cute moments that made me squeal and SungYeol continues to save YangSun which never hurts.

Saying that, there are definite darker elements. As I’ve said before, this drama is doing well at balancing the humour and dark sides of the story.

The wrap up of the previous two episodes was well-edited and flowed nicely into where we left off at the end of episode two.

YangSun mutters ‘vampire’ before she passes out. SungYeol watches her in silence for a few moments and then turns back to the vampire girl. He explains that stalking her and draining her blood is a vampires nature. That doesn’t stop him from stabbing the girl when she attack him. The girl dies, her body turns to ashes and smoke.

SungYeol looks down at YangSun, his inner voice wondering who she is and how she got her hands on JungHyun’s vampire novel.

We watch as Gwi mist runs through the forest to the clearing where the clothes of the girl still lie, while SungYeol carries YangSun in his arms, mist running away.

Gwi gives chase after tasting YangSun’s blood on a tree, saying:

With that appetising prey… I can’t let him enjoy it alone.

SungYeol stops running and fights his desire for YangSun’s blood. He senses Gwi, who is following the blood trail from YangSun’s wound, and keeps running. When SungYeol realises this is the case, he sets YangSun down and stabs her in the shoulder.

We then see Gwi, who looks to have momentarily lost his ‘prey’, soon pick up the scent again, only to find a rabbit that has YangSun’s blood on it. A flashback shows us SungYeol smearing blood on the rabbit from YangSun’s shoulder wound he made (at first I was mortified, thinking ‘what are you doing?!’ But when it all came together, I was shocked at how good of an idea that was. He isn’t a Scholar for no reason!). Angered by the situation, Gwi shouts SungYeol’s name out into the night.

SungYeol reaches a waterfall, where he urges YangSun to endure for a little longer. He jumps in, and as the pair fall lower into the water, YangSun thinks about her father and sister, thinking that she may be close to death.

SungYeol notices her struggling to breathe and presses his mouth to hers (blowing to give air) a few times.

Meanwhile, above them, Gwi has gotten back on track. But them being in the water, the scent is gone. Gwi says that it would be a waste if he caught SungYeol after waiting so long to start the chase, but doesn’t seem to mean it as he roars in frustration.

When the coast is clear and SungYeol doubts that YangSun can hold out much longer, he swims to the surface and lays her down on the rock bank.

He tries to perform CPR (which doesn’t really look like CPR… but I’m not complaining because we are being spoilt right now haha ♥)

YangSun spits up water and coughs, thanks to his intense chest pumping, intent on getting her to respond so she can give him information (I’m a little disappointed that this is his main reason for saving a girl whose death would technically be his fault…).

SungYeol takes her somewhere safe where he heals her wound with his blood. He notices the scar on her shoulder again (this little mark is definitely going to be important).

SooHyang comes in, surprised that he used the Hawthorne knife which when used makes healing difficult for a vampire. Her worry for him is brushed aside as SungYeol orders her to change YangSun’s clothes and leaves the room.

Outside, SungYeol is searching for YangSun’s bag in the forest, however, it isn’t where he left it. That would be because Gwi has it in his possession, as we see him nosing at the book’s contents. He wonders if this ‘Lustful Student’ is the reason SungYeol has come out of hiding and whether this person has JungHyun’s diary.

Ten years ago we see Gwi’s visit to Prince Sadong. Gwi demands Sadong tell him where the diary is. Sadong refuses and laughs at Gwi’s admittance to destroying the secret plan, saying that the plan still exists. Gwi doesn’t take kindly to this and kills him.

SooHyang gasps and wonders if Sadong was telling the truth (looks like SungYeol has been telling the story he witnessed). SungYeol is unsure, saying the only way to find out is to find the diary.

Changing topic (slightly) SooHyang tells him that they have to get rid of YangSun as Gwi has an easy way to track her and thus SungYeol (this Gisaeng is ruthless and I kind of love that!). He refuses, saying she must not be harmed or killed before he is able to find the diary/secret plan or find how she got the novel by JungHyun (so it’s okay to do so after you use her?).

The next morning Yoon is waiting for YangSun at their designated spot and even though it has been two hours, he is content to wait a little longer. HakYoung says that there is no way that YangSun is Jin, which Yoon agrees with, but still feels that YangSun is most like him than anyone he has met.

Yoon then notices a suspicious looking man.

Meanwhile, YangSun wakes up from having a nightmare and continues to recall what happened that night, while clutching her chest. From outside her room, she hears SungYeol tell her to come out if she is awake.

She walks out into the courtyard, where SungYeol asks after her health. She tentatively asks if he rescued her and saw that woman. SungYeol denies seeing a woman, just that she was covered in blood and soaked by rain on the forest floor. YangSun internally wonders how that can be true, as surely she didn’t imagine such a detailed story.

SungYeol changes topic quickly, asking why she was in the forest at night in the first place. YangSun explains she was on her way to tell him that the ‘Lustful Student’ he is looking for will be arrested if caught because of what he wrote to defend Prince Sadong. She explains that she won’t be a part of his capture as his work is helping her pay for her family’s needs (it seems she thinks he is looking for LS to capture him) and will have no part in it.

SungYeol asks why she gave him the vampire book. YangSun explains that there are two Lustful Students (as she notices the difference in writing styles and the fact that the vampire book is over 100 years old), she tells him it is one of a kind and she is giving him her most treasured possession in thanks for saving her at the Gisaeng House.

To her first point, SungYeol explains that his intention towards Lustful Student is not to capture him, but simply to trace an old friend through him. YangSun excitedly agrees to answer where she got the books, saying that she’s normally very interested in vampire stories and so when she saw it in a bookshop she bought it.

YangSun also tells him that she has asked the same person to keep a lookout for JungHyun’s diary. However, the bookseller sells books illegally, thus doesn’t sell to people he doesn’t know, so SungYeol reluctantly agrees to be escorted by her in the morning.

At court, the King is listening to his advisers who wish for the swift arrest of the flyer distributors and the dethronement of Yoon. They propose that allowing the son of a traitor to take the throne will cause bloodshed.

The King is angered by the thought and refuses to listen, calling his council idiots. He is annoyed that they continue to talk about the dethronement of his grandson, yet have nothing to say about the second palace that has yet to be completed. An advisor steps forward and explains that they have spent most of their budget on the palace. This just angers the King further, who tells him to just get the money from council members who have been taking funds on the sly. This causes a stir, as does his threat to kill them all if the palace is not completed soon.

A disgruntled advisor confesses to Gwi that the King’s behaviour is unacceptable, especially as the request to arrest Lustful Student came from Gwi (this King is clearly not so controlled as I thought he was). He goes on to moan that the only thing the King cares about is the completion of the second palace and keeping his bloodline on the throne.

Talk turns to JungHyun’s diary and what Sadong did with it. Gwi picks up YangSun’s bag and inhales deeply, thinking that if he can find ‘this man’ (our little crossdresser), he can find SungYeol.

SooHyang tells SungYeol and HoJin the information she collected, that the son of the dead wallpaper shop owner is said to have been sighted. She tells SungYeol to send some people to the place, as there may be an eyewitness for who Lustful Student is.

SungYeol then gets up ready to leave, however, HoJin scrambles up saying that he will go to the bookshop instead. HoJin is concerned as the sun is set high in the sky and could harm his master (aww he’s sweet~). SungYeol gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and tells him to stay to help SooHyang with a task.

Meanwhile, YangSun is outside, breathing in the smell of books, which are sadly locked away inside (I love her love for books~). 

SungYeol walks up behind her, startling YangSun by asking if she is ready to go. YangSun looks him up and down and asks how clothes look so good on him and says that he looks like the main character of a romance novel. SungYeol practically rolls his eyes and leaves her to her fangirling!

As the pair leave the house grounds, we see SooHyang send someone to follow them.

SungYeol opts for taking a path through the forest, where the canopy shields him from the bright sunlight. YangSun is cheerful as she follows him, however, becomes rather serious as she shyly thanks him for both times he has saved her. YangSun says she doesn’t know if what she dreamt really happened, but she understands that he saved her from a big misfortune.

Suddenly stopping, SungYeol turns to face her and asks her how long she has been pretending to be a boy. Much to his surprise YangSun reveals that it has always been that way in her memory, as she suffered an accident when she was 10 resulting in memory loss. A passing monk said that to live well, she had to be a man and once she was dressed in men’s clothing, she got better. YangSun smiles and brightly says:

‘My life is to live as a man.’

SungYeol says it must be hard, but our positive YangSun disagrees saying that it allows her more freedom as she can earn money as a bookseller and read anything she wants to.

YangSun explains that she feels like she is doing a good job by selling books, and that her heart feels full as she is able to spread hope and joy with each book that she sells. YangSun then asks why he is looking at her in a strange way and he replies:

‘Because it’s pretty. I’m saying your heart is pretty.’

YangSun is shocked, no doubt being told she is pretty is not something she is used to (especially from an attractive scholar she has a crush on). SungYeol smiles and as he walks away, she begins to smile and happily follows after him.

Also in the forest are Yoon and HakYoung who are out hunting. Yoon spots a deer, is poised to shoot an arrow and says that because of his unfilial behaviour he will get a gift for the King.

The deer gets to live another day as that gift turns out to be a man who has been following the pair.

Walking through the market, YangSun bounds happily along, trying to get SungYeol to walk quicker. Meanwhile, SungYeol has noticed someone following them.

YangSun shouts ‘ahjussi’ at a man speaking Chinese and selling wares who then comes bounding up to greet her, switching to Korean.

The man takes them to a room, full of books. He tells them that he doesn’t have JungHyun’s diary, nor has he found it elsewhere. He, like nearly everyone else, doesn’t know who JungHyun is and tells them to just assume the book doesn’t exist. He leaves them, saying that they can look anyway.

While searching, SungYeol tells YangSun that she can go. But YangSun, who is still grateful for him saving her (twice now) wants to stay, especially as there has never been a case where she hasn’t found a requested book.

SungYeol simply clears his throat and tells her to leave anyway, as he wants to look alone. YangSun is evidently upset by this, but leaves nonetheless (does SungYeol look sad to let her go?), followed by SooHyang’s minion.

Ah, so that’s why he told her to go. Mr speedy vampire can charge round the room, flipping through books at an extreme pace. The more he does so, the more he becomes irritated at not finding the book.

YangSun is once again walking through the forest, grumbling about how it seems further without SungYeol. She stops walking and looks around her, afraid that the person she thinks is following her could be a vampire. As YangSun runs off, her follower un-sheathes his blade.

While she is running from the man, she trips and her arm is suddenly grabbed by SungYeol, who twirls her around to land in his arms. He glares at the man following her, who simply runs away. SungYeol tells YangSun it’s alright now, but she continues to hold onto him, still scared. SungYeol hesitates before patting her shoulder to comfort her (I definitely thought he wasn’t going to, I squealed when he did haha ^^”).

SungYeol goes to investigate what was following her (like he doesn’t know), even though YangSun begs him to not go as it is dangerous. SungYeol catches the man easily and holds him to the floor by the neck. SungYeol is extremely angry, but his anger turns more to confusion/incredulity when he finds out that SooHyang sent the man.

YangSun is wandering through the forest and hurries up to SungYeol who is heading back to her. She chastises him for following something he didn’t know and that forests are dangerous. He smiles, slightly teasing her about thinking the thing following her was a vampire.

He suddenly pulls out an incense case from his bag and SungYeol leans close to her and clasps it around her neck (that little smirk he gave when he saw that she was flustered *dies*). He explains that the Chinese Hawthorne will make sure animal or vampires don’t follow her. YangSun mumbles that it sounded like human footsteps, but is grateful nonetheless and changes topic.

She wonders how SungYeol got to her so fast and if he has found the book. SungYeol simply says that he has other business today, so he will leave first. Just as he says this it begins to rain, YangSun notes that the clouds don’t look like it will end soon. SungYeol then grabs her wrist and they run through the rain (I’m squealing so much right now, he did this with MyungHee!! Does that mean he has slight feelings for YangSun?! Parallels!!)

YangSun detaches herself from SungYeol, who watches her play and spin around in the rain. He gives us his usual half-smile, but then she evokes a full smile out of him. His mind turns back to MyungHee and his smile fades away (that was an emotional minute for me!).

The two are now walking up to the waterfall, soaked through, but thankfully the rain has stopped now. They stop and YangSun rubs her shoulder, which leads SungYeol to ask about the scar there.

YangSun asks how he knows about it, and gets shocked when he tells her (I love that he gets a little flustered before answering ha!). She reminds him that she had an accident ten years ago. A wild animal bit her, her father cauterised the wound so that it wouldn’t infect. SungYeol smiles and teases her that she gets into trouble a lot with wild animals.

YangSun smiles happily, telling him that won’t happen from now on, as she has the incense case.

YangSun runs down to the water pool to drink. Rolling up her sleeves, she dunks her head in. She freezes and blinks (the sound effects for her blinking are so cute~ definitely fits her character), as her mind suddenly conjures up the moment in the water when SungYeol tried to breathe air into her mouth.

She looks up at him and proceeds to persuade herself that it didn’t happen. YangSun laughs at herself, saying that it’s only an obscene dream of hers that has been suddenly remembered. SungYeol watches her and is obviously amused. He slowly walks away, leaving YangSun to hurry after him.

Meanwhile, Yoon is playing target practice, shooting around the man he caught in the forest. He comes to his last arrow as the King enters the courtyard, angry at having overheard him speaking about Prince Sadong.

Yoon motions for the man to be brought to where they all stand, as he explains that this man has been following him for the past three months. A council member is shocked to recognise the man and shares a worried glance with another, especially when Yoon tells them all that this man has been sending back information on his whereabouts back to someone in the council.

The King refuses to believe Yoon’s word and demands a confession from the spy. Yoon kneels down in front of the man and produces a handmade doll from within his hanbok. Yoon tells him that the people who hired him will kill his family, but he promises to protect them. The man wells up and blurts out his confession, that the Minister made him do it. The man even tells Yoon where to find the evidence.

Yoon tells the King to remove the accused minister from his position and punish him accordingly. The King does so and even gives Yoon a nod of acknowledgement.

SungYeol is furious with SooHyang for having sent an assassin after YangSun and waves away her reasons for doing so. He explains that YangSun is the only capable bookseller that can help him.

SooHyang accuses him of having YangSun in his heart, saying that he has changed. This only angers SungYeol further, as he shouts at her that his resolution has not simply wavered because of a woman, his life is not that easy. SooHyang cries, telling him that she would do anything for his safety, even give her life (snubbing his thought that her actions were cause by mere jealousy). SungYeol shouts back, saying that the life she wishes to save so much, is one that he wishes to be rid when his quest to kill Gwi is over.

Sungyeol tells her, the only reason he is keeping her, HoJin and YangSun around is to follow out his plan. If she want something more, he tells her to leave his side immediately.

In town, YangSun is angry and upset as she slaps one of the moneylenders, screaming at him to apologise for beating her father. He tells YangSun that he has no choice but to sell her sister, as she hasn’t given him any money. He also tells her, no matter how angry, to never resort to using her fists, and promptly slaps her to the ground.

Yoon, who is walking nearby, is being praised by HakYoung, seeing as how the King is inviting the Prince to events. Still, Yoon is happy with the hustle and bustle of the life he leads in town.

The moneylender is creepily telling YangSun that he could get a pretty penny even if he sold a boy. As he goes to try to undo her hanbok, a hands grabs the moneylenders and pulls him back. The moneylender tells Yoon to go on his way, thinking that he is a Scholar. Even YangSun tells him to leave, saying that they are people he shouldn’t have to deal with.

Of course, Yoon denies the offer to leave, stating that he won’t leave his good friend. Yoon wraps his arm around the man’s neck and leads him away after being told that he should pay his “good friends” debt, so that he doesn’t have to get sold. Yoon gives him the money and tells him never to bother YangSun again and that soon he will be arrested. The moneylender only laughs, but gets worried when Yoon explains that HakYoung’s family is in a high position and that HakYoung is also the Crown Prince’s closest friend.

On his way back to YangSun, he just smiles and shrugs.

Later in the evening, they all go to YangSun’s home, where her father is quickly taken into the house, as is DamYi who is carried by HakYoung.

Yoon and YangSun are left alone outside, where Yoon surmises that there is no way YangSun can be Jin. YangSun apologises, which upsets Yoon as asks if he is the only one who sees them as friends (I love that his reason for them being friends and why she shouldn’t be so formal is because they’ve met like five times! haha). He continues to break the ice by saying that he doubts he can become a Scholar, but that he ought to try to be a great obscene artist!

At the palace Gwi is ordering the King to call Yoon to him and to arrest Lustful Student. On that note, the King thinks that Gwi shouldn’t be concerned with an obscene novel. The King, in response to Gwi asking where his confidence comes from, divulges that he has a plan that if Gwi kills him, everyone will find out about vampires.

The King knows where JungHyun’s diary is. Gwi, who looks generally sick of telling people that there is no secret plan, tells him that there is no secret plan. The King, still confident, tells Gwi to try to kill him and find out. Gwi goes to do just that, but stops himself, saying that he will kill the King and Yoon if Lustful Student is not arrested.

We then see Gwi peering down into Sadong’s well prison in deep thought. He isn’t alone, as SungYeol once again watches him from a balcony. We go into his memory back to the night Sadong died, as Gwi walks towards the Prince he vows to find the new secret plan and kill his entire bloodline.

A shadow suddenly dances past the pair, distracting Gwi, who runs after it. SungYeol hurries back to Sadong (having momentarily lost Gwi) and introduces himself, Sadong recognises the name from JungHyun’s diary. He sputters out that the secret plan is a human, but before he can say anything else, he dies.

Back in the present, SungYeol vows to appear in front of Gwi when he finds the secret plan.

It’s a new day and YangSun, rather breathless, is running into SungYeol’s property, shouting out for him. She has found JungHyun’s diary. HoJin, who is out sweeping, races up to her, wondering if she has found Lustful Student. He proceeds to tell her more information than is necessary as SungYeol chastises him as he comes out of the house, ordering him to go ready his horse.

In the market place, SungYeol’s breath is heavy and he is rather unsteady on his feet, due to the searing brightness of the sun. YangSun suggests that he go home, but he simply shakes his head, saying he will wait with her.

 

While looking around the street, his gaze locks onto an approaching woman. He walks slowly towards her, pulling down her jacket covering her head when he reaches her. SungYeol calls out ‘MyungHee’ and pulls her in a hug, shocking both the woman and YangSun who is watching.

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Thank you for watching~

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Additional Comments:

I feel like the ending of this episode would have been more shocking and powerful if they hadn’t shown her in the preview of episode 2. But, saying that, the fact that she was in the preview made me want to watch this episode more… you can’t win sometimes!

I feel that the music placement is getting a lot better, and is adding to the drama now, instead distorting how the scene is supposed to make you feel.

I also didn’t notice any glaringly bad or cheesy effects, so I’m happy with the production of this episode. Hopefully it remains that way from now on.