Twenty-Five Twenty-One Episode 14: Ye-jin wishes Hee-do on her wedding, is break-up imminent?

Twenty-Five Twenty-One leaves audiences confused and heartbroken. The episode doesn’t take audiences back to the year 2000, initially. In the present, Hee-do’s (Kim Tae-ri) daughter stumbles upon a news clip from 2009, in which Ye-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk) is seen interviewing Hee-do after her victory at an international match. The interview indicates that it has been a while since the two have spoken to each other.

The news clip in Twenty-Five Twenty-One is uploaded with the headline "Ye-jin and Hee-do’s special relationship," and their conversation in the interview is more of a nostalgic trip than a professional interview.

As they speak of times past, each answer brings with it a memory that reveals the fate of the two lead characters. At the end of the interview, Ye-jin congratulated Hee-do on her wedding, leaving the audience confused and shocked.

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Hee-do misunderstands Ye-jin over Yu-rim’s emigration in Twenty-Five Twenty-One

The first question in the interview in Twenty-Five Twenty-One is about Hee-do’s toughest opponent. Her answer reveals that her best friend and fellow fencer Yu-rim has now begun to play for Russia. As she answers this question, the audience travels back to 2000 to find out that Yu-rim has been forced to emigrate to help her family’s failing financial situation.

Yu-rim is now an adult who is forced to make tough decisions in order to keep her family safe. An unfortunate accident caused by her father leaves a stranger injured. The victim’s family seeks a settlement to help with his medical bills and other financial needs while he is bed-ridden. To settle these bills, Yu-rim takes up an offer that she received from Russia.

A still of Yu-rim and Ji-woong (Image via tvn_drama/Instagram)

She changes her nationality and faces the wrath of the Korean population before she emigrates. Yet, Yu-rim’s best friends ensure that she leaves with a smile on her face and enough happy memories.

The problem arises between Ye-jin and Hee-do when he is forced to report about Yu-rim’s decision to emigrate. His news report leads to criticism, and his girlfriend is shocked to see that he could use his friend’s misfortune to score an exclusive.

This leads to their first fight. Ye-jin disassociates himself from Hee-do and her friends for the time being. He also stays away from Yu-rim, missing the opportunity to bid his friend goodbye.

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Is Yu-rim the cause of Hee-do and Ye-jin’s breakup in Twenty-Five Twenty-One?

It seems as if Hee-do and Ye-jin cannot get back on the same page. He is worried about hurting her the same way he did Yu-rim. Hee-do doesn’t take a step to clarify or figure out the difference in their opinion. Hence, it seems as if their relationship is pretty much done. Only Ye-jin sees Hee-do at that very moment and he breaks down from all the pressure of having ruined his friend’s life.

He is a reporter, and his responsibility is to break the news. In no way should this make him guilty, but when his relationship with the subject of his news is intimate, things don’t pan outright. All of this comes to a head when he walks home and sees evidence of his news report ruining Yu-rim’s life. A scrap of paper in the trash that used to be Yu-rim’s poster and graffiti that called her names hurt Ye-jin.

He breaks down in the middle of the road in Twenty-Five Twenty-One and is weeping when Hee-do chances upon him. It becomes clear that he is not as unaffected as she assumed he would be. An olive branch saves their relationship for now. But what about the future? That’s a question for the finale week of Twenty-Five Twenty-One.