What Comes After Love episode 5 recap: Did Hong read Jungo's old letter?

What Comes After Love, starring Lee Se-young and Sakaguchi Kentaro, aired episode 5 on October 18, 2024, on Coupang Play. The episode saw Song Min-jun (Hong Jong-hyun) meeting Jungo (Sakaguchi Kentaro) and asking him to stay away from Hong (Lee Se-young) since they were set to be married.

Jungo explained that there wasn't anything going on between them. Meanwhile, Song Min-jun called him a hypocrite before stating that his book about her disgusted him. Jungo made one request to Song Min-jun and asked him to make sure that he never made Hong feel lonely. The latter asked if that was it and said that it was an easy request to fulfill.

Meanwhile, Hong had found a letter that Jungo had written after he moved to South Korea. She finally gathered the courage to read Jungo's letter, which said that he had been stuck the day she left and that he regretted not understanding how lonely she was in a foreign country.

Jungo then added that he would put his regrets aside, take advice from the poems she suggested, and follow the path he had always wanted to. He wrote that he hoped this would lead him back to Hong by the end.

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What Comes After Love episode 5 recap: Hong has an emotional breakdown while Jungo fails to understand

In Episode 5 of What Comes After Love, while Jungo returns to the book signing event, he realizes it was easier not to make Hong feel lonely. He recalled the time when they were drifting apart but did not bring it up to Hong or ask her about her feelings because he was scared to listen to her answer.

He didn't have a discussion with her because of what happened to him when he was younger. When Jungo's parents were separating, his mother asked him if he wanted to stay with her or his father, and he picked his mother without any hestitation.

However, this wasn't what his mother was looking for, and the experience led to him keeping his feelings to himself. Even as an adult, he continued to do so because he was afraid that the other person might not be on the same page as him.

Although Hong was reluctant to attend the office dinner celebrating Author Sasae's (Jungo) birthday, she asked her colleague to get Jungo's favorite cake, Mont Blanc. She dropped by the dinner for a while as his father and one of their colleagues asked Jungo who the muse was for his book titled, What Comes After Love.

Jungo explained in the episode of What Comes After Love that his story was different from the book and didn't have a happy ending. He said that when they were together, his partner felt lonely, and he failed to understand that.

While Jungo is saying all this, What Comes After Love episode five featured the scene where Hong tried calling Jungo after learning about her father's company's bankruptcy. Jungo didn't respond to the call as a celebrity who he knew had passed away. This infuriated Hong, and she said that he should've called her and told her about it, but he didn't do so, and refused to admit that it was his fault.

Hong then reminded him of the many times he broke his promise and neglected her despite her feeling lonely in Japan. However, Jungo stated that it was difficult for him to understand as they saw each other every day. Hong began crying and switched to Korean to express her frustration that Jungo did not even apologize for his mistakes.

In the present, during the dinner, Hong asked Author Sasae if they failed to realize that he made his partner lonely, it would mean the world to her knowing that he had changed. Jungo responded by saying that his love for his ex and had never changed, but he understood her feelings. He then said his goodbyes and left to meet Song Min-jun.

Later in What Comes After Love episode 5, Song Min-jun informed Jungo that he had received an opportunity for a training program in the US. He said that he had asked Hong to start a fresh chapter with him in the US. He also asked her to marry him.

Hong teared up and said she was sure she was over it but that was not the case. Song Min-jun asked Hong if things would have been different had she dated him before leaving for Japan. Hong said that even if they had dated or got married and had a family, her heart would stop if she saw Jungo again.

By the end of the latest episode of What Comes After Love, Hong picked a bouquet and visited the hotel Jungo was staying in. She asked the receptionist about his room number, but was told that he had left to go to the hotel's bar. As Hong entered the bar, she saw Jungo having a drink with his ex-girlfriend Kanna (Anne Nakamura). It is unclear whether Hong knows about Kanna's connection with Jungo or not.

To know what happens next on What Comes After Love, viewers can catch the final episode on Friday, October 25 on Coupang Play and Rakuten Viki.