The Guitar
With each episode, When My Love Blooms develops Ji-Soo and Jay-Hyun’s past quite well while we follow the dilemmas they are facing in the present. While it is obvious that there are lingering feelings here, they are both facing some very difficult challenges in their lives. This brings plenty of dramatic and emotional moments for this show as we root for our main couple to be happy by the end, Episode 5 of When My Love Blooms picks up where the last one left off with Jae-Hyun telling Ji-Soon that she was her dream. She replies that they might wake up soon and kisses him. As she starts leaving, she remembers the beautiful day they spent together in 1994 when they came to the same place. Before dropping her home, Jae-Hyun tells her that he meant what he said regarding being by her side as he wants to stop her from crying again. The next day, Jae-Hyun is called to his father-in-law’s office who asks him if he is prepared for the parliamentary inspection. Jae-Hyun replies that he is but Jang-San wants to make sure he wins them over. He then moves the conversation to Seo-Kyeong and tells him that if his little girl is crying, he will have to leave the house with nothing but his shorts on. After spending the night crying and drinking over the situation involving her husband, Seo-Kyeong calls her lover over. When he tells her he can’t stay, she gives him her credit card to spend anything he wants. As he does, Jae-Hyun is notified of this and heads over to see his wife. As soon as she sees him, she asks if he was with Ji-Soo and reveals that she was with a man too so now they are even. After spending the day doing housework, Ji-Soo meets with her boss from the hotel who is sorry she won’t work for them anymore. Ji-Soo wants to know how much the dress costs and as she steps out, she sees Jae-Hyun leaving with his wife. Ji-Soo visits her father next which reminds her of the time in 1994 when Jae-Hyun decided to confront her father about the way he has been treating her. He mentioned Ji-Soo’s father’s position as a prosecutor and asked him to treat Ji-Soo with warmth. Her father realised that Jae-Hyun is studying law but thought that he lacked caution and beliefs. Later on, Ji-Soo overheard her father on the phone to someone, asking to find out more about Jae-Hyun. Back home in the present, Ji-Soo finds out that the dress costs 3000 dollars so she decides to work part time in a rib restaurant in the evenings. Young-Woo later comes looking for her and when he realizes where she’s working, he suggests that she works for him instead. She tells him she knows that his bar is slow and promises she doesn’t have to wear a mask anymore. Ji-Soo later gets called to the hotel where Seo-Kyeong is waiting for her. The latter tells her that Ji-Soo should compensate her for wrecking her family, only then will Seo-Kyeong settle the debt with her. Meanwhile, we see Jae-Hyun on TV being interrogated about the borrowed named account being in his name. They then mention the past when he used to be part of a labour movement. This reminds him of his time in college with Ji-Soo when they headed to a meeting about future protests. Leaving the conference, Jae-Hyun discusses his next step with Mr Jung and asks why they didn’t know he negotiated with the workers. Mr Jung is not sure but promises to check it out. Driving back, Jae-Hyun notices that he is being followed. He then sees a billboard on a building of a movie exposition by Leslie Cheung. He decides to head in hoping to find Ji-Soo there too as back in 1994 they both ended up in the cinema watching a movie with the actor. On that day, Ji Soo told him that she believes that their paths were always meant to cross no matter what they do. As we cut back to the present, after the movie Jae-Hyun sees Ji-Soo coming out the cinema. He then reminds her what she said the last time they watched a movie together about their path always crossing. While cleaning the music academy, Ji-Soo remembers the past when Jae-Hyun played a beautiful tune on the guitar which made her cry. He later spent time teaching her how to play but they were interrupted by Dong Jin, who took over with a fun song on the guitar. As we cut back to the present, Ji-Soo starts playing that very same tune. Meanwhile, Young Min arrives at his father’s house. His grandma sends him to wash up then speaks to her son about Ji-Soo. She wonders what is going on with her and if she has a man in her life. While Young-Min is asleep, Se-Hoon finds a suicide letter Young-Min started writing to his mum. The next day, he confronts his son about it who tells him it was because he had a lot to study. His father insists on knowing the truth and asks if it was bullying. Feeling that he doesn’t have any choice, Young-Min admits that he was the offender. After giving piano lessons to a little girl, Ji-Soo finds out from the mother that Jun Seo is having a party but realizes that her son wasn’t invited. She then wonders if she should transfer him to a different school. After having drinks with Dong-Ji, Jae-Hyun takes his new guitar to Ji-Soo’s place and texts her to come down. She sees her ex calling her but she ignores it and rushes over. Jae-Hyun reveals that he’s there to give her the guitar as he promised her many years ago. The episode then ends with Se-Hoon watching them and taking pictures while researching who Jae-Hyun is. The latest episode of When My Love Blooms shows us more beautiful moments for our main couple from 1994. While some may think that we are spending too much time in the past, these flashbacks really help flesh out the duo and give a more emotional and deep connection as we witness their struggle in the present. Up until now, Ji-Soo has been resisting Jae-Hyun but this latest chapter showed her resolve dwindling a little as she starts remembering all the wonderful memories she had with him. We are still left wondering about the reason for their break up but it is bound to be quite dramatic. Poor Young-Min is also having a hard time and it was harrowing to see his father finding the letter and completely mishandling the situation. Along with Seo-Kyeong, they are both set to be quite the mischievous antagonists and the main obstacles for our couple’s happiness. These keep the drama interesting and enjoyable enough despite its slightly slow pace.
