'Record of Youth' Episode 6: Hye-jun seeks comfort in his new love Jeong-ah, rises yet again after failure
Happiness is fleeting and frugal. Thus portrays 'Record of Youth' Episode 6 and draws parallel by showcasing how hopelessness pulls one deep into its chasm. Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum) was able to get his first role in a film despite initially failing the auditions, with his manager Min-jae's help. The industry stalwarts hear about his performance and word of mouth results in Hye-jun getting a role in a mini-series titled 'Catch'. Min-jae ends up misreading the situation and believes that Hye-jun's former agent was the one to have referred his name.
So she ends up revealing the news to this man who has already promised that he will always obstruct Hye-jun's success, in any way possible. Just as expected, he ends up snatching the almost confirmed role away from Hye-jun and this breaks Min-jae's heart because she believes that it is her fault that Hye-jun lost this role. In fact, she struggles to give him the news and in this period, everyone close to Hye-jun learns from different people that he might be in the mini-series and begin to celebrate prematurely. It is only later that Hye-jun himself learns about not being in the series. His reaction is not the explosive anger one would expect at not being treated fairly, but resignation. He is resigned to the fact that the more he stands up against his former agent, the more obstacles he would face in the future.
However, as we had mentioned earlier, the hopelessness that comes with such failure despite sticking to making your dreams come true with a passion is deep and hurtful. Exactly when Hye-jun is struggling with this bad news, his grandfather passes out due to exhaustion and his father finds out how he had helped his grandfather sign up in a modelling school. One would assume that he would be appreciated for showing interest and love, but he is instead faced with criticism. This criticism is not only verbal but physical as well, because very soon we see Hye-jun getting slapped by his father. Despite holding on to his dear life and everything that he had to give up in life for a career in modeling, he is looked down upon for having a dream that doesn't suit his father's taste. At this point, the only thing that Hye-jun can remember is a phrase that he had read in a book about how happiness is frugal and fleeting an emotion.
Hopelessness, on the other hand, holds us down more forcefully than happiness is capable of cheering us up and this imbalance is what causes the feeling of resignation and cynicism in an individual. However, at this moment when Hye-jun is filled with fear and hopelessness, he receives a call from Jeong-ah (Park So-dam). After Hye-jun had confessed to Jeong-ah that he liked her, the two had arrived at her house and had decided that they would get to know each other slowly. When Jeong-ah had claimed that she did not know what to do next and that the only thing she knew was that she liked him too, Hye-jun had suggested that the two date, and she fell for the suggestion. So at this moment, the two are dating, and it may not be serious, but it is definitely a relationship that helps Hye-jun pick himself up and dust off the day's worries. The episode ends with the two of them getting physically close and it is brilliant to watch the steps that the two of them take before they move on.
While Hye-jun might not have been finalized for the mini-series, he also understands that he cannot be too positive about the probability of his success, because he has very little time left before he is forced to enlist in the army. So, the only thing he is certain of at this moment is to work harder than others to be able to do something in the time that is available to him.
'Record of Youth' originally airs on tvN on Mondays and Tuesdays in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix in the US.