'Record of Youth' Episode 7: Hae-hyo is left behind in the dust as Hye-jun gets cast with Seo Hyun-jin's cameo
Simone and Girlfunkle had sung that the "heart goes pitter-patter" and it is in watching 'Record of Youth' Episode 7 that we understand how this would feel. The moment that Sa Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum) and An Jeong-ah (Park So-dam) kiss, after Hye-jun had been heartbroken over how his father had treated him, the show amplifies how love can really heal when you believe that you are at the lowest point in your life. Over the episode, we see how Hye-jun and Jeong-ah's relationship grows as the two begin to care for each other deeply and the fact that the two of them trust implicitly too is something that is shown in a symbolic manner as Jeong-ah allows Hye-jun to hold and kiss her when he wants.
This scene where he seeks her permission is a way of iterating how important consent is in the grand scheme of love affairs. From not making it obvious, that she knows he has had a bad day because of his manager who requests Jeong-ah to comfort him to realizing that he has been crying just from his voice that she had heard, Jeong-ah is perceptive and the consideration that she shows towards Hye-jun is something that no one else has shown him in life. Except maybe for his mother and it is this consideration that moves Hye-jun even further.
Jeong-ah is also a realistic person who believes in following dreams. This is why, despite giving up on a corporate job, she ended up investing in a house of her own while doing a job that she has come to love. This is another reason why she understands Hye-jun more than his other peers or even his own family. Their journey is very similar and both of them are struggling to strike it big in a field that they love not for wealth and money, but for their passion. This is what puts them apart from their colleagues.
The episode also portrayed the reentry of Hye-jun's former lover as a law school student who studies with Hae-hyo's sister. While she is yet to meet Hye-jun, we can definitely look forward to some clashes in the future. Meanwhile, Hae-na and Jin-u's relationship is going through a rough patch too after Jin-u refused to get physical with her because it felt like he was taking advantage of her. The only person who knows that he is in a relationship with Hae-na is Hye-jun and the two of them decide not to tell Hae-hyo for the time being. Hae-hyo is also struggling with expressing his feelings to Jeong-ah who has from the beginning been very transparent regarding her feelings for Hye-jun. So despite being interested in her romantically, now that Jeong-ah and Hye-jun have begun dating, he is unsure of how to be around Jeong-ah anymore. The only thing he is able to do at the moment is to continually be around in garb of work as she happens to be his make up artist and also find faults in her so that he can distract his heart from getting involved any further.
However, it is unlikely that this will work at all. In this period, Hye-jun's manager Min-jae (Shin Dong-mi) ends up getting an audition with a director who is looking for a good actor to work with celebrated actor Lee Hyun-soo (Seo Hyun-jin). Hae-hyo's mother is busy getting her son the role that he wants in a show called 'Catch', which was the same show that Hye-jun had been offered but replaced at the last moment because of his former agent. It is only after seeing Hye-jun on the screen that she realizes how talented her son's friend really is. Will there be jealousy that causes friction now and will this affect the relationship between Hae-hyo and Hye-jun? We cannot be sure. For now, Hae-hyo seemed sincerely happy for his friend landing a role in the show called 'Gateway'. So as much as his mother wants him to distance himself from Hye-jun, things might not go as she planned. Instead, it could Jeong-ah who brings a rift between the two friends.
'Record of Youth' originally airs on tvN on Mondays and Tuesdays in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix in the US.