'Record of Youth' Episode 9: Jeong-ah, Hye-jun race towards making dreams come true, is there time for love?
'Record of Youth' from the beginning has been a portrayal of a section of youth that runs behind making their dreams come true despite all the obstacles that life throws in their path. In episode 9, we see how Sa Hye-jun's (Park Bo-gum) life has turned around after years of working hard. He did not even have the support of his family like his friend Hae-hyo did. Yet, he worked multiple jobs to support himself and not be a burden to his family. Despite all of this, his father and brother continually insulted him and taunted him regarding his failure as an actor. This is despite Hye-jun being a successful model.
So now that Hye-jun has found a foothold in the industry, he doesn't want to make a mistake or let this opportunity be wasted on efforts of sticking to building an image, or following a set formula towards stardom. Stardom is not what Hye-jun is after. Stardom is something that Hae-hyo's mother wants for her son. Hye-jun wants only to be able to act and earn while acting. He wants to be a part of an industry, working while not being reminded of his parents' background or how all this while, his friend had gotten a leg up because he belonged to a family that could afford to support him.
This is also the reason why Hye-jun decides to give up on a melodramatic romance drama in favor of a historical show that has quality content. He believes that the movies that he does should be something that he lives and that his filmography should be filled with titles that are memorable to him and his fans. This choice proves to be the right one because viewers watch and understand the talent that this man has, and as a result, his work also earns him fans. The one thing that Hae-hyo had so far depended on were fans who followed him on social media. This is also the same thing that placed an obstacle in Hye-jun's path at the beginning. It is poetic justice that Hye-jun would earn the same accolade through his work while Hae-hyo's mother had led her son to believe that the fans on social media were a result of his effort.
The fact that she was manipulating the numbers was something that her son was not aware of, but the more successful Hye-jun is, the more greedy and dissatisfied Hae-hyo's mother becomes. When Hye-jun ends up being nominated for Best Actor Award alongside Park Do-ha, another popular actor, Hae-hyo is still trailing behind with only a Rookie of the Year award. Hae-hyo's success is considerable, but to his mother, he is laid back. The fact that everyone has their own journey is not something that Hae-hyo's mother understands and from the looks of it, she has now made Hae-hyo also conscious of where he stands. So initially, Hae-hyo's happiness for Hye-jun's success was unadulterated. Now, though, he will tend to compare himself to his best friend and we know how that would only lead to a rift between the two. Especially since Jeong-ah (Park So-dam) is also someone that Hye-jun pursued when Hae-hyo also ended up being interested in her romantically.
Another interesting detail that we have noticed is how Jeong-ah and Hye-jun's relationship is coming along. The two are definitely in love, however, the pace at which both of them are running after their respective dreams might create a hollow space within their relationship. Jeong-ah now wants to open her own shop instead of working where she has been for a while and in order to be able to do so, she would have to sell her house. She is hesitant to ask anyone for help because she had learned at a young age that asking for help, even if it was your parents, would be burdening them. From when she was young, she has never had someone that she could lean on and now, when her father is in a state to help her, she only continues to push him away when it comes to asking for help because, in her head, she would be burdening her father.
Despite struggling with all of this, she doesn't confess her hardship to Hye-jun because she considers that this would burden her boyfriend. The closer Hye-jun is to achieving his dreams, the farther he is from Jeong-ah, or at least that is how it seems in this episode. Despite being nominated for Best Actor Award, he did not even invite Jeong-ah to the award ceremony and yes, he wins the award too. And he gets the award from his idol, a senior actor who also transitioned from being a model -- Park Seo-joon. So wouldn't this hurt Ae-jeong? After all, she did confess at the beginning of the episode that in love, she is at a space where her heart gets hurt when noticing the tiny details. We wonder how this would progress going forward.
'Record of Youth' originally airs on tvN on Mondays and Tuesdays in South Korea and can be streamed on Netflix in the US.