My Dearest (2023) Episode 8

Episode 8 of My Dearest starts with Jang-Hyun and Gil-chae kissing at a grass field. Jang-hyun asks Gil-chae to forget neither him nor the moment they spent together even though she does not love him and her heart belongs to Yeon-joon. Jang-hyun leaves to escort the Crown Prince to Simyang. Gil-chae is still convinced the man in her dreams is Yeon-joon.

She goes back home and watches Yeon-joon and Eun-ae from a distance. She has doubts about the man in her dreams and is eager to talk to Jang-hyun before he leaves. Gu Won-moo, the soldier turned official, offers to help her get to Jang-hyun.

Elsewhere, Jang-hyun and the Crown Prince’s retinue leave for Simyang after the King bids them goodbye. On the road, loyal subjects bow to the prince and cry, begging him not to leave. The Qing soldiers harrass and beat up the citizens. Gil-chae is among them. A soldier notices her among the crowd and asks that she be captured but Jang-hyun comes to her rescue. After the capture of Ganghwa Island, the Qing Emperor Khan ordered a ban on the private enslavement of Joseon people, and using this knowledge, he was able to get the soldiers to back off. 

Gil-chae and Jang-hyun speak privately but they never get to say what they want to each other. Instead, they argue about Gil-chae being careless. Instead of speaking her heart, Gil-chae ends up asking Jang-hyun for a pair of floral shoes. He promises to bring her the most beautiful shoes, if only she gives him her heart in return. He also tells her that if she told her that she would forget Yeon-jun and never think about him again, even if it were a lie, he would not go to Simyang.

Gil-chae cannot forget Yeon-joon since he is not a person she would forget easily. Jang-hyun tells Gil-chae that she is cruel and wonders what Yeon-joon has that he lacks. He leaves, promising to bring her the most beautiful shoes. 

After joining the entourage to Simyang, he asks Ryang-eum and Goo-jam if there is a person that someone can never forget. Ryang-eum tells him a story about Gab Dol and Gab Soon. They grew up together and thought they would end up marrying each other. However, Gab Soon’s family married her to a wealthy man and they had seven children. Regardless, she held onto her husband’s hand at her deathbed, called him Gab Dol, and wished to see him in the afterlife. Hence, it is possible for someone never to forget someone, and no one would be able to change that even in death.

Gil-chae watches Jang-hyun leave at a distance then goes back home. Watching Yeon-joon and Eun-ae at a distance, she says that Yeon-joon reminds her of the times she was the most beautiful and wonders if it were possible to erase the most beautiful memories. 

Yeon-joon proposes to Eun-ae but she seems to think about turning him down. She thinks about what she went through when she encountered the intruder and feels unworthy. Gil-chae reminds her that she is the most worthy and the only one with every right to marry and become Yeon-joon’s wife. They get married.

Gil-chae’s thoughts and feelings change. Now, as she watches Yeon-joon be affectionate and loving Eun-ae, she says that she no longer feels sad. She thinks that since she knew Yeon-jun to be kind, then maybe she thought that the man in her dreams had to be Yeon-joon. Now that she does not feel affected by Yeon-jun and Eun-ae’s relationship, did her feelings vanish, or did new feelings sprout in her heart? She wonders. She is determined to see the man in her dreams. 

Jang-hyun and the entourage arrive at Simyang.  Jang-hyun, Ryang-eum, and Goo-jam already started making plans to make money and open the Usimjeong branch at Simyang. He sends Ryang-eum to keep an eye on how the Crown Prince deals with foreign intruders since it is important to keep the people in power close when it comes to business.  

The Crown Prince and the Joseon people in Simyang get pressured to adhere to the Emperor’s decrees. Yong Gol-dae tries to push the King to punish the Crown Prince for being stern. The Crown Prince is depressed and sad and he breaks down during study. News regarding the prince’s state at Simyang reaches the King. 

Business booms for Jang-hyun in Simyang. As an interpreter, he can get both Qing and Joseon business people to work with him. He also understands the people in power and he bribes them by supplying rare items they need. He finds favor with the Crown Prince’s entourage and with Emperor Khan. 

Yong Gol-dae visits them intending to do business, but upon recognizing Jang-hyun as one of the Qing soldiers, he suspects he is a spy. He, however, has no evidence, but he is keen to find out since he does not believe the story that Jang-hyun was captured by the Jin army and was later made the interpreter of the Prince’s entourage.

Elsewhere, Gil-chae is determined to see the face of the man in her dreams and she gets worried when he suddenly starts bleeding. She pranks Gil-chae, telling her that holding a divine rock at night will help her see the man’s face. 

Back at Simyang, Jang-hyun finds out that Jung Myung-soo was embezzling gifts sent for his majesty, and the advisers push him to report the issue. However, Jang-hyun knows who he is working with and realizes that reporting him will create trouble. However, he is too late to inform the prince, and the blowback is fatal. 

Yong Gol-dae and Jung Myung-soo arrive at the Crown Prince’s residence with a loyal decree. The advisor who reported Myung-soo, Jung Noe-kyung, is found guilty of framing Myung-soo. He is arrested alongside all the people he says are involved in the scheme, and among them is Jang-hyun. 

Yeon-joon vows to serve the King and help him become a better and wiser King. Therefore, he courageously speaks in a meeting and tells the King that he needs to stand up to the Qing emperor, which leads the king to appoint him the head official and meet with Khan. Yeon-joon refuses and is arrested. Eun-ae and Gil-chae’s family are sent away from the residence provided by the King. 

Later that night, Jong-jong informs them that people are returning from Simyang. Gil-chae is excited that Jang-hyun is back but he does not show up since he is among the arrested in Simyang. Ryang-eum and Goo-jam try to reason with Myung-soo to save Jang-hyun when he tells them that the Crown Prince tried to send a bribe to save Noe-kyung and the bribe was not accepted. There is nothing they can do to save Jang-hyun and Gol-dae wants them dead. Belongings for those set to be killed are sent back to Hanyang. Jang-hyun’s fan, shoes, and the red ribbon are sent back. Noe-kyung, however, is killed. 

Gil-chae asks one of the returning officials about Jang-hyun and she is told that he died along with Noe-kyung. He instructs her to check the government office where the articles of those who died were sent. If she finds Jang-hyun’s things among them, then he is dead. 

Gil-chae finds Jang-hyun’s things at the government office. That night, in her dream, she finally sees the man in her dreams, Jang-hyun. She cries in her sleep. The next morning, she goes to a cliff holding the jacket Jang-hyun gave her. She calls out his name, mourning and believing that he will come back since it is said that if a wife holds a husband’s clothing and calls his name three times, he will come back to life.

Eun-ae, Jong-jong, and Bang-doo watch her as she calls out to Jang-hyun. She says there was something she did not get to say. At the end of the episode, Gil-chae’s sobs seem to be heard by Jang-hyun, who is kneeling in front of the Qing Emperor Khan. 

The Episode Review

The relationship between Gil-chae and Jang-hyun grows gradually. Gil-chae does not just jump into another relationship but takes her time to be sure of her feelings. In this episode, she finally gets over Yeon-jun and accepts the fact that her feelings for him were because she had convinced herself that it had to be him. 

Jang-hyun asks her to mature and she finally does and wishes it is not too late. Yeon-joon does not deserve any of them and we hope Eun-ae realizes this soon enough. When he was arrested, none of them went to check up on him, which is oddly satisfying. Another plot is cooking involving the General, Yong Gol-dae and Jung Myung-soo. How will Jang-hyun scheme his way out of this one? We will have to wait and see in the next episode.