The Secret Romantic Guesthouse (2023) Episode 7-8

San, dressed in Watchman black, faces off against Tae-hwa and his men while Dan-oh, Yoo-ha, and the others flee. Just as Tae-hwa disarms San and reaches to unmask him, a second Watchman appears out of nowhere. Not only does this new guy’s outfit sport important-looking red accents, but he’s a lot more skilled than San, quickly taking out all of Tae-hwa’s men (though not, Tae-hwa notices with interest, killing any of them — quite unlike the Watchman he knew).

Given the circumstances, Dan-oh decides they’d best relocate to another town entirely for a while and gets a job at a tavern to support herself and her little family. Hong-joo, however, tired of living as a ghost, makes plans of her own to secure a husband for Dan-oh and then become a female monk.

The husband hunt doesn’t go much of anywhere, but Hong-joo sticks to her determination to leave for a nearby temple, despite Shi-yeol’s best attempts to convince her otherwise. Now that her existence is (somewhat) known, the two can talk face-to-face, but he, unfortunately and seemingly unintentionally, keeps reminding her of her late fiancé, first by the song he sings to her and then by the flowers he picks.

I say seemingly unintentionally, because you never know with Shi-yeol — he appears to know everything and nothing at the same time. And now I’m not sure who he is or what he’s after at all (more on that later).

After Hong-joo moves into the temple, Shi-yeol visits her, feigning a sprained ankle as an excuse to stay longer. She’s still not swayed, so he gifts her an adorable rock terrarium representing Ihwawon and assures her they’ll all welcome her back with open arms if she ever changes her mind.

In the meantime, the Flower Scholars make frequent trips to visit Dan-oh — except for San, who insists he isn’t worried about her. Once he finally does show up, Dan-oh confronts him about risking his life by battling Tae-hwa at the temple, even if it is part of his job description. But he’s quick to clarify: he didn’t do that as the Watchman — he did it for her.

Speaking of Tae-hwa, he hasn’t just been twiddling his thumbs since losing to the Watchmen (again). He has people follow the Flower Scholars to find Dan-oh, nab her, and bring her back for questioning. They choose the perfect timing, too, because Dan-oh has just received Lee Seol’s dragon-marked artifact from an anonymous source. It’s the other half to her compass, given to her by Lee Seol himself when they met as children, and only upon seeing it does she put two and two together: that boy was Lee Seol.

Tae-hwa throttles her until she confesses to hiding Lee Seol way back then, though she swears that’s the only time they’ve ever met. Before Tae-hwa can torture her further, Yoo-ha practically beats his door down and pays Dan-oh’s debt. Tae-hwa agrees to release Dan-oh and also return ownership of Ihwawon, but only because he’s certain she’ll unwittingly lead him to Lee Seol and the Watchman.

Meanwhile, the political climate is getting increasingly dire. Even as the king pushes to have his supposed son appointed crown prince, Minister Shin is uncovering the truth of the switched babies. He knows killing Lee Seol won’t solve any problems, and it sounds like he plans to put Lee Seol on the throne instead… but the person he outright offers said throne to is Yoo-ha. Every time they meet, they speak cryptically of Yoo-ha’s true identity, Minister Shin stressing that an act of treason is the only way to create a better, fairer world for all.

At first, Yoo-ha isn’t interested, but two things shake his resolve. The first is that Hwa-ryung tells him of her relationship with his birth father and gives him his father’s will. The second is watching his fellow revolutionary be executed for possessing their book of prophecy. Desperate for justice, he returns to Hwa-ryung, who tasks him with bringing them the crown prince’s special artifact. Which, interesting — do they think he’s Lee Seol (or is he?), or will they try to pass him off as such?

Since San isn’t present to welcome Dan-oh back to Ihwawon, she seeks him out in his bamboo forest hideout. Again, he asks if she really believes he’s the Watchman. And again, she asks if he can’t protect himself instead of always protecting everyone else. His final military exam is coming up soon, so he promises to tell her everything about himself once he passes.

When exam day arrives, the king ups the usual stakes to make things more entertaining. The contestants are divided into two teams to battle it out, never mind that they could easily end up injured. San is already injured, of course, but he powers through, and his dogged determination catches the king’s eye. When San comes out on top, the king grants him one wish, so San requests a position close by the king’s side.

While everyone is out taking their respective exams, Dan-oh finds San’s copy of the prophecy book. Her initial worry melts into delight when she discovers he’s doodled pictures of her inside… and then into shock as she recognizes the scene. He’s drawn them meeting by the doghouse as children.

As soon as San returns to Ihwawon, she confronts him, and he keeps his promise to bare all his secrets now that he’s passed the exam. He’s the boy she saved all those years ago. He’s Lee Seol.

Just when I think I’ve got at least some of this show’s mysteries figured out, it throws us for another loop, opening up ten new questions in place of every one it claims to have answered. I can’t even be disappointed that Shi-yeol isn’t Lee Seol (or isn’t he???), because I’m just so darn impressed by having been fooled.

The thing is, San as Lee Seol simply makes sense, and has all along. Everything pointed to it, from his quest for nonviolent solutions to his instant connection with Dan-oh to his reaction when noblewoman-turned-gisaeng BAN-YA (Hwang Boreumbyeol) told him how her family were slaughtered in the upheaval.

And yet, Shi-yeol as Lee Seol made just as much sense last week. And that’s what makes it such a great misdirect — because so far the puzzle pieces have never truly contradicted each other; they just spell out different conclusions depending on how they’re arranged.

Of course, the question now is: can we trust this reveal? I don’t see a reason San would lie to Dan-oh about it at this point, but if there’s anything this show wants us to be certain of, it’s that we can’t be certain of anything.

Well, that and the king is evil and must be stopped before he kills literally everyone in his kingdom. But I think San is working on that one.