Destined With You Episode 14 Recap and Review: The South Korean fantasy romance drama, (이 연애는 불가항력) stars SF9’s Rowoon and Jo Bo-ah in lead roles. The supporting cast also includes Ha Jun, and Yura. The JTBC series is directed by Nam Ki-hoon and written by Noh Ji-sul.
The series revolves around Lee Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah), a civil servant and Jang Shin-yu (Rowoon), a lawyer who come face to face under unexpected circumstances. Hong-jo is revealed as the owner of an old wooden box that has been sealed over 300 years ago which contains a forbidden book that has a connection to Shin-yu. He is suffering from a mysterious illness and its cure lies in the book. Soon, they both realise that the key to saving Shin-yu from the curse is in the hands of Hong-jo. Amid the same, a romance blossoms between the two.
As for the cast, Jo Bo-ah recently starred in 2023’s Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 as Nam Ji-ah whereas Rowoon starred in 2022’s Tomorrow. Also, Ha Jun starred in Missing: The Other Side Season 2 as Shin Joon-ho and Yura previously played the role of Chae Yoo-jin in Forecasting Love and Weather. Destined With You airs on JTBC at the 10.30 PM slot on Wednesday-Thursday.
– Destined With You Episode 14 Review Contains Spoilers –
Destined With You Episode 14 Recap
Hong-jo admits Shin-yu to the hospital where the doctors try to revive him. However, his heartbeat stops and Shin-yu goes into a trance where he views his past life. Shin-yu in his past life is named Jang Mu-jin and Hong-jo is called Aeng-cho. Mu-jin is forced by his father to marry someone else and threatens him that he will put Aeng-cho in danger.
During the fireworks, Mu-jin meets Aeng-cho and asks her to run away with him. The following night, Aeng-cho denies coming with him and tells him that her love for him isn’t strong enough to elope. The viewers learn that Aeng-cho said such words to him because of his father’s threat.
Days pass and Aeng-cho is called inside the palace by the new queen for work. The queen asks Aeng-cho to remain hideous and work on a spell so that she can bear a son. One night, Aeng-cho meets Mu-jin unexpectedly and the two confess that they’re still very much in love. Talks pass around the palace about a Shaman (Aeng-cho) causing distress. A fellow army official (Jae-kyung in his past life) discusses it to Mu-jin, who doesn’t give a reply to it.
After the queen gives birth to a son she demands Aeng-cho to put a curse on the young prince so her son can take the throne. However, one day the young prince mysteriously vomits blood and dies. The king pulls Aeng-cho and starts to torture her. She instantly reveals that she never put any curse on anyone and it is the King who did such an act. When the King tries to kill her, she immediately curses that anyone who kills her will face cruelties, generation after generation.
She is then locked in a well since nobody dares to kill her. Meanwhile, the queen orders her commander (Mr. Na in his past life) to wipe off Aeng-cho and get her spell book because if the truth leaks out, trouble will bestow. Mu-jin saves Aeng-cho from the well as he knows that she didn’t put a curse on the young prince. After taking her to a secluded place, he requests her to give him the spell box as he has made the queen promise him that if he gives the spell box, they will let them two elope and live a happy life.
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Aeng-cho rejects it as she knows the queen will misuse her spells. The next morning, Aeng-cho wakes and finds both the spell box and Mu-jin missing. On his way to meet the queen, he gets attacked by the army official and the commander’s team. The army official (Jae-kyung) states that he has been offered riches to bring back Aeng-cho who will be dismembered by an animal. To protect Aeng-cho, Mu-jin tries fighting the soldiers despite being wounded.
Aeng-cho who saw Mu-jin’s condition through her vision, walks on a snowy land to meet him. The army official and the commander come to kill her but Mu-jin joins them and says that he will kill Aeng-cho. He walks towards her and stabs her. She asks him whether he fooled her for the book to which he tells her that he had to stab her as she would have been dismembered by an animal. She mentions the curse and he says he gladly accepts it. He also asks her that in their next life, they should be happy and she smiles to death.
Back to the present day, Shin-yu is revived and recovers. Hong-jo decides to stay at her childhood house as she believes Mr. Na will attack Shin-yu if she is near him. Shin-yu tries contacting her but she decides to stay away. He then tricks her by using Na’s voice and makes her meet him (she thinks she is meeting Mr. Na). Over there, Shin-yu reveals that the curse has been lifted because he died and came back to life. He makes her caress his cheek and she gets back the complete memories of her past life too. The couple reunite and share a hug.
Destined With You Episode 14 Review
As expected Mr. Na has been a part of both Shin-yu and Hong-jo’s past life. In fact, he is the one who has initiated the army to kill Hong-jo. But little did we expect Jae-kyung to also be a bad guy in his past life. Indeed there was a hint provided about his cold demeanor but his intervention in the past life was a sudden. This provides another layout with regard to the way he might behave in the upcoming episodes.
In his past life, he seems to be a man who’d do anything to get power and money. Even in the present life, he works for the mayor and does any job if it involves a huge sum of money. If in the next episode, he gets bribed again to ruin Hong-jo, his choice will determine his character. Would he be the same old selfish Jae-kyung or is he a new man with values in his current life?
Hong-jo and Shin-yu’s romance is insanely good and the directors have given generous amounts of heartthrobbing scenes. But why in most of the series, a main lead tend to break up with their lover as they believe they’re at fault? I mean, come on. Someone you love is in hospital. It is at this time you need to be near and not far away believing it’ll make things well. Nope. It is too dramatic, to be honest when the main lead cries and stays away. Hopefully, these cliche scenes won’t be repeated in the forthcoming episodes.
Destined With You airs on JTBC and is also streaming on Netflix. Share your thoughts about the drama in the comment section below.
Also Read: All Reviews of Destined With You!
Love Korean content, and overall I’m into this one. I like both actors and the support cast. This series is not as great as many have been. Overwrought romantic scenes, drawn out periods without adding anything to the action or narrative. This is evident in many programs in the west and Asia. That said, the leads do have an impossible chemistry. Which you can’t help but be swept up in. Rowoon is so unnaturally beautiful it’s hard to believe he’s a real human. Yet he is. Sidebar he gets to sing in an earlier episode and his voice is beautiful too. So wasn’t surprised to learn he is/was a singer. In the end I’m rooting for these two to end up together, for that bad f&$ker from the garden centre to get his just desserts and Ms Ma and her love struck subordinate to be happy ever after. Oh and Na Yeon to get dispatched to the outer realms posthaste.