5 Incredibly Romantic Moments In Episodes 3-4 Of “The Forbidden Marriage” That Had Us Blushing

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Dec 20, 2022

by shalini

“The Forbidden Marriage” is quickly shaping up to be one of the best dramas airing. Full of heart and romance with brilliant performances by the main trio of actors, the show seems to know what path it wants to take and is galloping there at full speed. Really though, because we’re only on the second week and both the king and his bodyguard are utterly besotted with the new palace maid/shaman who has been shaking up Hanyang. But can their friendship survive the rivalry? And can So Rang (Park Ju Hyun) and her heart survive the palace?

Without further ado, here are the most swoon-worthy moments from this week’s episodes!

Warning: spoilers for episodes 3-4 below.

1. The first and second kiss

So Rang hasn’t been at the palace long, but she’s made her presence felt in every corner of Yi Heon’s (Kim Young Dae’s) life. So it’s no wonder that he’s starting to get confused and mistakes her for the dead Crown Princess Ahn Ja Yeon (Kim Min Ju) one night and kisses her in his sleep. But the thing is that Yi Heon was fast asleep when this was happening. So Rang, on the other hand, was wide awake and did nothing. She didn’t have to let it happen, but she did.

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Unlike other female leads post an accidental kiss, we don’t see So Rang thinking about it or obsessing over it. She doesn’t avoid Yi Heon and runs with him to go hunting. It almost seems like she doesn’t care, or she understands that Yi Heon mistook her for Ja Yeon. So Rang is pretty bubbly by nature, but she also uses it as a shield when things get serious so her heart doesn’t get too involved. Yet, there are moments when that cheerfulness drops away and we see the real So Rang underneath: mature with a loyalty and yearning that run deep. And that’s exactly what happens during that second kiss.

That’s when everything suddenly starts to make sense: her insistence to go hunting with Yi Heon despite running a low fever and her insistence on serving her duty at night despite being ill. The truth came out when she was half-conscious, and in true So Rang fashion, she was direct about it. She knew that he mistook her, but just this once, she wanted the person he kissed to be her, not some figment of his imagination. So she literally pulls him down to kiss her. It’s so refreshing and swoon-worthy to see her being so direct that it’s no wonder that Yi Heon’s defenses start to crumble.

2. The drinking game

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The fascinating part about this kiss is how both characters address it so maturely. They’re still trying to explain away their connection, with Yi Heon pretending that he’s just confused because she can be possessed by Ja Yeon and So Rang arguing that she’s helping him out of patriotism. But they clearly love each other’s company and are honest with each other as much as possible. Yi Heon blatantly displays that he’s wavering in the face of So Rang being the incredible person she is, and So Rang can’t help but seek and destroy anything in the palace that is out to harm Yi Heon. Take those pipes, for example. Someone has clearly been trying to scare Yi Heon into believing that he’s cursed for years, and So Rang happily smashes them despite not understanding that those pipes are a part of a larger, darker, insidious plot that Yi Heon is terrified could harm her.

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So Rang and Lee Shin Won (Kim Woo Seok) are certainly cute, and Kim Woo Seok is nailing the adorable puppy-dog/bodyguard role here. But there is something so charismatic about Yi Heon, something a little harder, darker, and more cynical that he shows her. And she shows him the less bubbly, more weary parts of herself. And nowhere does that happen best than in that drinking game. They both go for where it hurts, with So Rang refusing to admit her weight and Yi Heon awkwardly admitting that he hasn’t been with a woman since his wife’s death. They both recognize the tension simmering between them and read each other so well, which is why So Rang honestly answers when Yi Heon asks her about her relationship with Shin Won, though Yi Heon calls out that she’s leaving something out when she doesn’t mention that Shin Won was once her fiancé. And Yi Heon tells her the truth that he did confuse her with Ja Yeon, but she calls out that he’s not telling the whole truth. He quietly, almost tenderly tells her that there is no love or desire in him anymore, and she vows to find it for him then. It’s such an incredible moment because it’s all but them admitting that they’re feeling something for each other, and the tension and the chemistry are so, so good!

Kim Young Dae and Park Ju Hyun both sell the heck out of this romance. The way they watch each other and convey so much even in the blink of an eye is just swoon-worthy. They’re great in the bubbly moments, but it’s the quiet ones like these when they shine as a couple. Poor Shin Won really has no chance.

3. The novels

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This moment is less about us swooning than it is about the men swooning because So Rang is on a mission to get the king feeling… excited again. Shin Won isn’t so sure that this is a good idea, especially when she brings a whole stack of novels of certain content, and he tries to take the moral path that such things are vulgar. Yi Heon has been very resistant to past efforts in this regard, so when So Rang shows up with the novels, he gets furious that she’s behaving just like everyone else. But after calming down (and being given too much of a stimulant in his tea), he, along with an aghast Shin Won, takes a peek at the novels.

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And they’re hooked. Some are a hilarious play on “The World of the Married,” and others are just plain naughty. Poor upright Shin Won has an identity crisis, trying to decide if he’s a vulgar person for enjoying the novels, whereas Yi Heon blushes and stares his way through several novels before hiding them in his pillow. Needless to say, both men have a very hard night because of our intrepid maid, while she sleeps very well. It’s just hilarious to see.

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4. Yi Heon’s warning (and Shin Won’s too)

By the next day, both men are worked up in different states. Shin Won wonders if So Rang really doesn’t see him as a man to dump all these books on him. He knows that the only reason she’s willing to be this friendly with him is because they are nothing more than friends and because he isn’t asking for anything else from her. He’s always wanted more, but seeing her grow closer and closer to Yi Heon is making him rethink his strategy and want to be more forceful. So when she enlists his help in learning how to use a sword (because a girl must protect herself!), Shin Won can only take her playful jokes about him reading the books for so long.

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He pulls her in to warn her that if she keeps messing around, he won’t leave her alone. And of course, this is when Yi Heon happens to walk by. Realizing that Shin Won feels something for So Rang, he’s both jealous and torn on what to do. So when So Rang arrives on time for night duty and gleefully laughs at the stack of the interesting novels he has on his bedside table, Yi Heon tries to hold himself back. He actually does it for some time as So Rang grabs the books and runs around the room with them. But there’s something more in So Rang’s eyes that night, and when she raises an eyebrow to ask if he’s feeling something when there’s a woman only a few feet away from him, Yi Heon loses it and pulls her close.

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The chemistry! I can’t!

He softly tells her not to tease him with that again, and she’s shaken enough to agree. Everyone else notices that the king is wavering and decides to do everything in their power to get their beloved king and So Rang together to end this marriage ban once and for all. And who’s help do they mistakenly enlist but the one man who wants nothing to do it: Shin Won.

5. Yi Heon, Shin Won, and their butterfly

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At times, I wonder if this drama is speeding ahead too quickly because we’re already at the point where everyone is aware of everyone’s feelings. There’s no doubt that the evil minister Jo Sung Gyun (Yang Dong Geun), who seems to have been behind Ja Yeon’s death, will aim to kill or control So Rang to get to Yi Heon, or that Seo Woon Jung (Park Sun Young), So Rang’s former stepmother in her previous life, will attempt to kill her or try to force her daughter with Yi Heon. Hopefully this politicking won’t affect the lovely, breezy, romantic vibe of this show because the conversation between Yi Heon and Shin Won, where both men admit their feelings, is so subtly-conveyed like so many of the moments in this week’s episodes that it would be a shame to lose out on more of this.

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Hearing that the palace is literally planning a hot night for Yi Heon and So Rang, Shin Won is asked to see whether Yi Heon is interested enough in So Rang for it to work. Shin Won tells Yi Heon that people have noticed that he has grown warmer and happier. Yi Heon admits it but says that he’s still trying to pinpoint the cause, whether it’s So Rang herself or because she can communicate with Ja Yeon. When he inquires as to how Shin Won is doing, the latter says that he’s raising a butterfly. He’s unsure of where it’ll land and where it is going but just watching it gives him joy. He tells Yi Heon that if he’s uncertain, he should just leave it be (because any woman the king loves is immediately in danger). Yi Heon says that he doesn’t know whether he’s wavering because his feelings aren’t clear or because he’s stopping himself from following his heart. But once he finds out, he will wait for Shin Won to release that butterfly of his so that he, Yi Heon, can become the wind that moves her. It’s so romantic, I can’t.

Shin Won is shaken by this but seems to stay out of the hot night preparations right up until the last second. As So Rang is dressed up and sent out to Yi Heon, still a little confused about what’s going on, and as Yi Heon gapes at seeing her all prettily dressed up, Shin Won strides in and pulls her out of the king’s room and drags her away. And that’s where we end!

Next week promises a reckoning as So Rang accuses Yi Heon of being jealous when he doesn’t want her anyway, and Yi Heon tearfully accuses Shin Won of no longer being his friend. Given that Shin Won’s first priority switched to So Rang the second she appeared on the scene, this seems fair, but it would be such a shame to see our wonderful trio broken up over something like this. The real thing that matters here is So Rang’s heart, and if Shin Won truly cares for her, he needs to accept her decision. Even if it could be neither of them.

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Trouble brews on the horizon with Jo Sung Gyun and Seo Woon Jung scheming away together (and having an affair to boot). Gwaeng Yi (Choi Duk Moon) seems to know more than he’s telling when he predicts that one of Woon Jung’s daughters will become queen. But which one? Could Yi Heon actually be forced to marry So Rang’s former half-sister? Here’s hoping not! And is the preview serious that Ja Yeon wasn’t dead after all? With so much left in the show, there’s really many directions it could take. But for the sake of our favorite three leads, I’m hoping that the lovely moments we’ve been getting thus far don’t fade! They’re just too much fun together!

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Source: Soompi