My Dearest (2023) Part 2 Episode 5

Episode 15 of My Dearest starts with Jang-hyun gaining consciousness momentarily, and Gil-chae tells him she was released. Jang-hyun then loses consciousness, and Ryang-eum sits on his bed and flashes back to how he saved him from their master. They then run away to join Goo Yang-chun.

Meanwhile, Gil-chae, the Crown Prince’s wife, and they thank her for saving their son. When they ask if she wants to return to Joseon, Gil-chae says she wants to stay at Simyang. Elsewhere, Goo-jam finds Jong-jong and rescues her from her captives.

Gil-chae spends days beside Jang-hyun tending to him. She says she feels he is finally hers and always wants to hold his hand. Jang-hyun wakes up shortly and smiles at Gil-chae, sleeping beside his bed and holding his hand. He then goes back to sleep. Goo-jam arrives back at Simyang with Jong-jong, and Gil-chae is happy to see her again. 

Goo-jam goes to Jang-hyun and knows he is already conscious. He yells at him to wake up, and when he does not, he tells her they received a letter from Gil-chae’s husband. That makes him wake up immediately. Goo-jam says Jang-hyun is faking illness. He tells him to stop being pathetic but reminds Goo-jam that if he gets better, Gil-chae will return to Joseon, and Jong-jong will go with her. 

Suddenly, they hear Gil-chae at the door, and Jang-hyun quickly pretends to be asleep. Goo-jam fakes a sad face and tells her that Jang-hyun’s wounds are deep and might take over six months to heal. Gil-chae tells him she will not return to Joseon until Jang-hyun gets better. Meanwhile, Yang-chun helps some enslaved Joseon people escape from Simyang. Those staying at Jang-hyun’s place ask when they will return to Joseon. 

Yang-chun and Jang-hyun plan on how to take the captives back to Joseon. On hearing Gil-chae approach, as usual, Jang-hyun pretends to be unconscious while Yang-chun pretends to sob in his bed. Later, Gil-chae and Ryang-eum fight over who will care for Jang-hyun as he secretly watches and listens. Yang-chun and Goo-jam prepare the enslaved on how to get their release. 

Gil-chae starts helping the farmers by repairing their farm tools. She does not go to attend to Jang-hyun, and he gets anxious. He, therefore, goes out looking for her and observes from a distance as she bosses the farmers around and smiles proudly. He follows her to the field and smiles happily when he observes her happiness and working with the farmers. He says that he missed to see her smiling face. 

The barren lands bear huge harvests, and the Crown Prince comes to witness the harvest. Yong Gol-dae wonders how the barren land could bear crops, and Myung-soo tells him that Joseon people have always been best at farming. Yong Gol-dae is pleased with the outcome. The Joseon farmers sing thankful songs as they harvest the fields.

Gil-chae goes to Jang-hyun’s bedside to show him the harvest. She grieves that he is still unconscious and cries out, saying that she will kill herself if anything happens to him. Jang-hyun finally decides to wake up, but his legs hurt terribly with a new illness. Goo-jam and Yang-chun follow behind him, watching his pretence. Gil-chae asks why his legs hurt when he was shot in the back, and he comes up with a whole story about the human body. 

Gil-chae and Jang-hyun spend some time talking. She asks him about how he became a nobleman. Jang-hyun tells him he was a government enslaved person, but he paid for his title, and His Majesty stamped his seal to make him nobility. His mother died early, and he does not remember his father. He works hard to earn money.

He asks if Gil-chae was put off because he was a commoner. She says it would have been better if he never became an aristocrat since she would have enslaved him and taken him whenever she went and did whatever she wanted.

Jang-hyun says he will reject his appointment and become a commoner. Gil-chae tells him that she will buy him. Jang-hyun asks why Gil-chae chose to abandon him then. She says she did not abandon him. She could not dare have him since he could live without her. Jang-hyun asks her how she knew he could live without her.

Meanwhile, the Princess watches from a distance, and Ryang-eum has an arrow strained at her. He does not shoot, and the Princess’s guards apprehend him on his way back. She wants to know who he is and why he is thinking of killing her. She sends him a message to tell Jang-hyun she will call him soon. 

Ryang-eum waits for Jang-hyun in his room. He confronts him about Gil-chae and tells Jang-hyun to send her back to Joseon. He gets angry because Jang-hyun is willing to give up everything for Gil-chae. He tells Jang-hyun that he can no longer watch him destroy himself little by little for Gil-chae, and he should die.

Ryang-eum walks out of the room with tears and flashes back to when it was just him and Jang-hyun. He then asks Gil-chae to leave Simyang, but she says she will stay and nurse Jang-hyun to recover. He mentions something about a wound on Jang-hyun’s back. 

Meanwhile, the Crown Princess of Joseon calls Jang-hyun to ask for advice. She wants to sell the extra rice from the harvest and wants Jang-hyun to help her manage the money. Jang-hyun promises to help sell the rice but declines to collect the money. He tells her that she should decide how to use the money, and he will help her out every step of the way. 

Ryang-eum tells Gil-chae that Jang-hyun got a wound on his back fighting off Qing soldiers to save her at Ganghwa Island. Later, Gil-chae flashes back to all the times Jang-hyun has been there for her and how badly she treated him and cried hysterically. 

Meanwhile, the Crown Princess of Qing comes to Jang-hyun. She tells him to send Gil-chae back to Joseon, or she will punish all the released Joseon Slaves. Jang-hyun gets furious and threatens to kill her if anything were to happen to Gil-chae.

At the end of the episode, the Crown Princess of Qing tells Jang-hyun that the only way to save Gil-chae is to send her back to Joseon. 

The Episode Review

The relationship between Gil-chae and Jang-hyun keeps getting complicated. However, in this episode, they had some good moments where they allowed themselves to be vulnerable around each other and truthfully speak out their feelings. In addition, Ryang-eum’s feelings for Jang-hyun are more than brotherhood.

His feelings might become his undoing and a significant thorn in Gil-chae and Jang-hyun’s relationship. However, Ryang-eum calling Gil-chae a curse to Jang-hyun does not faze anyone since we all know Gil-chae cannot give up just because someone else tells her to.

The Crown Princess of Qing is becoming another hurdle. Will Gil-chae finally decide to take back what is hers and fight beside Jang-hyun? What will happen next if Gil-chae chooses to stay?