A Love So Beautiful – K-drama Episode 20 Recap & Review

It’s Been A While

Episode 20 of A Love So Beautiful begins during the Summer of Thirty as Sol-I is working as a digital artist. She receives a call from Dae-Sung and heads out to meet him.

Heon and Dr Seo are welcomed back to the hospital after three years in the US. Their Director says the US hospital wanted to keep them and he had to work to get them back.

Dae-Sung waits for Sol-I but she suddenly needs to go to the hospital to see her Dad, so he offers to drive her.

Heon spots Sol-I in the hospital and rushes to catch her. They freeze when they see each other. Eventually, Dae-Sung arrives to break the moment. Heon asks why she’s there and she ignores him, calling Dae-Sung to get going.

Dae-Sung introduces himself to Sol-I’s parents. Sol-I’s Dad offers a hand but her mother is less welcoming, as he’s often in commercials with half-naked women. He says he’ll always be there for Sol-I and her father tries to make him feel welcome.

Heon asks Dr Seo to be especially careful with Sol-I’s Dad’s surgery. Jin-Hwan and Ha-Young are walking in the hospital and run into Heon. Jin-Hwan welcomes him with a big hug but Ha-Young is less impressed.

Sol-I is waiting for a taxi when Heon pulls up to offer her a ride. She hesitantly agrees and opens the door to the back seat, but it’s filled with books and other trinkets, so she gets in front instead.

Sol-I, her Mom and Heon wait outside the surgery room. Dr Seo says she did well because Heon asked her to take special care. Sol-I’s Mom digs in about the doctors’ relationship with each other but Sol-I moves her along.

Outside her Dad’s room, Dr Seo pulls Sol-I aside to ask about Heon’s long-time girlfriend. She says she thinks its funny that a girl would like someone so boring. She also says she thinks Heon is still in love with that girl.

Sol-I’s Mom makes a huge lunchbox for Sol-I to give to Heon – and share. She delivers the box but refuses his invitation to have lunch together, running off.

The gang are getting together for dinner and drinks. Jin-Hwan tells the others that he invited Heon so that’s his cue. Sol-I, sitting between Dae-Sung and Heon, is a little drunk. So is Jin-Hwan.

Dae-Sung’s manager pries him away as he’s got a photoshoot the following morning. Ha-Young drags Jin-Hwan off so Sol-I and Heon can go home together.

Sol-I spots her wish bracelet hanging from Heon’s rear-view mirror. He drops her off but tries to speak to her before she escapes. He asks if she regretted her decision and if she knows why he came back. She says she doesn’t want to know but he kisses her.

Flashback to Heon in the parking lot. He fills his backseat with stuff from the trunk before going to offer Sol-I a lift. He smiles to himself as he pulls up.

The Episode Review

That little flashback of Heon putting stuff on his back seat so Sol-I has to sit in the front was exactly the piece missing in that scene. Good strategy, Heon. There’s a reason you’re top of your class.

What a nice tight instalment where every section counts. Heon is finally back but as my brother used to say, ‘the world doesn’t stand still while you’re in New York.’ Dae-Sung is looking after Sol-I, as he promised he would back in Episode 16 if Heon mis-stepped. And Jin-Hwan and Ha-Young are on their way to getting married.

But Heon isn’t completely the same either (including looking thin as Sol-I’s mother noted.) He seems more determined in his goals and ready to take action. But will he speak? And if he doesn’t – leaving everything to interpretation – will anything change? His friend Dr Seo, who has the shared experience of working in a US hospital, may have other plans for him too.

Dae-Sung now has celebrity status but appears to be treated as he always has by his friends. Lovely with the likes of Jin-Hwan and Ha-Young but less happy that he hasn’t made a breakthrough with Sol-I. And now that Heon is back, that love-connection is looking less possible. To be fair, he probably hasn’t spoken to her about his feelings since that confession in high school – 10 years ago.

Sol-I’s parents have clear views on who they’d like to see with their daughter although they don’t agree with each other. It’s Sol-I herself who hasn’t made a move either way, except in finally allowing that kiss to happen in the last scene. So, whether she realizes it not, it looks like she has been waiting three years for Heon. But it doesn’t seem that she’s as easy as she used to be. Let’s see.