Love Song For Illusion – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Ak-Hee Finds Out That Gye-Ra Loves Sajo Hyun

Episode 8 of Love Song for Illusion starts with Ak-hee in Geum-hwa’s room, with Gye-ra and Ri-sa waiting outside the door. While Ri-sa tries to make Gye-ra jealous of the situation, his mind drifts to the night she spent with Sajo Hyun in her room all night sewing, and she cannot help but smile.

Meanwhile, Ak-hee cannot go through sleeping with the Geum-hwa, so he chooses to get her drunk until she falls asleep. He then searches for something in Geum-hwa’s room before heading out and dragging Gye-ra with him.

AK-hee tells Gye-ra that he did not sleep with the Queen, but Gye-ra tells him that he should have, which confuses him. How could she be okay with letting the man she loves embrace someone else? However, Gye-ra knows he is not Sajo Hyun because he calls her Yeon Wol and would not sleep with the Queen just out of spite.

Gye-ra tells Ak-hee she never had feelings for him and only loves Sajo Hyun. Ak-hee begs her to like only him since he thinks she first fell in love with him, and Sajo Hyun takes her away. Ak-hee is heartbroken, decides not to fall asleep for ten days, and asks Jin-seo to get Chung Ta. 

Gye-ra learns from the palace guards that the women Sajo Hyun decreed to be set free are sent out of the palace later at night. She asks Hong Goon to send a message to Jae-yi, and they find out that women are constantly disappearing from the villages.

Gye-ra wishes to discuss the issue with Sajo Hyun, but unfortunately, the one next to her is Ak-hee, who has refused to sleep for days. Gye-ra starts to get frustrated, and she begs Ak-hee to help His Majesty, but he still has no interest in being King and wants to find a way to seal Sajo Hyun. The female version of Chung Ta mentions Ak-hee waiting for the full moon and is later lured in by Sajo Yoong to disclose information about Sajo Hyun. 

The ministers protest the tax decree made by Sajo Hyun by kneeling outside the palace courts, trying to manipulate the King, but Ak-hee is not fazed. However, Gye-ra confronts him after putting the ministers in a competition by kneeling in the rain, which he wins, and tries to advise him to find a wiser way to handle the issue.

Ak-hee is angry that everything he does is wrong, according to Gye-ra, and even more furious that Gye-ra does not love him. Why is she willing to go through all the humiliation in the palace just to be next to Sajo Hyun? She even got angry when Ak-hee suggested they run away from the palace.

Consort Cheong has asked Gye-ra to give her a massage since earlier. To further embarrass her, Geum-hwa told her that she could call Gye-ra anytime she wanted. However, Gye-ra has a reason for agreeing to meet with Consort Cheong since she suspects Sajo Yoong is not of Royal blood. She subtly infers the same when she mentions that Sajo Yoong is as handsome as his uncle, whom she saw him meet up with a few times, and confirms it when Consort Cheong strictly asks her not to discuss the same with anyone else.

Gye-ra runs into Sajo Yoong outside his mother’s pavilion, and he asks her to leave the palace. Gye-ra refuses, telling him that he is not afraid of him and is aware of his ill motives and the attempt on her life. Sajo Yoong tells Gye-ra he has no option but to eliminate him, and she asks what made him this way. Is it his greed for power or his inferiority complex? Sajo Yoong asks his mother to stay away from Gye-ra and swears to kill her when he learns that she knows about his father. 

Later that night, Gye-ra sends Jae-yi and Ha Rang to investigate where the women from the royal amusement disappear after leaving the palace at night. She then runs into Sajo Yoong’s men, who try to kill her. Sajo Yoong drugs Gye-ra and carries her to the hall of spirits, intending to stage a suicide, but Ak-hee intervenes.

After she wakes up, Ak-hee asks that she leave the palace since he cannot bear to see her and Sajo Hyun fall in love. He promises to unite with Sajo Hyun and help him set the country right if she leaves and threatens to foil each of Sajo Hyun’s plans if she decides to stay.

Gye-ra chooses to leave, but Ak-hee feels terrible about not letting her see Sajo Hyun. He understands how much she misses him since he feels the same for her, and although it is painful for Ak-hee, he decides to fall asleep and give Gye-ra a chance to meet Sajo Hyun before she leaves.

At the end of the episode, Gye-ra finds out that Sajo Hyun is back, and they kiss outside her room as she gets ready to leave. A heartbroken Ak-hee bids her a tearful goodbye and wishes her happiness. 

The Episode Review

Compared to last week’s episode, this episode tries to pick up the pace and adds emotional scenes, making it a little exciting but still lacking in story development. We have no idea what story we should follow since the narrative is all over the place. Regardless, we have gone past the conundrum of who Gye-ra/ Yeon Wol loves, and it is a welcome relief to see that she can easily recognise Ak-hee and Sajo Hyun. 

The actors continue to deliver exciting scenes despite the story’s weak development and keep us entertained enough to look forward to the next episode. Will Gye-ra keep her promise to Ak-hee and leave the palace? What is cooking in the shadows regarding the disappearance of women in the villages? What did Chung Ta means when she told Ak-hee to wait until the full moon? Will Ak-hee keep his promise and unite with Sajo Hyun?