Racket Boys – K-Drama Episode 13 Recap & Review

Loyalty

Episode 13 of Racket Boys picks up with our racket boys (and girls) ready for vacation time. While Hae-Kang is happy and excited, the others know this means intense training.

That training begins with Park Chan and Hae-Kang both competing in a series of different games. When Park Chan wins, he wishes to be with Se-Yoon. Of course, Hae-Kang isn’t exactly thrilled by this.

He inevitably sabotages their evening stroll, playing music on his phone just as Park Chan opens up to her about how he feels. Hae-Kang blocks him though and ends up admitting that he’s going to tell her how he really feels. As they stand together, a shooting star flies overhead.

Back at the gymnasium, a scout shows up to check on the racket boys. They’re all busy preparing for the upcoming NJSF tournament and that includes Hae-Kang and Park Chan joining his team ahead of the Nationals.

Just to get them used to this, Hae-Kang and Park Chan play in front of a crowd of fellow badminton players, who cheer and jeer. This also includes speeches too, where the boys talk about their role models. For Hae-Kang, one of them is his father, who helped teach him that it’s okay to lose.

Se-Yoon is greeted next, encouraged to join Seoul and match with competitors her own level. Rights now in the village she’s miles ahead of everyone else.

Se-Yoon thanks the scout but decides to stick around. She has the best partner now in Han-Sol and looks up to Coach Ra as her role model.

Han-Sol isn’t exactly thrilled with Se-Yoon right now. She has a match coming up and she accuses Se-Yoon of always thinking about herself and no one else. As Se-Yoon is leaving for Korea in the morning, this conflict is left unresolved.

Coach Bae decides to take his leave, heading off on vacation right on the eve of NJSF. Yoon-Dam is crushed though, given Bae’s birthday is coming up and he’s got him a gift.

Bae lets the kid down gently, reminding him that he has Coach Yoon and the other boys.

With Han-Sol playing on her own now, the other girls have trouble voicing their encouragement. The rivals next to them continue to berate him… until the racket boys show up.

This is enough for them to begin shouting and cheering the team on stronger than before. Han-Sol wins the game but it’s mired in poignancy for her. She misses Se-Yoon and worries that she won’t be able to compete.

Meanwhile, Coach Bae is casually asked about Tae-Seon at the department store. He brushes it off though, claiming it’s been ages. Tae-Seon is back and he intends to apologize to Coach Bae following what’s happened in the past.

At the same time, both Park Chan and Hae-Kang message Se-Yoon offering encouragement ahead of her big game. Se-Yoon plays hard, sweating profusely and wins her games in record time.

Out of breath, she heads back to see Coach Fang after as it’s revealed that she wants to play in the NJSW, desperate to compete. Han-Sol tries not to show any emotion when she learns this but there’s a problem – bad weather cancels all planes, leaving Se-Yoon grounded and unable to compete with Han-Sol.

The Episode Review

Poor Se-Yoon! She worked so hard to try and finish her games as quickly as possible to head back and compete with Han-Sol. Unfortunately bad weather completely dampens her mood – and chances.

The subject of loyalty is brought up and explored this time around, while the love triangle between Park Chan, Hae-Kang and Se-Yoon continues to tick over.

The reveal of Tae-Seon and his connections with Coach Bae is another nice inclusion, although the show hasn’t done an awful lot with him just yet. Still, there’s 3 more episodes left for that to change.

This slice of life drama has been an enjoyable watch over the weeks. The supporting players haven’t had much screen-time this chapter – especially the villagers. Still, this show has remained enjoyable throughout, leaving things wide open for tomorrow’s follow-up.