Hee-sung throws a couple more punches at Dong-mae, letting out his anger while Dong-mae takes the beating once again. Hina sits on the steps with a cigarette and wonders who will be the saddest: dongji (“Comrade” aka Eugene), dongmu(“Friend” aka Hee-sung), or Dong-mae. But it’s Dong-mae’s unlucky day - Hee-sung runs in and immediately throws a punch at him. Dong-mae reveals that Wan-ik is trailing Ae-shin, and Eugene decides to restrain his aggression and call it even. After Grandfather leaves, Eugene enters and asks why Dong-mae would dare to cut Ae-shin’s hair. Grandfather threatens to show Dong-mae the wrath of a noble against a butcher if he gets near Ae-shin again, and Dong-mae silently takes the beating. When Eugene arrives at Hwawollu, he sees Grandfather beating Dong-mae with a broom. Grandfather find Ae-soon’s childish tattling unacceptable and goes straight to the source to handle this scandal. Eugene sighs in stoic anger and assures Soomi that he’ll address this.Īe-soon hears about Ae-shin’s haircut from the bakery, and she runs to Grandfather to tattletale about Ae-shin not properly respecting the body that her parents gave her. She reveals that Ae-shin had been repaying a debt to Dong-mae as her proxy, and Dong-mae just cut off Ae-shin’s hair. Soomi finds Eugene in his hotel room and discloses the secret she had been keeping with Ae-shin. This clears Eugene from suspicion for now, but Takashi doesn’t seem completely convinced. Eugene misleads Takashi by saying that the music box must have been stolen from him during one of the many times his room had been searched. Fortunately, Eugene is saved by the Japanese interpreter relaying the message from Ae-shin that she didn’t lose anything when her room was searched. He knows that it belongs to Eugene, and although Eugene plays dumb, he can see through his awkward act. I don’t know what world you’ve lived in, but I’m doing my best in my world, so don’t be so derogatory towards me.” Damn, that’s how you stand your ground.Īt the hotel, Takashi confronts Eugene about the music box he found in Ae-shin’s room. She says, “In my world, Joseon, my family, the hair my parents gave me are all precious. Hina asserts that Joseon will inevitably fall into Japan’s hands and that Ae-shin’s involvement won’t change the outcome.Īe-shin says that everyone lives in different worlds, with different priorities. She chides Ae-shin for choosing to hold a gun instead of more delicate things, since her gun is putting three other men in danger. Disparaging Ae-shin’s devastation over her hair, Hina doubts that Ae-shin could save Joseon if she can’t handle her hair being cut off. Hina uses Eugene’s handkerchief to tie Ae-shin’s hair and says that it belongs to Ae-shin. Glaring at Dong-mae, Ae-shin grabs her braid from his hands and follows Hina.
Hina advises Ae-shin not to draw any more attention and guides her away from the crowd.
She intervenes and tells Dong-mae that his black bird must keep trying to fly, alluding to his cryptic confession that he shot a black bird so that it couldn’t fly anymore. A hand gently guides Ae-shin’s sword away from Dong-mae’s neck, and we see that it’s Hina. Ae-shin warns him not to underestimate her, saying that if she were to relive that moment, she would still save him but would kill him immediately if she ever saw him again.Īe-shin tells Dong-mae to put aside his worries and simply see her as a noblewoman spoiled in luxuries. Tears brimming his eyes, Dong-mae says her mercy - saving his life when he was a young butcher’s son - kindled a false hope, and that false hope is what sliced her hair. Enraged by Dong-mae’s vile act, Ae-shin takes a sword from his belt and sets it on his neck. The precarious nature of Ae-shin’s nobility seems to shake her world, but her suppressed passion and anger will soon infiltrate her enemies’ world in the only way she knows how.ĭong-mae confronts Ae-shin in public and swiftly cuts off her braid. The scattered pieces of the rebellion begin to unite under tragedy, and they’re learning that it’s not mere passion that will fuel their battle to success. Our villains prompt some tragic yet necessary sacrifices to impel the forces that seek to protect Joseon.