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The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: Episode 2

Faced with the prospect of losing her beloved inn, our heroine and her new friends rally to find a way to save it. At the same time, we dig a little deeper into the historical and political conflict lurking in the background — and how it might relate to our major characters.

Editor’s note: Coverage will continue with weecaps.
 
EPISODE 2

While Dan-oh processes the news of her father’s enormous debt that could cost her the ownership of Ihwawon, Tae-hwa and his soldiers arrive in search of Lee Seol. As we learn, they nearly caught him eight years ago, when the Head Eunuch (Lee Jun-hyuk) lured him into a trap.

But a mysterious man dressed in all black appeared in the nick of time and killed Lee Seol’s would-be attackers — including Tae-hwa’s son. Tae-hwa arrived in time to duel the man in black, landing one slice across the man’s arm and earning in return that distinctive scar on his face. And also a stab in the gut that would have finished him off if not for (presumably) his thirst for vengeance.

Now, at Ihwawon, Tae-hwa and the Head Eunuch study the faces of our three Flower Scholars, but none register as Lee Seol’s. Noting a bit of shiftiness in both Yoo-ha’s and San’s demeanors, though, Tae-hwa double-checks their identities, both of which seem legit. (Shi-yeol practically begs them to be suspicious of him, too, but the second he confirms he’s the son of a concubine of such-and-such nobleman, they roll their eyes.)

The next day, Dan-oh sets out to 1) confirm the debt is real and 2) do something about it. To her dismay, it traces back to none other than Tae-hwa himself. Dan-oh’s father initially borrowed the money to take care of his students, and Dan-oh’s older sister was betrothed to Tae-hwa’s son in exchange (Dan-oh knew about the betrothal, but not the borrowed money). With Tae-hwa’s son dead and Dan-oh’s sister suffering a vaguely mentioned illness, that agreement no longer stands.

As news gets out about Dan-oh’s predicament, her annoying suitor, SCHOLAR ONG (Park Hwi-sun), sends over an official proposal letter, offering to pay off her debt as a dowry. Despite her disgust, she’s desperate enough to consider accepting, at least momentarily. But when he corners her in the market again, she pushes Yoo-ha and Shi-yeol out of the way and publicly rejects him with a few choice insults thrown in for good measure.

The man still won’t take no for an answer and plots to kidnap Dan-oh, but a run-in with San (wooden sword now replaced) finally scares him enough that he withdraws his proposal and promises never to approach her again.

It’s pretty easy for Dan-oh to figure out which Flower Scholar scared him off, despite San’s claims to the contrary. When she asks why he did it, San fumbles for an answer and lands on the tasty wine she served them earlier. The flustered look on his face and the speed with which he runs away suggest otherwise, however. As does the fact that these two have gotten a lot more prone to skinship since the baby rescue mission.

Of course, San isn’t the only one trying to help Dan-oh. Yoo-ha leaves money for her to find, which she promptly returns — she’s grateful, but Ihwawon is her responsibility. Shi-yeol, for his part, charms his way to an audience with gisaeng HWA-RYUNG (Han Chae-ah), who runs the gibang that’s set to absorb Ihwawon if Dan-oh can’t pay up. Hwa-ryung subtly pries Shi-yeol for intel on Ihwawon, but while Shi-yeol plays along, he sees right through her questions.

At the palace, the king’s child is born, and he’s right to be confused by the fact that it’s a son — his consort’s mother smuggled in another baby the night of the royal birth. The king doesn’t outright question it, though, too consumed by his fears of Lee Seol returning and raising an army against him.

He’s not alone in that suspicion, either. A mysterious book of prophecy promises upheaval to come at the hand of someone referred to as “Jade Dust.” Interestingly, Yoo-ha is a member of some sort of secret society who read the book and worry over the king’s determination to kill Jade Dust. It’s unclear which side — if any — they’re rooting for.

Meanwhile, the first of the Flower Scholars’ exams to arrive is San’s martial exam. Dan-oh sends him off with breakfast she made herself (which pretty much makes his entire morning), and he passes the exam with flying colors, deftly navigating the crisis of snapped reins in the midst of a horseback javelin throw.

Finally, after much deliberation and attempt to exhaust other options, Dan-oh meets with Tae-hwa again and offers herself instead of Ihwawon. She’ll find the person he’s looking for: Jade Dust, A.K.A. Lee Seol. Outside, San has followed her out of curiosity and heard every word. And he doesn’t look pleased.

Even if the answers to some of the core mysteries already seem fairly obvious, I appreciate that there are a few other little mysteries sprinkled in to keep things interesting. Like Yoo-ha’s secret society (and not-so-spotless lineage after all), the man in black, Dan-oh’s sister, and each of our Flower Scholars’ backstories. Shi-yeol in particular seems to know a lot more than he lets on, and I can’t help wondering how much of how he presents himself is exaggerated or an outright act.

But even if everything plays out very safe and predictably, so far I’m enjoying this show for the feel-good fun that it is. I love Dan-oh’s spunk and resourcefulness, and her budding friendship with each of the Flower Scholars — and theirs with each other.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the emotional link between our antagonist and our heroes — not just the death of Tae-hwa’s son (who appears to have been a friend of Lee Seol’s, or nearly, at one time), but also the connection between his and Dan-oh’s families. It’s going to make for plenty of angst down the road, I’m sure, with all the potentially twisted-up loyalties.

 
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I'm not sure I understood the whole past story... Why they waited for 13 years to get her father's debt? When Tae-hwa’s son was killed, it happened some years after, Lee Seol being older. So the wedding was still planned after Dan-Oh's father? But the son died and Dan-Oh's sister's story is not very clear... and yet, Tae-Hwa didn't try to get his money. Dan-Oh was still young, he could have done easily.

For now, I'm curious about the mystery black man who saved Lee Seol and Shi-yeol who looks like he's hidding things.

I'm not very interested by the 2 others guys for now.

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I am with you on the debt. I do not understand this loooong wait either unless they made that up.

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Great points on the debt collection. It was baffling.

I was wondering if the 'ghost' in the annex is actually the sister.

It's clear that they're pointing to San as the prince. (And likely that's how it'll turn out.) But it'd be interesting if San is actually the man in black, and Shi-yeol is the prince.

Posing as an insecure, gambling, gisaeng-consorting, wastrel, son-of-a-concubine would be perfect cover. All of those things were disdainful to the nobility, and would put him beneath their notice. It'd also put him close to his enemy, who seems to own the gibang. It's darkest under the lamp.

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We need more digging into the characters as for now they are all handled at surface level.

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Yes.. I'm sure the characters will develop as the story progresses.

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It seems the show has already told us why the annex house is a forbidden place. I thought it would take some more episodes to know.
But I'm still intrigued and I'm looking forward to one of the three guests finding it out.

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It leaves one question though. Who is the little girl who shielded Lee Seol when they were younger? Is it her older sister or Dan-oh herself? The mourning room of her father was empty so where and how did her elder sister come into play?

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Good point. I had not thought that the little girl could be the older sister. ML and FL childhood meeting is something I was assuming right away.

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Shi-yeol's split second tone change during his chat with Hwa-ryung immediately placed him on my radar as a likely CP. He sounded like someone who had a personal connection or well-founded inside knowledge on the matter at hand. And his character kind of reminded me of the CP in Shadowless Sword. They're almost the same, merry go round character exterior hiding who they are underneath. I won't be shocked if Shi-yeol is shown to know how to use a sword as the story progresses. Plus, he seems to want to know what exactly is in the annex and then 'Boksil'. Boksil can be a red herring but I don't think the rest are.

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He is the one who resembles the less to the young prince who we met at the beginning of this episode. But I also think he is hiding something and I hope he does, because he is my favorite character for now.

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Shi Yeol is hiding something, but for me, he's more of a contandor for the bodyguard-in-black identity than to the prince. He's a bit TOO happy-go-lucky to be royalty in hiding, but something about the way he threw the sand back in ep 1 to get him and Dun Oh away got me thinking that he might know a thing or two about combat. But maybe it's just me being delusional cause he is my fav and I want him to be more than a comic relief.

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The bodyguard? But if the 3 male leads have the same age or around the same age, how could he be the bodyguard in the past?

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He's not the bodyguard of the past. I believe whoever the bodyguard of the past is sent him to go and look for Lee Seol and protect him for then on. They are both loyalists of Lee Seol's father.

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Ooooo thats a good theroy!!
Whatever it is, the dude's the most suspect out of the bunch

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I definitely prefer them working together and as allies... but the drama needs a story anyway. Yet, I don't think helping others tokill a deposed prince is a good way to solve your problems. I wonder what would be Dan Oh's decision upon finding out who this person is (well she already knows so maybe upon finding out her guest is San)?... also the money problem seems to be a fraud .. 🤥 I hope Their noses grow soooo long that Pinocchio himself laughs at them

Also and although the evidence does not support this ship, I am in team Yoo Ha.

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It'll be interesting to see what they do with Yoo Ha's character. He seems so sweet. But he also seems like he is ambitious to gain status and undo the stigma associated with his birth.

I wondered if he was the one to encourage Dan-oh to find & betray 'Jade Dust'. The drama hasn't shown us how she found out about that. Only that, Yoo Ha knew about it via a closed-door discussion of an ultra-rare manuscript; in what appeared to be a private meeting of the men in his family clan.

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Dang, really good observation with point two there, now I'm viewing those scenes in a slightly different light 👀

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I am actually also somewhat in the Yoo Ha ship, because they seem to be really comfortable around each other and have great respect to one another, and the "I'm being a jerk because I don't understand I like you yet" thing with San Kang sooo

UNFORTUNATLLY, the second lead stank is strong with this one. Brace yourself and be strong, we won't have an easy couple o weeks :D

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Loving Dan Oh's character, particularly her independence. All of the Flower Scholars want to support her, but have to do so covertly. I'm torn between whether San or Shi Yeol is the CP. I'm presuming it's San, but I'd like it to be Shi Yeol.
The surfacing of a debt after so long also had me thinking it was fake.

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That bodyguard in all black -move aside, secret son of the crown prince, there is a new mystery person in town!!! Wouldn't be quick to say it's neccearily a man, though.

Also, for so-called SCHOLARS, those three do not do ANY studying. San Kang I can forgive, because he was shown taking the exam and also he's my num 1 secret prince suspect so he probably has other things on his mind; but what do Shi Yeol and Yoo Ha have to say for themselves?? Yoo Ha has time for fun Joseon flavoured romcom hijinks AND a whole secret society about predicting the future?!?!?!?!? GO STUDYING OH MY GOD

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Hahahahaha your comment gave me a good giggle because TRUE!!! 😂

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Finally caught up and I'm pleasantly surprised at how invested I am in the story line! I was expecting something a bit light and breezy, which it was, and it's so far treading on very much known sageuk territory - as you put it in your recap @mistyisles. I'm surprised mainly because it felt like we didn't have an awful lot of character exploration or plot movement just yet, but I still found myself sitting there for ages post watch turning over the conundrum of the lost prince's identity.

San's pacificist nature aligns with what we've seen of the younger prince's aversion to violence (though maybe this is just because he's young and scared in that flashback) and San does have the trademark prince-ly haughty air. BUT he doesn't seem nervous about turning up to the military (?) test in front of all the court officials - did he maybe get amnesia at some point as a kid and isn't aware of his real identity??

BUT Yooha does have the prince-ly air of wisdom, walks and talks like one low-key, and we know he's not put all his cards on the table about his background and who he is because he always seems suspiciously pensive. BUT can't discredit Shiyeol because donning a facade as a gambling playboy is the best disguise for a wanted royal and there's been enough scenes to show us he's actually quite keenly observant behind the mask he wears and that his background is opaque at best (plus the way he keeps popping up here there and everywhere 👀). Is it meant to be this confusing? Am I confusing myself? Who knows.

Nevertheless I'm looking forward to this week's episodes. In the meantime, I'll quietly be setting up the 'We Love Yooha' base camp to house my second lead syndrome (assumed second lead 👀) for the rest of the drama. I like the other two, but Yooha has me swooning ❤️

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Lol at the "San Kang has the haughty air of a prince, Yoo Ha has the air of wisdom of a prince and Shi Yeol is... also there"

Shi Yeol is my fave, but I like Yoo Ha best for Dun Oh. Unfotunatly, he is a dead ringer for a second lead, and this is a Seguak, so I just hope he wont turn evil and/or die.

I am also surprised at how invested I am! It's pretty breezy but has the ""page turner"" allure of a mystery and it is the exsct kind of comfort she I needright now.

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Love him though, even if he is just there for the time being 😂❤️

You put it perfectly, the page turner vibes are there and it's complimented by the breeziness. A mystery to solve but one that doesn't make my head hurt (yet??). It's a great comfort show, fingers crossed it stays this way!

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New misteries were added in the third episode and some (false?) clues.

I'm still enjoying this drama. All the main characters are (or seem to be) nice people. I keep having a soft spot for Shi Yeol. I smiled when he dodged the snake XD.

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Episode 4: the best one so far!!

I'm really invested in this story.

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