Summary
A much-improved installment that starts to add answers to lingering questions.
Instantly getting back on track, Crash Course in Romance Season 1 Episode 14 righted some of its wrongs with a thoroughly enjoyable chapter. It wasn’t perfect, and the almost wholly serious tone did give things a different feel from usual. Still, the acting was strong, and the storylines look to be being concluded interestingly.
Crash Course in Romance Season 1 Episode 14 Recap
The Aftermath of Hae-e’s accident
We begin with a flashback, which shows Hae-e was initially captured by Dong-hui when she spotted him aiming his slingshot at Haeng-seon. Of course, the student escaped craftily, only to be blindsided by a car. In the face of this crisis, Dong-hui takes out Hae-e’s phone, writes a contrived suicide note, and drops the device at the scene.
Soon, news filters through of Hae-e’s hospitalization, so her family head straight there alongside Chi-yeol. It’s stressful, but the calm-headed star tutor keeps everyone tranquil enough before the important “in recovery” sign flashes up. Following this, the doctor shares the unfortunate report that Hae-e is in a coma, despite successful surgery.
As an aside, the belatedly arriving Dong-hui is incredibly cynical when turning up at the hospital. The reasonable assumption is that he wants to know whether his victim will pull through.
While Sun-jae, Geon-hu, and Dan-ji rush to the hospital upon hearing about Hae-e’s accident, Yeong-ju and Jae-woo are sent away to care for Nation’s Best Banchan. In the meantime, Haeng-seon becomes aware the police believe this was a suicide attempt, based on both the student’s phone memo and the driver’s dashcam footage which allegedly shows her running in front of the traffic. The theory is that such drastic action was born out of college admission stress, which deflates the eavesdropping Sun-jae.
In sadness, Haeng-seon blames a preoccupation with her love life for being unaware of what Hae-e was going through academically. Chi-yeol quickly assures his partner no fault lies with her, yet he dwells on what the student might’ve wanted to tell him at the meeting he rejected.
Meanwhile, Jae-woo lets his emotions out to Yeong-ju, ruing his helplessness at Hae-e’s condition and breaking down in tears.
Sun-jae makes a move
Despite telling the education director there’s no way they can be caught, Seo-jin has to face a guilty Sun-jae in her office, who wants to come clean now he believes Hae-e attempted suicide.
The lawyer is also struck upon hearing what’s occurred, but at the same time, wants her son to “calm down and think rationally.” “Your career is everything out there,” Seo-jin adds, fully embracing that she wants Sun-jae to get into a good college, not necessarily him. Nevertheless, the lawyer does stumble in her pleas when asked about her happiness.
Next, Dong-hui ignores Chi-yeol’s wishes, ensuring the maths camp is prepared for and goes ahead despite his superior’s unwillingness to “put on a show.” Elsewhere, Su-a becomes incensed when hearing her mother gossip about Hae-e, screaming: “It could’ve been me.”
In addition, a drunken Seo-jin calls her husband, wondering how she turned out the way she did, finally admitting she’s “scared” of her behavior, given there was even a thought in her head about the benefits of Sun-jae’s close friend dying.
At the hospital, Haeng-seon notices markings on Hae-e’s palms. At the same time, Su-hui hears from a psychologist friend that Su-a, who performed poorly in her midterms, is showing symptoms of “stress-related anger management issues due to college admissions.” Concurrently, the high-achieving, guilt-wrecked Sun-jae has to be saved from a suicide attempt by Geon-hu.
Heeding Geon-hu’s advice to face his issue “head on,” Sun-jae makes his way to Jong-ryeol’s office and prepares to tell the teacher the truth. Meanwhile, Haeng-seon bravely dodges the police’s tenuous accusations of her sending Hae-e on errands being part of the reason for her attempted suicide and requests they reinvestigate the case.
Chi-yeol and Dong-hui’s relationship sours
When discovering Dong-hui lied about his attempts at delaying maths camp, Chi-yeol confronts his assistant, quizzing him on whether he has consistently been “slyly controlling” the star tutor’s academy role.
Naturally, these accusations are denied, but the private instructor is more concerned with the fact he’s been deceived. “I didn’t want you to become a joke,” Dong-hui states in justification of his actions before adding a myriad of unhealthy reasons (sleep deprivation, starvation, lack of breaks) he trusts used to make Chi-yeol “a professional” at his trade.
Continuing, Dong-hui claims Chi-yeol was “swayed” by Haeng-seon, meaning he let his private life interfere with work. “Seeing you like that flustered and upset me,” the assistant continues, opening himself up for a verbal dressing down by the star tutor, who explains he is “changing,” no longer content with harming his health for the sake of his profession. “I decide my future in this line of work and what I value in life,” Chi-yeol shouts, putting his foot down. But that’s not all; when Dong-hui slips up and angrily reveals his contempt for Haeng-seon, he is relieved of his assistant duties.
During police questioning regarding I-sang, Chi-yeol is told the metal ball crimes all have him as a commonality. The star tutor is fortunately free from blame, but he becomes curious when hearing about the suspect’s calloused finger and a question about his knowledge of a “Jeong Su-hyeon.”
Elsewhere, Dong-hui trashes the house he has dedicated to Chi-yeol, and it becomes apparent his murderous tendencies were kickstarted by an obsessive want to “protect the only trustworthy adult we (he and his deceased sister) had.” Now, however, the troubled man feels abandoned.
A crash course in Dong-hui
From here, we move backward. Firstly, to get a background on Dong-hui’s abusive past and how he was controlled by a mother desperate to have her children succeed academically by any means necessary.
She would pour water on their sleeping heads, lock them outside, and generally do anything she saw fit to have them focus. Actions ultimately led to her demise, although Dong-hui received an innocent verdict in court when accused of murder.
Three years after the court appearance, Dong-hui got his illegal change of identity and started enthusiastically working for Chi-yeol. He would do anything for the star tutor he claimed to “serve,” which became negative when it stretched to including murder. In the present, Chi-yeol notices the markings on Hae-e’s arm match the ink color regularly used by the assistant.
Shockingly, Haeng-ja (Hae-e’s mother) turns up at the hospital, demanding answers about what happened to her unconscious daughter, upsetting Haeng-seon. Chi-yeol tries to offer comfort in this situation, though attention ends up turning to his own “haggard” appearance.
Concurrently, Detective Song gets an unexpected lead when a guard informs him of Su-hyeon’s brother’s constant use of metal balls.
How does Crash Course in Romance Season 1 Episode 14 End?
At school and around town, word quickly gets around about the reading midterm’s leak, and Sun-jae, who has dropped out of the top 30 students because of his revelation, contacts his dad to ask him to help his mother. Elsewhere, Chi-yeol invites Dong-hui inside for a chat, and the two surprisingly agree to “start anew,” apologizing to each other for their overreactions.
Nevertheless, Dong-hui remains annoyed, storming out of Chi-yeol’s house. Later, the assistant is discreetly tailed by the star tutor, who is suspicious enough of his long-term ally that he had expressed his doubts over him to Haeng-seon directly, and shook hands with him purely to confirm his calloused finger.
Following this, the episode ends with Chi-yeol looking upset at the sight of Dong-hui entering his run-down home.
What did you think of Crash Course in Romance Season 1 Episode 14? Comment below.
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