Destined With You Episode 13 Recap and Review: The South Korean fantasy romance drama, (이 연애는 불가항력) stars SF9’s Rowoon and Jo Bo-ah in lead roles. The supporting cast also includes Ha Jun, and Yura. The JTBC series is directed by Nam Ki-hoon and written by Noh Ji-sul.

The series revolves around Lee Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah), a civil servant and Jang Shin-yu (Rowoon), a lawyer who come face to face under unexpected circumstances. Hong-jo is revealed as the owner of an old wooden box that has been sealed over 300 years ago which contains a forbidden book that has a connection to Shin-yu. He is suffering from a mysterious illness and its cure lies in the book. Soon, they both realise that the key to saving Shin-yu from the curse is in the hands of Hong-jo. Amid the same, a romance blossoms between the two.

As for the cast, Jo Bo-ah recently starred in 2023’s Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 as Nam Ji-ah whereas Rowoon starred in 2022’s Tomorrow. Also, Ha Jun starred in Missing: The Other Side Season 2 as Shin Joon-ho and Yura previously played the role of Chae Yoo-jin in Forecasting Love and Weather. Destined With You airs on JTBC at the 10.30 PM slot on Wednesday-Thursday.

– Destined With You Episode 13 Review Contains Spoilers –

Destined With You Episode 13 Recap

The episode starts with the past life Hong-jo (adolescent) speaking with the old lady who saved her from her near death. It is learned that the old lady (Shaman) gave the tiny Hong-jo a second life by making her inherit a Shaman spirit. Then the scene cuts to a grown-up Hong-jo struggling to walk on the snowy field after getting stabbed. Shin-yu walks towards her and stabs her once and for all. Hong-jo asks her why would he fool her for the spell book. Hong-jo breathes her last breath after saying that a curse will follow him in every life.

The scene cuts again to the present day where Hong-jo and Shin-yu stand in a similar snowy land discussing their past life. Hong-jo asks Shin-yu some time to think about their relationship and she ends up breaking up with him. At her home, she remembers the Shaman, Eun-wol’s words saying that the curse won’t end until Hong-jo ends. She worries that if she’s close to Shin-yu, he will become more sick and even might die.

The next day at the office, Jae-kyung tells Shin-yu about Haum taking over the Mount Onju project. This upsets Shin-yu because he knows the mayor took the project away from his business corporation due to personal vengeance. Meanwhile, Hong-jo’s colleagues ask her to hold a housewarming event and invite Jae-kyung.

That night after winding up his family dinner, Shin-yu visits Hong-jo to give her the packed food his mom gave for her. She declines to take it and returns the gift he gave her. She strictly states that she would rather stay away from him than see him suffer due to her. The following day Nayeon visits Shin-yu and asks him about the present she sent (a plant pot). Before leaving, she sarcastically tells him about the possible danger Hong-jo could face. Shin-yu warns her to stay away from Hong-jo.

Hong-jo daydreams about the beautiful moments she experienced with Shin-yu before getting interrupted by a call from him. They speak formally but Shin-yu breaks the ice and concludes that he couldn’t handle things without her. Hong-jo tries her best to control her feelings and cuts the call. That evening, Hong-jo’s two female colleagues come to her home and ask Jae-kyung to join the housewarming party.

Jae-kyung understands that the two girls are hitting on him and he plays along for the sake of Hong-jo. When they leave, he and Hong-jo discuss about it. Meanwhile, Shin-yu gets drunk with his best friend Wook. Wook comes to Hong-jo’s house and asks her to take care of the drunk Shin-yu inside the car and leaves. Hong-jo talks with Shin-yu coldly and asks him to leave. She even says that she can stay away from him and feel fine.

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She gets back inside and ends up breaking down silently. Wook comes back and drives his car. He comforts Shin-yu during their journey but Shin-yu gets lost in the endearing moments he had with Hong-jo. At Hong-jo’s place, Jae-kyung helps her calm down as he hears the couple’s conversation unintentionally. He even says that if he was in Shin-yu’s place, he’d want her to stay beside him at distressing times rather than depart.

The next day, at Shin-yu’s office when his assistant waters the plant that Nayeon gave, they find the leaking water look abnormal (it comes out in a red shade). When they check the entire pot, Shin-yu uncovers a bloody dress of his, folded neatly with Hong-jo’s gloves inside. He instantly calls Hong-jo and asks her whether the garden owner, Mr. Na has been doing anything wrong to her to which she says no. He also asks her about her missing gloves and she says that the last time she saw it was when she met Nayeon.

Shin-yu meets Nayeon and confronts regarding the garden owner. She admits to giving his shirt and Nayeon’s gloves on Na’s demand. He warns Nayeon and leaves. Shin-yu calls Hong-jo to let her know about the incident but she doesn’t wish to pick up his call. To clear her mind, she opens her windows and starts cleaning the house.

Jae-kyung who is on a business trip with the mayor gets an alert from the CCTV camera he placed. He sees a man and immediately calls Hong-jo but she doesn’t pick up his call due to the loud noise of the vacuum cleaner. He informs Shin-yu about the man. Shin-yu notices that it is the garden owner and rushes back to Hong-jo’s place. Thankfully, Jae-kyung alerts the cops as well.

Hong-jo finds the missed calls and calls Jae-kyung who alerts her about the garden owner. She rushes to close the windows. When she prepares to close the third window, Na pulls her t-shirt collar through the grill and threatens her. Hong-jo and Na have a heated argument. He escapes as soon as he hears the cop siren.

Shin-yu comes to her house and finds her sitting distressed as the cop asks her for details. The cop assures her that they will remain by the gate. Shin-yu asks her to pack some of her things and stay with him for a while. At first, she resists but he pleads with her to stay beside than let him feel like this. They both go to his place where Shin-yu notices Na’s car in his parking lot.

He doesn’t tell about it to Hong-jo but decides to go back to the parking lot alone to confront Na. However, Na gets on the elevator to meet Hong-jo. Hong-jo hears the doorbell and decides to not open it up. Shin-yu then comes in contact with Na and the scene ends. After some time, Hong-jo slowly opens the door and checks for Shin-yu since he didn’t pick up the phone. When she opens the door to the staircase, she drops her phone looking at a bloody Shin-yu stabbed in his stomach, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

Destined With You Episode 13 Review

In this episode, another good look into the reason why Shin-yu stabbed Hong-jo in the past life is given. Apparently for the spell book he has stabbed her but the purpose behind his need for the book is unknown. Moreover, he looked in a devastating state while killing her life so the person who caused him those wounds is yet to be shown.

The main villain Na is becoming vicious more and more. He might have a connection with the two in their past lives as well, given the amount of wrath he holds. More details regarding Hong-jo and Shin-yu’s past life will unravel the real reason behind the curse as well as Na’s threats.

Destined With You airs on JTBC and is also streaming on Netflix. Share your thoughts about the drama in the comment section below.

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