Destined With You started off with a bang, but now that we’ve crossed over the midpoint, it feels a little bit below par. Although it seems classic K-drama plots are back and a lot of shows are using old formulas but rebranding them with some newness, we don’t know where Destined With You will take us. There are still six episodes remaining, and next week might well be the make-or-break point of the show. It seems there’s a trend toward having a past-life connection this year, and the most recent show with a similar concept was See You In My 19th Life. We’re hoping this show doesn’t go downhill from here because we can see that a lot of drama awaits us. At this point, it’s clear that Shin-Yu has accepted his love for Hong-Jo, but why and what has made him fall for her so hard?

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens in Episode 9?

With Shin-Yu taking sick leave, everyone in the workplace is worried. Hong-Jo, especially, who keeps trying to get a reply from him via text. She’s a little bit weary of Jae-Gyeong because Shin-Yu has been suspecting him as the stalker too. She’s also tensed from the curse placed on both of them and thinks that it’s because of this that Shin-Yu may be sick. On the other hand, Shin-Yu’s parents worry, and it’s Na-Yeon who finds him unconscious somewhere. In truth, she’s the one who has been giving Joong-Beom the gardener all the stuff he requires to place curses on Hong-Jo. She’s playing this dirty game without realizing it’s hurting her “oppa” too. Shin-Yu’s mom is already having a hard time, and seeing her son sick makes her frustrated because neither her husband nor Shin-Yu’s girlfriend told her about him being sick.

Jae-Gyeong was the one who found Hong-Jo at the festival location, and she felt very uncomfortable about it. After getting home, he feels a little bit worried and checks on her at night. Hong-Jo is severely ill and needs some medication to get better. Jae-Gyeong offers to stay until she falls asleep, but she refuses. She has another frightening nightmare about the curse but wakes up in her bed. When Shin-Yu wakes up, the first person he wants to see is Hong-Jo. She visits him in the hospital even though it could cause misunderstandings because she is worried too. But she pretends she’s there only because of the box, and the curse is worrying her so much that she’d like to take the box back and see what she can do to keep them safe. Joong-Beom continues to take pictures of Hong-Jo and Shin-Yu together, and Na-Yeon tells him it’s not needed anymore. For her own satisfaction, Hong-Jo uses a disaster management spell that she thinks will help them both. Shin-Yu tells Hong-Jo that on the day of the festival, he will be traveling with Na-Yeon and his family. In the middle of traveling, Shin-Yu decides to come back and confess his feelings for Hong-Jo. Amidst the beautiful burning paper fireworks (yeah, the same ones from See You in My 19th Life), Shin-Yu finds Hong-Jo and gives her a hug. When they hug, we’re taken back in time to their previous lives.

In the previous life, in the same spot, Shin-Yu asked Hong-Jo to run away with him. We’re taken further back to their childhood in the past, when a young Shin-Yu, who is a prince, can’t see his mother because she is terribly sick. He’s taken to the shaman’s home, but he finds his way back to his home and demands to see his mother. Unfortunately, she died the same day. Crying for his mother, Shin-Yu ends up in an empty field, and little Hong-Jo finds him. She tells him that his mother left a letter for him before she died, explaining why she couldn’t see him. Shin-Yu quickly finds the book in which the letter is hidden and finds that his mother was worried her sickness would be contagious. Shin-Yu finds the girl again, and she brings him to say thank you to her because he’s too proud to do it himself. They get close from then on and quickly grow up. As an adult, Shin-Yu wants to be married to Hong-Jo, and even though they’re from different classes, he is sure he can make it happen (oh, boy).

What Happens in Episode 10?

Having remembered this past life, Shin-Yu can’t help but feel that Hong-Jo and he are destined to be together. He finally tells Hong-Jo that she should wait for him, and he’ll sort it out with Na-Yeon. Confessing like for the 50th time by now. And this may be lost in translation, but he asks her to stay pure for him, and he’ll come back pure to her too (weird). He admits to the shaman that he remembers the truth and wonders if that was the reason she told them about their destiny. She tells him that it’s not uncommon to remember your past life, and that she remembers her own too. Na-Yeon tells Hyun-Seo that she sleeps with him because Shin-Yu doesn’t fill the loneliness inside of her, but she still likes him a lot (bleh). She makes him promise not to tell anyone at work that they’ve broken up until her work there is done. It’s because she’s too embarrassed. On the other hand, she lies to Hong-Jo and makes her feel like she’s mistaken about Shin-Yu. She tells her there’s no way a guy like him would come to her, leaving Na-Yeon, who has everything.

At work, Hong-Jo notices that they’re still hanging out and feels a little bit sad about it. When Na-Yeon calls for her drinks and tells her all the stuff about Shin-Yu, she feels played with. In the end, she has to call him to come pick Na-Yeon up because Na-Yeon challenges her to see if he’ll come or not. At work the next day, they have a fight about it, and Shin-Yu tries to tell her that she should trust him because he’s gone as far as to say he loves her. But Hong-Jo is feeling spiteful, and she goes out with Jae-Gyeong for a couples’ gathering. The gathering gets cancelled, and they end up having a parking lot date together at -12 degrees. Jae-Gyeong tells Hong-Jo not to wait for Shin-Yu and admits to liking her (what’s with the confessions on this show?). The only reason Hong-Jo went with him was because she sprayed him with pepper spray, thinking he was her stalker the previous day. She’s definitely over him, but she’s just pretending to still like him to make Shin-Yu jealous.

Meanwhile, Na-Yeon gives Joong-Beom Hong-Jo’s gloves, and he uses Shin-Yu’s shirt and her gloves to put another curse on them. It looks like he’s using chicken’s blood here too, meaning that he was the one who made the mess before too.

What Does Shin-Yu Feel When Hong-Jo Holds His Face?

Frustrated with Hong-Jo not replying to his messages, Shin-Yu asks to see her at work. With his back turned to the door, he mentions her name when Na-Yeon enters the room. She takes this as a sign of him breaking the promise and tells him he’ll have to pay for it. She goes to her dad and tries to get Hong-Jo fired. Meanwhile, Shin-Yu is done hiding and takes Hong-Jo out to the beach with no notice. He tells her about the promise, but now things are messed up anyway, so he’s going to be by her side if she wants that. Although she doesn’t remember their past lives, Hong-Jo feels like she’s had feelings for Shin-Yu for a very long time.

They can finally be together, and when they kiss, Hong-Jo tries to hold Shin-Yu’s face. When she does so, he’s reminded of the bloody red hand that haunted him at the beginning of the show. He gets afraid and pushes her away. Does this mean that Shin-Yu is sick again? Is the bloody hand Hong-Jo’s? Did she die in her past life because of him, haunting him in this life? We’ll find out soon enough on the next episode.