When Life Gives You Tangerines episode 14 Recap (Spread Your Wings and FLY). Here is the total episode
In the previous episode, we saw that Geum-meyong got married to Chung-seob. He treats Geum-meyong like a princess, and his family also loves her. Later, we saw Geum-meyong’s brother, Eun-meyong, fall into a problem because of his friend or business partner. Now, moving forward, let’s see what actually happened with Eun-meyong.
Episode 14 starts from where it ended. We see Eun-meyong in jail for the allegation that he committed theft. But eventually, his business partner—who was also his friend—just blamed him and ran away with 70 million won. Because of this, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik emotionally scold him in jail. But once again, Eun-meyong misbehaves with his parents, especially his father, for the same reason: “To Geum-meyong, you always say our daughter does everything well. And you do nothing for me. I don’t mean anything to you all. So what should I do?”
Basically, he thinks no one cares about him. Then the scene goes back to 1979, where we see Eun-meyong unintentionally feel ignored because no one seemed to care about his birthday. Actually, his birthday was three days before his younger brother died, so everyone was just too exhausted at that time. With many other reasons adding up, he started thinking this way, and it became his childhood trauma. Eun-meyong then says: “Favoritism is really unfair. It’s better not to love at all.” These carelessly spoken, dry words made Eun-meyong grow up feeling emotionally starved. Right before this, Ae-sun’s long-standing fear had come true—she had once worried while pregnant that she wouldn’t be a good mother.
Moving forward, we see Eun-meyong’s wife go to his father to ask for help in getting her husband out of jail. But his father just ignores it. Later, we see Ae-sun go to the criminal’s mother to find out where he is. But his mother just says, “I don’t know where he is.” However, we actually see that there are some new products bought with the stolen money. Here, unexpectedly, our VERY SHY Ae-sun gets triggered—so badly that she takes everything away from the thief’s mother.
Meanwhile, for the first time in his life, Gwan-sik does something unusual—he asks for financial help. Eventually, Gwan-sik sells his boat. Yes, his only source of income—the boat. He gets so emotional seeing the new owner, as the owner also has a little daughter, just like him. Gwan-sik remembers how he started his livelihood with that boat. He also finds a poem that Ae-sun had written for him back when they were in school.
Now, we see Eun-meyong get released from jail. When he finds out that his father sold everything for him, he gets so emotional, realizing what his parents did for him.
Later, we see Ae-sun working as a squid seller and squid cutter for a living. Gwan-sik works as a supplier at the fish market, carrying fish here and there. One evening, after a long day of work, Gwan-sik feels sad that he can’t provide Ae-sun with a better life or fulfill his promises, as they have to struggle like this. But Ae-sun comforts him, saying: “This hard time will pass. I’ll manage, and I’m happy with that.”
Moving forward to Eun-meyong, we see that the whole village doesn’t trust him with work or money. With no other way to provide for his family, he secretly starts selling rice cakes late at night without telling anyone. But Gwan-sik finds out from Eun-meyong’s wife.
On February 1999, Gwan-sik goes to Bu Sang-gil (Eun-meyong’s father-in-law) to ask for help. What kind of help? We don’t know yet—maybe we’ll find out later.
Later, we see a news report stating that “The number of suicides this past year has reached a record high due to the IMF crisis.” Suddenly, Eun-meyong leaves his family without telling anyone. Everyone gets extremely nervous—what if Eun-meyong… committed suicide?
Now, everyone is desperately searching for him. Ae-sun feels so overwhelmed, as her trauma regarding her little son resurfaces. Eventually, we see that Eun-meyong has boarded a boat to leave. But with his seasickness and weak heart, how can he survive on a boat? Ae-sun and Gwan-sik rush to stop him, but the boat has already set sail.
At this moment, Bu Sang-gil (Eun-meyong’s father-in-law) tells the captain to turn the boat around, offering double the money. Awwww, how emotional! This is when we realize that Bu Sang-gil truly cares about his daughter and her life.
Finally, to bring Eun-meyong back, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik get emotional and scold him for even considering deep-sea work. We then see that Eun-meyong was actually frustrated about not being able to find a job, so he resorted to selling rice cakes. Everyone who bought rice cakes from him told him, “Be good to your father.” At this moment, Eun-meyong learns the truth—his father, Gwan-sik, had gone to his father-in-law, Bu Sang-gil, to plan everything. He had given people money to buy rice cakes from Eun-meyong so he could earn something for his family. After realizing this, Eun-meyong feels so ashamed that he stops selling rice cakes and decides to board the ship. But later, we find out that the ship owner actually offers him a job.
As the episode comes to an end, we see that Geum-meyong and Chung-seob are leading a happy married life.
Back to Ae-sun and her mother-in-law—they talk about life. Her mother-in-law asks her why she hasn’t started writing poetry yet and tells her she should start. On the other hand, for the first time, Gwan-sik takes a big risk—he makes a bold move, hoping for a better future.
And with that, the drama ends on a mysterious note. What comes next? In Episode 15, we’ll find out what Ae-sun and Gwan-sik are planning to do and what changes will come to Geum-meyong’s life.
So, let’s wait and see! I’ll post Episode 15 tomorrow. Till then, enjoy and explore with Kwavey.
