Episode 13 (Such a Uneven Love) – Recap
In the previous volume’s last episode, we saw the heartbreak of Geum-meyong as she is not marrying Yeong-beom. Now she is trying to get back to normal life by taking time off work and resting at home for a few days. And then comes another heartbreak: our older characters are dying one by one. Mother Ae-sun and Gwan-sik talk about it, saying that maybe they will be next. Our most beloved Ae-sun’s grandma also dies, with her last words being, ‘It was a wonderful life. I got to live with all my children. It was an amazing life.’ In the last moment, we saw Chung-seob running after the bus when he saw Geum-meyong but couldn’t reach her. From there, Episode 13 will start.
Ep 13 starts from 1998.8. At the beginning of the drama, we can see Yeong-beom waiting in the car. After that, surprisingly, Geum-myeong (Ae-sun’s daughter) appears in a wedding dress. He watches her from inside the car. Later, we see a part where Yeong-beom was going to the military, and he said, “Wait and see, I’ll see you in a wedding dress.” In the present, Beom says, “I kept my promise.” But not as her husband but a stranger.
Now, to understand what is actually happening, the scene goes back to 1997.8. Ae-sun has already become a grandmother to a very cute baby boy. Her stepfather and his wife gifted a golden frog to her grandchild. But the environment was a bit messy. Everyone was happy about the baby, but not about the timing. We also come to know that her daughter-in-law’s family no longer contacted her after she got married to Eun-myeong.
Back in the drama, Father Gwan-sik tells his son to get a stable job; otherwise, how will he manage his family? But Eun-myeong gets into a small argument with his father about his business. On that day, we see Yeong-ran (Eun-myeong’s mother-in-law) come to see her grandchild, but from afar, hiding. They were ashamed that their daughter got married and pregnant without informing them. However, Ae-sun tells her to visit often to see her grandchild and accept the situation as it is.
Now coming back to Geum-myeong, we see that in that year, Korea was facing a large wave of unemployment, company bankruptcies, IMF Crisis, and many people losing their jobs. Geum-myeong was one of those who lost her job during this crisis. She tries her best to find another job, but as the economy is falling everywhere, she can’t get one.
One day, Geum-myeong is on a bus and sees the theater where she worked part-time during college. She stops and goes in to watch a movie, feeling nostalgic. Surprisingly, we see Park Chung-seob (Kim Seon-ho) also at the theater, searching for Geum-myeong. Later we learn he went there every day, hoping she would come. But today, when Geum-myeong is finally there, Chung-seob doesn’t find her. Later, he hears from a senior that she was at the theater that day. As soon as he finds out, he runs after the bus, just like in a previous episode. But this time, he doesn’t give up and runs harder until he gets on the same bus where Geum-myeong is.
She is sleeping in the bus, so at first, she doesn’t recognize him. But when she sees him, she says, “It is a dream, right?” Through this scene, Geum-myeong says, “Everything happens for a reason. What if the IMF crisis didn’t come, what if I didn’t go there? Then would I have been able to meet Chung-seob?” But fatefully, they meet today, and the most important thing is that Chung-seob doesn’t let fate go. Then both of them go to a roadside food court. They get drunk, and eventually that day, Chung-seob proposes to Geum-myeong.
Moving on, we see both of them together, trying to recreate a Titanic scene where Chung-seob tries to sketch Geum-myeong. Hahaha. We also see them share a kiss there. After that, Geum-myeong somehow manages to get Chung-seob to meet her father. So they go on a boat ride with Geum-myeong’s father. The funny part is, Chung-seob keeps vomiting on the boat as he has seasickness.
Later, Geum-myeong takes him to meet her other family members. We see that her whole family really likes Chung-seob as their son-in-law, even though at first, her father didn’t. But eventually, he accepts him during the boat ride when he realizes Chung-seob will protect Geum-myeong like he does.
Moving to 1998.8, Geum-myeong’s family has accepted Chung-seob, and now they are heading to the wedding palace. At the wedding, Geum-myeong keeps saying, “Nobody will cry at my wedding, Omma (mom). Or else I’m gonna cry too.” But then Eun-myeong (Geum-myeong’s brother) starts crying a lot in the car and at the wedding too. They arrived at the location, and Yeong-beom was in his car but didn’t get out. He remarked, “I shouldn’t have come here.” In the first scene, we saw that he had actually come to congratulate Geum-meyong, but his guilt prevented him from doing so.
Everything seems okay and normal. But before the bride enters, there’s an emotional moment between daughter and father. Father Gwan-sik says, “If things go wrong, back down. Just run straight to me, okay?” . He has said this to her his entire life. Honestly, this scene was very emotional and close to my heart wavies.
After that scene, Ae-sun cries continuously like a baby throughout the wedding, even though she said earlier that she wouldn’t cry. Seeing Geum-myeong cry like that, Chung-seob quickly walks up and takes her hand from her father for life. Geum-myeong’s father keeps crying during the entire wedding, while her mother is emotional but not crying, thinking that her daughter is finally getting a deserving family, a deserving husband, and a deserving mother-in-law who treats her like a daughter and loves her so much.
Episode 13 is about to end, but at the last moment, Eun-myeong is going to be in trouble because his business partner, Park Cheol-yaung, might have committed a crime, as some police come looking for him. Eun-myeong’s parents always told him not to hang out with Cheol-yaung, but he never listened—especially his mother. We saw earlier that he argued with his father about the business and his partner, Cheol-yaung. The episode ends with the line, “When your mom tells you not to hang out with a friend, she has a good reason for it.”
That is all about the drama When Life Gives You Tangerines – Episode 13. In the next episode, we’ll probably see Eun-myeong fall into terrible trouble. And maybe Father Gwan-sik will die in Episode 14, as hinted at the end of this episode. That would be truly heartbreaking, honestly.
Episode 13 of When Life Gives You Tangerines takes us on an emotional rollercoaster—filled with promises kept, unexpected reunions, and the beauty of acceptance. It highlights how love, family, and fate intertwine even during times of crisis. From Geum-myeong and Chung-seob’s touching love story to the bittersweet tears at the wedding, every moment was a reminder that happiness often comes after hardship. As tension builds for the next episode, especially with Eun-myeong’s looming troubles, viewers are left eager yet anxious to see what’s next. Stay tuned for Episode 14—it’s bound to be a tearjerker. Let’s see what happens next. I’ll post about it in a few hours. Till then, enjoy the drama.
