‘Check In Hanyang’Bae In-hyuk and Kim Ji-eun kissed.

In the third episode of Channel A‘s weekend drama ‘Check In Hanyang’ (written by Park Hyun-jin/directed by Myung Hyun-woo and Noh Kyu-yeop) that aired on December 28, the growth of the Ha Oh Na quartet - Lee Eun-ho (played by Bae In-hyuk), Hong Deok-soo (played by Kim Ji-eun), Chun Jun-hwa (played by Jung Gun-joo), and Go Soo-ra (played by Park Jae-chan) - as they grew closer with the common goal of ‘surviving Yongcheonru’, as well as the subtle changes in Lee Eun-ho’s relationship with Hong Deok-soo, caught the attention of viewers.

In the broadcast that day, the ‘Ha Oh Na quartet’ and the ‘Choi Sang-bang quartet’ were reprimanded in front of Daegakju Seol Mae-hwa (played by Kim Min-jung) and the vice-ministers for causing a commotion by playing double-crossing. Although the Haona Four insisted that the double-crossing was a fair deal, they were eventually pushed to the point of expulsion. Hong Deok-soo knelt in front of his enemy Seol Mae-hwa and asked for forgiveness, and Chun Jun-hwa, the successor to Yongcheonru who was watching this, came forward and asked Seol Mae-hwa to be lenient. Seol Mae-hwa said, “We all learned a lesson today, so I will forgive you,” and let it go.

Seol Mae-hwa knew that Hong Deok-soo had forged the Hongpae found at the murder scene, but she did not mention it. Chun Bang-joo (played by Kim Eui-sung), who received Seol Mae-hwa’s report, also said that he would just leave it at that for now. The reason was that a sword presumed to be royal was found at the Hongpae murder scene. Since he knew that Byeong-pan (played by Yoon Je-moon) would do anything if he got his hands on it, he decided not to come out to Yongcheonru for the time being.

Byeong-pan, who already had the sword in his hand, went straight to the palace and urged King Lee Hyeon-wi (played by Han Jae-seok) to make his grandson, Prince Seonyang (played by Kim Joo-won), the crown prince, and pressured him using the royal sword found at the murder scene as an excuse. Then, Byeong-pan confronted Cheon Bang-ju in the palace and expressed his anger at Cheon Bang-ju for coming to take care of Prince Eunseong (played by Kim Hyun-jin) instead of his grandson, Prince Seonyang.

Byeong-pan said, “This is all because you (Cheon Bang-ju) lost the ledger 12 years ago,” and warned him, “You have to make sure who the master you are going to serve is.” Cheon Bang-ju said, “Wasn’t it you and I who put Your Majesty on the throne? The next king should do the same,” he said, pleasing Byeong-pan, and acknowledged that they were the real power holders who established the king 12 years ago.

In the meantime, the ‘Haona 4-member group’ became even closer due to the midnight double-crossing incident. In particular, Go Soo-ra, who was touched by his colleagues’ support, promised, “I will also be of help someday.” As the evaluation of the education servants at Yongcheonru was conducted by room, they became even closer. Due to Lee Eun-ho’s unexpected performance, they passed the test to memorize the personnel rules of the Sa-hwan Sil-rok, and showed the best teamwork, such as peeling onions and building a store while shedding tears.

The education servants then took the test for the three major departments. First, the administrative assistant Jo Seung-ryang (played by Choi Min-cheol) prepared a test assignment to do laundry. The Haona 4-member group happily finished their laundry under the blue sky. However, they got into an argument with Choi Sang-bang over where to put the bedding. Heo Dong-gyu (played by Jung Dong-hoon), a senior servant who is from the same clothing company as the best Myeong-ho (played by Lee Ho-won), said he would show the Ha-ona 4-member group a different seat. However, this was Myeong-ho‘s scheme, and the Ha-ona 4-member group’s laundry drying rack collapsed, causing their bedding to fall to the ground.

The Ha-ona 4-member group went to the valley to wash their dirty bedding again. While they were diligently doing the laundry, Hong Deok-soo fell into the water. Hong Deok-soo struggled, entangled in his bedding, and sank deep into the water. Lee Eun-ho jumped into the water to save him. Lee Eun-ho breathed life into Hong Deok-soo, who was losing consciousness due to lack of breath.

Lee Eun-ho and Hong Deok-soo kissed after only 3 episodes. The two of them still don‘t know each other’s true identity or their feelings for each other, but the scene where they share a breath underwater was as beautiful as any kissing scene, making viewers‘ hearts flutter. Even before the underwater kiss, Lee Eun-ho couldn’t take his eyes off Hong Deok-soo and was interested in him, which increased the immersion.

Will the relationship between Lee Eun-ho and Hong Deok-soo change because of the underwater kiss? And what effect will that change have on the relationship of the ‘Haona 4-member group’? Episode 4 of Channel A‘s Saturday-Sunday drama ’Check In Hanyang‘, which will reveal this, will air tonight (the 29th) at 9:10 p.m.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com