4 Emotional Moments From Episodes 7-8 Of “My Youth”

The recent episodes of “My Youth” brought a storm of emotions as Sunwoo Hae (Song Joong Ki) finds himself caught between love, fame, family, and the harsh reality of his illness. To top it off, Je Yeon (Chun Woo Hee) finally gathers the courage to confess her feelings. She is left bewildered by his constant deflections, and it takes every ounce of courage for him to finally tell her the painful truth: that he is unwell, and his time may be limited.

What makes it even more heartbreaking is that Sunwoo Hae is conflicted and does not want to burden her with his illness, as well as a future that seems bleak. His affection is deep, yet his instinct is to protect her by letting her go, leaving their relationship at a fragile crossroads.

At the same time, fate plays another trick on him. Once an outcast in showbiz, Sunwoo Hae is suddenly thrust back into the spotlight when the documentary he shot for becomes a huge success. His name and reputation, which once came cloaked in scandal, is suddenly seen as respectful and viable. With his health faltering, his fame soaring, and his relationships caught in turmoil, Sunwoo Hae is forced to confront both the ghosts of his past and the fragility of his future. Here are four emotional moments from last week’s episodes.

Warning: spoilers from episodes 7 and 8 ahead!

1. Je Yeon finally admitting her feelings

Sung Je Yeon can no longer deny the truth she’s buried for so long—she has always been in love with Sunwoo Hae. Once professional to a fault and even rejecting his advances, Je Yeon now finds herself chasing after him. From planning cute dates to calling him just to hear his voice, she wears her heart openly, determined to let him know how she feels. But while she seeks every chance to get closer, Sunwoo Hae quietly keeps her at a distance, insisting on friendship instead of romance.

She is baffled when he doesn’t show up for their first “date,” leaving her sobbing and torn between holding on and letting go. What she misses, however, is the anguish in his eyes, proof that his coldness is more complicated than rejection.

Je Yeon’s longing for love ties into a deeper flaw: her need for constant validation. Whether it was earning grades to impress her mother as a student or bending over backwards to win approval at work under Kim Pil Do (Jin Kyung), she has always lived for others’ expectations. Now, with Sunwoo Hae, she risks repeating the same mistake by centering her happiness on him. Sunwoo Hae firmly, yet kindly, reminds her that she mustn’t measure her worth by others.

The heartbreak doesn’t stop there. Stripped of her role by Pil Do, who coldly informs her that new talent doesn’t want her as manager, Je Yeon faces professional devastation on top of her personal struggles. Realizing the truth in her mentor’s advice, that she must develop her own skills and individuality instead of bending to Pil Do’s harsh ways, Je Yeon makes a bold choice to quit rather than endure further humiliation.

Now, woebegone and wistful, the only person she longs to turn to is Sunwoo Hae. But is Je Yeon truly brave enough to ride out the storm ahead?

2. Sunwoo Hae struggling between his illness and his heart

You feel the weight of Sunwoo Hae’s words when he mutters, “What timing,” as Je Yeon confesses her love for him. Only moments earlier, he had been dealt the devastating truth: that he has amyloidosis, an irreversible illness. The doctor is vague, suggesting he might have months or perhaps a decade left, but the uncertainty is enough to shake anyone. For Sunwoo Hae, who has always survived by controlling what he can and ignoring what he cannot, the diagnosis is both cruel and ironic. Just as life offers him a second chance at love, he is reminded of how fragile his time really is.

When Je Yeon opens her heart, part of him wants desperately to seize this new beginning. Yet his resolve to keep her at arm’s length hardens after he collapses on the day of their date and wakes up in a hospital bed. The first thing he does on regaining consciousness is to seek her out, only to be confronted by the anguish in her eyes. In that moment he nearly tells her the truth but stops himself. He realizes the road ahead with him will only bring her pain and not the happiness he wishes he could give her.

Everyday reminders of his declining health—nosebleeds, cramps, and his hands twisting in pain—become silent battles he faces alone. He eventually tells Je Yeon that he is sick but cloaks it in his characteristic humor, quipping that everyone should get their bloodwork done. What he cannot bring himself to admit is the gravity of his condition.

It is clear that his heart aches for her. But Sunwoo Hae believes the most difficult act of love is sacrifice, shielding her from the inevitable grief of his illness. His resilience is admirable, yet deeply tragic: all his life, he has lived for others. Now, when he finally dares to imagine living for himself and for love, fate seems to leave him no choice. Seeing his face and his silent battle makes you want to reach out and whisper that all will be well, but will it?

3. Sunwoo Hae standing up to his father

Sunwoo Hae’s relationship with his father, Sunwoo Chan (Jo Han Chul), is fractured. It’s almost non-existent, a knot of neglect, abandonment, and unresolved anger. Sunwoo Chan has always been the archetypal shirker, dodging responsibility at every turn. He even burdened the 19-year-old Sunwoo Hae with the care of his daughter from an affair, forcing the boy to step into a role that wasn’t his to bear. Married to Kim Pil Do, who openly despises Sunwoo Hae, Sunwoo Chan never once defended his son or the daughter he had left behind, rather making her believe the daughter was Sunwoo Hae’s.

Now, as years have passed, Sunwoo Chan makes clumsy overtures to bridge the gulf with his son, only to be met with Sunwoo Hae’s aloof silences. Even when he visits his daughter Nu Ri, it is done furtively behind Kim Pil Do’s back, affection rationed out in secrecy.

But after the unexpected success of the documentary, Sunwoo Hae finds himself the darling of the public like his childhood sitcom character. Fans stop by to meet him, and with this newfound attention comes visitors from his past, including Nu Ri’s mother, resurfacing a decade after abandoning her child. Watching these belated displays of parental concern, Sunwoo Hae can’t help but remark with bitterness that love seems to appear only once success does. His disillusion deepens when he discovers that Nu Ri’s mother had always been in contact with Sunwoo Chan, and, worse still, that Nu Ri has been in touch with Sunwoo Chan too. It feels like betrayal, a private conspiracy carried out behind his back.

The final blow comes when Sunwoo Chan approaches him, shamelessly, asking for the rights to his bestselling book. Sunwoo Hae, composed and calm, finally confronts his father. He tells him that the reason he took responsibility for his sister was precisely because he didn’t want to become like his father—irresponsible, spineless, and weak. As a teenager, juggling multiple jobs, Sunwoo Hae had carried the weight of a broken family with no support from his father. And now, Sunwoo Chan suddenly wants to reclaim him as a son. With a slight quiver in his voice, Sunwoo Hae adds that even if he is dying, he will see to it that his responsibilities are fulfilled—a vow to remain the man his father never was.

For the first time, irritation slips through Sunwoo Hae’s otherwise calm exterior. Beneath the hardened surface, Sunwoo Hae is still that little boy who was never nurtured, the teenager who never got to be young and is now the man who carries the scars of all those unhealed years. The audience is left with the image of a broken soul, someone who has lived in the spotlight yet was never truly seen, forever struggling to reconcile the child within with the adult he was forced to become.

4. Je Yeon’s sudden accident

Je Yeon cannot get Sunwoo Hae out of her mind, no matter how hard she tries to distract herself, even attempting to learn how to ride a bike from a young girl. As she breaks down during the lesson, the girl gently tells her, “It’s hard at first, but it gets better.” Yet, for Je Yeon, staying away from Sunwoo Hae is only getting harder.

She soon learns from his friend that Sunwoo Hae is not merely unwell, but gravely ill. Confronting him once again, she finally hears the truth. Sunwoo Hae reiterates that they cannot have a future together. She leaves him, confused herself. But on her trip back home, spending time with her mother, something shifts. Her feelings for Sunwoo Hae are too strong to ignore, so why can she not endure the situation alongside him, for better or for worse?

She returns to him, only to be met with rejection. Sunwoo Hae tells her he does not even like her, asking why she is wasting her time. The words are meant to protect her, but in truth, they wound, a shield of rejection masking his fear of dragging her into his suffering. His resolve is further tested when he suffers another episode in the washroom.

Yet, despite his fear, his heart pushes him to seek her out. And fate intervenes with cruel timing: Je Yeon has met with an accident, and Sunwoo Hae’s world crashes around him yet again. The fragility of Sunwoo Hae’s world comes into focus. He’s a man who has finally found love, yet cannot allow himself to hold on, even as his heart aches beyond control. The moment leaves viewers on the edge of their seats. All eyes now turn to the forthcoming episodes—what will happen next? Will Sunwoo Hae confront his feelings, and can love survive the delicate, cruel interplay of fate and fragility? Only this week will tell.

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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram