GROWTH AND ACCEPTANCE WITH NA-HEEDO AND BAEK YIJIN
Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk as Na-Heedo and Baek Yijin
Released in early 2022 but set in 1998, ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’ quickly garnered an emotional audience whose hearts the cast and characters took away with every new episode. It was not only new for the audience to witness a special story like this, but was fairly new to the actors that played Na-Heedo and Baek Yijin as well.
Kim Tae-ri, popularly known for the critically acclaimed film, ‘The Handmaiden', showed a different side of her acting as Na-Heedo, a loud and expressive girl, compared to her past roles which are often associated with serious and sensitive topics. Nam Joo-hyuk, on the other hand, expressed more of his emotional side as he played the troubled adult Baek Yijin, who struggles with worldly affairs from finding a job and reuniting his family due to the effects of the IMF Crisis.
Baek Yijin and Na-Heedo in the early stages of their relationship
If you watch the first three episodes and then skip to the last three, you will immediately notice the significant contrast in how the characters behave with their surroundings and the vast difference in their maturity and priorities.
I tried my best to transfer here, but all of my plans failed. That is why I’ve come to show you my fencing skills. Please watch and decide whether or not you want to train me.
Episode 1 of ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’
Na-Heedo is what I’d consider an odd but idealistic character to look up to. It is obvious, if not exaggerated, how much passion Heedo has for her skills in fencing. And without her brazen character and confidence, no one else would have gotten the success she did if put in the exact same steps as the latter gold-medalist champion. While Na-Heedo works her way up to the national finals as a professional fencer, Baek Yijin scores for jobs to survive in the world and eventually lands the working title of a News Caster and Journalist. All throughout, we witness the dynamic duo’s friendship, and later relationship, unfold.
Neither of us is at fault here. And yet we’ve grown this much apart. It just happened. -- I’m not trying to say who is right or wrong. It’s just that…this love isn’t supporting me anymore.
Episode 16 of ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’
And finally, the time came. Na-Heedo and Baek Yijin have grown into the individuals they were always meant to become, only with the help of each other’s presence and support. Even with every episode, there were already significant changes and symbols which represented the characters’ growths, some of them being as little as the changes in the way Heedo wears her hair (from a scrunchie always tied halfway at the back of her head to loosely displaying her straight hair) and the way Yijin dresses (from sweaters and jeans to button-down shirts and slacks).
Na-Heedo and Baek Yijin's final embrace after falling apart in Episode 16
The main lesson I received from 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' is that things happen because they’re supposed to. As a part of the audience, if you were asked the question – Would you rather witness the couple grow apart from each other or have them not experience their growth and love at all? – would you really choose the latter option?
Even if we didn’t know each other, we would still be together like now. Because we have the same destination.
Episode 6 of ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’
That line, delivered by Nam Joo-hyuk, struck me and plainly summarizes my point. At some point in time, every one of us and the people we held special in our lives, had the same destination but different endings. Heedo and Yijin both had the same destination of success in their minds, and because of that shared destination, they were able to reach even farther although presently apart.
‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’ was able to bring us the sad realities of life and romance while keeping the light-hearted and humorous feels of the early 2000s K-Dramas. A must-watch for those who crave love, pain, and truth.
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by Isobelle Cruz, 27/05/2022
