The episode starts with the year 2018. Hyun-Jo and Yi-gang intake the beauty of Mount Jiri from a place where they can see the whole mountain. Hyun-Jo says Mount Jiri is indeed vast. They both wonder where the murderer would have gone as there is no news of him. Hyun-Jo then asks Yi-gang about her holiday plan as Christmas is right around the corner. Yi-gang says she doesn’t like Christmas and resumes the patrol. Hyun-Jo gets a message from a girl who reminds him of their date on Christmas.
Winter is here and everything seems to cover with snow. In the station, everyone is working. Gu-Yeong is enjoying and takes pictures of everyone. He also takes selfies with Yang-Sun near their Christmas tree. He then asks her for yet another weird festival. Yang-Sun politely rejects him. Hyun-Jo and Yi-gang wonder if he is crazy😂.
On Christmas Eve, Hyun-Jo and Yi-gang end up on duty in the Bidam shelter as Yi-gang owes one for the team leader and Gu-Yeong persuades Hyun-Jo to take the duty as he has a movie date with Yang-Sun. Yi-gang asks Hyun-Jo if he has no plans. Hyun-Jo says let’s say there is not (what about the girl he got a text from?).
Yi-gang then shows him the shelter and they both start cleaning. Yi-gang is very dedicated and makes Hyun-Jo work hard as well. He calls her Demon Seo and goes to attend a call. In the call, his fellow ranger mentions that someone is going to collect a lost and found article today. Hyun-Jo then searches for the lost and found article log. Yi-gang takes it literally with her closed eyes and gives it to him (I mean how organised a person can be? I forget where I kept my things minutes ago)
In the log, it says Yim Cheol-Gyeong is the one who is coming to collect the article. Yi-gang gets taken aback after hearing that name.
On the other side, Gu-Yeong waits for Yang-sun in a theatre. Yang-Sun is nervous but still makes her way to the theatre.
A man drives in the snow to the mountain but the road is blocked due to heavy snow. So he decides to walk further. Another man comes in a taxi and takes it the same way as the previous man did. There is another girl with proper hiking gear near Jungsan-ri visitor center. She tries to call someone but the call doesn’t connect. She then walks further into the mountain.
The news of Yim Cheol-Gyeong gets out. It says he got a bride of 100 million won to reveal a drug case details. Yi-gang’s grandma hears this news while eating with her friends. She says Yi-gang was head over heels for this crazy Cheol-Gyeong. She says Yi-gang used to go to the mountain a lot. This one time, she went to the mountain for three days and returned with a broken arm. So grandma made her join the centre for the hopeless kids in Cheongwon. She says it happened there. Now we are flashed back to the past.
The year 1997. Yi-gang is in the centre along with other kids. The instructor asks the kids to submit their phones and other belongings. The kids go cranky. Yi-gang is sitting there with the cast in one of her arms. The instructor says they are going to the Cheonwangbong peak today and announces that the 1st place will get 50k won and 2nd place will get 30k won and the 3rd place will get 20k won. The kids make a bet that the “winner takes it all”. This piques Yi-gang’s interest and mostly all the kid’s interests.
All the kids start struggling after some time while Yi-gang takes the lead easily. But soon enough she is faced with a boy (Cheol-Gyeong) who is hiking with the same energy as hers. He takes the lead now and then as well. When they are almost at the peak, Yi-gang struggles a little with her one arm. Cheol-Gyeong tries to help her but she turns him down arrogantly. She reaches the peak first. But Cheol-Gyeong is nowhere to be seen. Later, he comes up with the last boy who twisted his ankle.
Yi-gang is annoyed with Cheol-Gyeong now. The instructor asks everyone to scream as they have reached the top. Yi-gang is the first one to scream and everyone follows her as the instructor encourages. Cheol-Gyeong doesn’t scream and the instructor asks him to scream something to his parents. The boy replies that he doesn’t have any of his parents. This catches Yi-gang’s attention.
It is the end of the training in the centre. Cheol-Gyeong is standing at the bus stop alone. Yi-gang joins him. Soon, Yi-gang’s grandma comes and asks her why is she waiting for a bus when their house is right there and also ask if she is trying to escape again. She then takes Yi-gang with her. A bus arrives and as Cheol-Gyeong is about to step in. Yi-gang slaps him in his back and runs away. Both Cheol-Gyeong and Grandma is confused.
The year 2018. Hyun-Jo guesses why Cheol-Gyeong is coming up to the mountain on a special day like Christmas. He says he may have something to give to someone special. Hyun-Jo notices Yi-gang and asks why she is awfully silent. She says it is nothing. They get a report that someone with a twisted ankle is next to the old tree near the Sonbawi rock. She asks if it is Cheol-Gyeong but the reporter couldn’t confirm it.
Yi-gang gets ready to go alone. Hyun-Jo asks why she is going alone in this weather. Yi-gang says she knows the mountain better and she will call backup if she needs it and says he needs to be there. Hyun-Jo asks her to radio him if something happens. Yi-gang says he has grown and become more reliable now and also mocks him saying he is gonna fall asleep.
After some time, Hyun-Jo hears a sound at his 11’o clock. He radios Yi-gang to ask if she is ok. Yi-gang says she heard nothing and says she is 100m away from the location.
Hyun-Jo notices someone outside the window and gets scared to see a man outside. But it is only our Gu-Yeong. Hyun-Jo asks why he came up in the weather like this. Gu-Yeong says he got stood up by Yang-Sun and he has nowhere else to go. Our poor Gu-Yeong. He then goes to take tissue for his running nose and notices Cheol-Gyeong and says he is Yi-gang’s first love.
Gu-Yeong seems to have heard about the story from Yi-gang’s rant when she drinks.
The year 2002. Yi-gang ran away to Seoul. She bumps with Cheol-Gyeong while both doing their part-time job. Cheol-Gyeong asks if she ran away again and gives her a pamphlet of a restaurant he is working with. Yi-gang then joins as a part-timer in the restaurant he works.
They both work and Yi-gang studies at night for her college entrance exam. She works hard for the exam. On the day of the exam, she returns with a long face. Cheol-Gyeong, who is waiting for her, offers to go see the sea. They both ride Cheol-Gyeong’s motorcycle to the sea. We can see that Yi-gang is totally into him.
It is winter. (I felt like neither of them enjoyed the sea. Not sure whether the weather is to be blamed or they are more of a mountain person.) Cheol-Gyeong asks her how bad the test was. She says she got 1 or 2 right (I am wondering how many years it is going to take her to clear the exam). He then asks her why she slapped him back then in the bus stop. She says she was jealous of him as he had somewhere to go but she had to live there.
She then asks him what he wants to become. He says he has no idea and asks her the same. She says she doesn’t know but definitely, the ocean is not her thing.
On the day of Christmas eve, the owner of the restaurant they both are working with accuses Cheol-Gyeong of stealing money. Yi-gang protests for him. In the end, the owner fires both of them and throws coins in the road as their that month’s salary.
Cheol-Gyeong is feeling humiliated while Yi-gang picks all the coins from the ground. Cheol-Gyeong says he doesn’t know what to become but he doesn’t want to live a humiliating life like this and leaves leaving Yi-gang behind.
The year 2018. Gu-Yeong says that is why Yi-gang doesn’t like Christmas and says he is going to feel the same way.
The car in which a man came into the mountain earlier is getting noticed by the police. They report to Hyun-Jo that a wanted person Cheol-Gyeong, a drug squad detective, seems to have gone up towards Bidam shelter.
Suddenly the power goes off and the generator doesn’t kick in. They both have no idea where they should be looking into or how to fix the generator. Hyun-Jo gets ready to go after Cheol-Gyeong. Gu-Yeong stops him saying there is no electricity, no radio will work and moreover he is a drug squad detective so he has access to a gun. Hyun-Jo says earlier he heard a sound at 11’o clock which felt like a gunshot and he is someone Yi-gang knows so he protests that he should be going.
Hyun-Jo leaves and Gu-Yeong tries to repair the generator without even knowing what to do and notices a wire is been cut off and sees the shelter door move.
Some of the drug squad detectives who are searching for Cheol-Gyeong reaches the police station. Eung Soon tells them that they could not connect to the shelter. One of the detectives asks them permission to go to the mountain. Eung Soon calls the headquarters for permission.
Yi-gang reaches the location and sees the girl who started from the Jungsan-ri visitor centre. Yi-gang does the first aid and says she should not wear a new pair of shoes to hike. The girl asks Yi-gang whether a man named Cheol-Gyeong came to the Bidam shelter. Yi-gang says no. The girl says he is his senior and was wrongly accused of bribery and has evidence that can clear up his name in the shelter. Yi-gang asks why such an important thing like that would be in the shelter. She says Cheol-Gyeong set a spy in the cartel and says she heard that the evidence is in a blue backpack.
Yi-gang tries the radio but it doesn’t work so she tells the girl that they should go to the shelter, not because of the evidence but because she should be kept safe till the weather clears. They both then head to the shelter.
Hyun-Jo goes to the place he heard the gunshot and sees someone lying on the ground. He then turns him around and we can see that it is Cheol-Gyeong.
Yi-gang and the girl reach the shelter and Yi-gang notices that the generator door is opened. She then goes close to shut them as they would freeze and notices a wire is cut. She then asks the girl to stay outside and goes in to see what happened. She sees Gu-Yeong lying on the ground unconscious and is hurt by his head. She then runs to call the police but someone points a gun at her head and asks her to stay down. This man is the same man who came in a taxi earlier. Yi-gang seems to have some kind of a spray with her and uses it to defend her. As soon as the man falls, she again tries to call but the girl who came with her hits her in the head and searches for the evidence in the shelter while Yi-gang is lying down weak. This girl and the man seems to be the ones who got bribery and Cheol-Gyeong was wrongfully accused of it.
The man realises that Cheol-Gyeong lied about the evidence to get them there. By then they hear someone enter the shelter. Thankfully Cheol-Gyeong was conscious and Hyun-Jo managed to get him here. They both take the situation under control and soon the detectives come there and say it was Cheol-Gyeong idea to lie about the evidence to catch the culprit and take the culprits away. Yi-gang manages to stand up and sees Cheol-Gyeong. We are now flashed back to the past.
The year 2006. Yi-gang comes to her village crying as she gets information that her grandma is sick. Only after reaching her home, she finds out that she got tricked by her grandmother. Her grandma and her friends catch her and she takes her to the ranger station for an interview. Grandma asks what she did in Seoul as she could neither clear the college entrance nor do anything else(😂exams are really not her thing). In the end, she somehow manages to get Yi-gang inside the station. There she is sitting across Caption Dae-Jin. Captain asks her if she will do the job. She says no and doesn’t meet his eyes. Captain asks if she still believes that he is the reason why her parents are dead. He then says that she should save the citizens he couldn’t and that is why she should take the job. Yi-gang gets emotional this is how she took up the job.
Yi-gang and Gu-Yeong seem to have joined at the same time and seems to be partners at that time. One day, while working in the Bidam shelter, someone comes to pick up their lost and found article. To her surprise it is Cheol-Gyeong. He is there for his notes. She then picks it for him and they both talk outside the shelter.
Cheol-Gyeong says he is a constable now and Yi-gang says he is not living humiliating life anymore. Cheol-Gyeong says the same goes for her and also says she is looking good with the mountains. He then hesitantly starts to confess something. Suddenly Gu-Yeong comes running and says there is a report of someone in the mountain is under cardiac arrest. She then starts running and turns to look back at Cheol-Gyeong. He says he will come often to the shelter.
Yi-gang and Gu-Yeong go running to the mountain and send the person by a med helicopter. Both are tired and take a rest. Gu-Yeong rants about how he wants to quit and says as Yi-gang is also ready to quit, they both should quit. Yi-gang says she doesn’t want to quit anymore and says she wants to stay with the mountain. (I am not sure whether sudden meet with Cheol-Gyeong after years changed her mind or how she could save the person earlier did the change).
Back to the year 2018. Yi-gang and Cheol-Gyeong stand outside and talk. Yi-gang is awkward in the beginning as Cheol-Gyeong starts talking. He says he wants to confess something and says he is the one who stole the money years ago from the restaurant to buy the motorcycle so that he can take her to the beach. He then returned the money to the owner and apologised to him months later. He says he wanted to confess it the time they met before but was embarrassed. Yi-gang asks if he is not embarrassed now. He says he got aged and it doesn’t matter now and smiles. He says he went there after they met but as she was not in the shelter he thought she quit. Yi-gang says he should have called and asks him to call the next time he comes. He says he will and also says he will bring his wife as she likes to hike. They both chuckle but clearly Yi-gang is annoyed and asks him to be careful and not bug her while hiking also complains about how cold it is out there.
Gu-Yeong hurt his head but is fine after Hyun-Jo does first-aid. Gu-Yeong says he doesn’t remember anything after someone hit his head. He asks if it is his blood in the ground and freaks out. Hyun-Jo wonders about Yi-gang and Cheol-Gyeong.
The next day, the detectives leave with the culprits and Cheol-Gyeong thanks Hyun-Jo for his help and say goodbye to Yi-gang before leaving.
Gu-Yeong asks if this Cheol-Gyeong is really her first love. Demon Seo slaps him in his head. Yang-Sun comes running and asks Gu-Yeong if he is ok. Gu-Yeong says it was just a scratch and says he is fine now. Gu-Yeong is confused and asks why she is here. Yang-Sun says she was worried about him and says he didn’t even show up yesterday. Gu-Yeong is again confused and says he was waiting near the ticket counter. Yang-Sun says the meeting spot was outside the theatre. Hyun-Jo asks why they didn’t call each other. Both didn’t want to pressure another. They both smile and they are really cute together.
Yi-gang says they are making her annoyed. Hyun-Jo takes Yi-gang into the shelter leaving the couple alone.
Gu-Yeong and Yang-Sun plan for a movie again and they both seem to enjoy each others company. Our team leader is blessed with a child. (I really love how pleasant it is right now).
But our Yi-gang and Hyun-Jo are drinking. Yi-gang rants about how they are drinking on Christmas Eve while the others are enjoying. And says this is why she hates Christmas. Hyun-Jo asks why did she become a ranger when she hates the mountain and asks if she likes Cheol-Gyeong that much. Yi-gang says she herself doesn’t know why she is there.
While talking, Yi-gang drinks sweet potato makgeolli before Hyun-Jo could warn her. She then starts her story from when she was 6.😂 In the night, Hyun-Jo piggybacks her to her home. Grandma asks him to wait as she will offer him some honey tea as it is his first time and not to mention Yi-gang is tall and heavy so he must be tired. While waiting, he sees pictures of her hanging on the wall and remembers her drunken story. He smiles and says she loves the mountain and that is why she doesn’t want to leave.
Suddenly, he is flashed with his visions where Mount Jiri is on wildfire. The episode ends here.
Just now I said it was pleasant why they always have to leave us with this kind of cliffhangers.
I think the wildfire will happen as all his visions always happened and there were no exceptions even though they could save the victims!! Or is this incident the reason behind their accident as Yi-gang once said they were trying to save the mountain on the day of the accident? I am really curious. I don’t know how am going to wait for 5 more days to watch the next episode.
I am also curious about what happens in the year 2020. Did Yi-gang see hooded Hyun-Jo through her quadcopter camera?.
What do you guys think? How was the episode and what are your theories? Let me know in the comments as I would love to read them!!😊
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I really enjoyed this episode.
Me too!!
cheol-gyeong and yi-gang The love story was so cute
Yaa.. they are really cute ☺️🌻💞