This week’s underrated scene comes from the ongoing K-Drama “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”, starring Kim TaeRi, Nam JooHyuk, Choi HyunWook, WJSN’s Bona, and Lee JuMyoung. Set in the late 90s in the first half, during the tumultuous IMF Crisis in South Korea, the drama tells the wonderfully poignant story of love, youth, growing pains, and resilience that go against the times and overcome the same. Spoiler Alert! One of the key characters in the story is Na HeeDo (played by Kim TaeRi), an aspiring fencer who dreams of becoming her idol’s rival. She is determined to reach her goal and works hard to attain them. Once she puts her mind to something, there’s no stopping her. HeeDo’s unbeatable hunger for success is exceeded only by her desire to learn and grow. Not only is she an inspiration because of her sincerity but she is also a source of joy to those around her for her innocent and spirited personality. In episode 3 of “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”, Na HeeDo finds out that the age that took away her dream is also the age that is presenting her with an opportunity: she will be competing in the qualifier to make it into the national fencing team! Now aware of her position, she begs Coach Yang (played by Kim HyeEun) to train her one on one so that she can pursue her dream with confidence. Coach Yang happily obliges, giving HeeDo a special training regimen to prepare her for the qualifier but under one condition: HeeDo cannot question her ways. While it seems rather easy at first, especially with HeeDo’s strong will, she is stumped by one task: learning the choreography of Shinhwa’s hit song ‘The Solver’.
In episode 4, HeeDo crosses paths with the “pretty boy of Class Seven”, Moon JiWoong (played by Choi HyunWook), just in time to catch him doing the “moon walk”. Figuring that he must be a good dancer, HeeDo pleads JiWoong to teach her and after some persuasion (mostly involving Go YuRim, played by Bona), he agrees. Later in the episode, we see HeeDo and JiWoong flawlessly perform ‘The Solver’, making us fall in love with the classic all over again.
This sequence is particularly reminiscent of “Reply 1988” where DeokSun (played by HyeRi) learns the choreography of ‘Last Night’ by SoBangCha with the help of DongRyong (played by Lee DongHwi). With the roaring popularity of “Reply 1988”, the nostalgia evoked by the dance sequence in “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” was like a shot of dopamine, bringing back fond memories from another incredible drama.
With “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” also creating a parallel with the “Reply” series’ famous “Who’s the husband?” trope, this neat little scene was even more heartwarming. Are you watching “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”? Share your thoughts with Kpopmap in the comments section down below!
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