Record of Youth Ep 16: Park Bo Gum fans left in tears during series finale; Found the open ending heartwarming

While it's almost been a whole day since we've had to bid farewell to tvN's Record of Youth, we're still not over the heartwarming ending. For the unversed, Record of Youth stars Park Bo-gum as Sa Hye-joon, an aspiring actor, Park So-dam as Ahn Jung-ha, an aspiring makeup artist and Byun Woo-seok as Won Hae-hyo, also an aspiring actor but born with a silver spoon.

*SPOILERS ALERT* Record of Youth Ep 16 begins with Hye-joon trying to convince Jung-ha to not break up with him but the latter is adamant on creating her own path. Jung-ha tells Hye-joon how she wants to be remembered as "beautiful memory" of his youth and that she too needs to attain her dreams as well. While Hye-joon is heartbroken, he also comes to the conclusion that he needs to enlist in the military and finish his "homework" instead of delaying it. Moreover, Hae-hyo beats his best friend to it and enlists before him but without telling his mother Kim Yi-young (Shine Ae-ra). She finds out the next day after receiving a letter from her son which leads to her having an emotional breakdown. Before he leaves, Hae-hyo meets up with Jung-ha and tells her he's enlisting only to get a sombre response from his crush. Well, at least he tried and the second lead syndrome continues on! Hae-hyo also won brownie points for telling his mother that she has a son who she can be proud of.

Moreover, Kim Jin-woo (Kwon Soo-hyun) finally decides to break up with Hae-hyo's sister Won Hae-na (Jo Yoo-jung) [In spite of Hae-hyo offering his support] given their class difference and how they will not be able to go against their parents. Jung-ha is constantly reminded of her past relationship with Hye-joon and ultimately decides to wear the customised sneakers gifted to her by her ex-boyfriend. Park Do-ha (Kim Gun-woo) gets into some more controversies, thanks to Lee Tae-su's beef with reporter Kim Su-man (Bae Yoon-kyung). Hye-joon convinces his mother Han Ae-sook (Ha Hee-ra) to leave her job at the Won household much to Yi-young's disappointment. Even Jin-woo convinces his mother Lee Kyung-mi (Park Sung-yeon) to quit her job at the Won Household.

While initially reluctant at first, Hye-joon's family finally comes to terms with Hye-joon enlisting while he also renews his contract for four years with Lee Min-jae's (Shin Dong-mi) Jjampong agency much to the agent's delight. Min-jae also shares a hilarious yet endearing sequence with Hye-joon's older brother Sa Kyeong-jun (Lee Jae-won) while the latter's funny one-liner to Jin-woo's father Kim Jang-man (Jung Min-sung) on how people asking singletons on marriage should be fined had viewers laughing out loud. In an 'art mirrors life' moment, we see Hye-joon going on Instagram Live to reveal to his fans that he's enlisting (Bo-gum himself enlisted to the military on August 31, 2020) with an uplifting message. Bo-gum fans were left in tears as they felt the actor was saying those words to them and not just character. Hye-joon also proves to be a dynamite friend by not only giving away his clothes to Jin-woo but also giving him money to buy equipment for his own studio. The Sa and Kim family enjoy a hearty meal as a farewell to Hye-joon.

We then take a leap to two years later after Hye-joon and Hae-hyo have been discharged from the military. As expected, Hye-joon gets a big drama offer while Jung-ha is now a big makeup artist. Hye-joon, Hae-hyo and Jin-woo's friendship still remains intact as they meet up at their old spot while Hye-joon's grandfather Sa Min-gi (Han Jin-hee) receives an award for his modelling career with the entire Sa family in attendance. Min-gi emotionally dedicates the award to his son Sa Young-nam (Park Soo-young) which leads to the latter having an emotional meltdown. In a moment of epiphany, Young-nam confronts Hye-joon and apologises for not being there for him. The heartwarming father-son moment with those endearing smiles was indeed a major highlight.

In the final few moments, we see Hye-joon, on set, encountering Jung-ha as the two meet after two years since their breakup. Jung-ha continues to wear the sneakers gifted to her by Hye-joon and quips to her ex that it doesn't mean she's still yearning for him. The two get back to their easy camaraderie as they catch up on the time lost and leave viewers with an open ending to weave their own imagination. The final shot is a throwback sequence to Hye-joon's sequence from Gateway, the medical drama starring top star Lee Hyun-soo (cameo by Seo Hyun-jin), which made him a household name.

Check out some of our favourite moments from Record of Youth Ep 16 below:

I can’t complain at the ending scene as you truly can see that they’re both at a happier place and are successful in their own ways. Let the rest be our imagination.

... after this drama you will see things differently 

Record of Youth will indeed be a memorable drama for many!

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