Among those in attendance is In-Sol, who joins them as the boys get the bus to Gwangju. In-Sol pays for their tickets but when they realize they don’t have enough to get back, Yong-Tae realizes they need to get jobs to pay their way. Luckily the kids happen upon an advert and decide to volunteer. Eventually the workers there agree to take them on. When they arrive on-site though, they have hard hats to wear and are greeted with a fair amount of manual labor. It’s back-breaking work too, and an ironic form of karma. Anyway, while most of the racket boys are scolded for ripping a few bags, In-Sol continues to work hard. During their break, they hungrily scoff down their lunches. Jun-Yeong gives them advice though, telling the kids not to listen to adults, before being forced back into working again. Hae-Kang is saved at the last second from a falling pipe too, and given he’s not wearing his helmet, is certainly berated from the boss for his carelessness. After work, the kids find out from Jun-Yeong that they’ve done extra work on top of what they should have done. They’ve been played for fools. Jun-Yeong tells them to hand over the funds but In-Sol has doubts. In fact, he holds his own and manages to save the day. Thanks to his vigilance in checking the board at work, he noticed that damages and lunches are both paid for by the company. The one boy who’s not with them is Yoon-Dam, who hangs back to continue training. That evening, he ends up talking to Han-Sol at the house. It’s a really sweet and touching moment, one that sees the two fist pump before wishing each other goodnight. However, it’s obvious that she likes him. Elsewhere, Hyeon-Jong meets up with his old buddy Jae-Joon as they reminisce on times gone by. Back then, coaching was a lot harsher and involved beatings and nasty cases of bullying. Despite making peace with this, it’s undoubtedly still something that plays on Jae-Joon’s mind. The boys suddenly realize that Yong-Tae had the money on him this whole time. It was in his inside pocket! The boys scold him as they head back to the station. They eventually make it back to the gym and immediately find themselves berated by Hyeon-Jong. At least to begin with. He soon calls them his “yangs” and decides against beating them, remembering what he was told by Jae-Joon. The kids eventually head back home, with Se-Yoon and Hae-Kang continuing their angst and avoiding their true feelings. However, the next day the kids all band together and put on a beautiful birthday party for Hae-In, one that sees everyone reduced to tears… apart from Hae-In. She’s so blunt and completely ruins the mood – and it’s gloriously funny. Eventually though, she heads out and shares time with young Chae-Yeon. Hyeon-Jong is beside himself with grief when he finds out. He begins drinking and bemoans that his daughter is drifting away from him. The draw for the summer competition is releases and it seems like Hae-Kang has quite the tough round of games ahead of him. How far will he make it? We’ll have to wait and see!
The Episode Review
Racket Boys continues to deliver slice of life drama here as the racket boys find themselves off doing manual labour. Ironically, their day off avoiding run to hell ends up being construction site to hell, as they do two days’ worth of manual labour in one. It’s an example of corporate greed and taking advantage of young volunteers, something that many companies have fallen foul of doing. However, the characters here all continue to deliver nicely although as a slice of life drama it’s fair to say there isn’t a whole lot of progression on the badminton front. The only real significance here comes from the way the show leans into showcasing the coaching and Hyeon-Jong’s confliction over how to scold the boys for their misdemeanors. This works quite well to anchor the whole episode together, although there’s not much progression on the romance side of things. Either way though, Racket Boys has been an enjoyable watch and the ending rounds things out nicely ready for the episodes to come.
