Destined With You Episode 2 Recap and Review: Mysterious Wooden Box Opens, A Love Spell is Cast

Destined With You Episode 2 Recap and Review: The South Korean fantasy romance drama, Destined With You (이 연애는 불가항력) stars SF9’s Rowoon and Jo Bo-ah in lead roles. The supporting cast also includes, Ha Jun, and Yura. The JTBC series is written by Noh Ji-sul and directed by Nam Ki-hoon.

The series revolves around Lee Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah), a dutiful civil servant and Jang Shin-yu (Rowoon), an ace lawyer. The two come face to face under unexpected circumstances after Hong-jo turns out to be the owner of an old wooden box that has been sealed over 300 years ago. It contains a forbidden book that has a connection to Shin-yu. He is suffering from a mysterious illness that runs throughout his family for generations and its cure lies in the book. Soon, they both realise that the key to saving Shin-yu from the curse is in the hands of Hong-jo. Amid the same, a sweet romance blossoms between them.

As for the cast, the SF9 member was last seen in 2022’s Tomorrow. Jo Bo-ah recently starred in 2023’s Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 as Nam Ji-ah. Also, Ha Jun starred in Missing: The Other Side Season 2 as Shin Joon-ho and Yura previously essayed the role of Chae Yoo-jin in Forecasting Love and Weather. Destined With You airs on JTBC at the 10.30 PM slot on Wednesday-Thursday, previously occupied by Miraculous Brothers.

– Destined With You Episode 2 Review Contains Spoilers –

The episode takes off with Shin-yu (Rowoon) handing the mysterious wooden box to Hong-jo (Jo Bo-ah) as he tells her that she is the owner of the box, according to shaman Eun-wol (Kim Hyeok). He simply reveals that the box was found at the shrine and that it’s an antique that dates back 300 years. Trusting that the shaman wouldn’t give her something harmful, Hong-jo accepts the box. After handing it to her, Shin-yu offers to drive her home, but she refuses, stating that they aren’t close enough to travel together.

At home, Hong-jo tries hard to open the mystery box but is met with several unsuccessful attempts. Knowing that the box holds an important answer for him, Shin-yu calls Hong-jo and continues to pester her to open it. As she continues to struggle to make connections at her workplace, Hong-jo once again ends up eating her lunch alone, and this is when she receives a call from Shin-yu again, who asks her about the box. She later makes a video call to him to showcase how the box isn’t opening despite her multiple attempts to unlock it.

Amid all this, Shin-yu receives an offer from City Hall, who wants to recruit a lawyer who could help them win cases against big corporations. While hesitant at first, he agrees to take on the role. This means that he is now Hong-jo’s colleague, and when the two bump into each other at the workplace for the first time, she is surprised to find him there.

At home, while trying to fix a broken light, Hong-jo falls from a chair and suffers an injury to her forehead. It is here when suddenly the box unclicks on its own, and inside it, she finds a book of spells. The book contains spells written by a shaman during the Joeseon dynasty. She then reveals that she has found a book of spells in the box to Shin-yu.

On hearing about the book, Shin-yu asks her if he can visit her place to take a look at the book. After initially denying him, she later agrees to show him the book and invites him home. In return for getting to see the book, she asks Shin-yu to fix the light that she was initially trying to fix. On seeing the book, he stops at one particular page, and it reveals the spells to cure diseases. While he doesn’t say anything, he asks Hong-jo if she can do him the favour of giving him only one spell from the book; he doesn’t specify which one.

There is also a brief interaction that takes place between Hong-jo and Yoon Na-yeon (Yuri), who is Shin-yu’s girlfriend. The two share a past history, and it is revealed that they were classmates who had a fallout over a guy. Na-yeon reveals to Shin-yu that Hong-jo was bullied in school.

In the meantime, things seem to be moving forward for Hong-jo with her office crush, Kwon Jae-kyung (Ha Jun), as she receives a compliment from him. After ending up having dinner together with colleagues, Hong-jo confesses her feelings to Jae-kyung, although he doesn’t reciprocate the same and tells her that he only likes her as a person.

Heartbroken, Hong-jo goes home after having a few drinks and receives a parcel from her landlords, which consists of farm produce, including goat milk. This reminds her that the love spell mentioned in the book mentions the use of goat milk, and she decides to give the spell a try. In the meantime, Shin-yu, who is driving after work, begins to get haunted by the red hand again and loses his car’s control.

The last part of the episode showcases Hong-jo dressing up in a traditional Hanbok along with all the ingredients prepared to cast the love spell. She reads the spell from the book as every element required for the same is shown. At the time that Hong-jo is getting ready to cast a spell, we see Shin-yu driving in the car and suddenly feeling uneasy. Eventually, as he tries to stay on course, the red hand shows up again and holds him around the neck. Struggling with the grasp of the red hand, Shin-yu’s car spins out of control, and it ends up hitting the side of the road that was decorated with flowers for the mayor’s visit by Hong-jo.

After successfully creating the mystery in the pilot episode, the show continues with the build-up in the second episode. The sequence surrounding the opening of the mystery box adds a humourous element to the story as we see Jo Bo-ah’s character trying her best to open it. There’s another such light sequence in this episode where we see Bo-ah dancing after having a few drinks at her home, and it’s a notable scene since it cuts away from the rest of the tension-filled, mysterious vibe.

The character of Shin-yu played extremely well by Rowoon, is also getting intriguing. While he seems cold and brooding, there’s a soft side to him that comes out during his interactions with Hong-jo, and it is certainly going to be a treat to explore those elements further. The episode also packs a punch when it comes to the emotional moments, especially the way it captures Hong-jo’s heartbreak after she is coldly turned down by her crush.

The banter between the lead characters is also helping to build a good chemistry between the two, and it’s nice to see that it’s happening in the second episode already. While it seemed surprising that the mystery of the wooden box was revealed so soon in the story, there seems to be a bigger plan in the plot when it comes to the role the spellbook will play ahead. While the first episode seemed more gripping, thanks to the appearance of the red hand, the mystery element dips a bit in the new episode.

The highlight of the second episode remains Jo Bo-ah, who infuses her character Hong-jo with a brilliant vibrance and emotion. She stands out in every scene while capturing the character’s state of mind and portrays someone who is lonesome and aching to have love in their life extremely well. Rowoon’s sharp lawyer role also feels perfect for him. Not only does he score high as a visual card, but he also portrays the character’s feelings well.

Destined With You airs on JTBC and is also streaming on Netflix.

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