K-netizens Calm Down About the Adult-Minor Romance in Twenty Five, Twenty One as the Drama Lines Ramps Up the Who is the Baby Daddy Mystery for the Upcoming Finale
This past weekend saw major narrative good stuff with tvN Sat-Sun drama Twenty Five, Twenty One, which remains above 10% ratings and is headed towards a likely highly anticipated finale two episodes next weekend. This drama gets so much news coverage and netizen chatter when it airs that it’s hard not to be spoiled. There was the lovely kiss in episode 13, of course, but episode 14 brought tons of unexpected plot movement that reportedly puts the Who is the Baby Daddy (i.e. who is the father of adult Hee Do’s daughter) in the forefront again. Is it male lead Yi Jin, or someone else and the couple ended up breaking up and moving their own separate paths. At least this is now become the main topic of conversation with the majority of K-netizens now okay with the adult-minor relationship between Yi Jin and Hee Do when it first started, when she kissed him the first time she was a “minor” in South Korean beliefs as she was not yet 20 years old (Korean age) which is the minor-adult age line in the country.
I just can’t believe that ANYBODY would care about this. The dumb and ever increasing noona dramas are more offensive to me but luckily, I can just not watch those.
are you on the right post? this is not a noona romance.
I think it’s mean that the OP feel that noona drama more offensive that this drama adult-minor case but ppl seems moore pay attention to this…which is I actually kinda agree? There some age gap but not that much if you compare it to some noona romance drama (hell, ICYV actually had 30 something female lead with a highschooler male lead)
i’m losing my goddamn mind bc of this drama. thanks @weneedquality for setting me straight. and sorry op, i definitely agree with you.
I stopped watching a few episodes ago even though I still find the drama one of the better ones and convinced that it will be remembered for a long time. Will wait for ep 16 to be done and the big daddy reveal and then will binge-watch. ? Just my way of dealing with this melodrama, otherwise, with the build up each episode, might be too sad for me if they really were not the end game (is it crazy to hope that somehow they will be the end game? Lol)
i feel like i’m holding a single breath until we get the next episodes, so you probably made the right choice. i applaud your restraint. hopefully, you’re able to come back and enjoy the rest of the show.
Yes, will definitely finish this drama, it will be one of my favorites. I just put it on hold until I know what to expect and to brace myself so that I don’t get too sad lol
I have a theory. Along with the suggestion that Baek Yi-jin is adopted, I remembered how BYJ was advised to keep professional and personal things separate. If we go with this, I thought when BYJ congratulated Hee-do on her marriage, he was being the “professional ” congratulating her on television. It is his job to do that for anyone who he interviews if they get married – could be that she got married to him but remember, he still have to congratulate her as the interview was telecasted nationally. Their marriage maybe also not widely publicised, again because they had a professional relationship. That’s my theory anyway as I am still hoping for a happy ending.
But surely the daughter would have recognised her own father in the pictures?
And if she married someone else but carrying his child.. I think k netizens will go bonkers over morality issue.
She married someone else, had a child with that man whom she probably divorced.
I like this drama for the nostalgia and supporting characters particularly the great Seung-wan.
I couldn’t care less about the romance or the who is the baby daddy storyline.
Seungwan and yurim character steal the spotlight for me too. Heedo kinda takes the backseat in the few last episodes and her character isn’t as shining as before too. But that’s fine because it means this drama has a good writing that makes all the characters so layered.
2521 will be one of my favorite dramas of 2022, BUT I am getting annoyed at how long the writer is dragging out the “who is the baby daddy” storyline. It’s a page taken out of Reply 1988’s “who is the husband” playbook and it’s an amateur writing hack.
Is the writer really dragging it w/ the ‘daddy’ question though or is it is audience wishful thinking of a happy ending for the OTP?
Wishful thinking IMO. Maybe there will be a twist but the writer gave lots of evidence that it’s not BYJ. The dad might just remain some faceless man because the who is not really important.
Did anyone notice a little girl faintly calling out ‘dad’ during the interview?
I feel like I’m in the minority that’s ok if Yi Jin isn’t the father. It’s definitely sad but not all relationships work no matter how much we wish for it. The fact they are still wishing each other well, in spite of the distance shows how they still respect each other. It’s such a mature way of handling whatever didn’t work in the relationship. Appreciate the good times and move on towards a new tomorrow. I feel like it matches the coming of age and youth theme this drama has.
About the age gap minor adult romance here, people just have to remember that the movie My Little Bride exists from the 2000s
True, they forget about My little bride and the drama “Sweet 18” and also Innocent steps
I can think of a lot of things that are way more skeevy than friends who become romantically interested after years of friendship (especially when the girl is 20 when she kisses him, and his reaction is to freak out and run away). Large age-gap noona romances, or even the many, many office romances where a jealous and controlling CEO basically stalks a lower employee for a secret relationship, both come with a questionable amount of power imbalance (and potential misuse). In contrast, in 2521 I’ve really loved the healthy, non-controlling relationships of all of the characters, be they friend relationships or romantic ones. The drama made me care about all five of them.
But ahhhhh much as I don’t want it to be, I still feel there’s a strong case for a sad ending regarding Hee Do and Yi Jin. That was some fine acting in ep 15 with the newscast video call. You could see hurt, love, separation, and gladness for that one moment of connection, all in one moment. Happy or sad ending, I hope it’s at least satisfying, with some kind of closure. This has really been a good drama, with a lot of authentically portrayed emotion.
Agree with you on every point. It’s been a drama where the characters and their emotions and decisions feel authentic and realistic.
There was a bittersweet tone to their interaction on newscast. They may have broken up but obviously care that the other is doing well still. They met at a time when they both needed what the other could give them – a set belief and strength.
I meant self belief ??