Love in the Moonlight - Episode 1 & 2 Summary

Episode 1 - Moonlight Destiny

Moonlight Drawn by Clouds or Love in the Moonlight is adapted from a popular webtoon by the same name and it's a romantic comedy set in historical period, in which it tells about a love story not written in the history, a typical fiction story. 

Episode 1 and 2 tells a story about Crown Prince Hyomyeong (played by Park Bo Gum), Lee Yeong: he’s the eldest son of King Sunjo and grandson of King Jeongjo, which puts us in late-1820s Joseon. When Yeong tosses the book aside, we see the title—”The Unknown Love Life of Joseon”—written by author Hong Sam Nom (played by Kim Yoo Jung). That author is also a famed love counselor whose real name is Hong Ra On, who happens to be a woman passing herself off as a man. 

Crown Prince Yeong has a playful, suave, bold and cheerful personality. His mother has died and the King has the new Queen Mother who is five years older than him, and this puts Crown Prince to dislike the fact that the Queen is pregnant. Yeong is disliked by the palace servants due to the his unpredictable and rude personality. 

One day, Sam Nom, the love counselor helps one nobleman who turns out to exchange love letter with a woman. The love letter and each replies is written by Sam Nom and this time, she suggests the nobleman to ask the woman to meet with him. It turns out that the letter is for the Princess (Yeong's sister) and Yeong disovers the letter. He finds the letter quite suspicious as the compliments for the Princess is too much for him to handle. Yeong then commands the court lady for the Princess to just say that she gets no reply from the man. 

On the day they promised to meet with each other, the nobleman, due to his nervousness asks Sam Nom to pretend to be him and go to meet with the girl instead. Sam Nom rejects the offer at first, but the nobleman offers her more money and she finally accepts it. It turns out that the Princess is not coming, instead it's Yeong who comes to check who the suspicious guy is. Sam Nom is shocked to see the letter she writes is for a man and thinks that Yeong actually has different orientation (a.k.a gay/homesexual)

Yeong then points out that Sam Nom is not a nobleman and asks her to show the way where he lives. 

On the way, Sam Nom crosses the path she knows there is a hole in there and pushes Yeong so that he falls to the hole. However, it's not only Yeong, but Sam Nom also falls and there is no one who can help them. 

After being there for an hour or more, Yeong finally holds Sam Nom so that she can reach and come out from there. Once she reaches the ground, Yeong asks her to help him to come out from the hole but she turns her back and says she is sorry and she will get someone to help him within an hour. 

She says she will do anything for him later on, even it that means she will be a dog. She then leaves Yeong there. 

Ra On arrives back in the city by nightfall, and comes upon freshly posted wanted notices: one each for the runaway lovers, and one for Ra On (her male persona). Newcomer Yoon Sung pauses to read the posters and asks a bystander why they’re wanted, and the answer startles Ra On; she’d thought the slave was in love with his owner’s daughter, but she’s actually his daughter-in-law. Yoon Sung notices Ra On standing next to her own wanted poster, and clocks her nervousness at seeing patrolling soldiers nearby. Ra On surreptitiously affixes a fake mole to her face, while Yoon Sung looks pointedly at Ra On as he calls to the soldiers, asking what happens to the criminal when he’s caught. They reply that he’ll die at the nobleman’s hands before he’s even handed over to the authorities. Ra On says defensively that the runaway woman had suffered a lot in that household, and that the slave was her only comfort. The soldier asks how she knows so much and angles for a closer look at her face, while she shrinks back—just as Yoon Sung swoops in to block her from sight. Yoon Sung talks to her familiarly as he leads them away, successfully sparing her from scrutiny.

After parting from Yoon Sung, she is kidnapped by the loan shark and they deliver her to a building and shut her inside with a beady-eyed, red-nosed man sharpening his many knives. She asks where she is, and he informs her in a drunken slur that this is where men get turned into eunuchs. I mean, she’s in no danger on that score, but I’m not sure that exposing her true gender does much for her survival odds right about now. The man approaches with his blade in hand, and Ra On backs away in horror, insisting that she absolutely cannot be made a eunuch. She drops to the floor to beg for mercy: “Milord! No, Teacher! Your Highness!” Then the man cackles, “Did I say I was doing it now?” He informs her that she’ll need to fast for three days before the procedure, and Ra On mutters to herself that there’s no point when she doesn’t even have “it.”

After three days, it's time for Ra On. She knows she has no time and thus tries to get away by pouring drinks to the man. She then compliments him for being the best technician. The man tells that he can do a goob job even when he is drunk since his hand remembers how to use the knife. And suddenly, we hear Ra On screams. 

The next morning, Ra On sleeps in the bed and the man wakes up, He notices that Ra On is alive and asks whether he has done it or not. Ra On points out again whether he forgets what has happened that night and the man shakes his head, saying of course he remembers. 

It turns out that Ra On make a scar in her thigh with the broken mirror and pretends that the man has done his job. Ra On is saved. 

Episode 2 - The Path To You

The nexy day, Ra On entered the palace as Eunuch Trainee. The man tells her that there will be physical examination to check whether "it" has been cut completely and Ra On freaks out. At night, because she fears to be a Eunuch, she then packs up and tries to run away, but sadly, she meets with the Crown Prince and the runaway mission has failed. Yeong knows that she wants to run away but pretends that being a Eunuch is her biggest dream. 

The next day on the examination day, The recruits will undergo a trio of tests: physical, written, and character. Failing one will result in immediate dismissal. First is proof of castration. Recruits are called in to drop trou before the examiners, and Ra On gets increasingly nervous as her turn draws near. Ra On sweats bullets while her buddies both easily pass, and freezes when she’s called on to comply. At the last second, a eunuch bursts in to inform them of an emergency: The queen has collapsed. The examiners rush out of the room, and in so doing the “pass” stamp falls on Ra On’s paper. She’s through to the next round! It’s a relief to be safe, but still, Ra On wonders if this is a good or a bad thing.

Second one, written test. Ra On tackles the multiple-choice questions haphazardly, rolling her brush to pick random answers. When one roll lands on Answer 4, she prepares to fill it in, only to have a eunuch appear at her side and correct her: She wants Answer 3. It’s Yeong, and Ra On gapes to see him dressed in eunuch’s robes, then tries to resist when he presses her to fill in the correct answer—he can’t just ignore her lifelong wish to become a eunuch and let her fail. Yeong proctors the rest of the exam, dropping by regularly to force Ra On to answer questions correctly despite her best efforts to fill in the wrong bubbles. Only when she’s answered to his satisfaction does he allow her to turn in her answer sheet.

In the whole course, it turns out that Ra On has not got an idea who Yeong is although they spend the night having a dinner together in Yeong's bodyguard place. The third examination is about character test in which they are given question as to why Princess doesn't have appetite and feels down. It turns out that Ra On has an idea about why the Princess is like that and offers to write an answer for her friends. Ra On then plans to just leave her paper blank so that she can be dimissed from being an Eunuch. 

When the Princess sees the answer written by Ra On, she then finds the phrase is almost similar with the one she heard before and she finds it suspicious that the handwritten is similar as to the original letter by the nobleman. The next day, when Ra On thinks she's gonna failed the test, she then being dragged to the jail with the Princess stands in front of her. The Princess then asks Ra On whether the handwritten is hers and she said yes. 

The Princess then claims very upset how dare she writes the letter on behalf of another man. Angrily, she reaches the sword and swears to kill her. Suddenly, a voice is heard and it's Crown Prince who comes to save Ra On. 

Personal thought:

Love in the Moonlight gains 9% and 8.8% in ratings for Episode 1 and 2, which shows a good start and I personally also thought that this is a very refreshing drama since historical drama usually tends to have a boring scene and story line. Besides, it feels more of Goong rather than a normal historical drama. Ohmy, it makes me reminiscing about Goong. 

However, this one is not based on historical events nor rumours as it is a fiction story in the historical time. The scene and cinematography are so beautiful for this drama and I am saying although it is a romantic comedy serves in the historical time, but there are still stories regarding the throne for the Crown Prince which attracts my interest in it too. 

I appraise Park Bo Gum's acting for being a cute, cheerful, bold, charismatic and competitive Crown Prince. He can change his expression to suit the situation and background at any moment. Meanwhile, Kim Yoo Jung is so beautiful to be a boy because she is too pretty in every way. There are also some criticism regarding her with makeup instead of none since she acts as a boy. I kinda agree with that since it is true that the makeup on her was too much. I really want to erase all of her makeup to make it more natural.

The story about how Sam Nom ends up as an Eunuch in the palace is also interestingly funny. At first, I wonder what will happen if she really have to go through the physical examination but well, since it is a story it's expectedly that she will pass, but originally I expect that she will be discovered early since the PD says after 2 episodes, Kim Yoo Jung will play a more feminine role, which sounds that she will wear woman clothes instead. But how she ends up staying in the palace is written in such a good way, half pass and half fail, lols, that's too funny.