[Jan 17 & 18] "Like Flowers in Sand" Ep. 9 & 10: Rating & Recap

"Like Flowers in Sand" breaks its own record as it nears the end.

Episode 9 & 10 ratings

The ratings for ENA's Wednesday-Thursday drama, "Like Flowers in Sand", reached a new peak with episode 10. According to Nielsen Korea, the romance drama has only 2 more episodes to air, achieving an average nationwide rating of 2.8%. This is the highest rating that the show has ever recorded, surpassing the previous record of 2.396% (Ep. 8).

However, the rating for episode 9 was slightly lower at 2.358%, showing a small drop from the previous episode.

"Like Flowers in Sand" ep. 9 recap

Episode 9 follows the aftermath of Baek-Du and Oh Yu-Gyeong/Du-Sik's first kiss in episode 8. They didn't take things further because Baek-Du was drunk. However, his feelings for her grow stronger, while a false rumor about their affair spreads in the town.

Baek-Du gets angry when he hears the gossip and confronts the townspeople. He tells them to stop talking behind someone's back without caring about their emotions. Joo-Myoung's character, on the other hand, ignores the gossip and focuses on her work.

This episode also shows how Baek-Du learns about the tragic past of Du-Sik, who is actually Yu-Gyeong. She and her family left the town years ago when everyone accused her father of being a "murderer". She changed her name, became a cop, and came back to the town to solve the mystery of Chil-Seong's death. She pretended to be a married woman and a manager of the Ssireum wrestling team. Only Baek-Du and Mi-Ran know her true identity.

Du-Sik/Yu-Gyeong thought she had escaped the town's judgment, but she gets involved in another scandal when people think she's having an affair with Baek-Du. Baek-Du's mother confronts him in the market and he loses his temper. He defends Du-Sik and reminds the crowd of how they drove her family away with their false accusations.

Plus, episode 9 reveals more details about Chil-Seong's death. Mi-Ran, the cafe owner, tells Du-Sik that the match-fixer confessed to killing her father. She also gives her a bag of money and ledgers that she found in Chil-Seong's hotel room.

The climax of "Like Flowers in Sand" episode 9 is Baek-Du's love confession to Du-Sik. He runs to the training center to see her after losing his cool in public. He admits his feelings for her when they meet.

Before that, she tells him that she will be gone in 10 days. She also tells him not to worry about the rumor, saying it's false. This makes Baek-Du sad as he remembers their kiss.

He reaches the training center and finds Du-Sik. He says that the rumor is partly true and partly false. He says it may be a lie for her, but it's real for him. She gets irritated and questions his strange behavior. He cuts her off and says, “I like you.”

He says that he missed her when she left and vows that he won't let her go this time. Du-Sik is stunned and speechless.

"Like Flowers in Sand" ep. 10 recap

The 10th episode revealed the identities of the "childhood friends" Kim Baek-Du, Oh Yu-Gyeong, Kwak Jin-Soo (Lee Jae-Joon), and Jo Seok-Hee (Lee Joo-Seung). The reunion of the friends who remained unchanged despite their different appearances brought warm laughter. Moreover, Baek-Du's endless straightness, saying "Du-Sik is the person I like" in front of everyone, was also depicted.

In this episode, Baek-Du decided to join Yu-Gyeong's investigation. His sincerity, saying that he wouldn't let go of anything like 20 years ago, shook Yu-Gyeong's heart. She couldn't refuse his words when she thought of Baek-Du's childhood, which was hard because of her. Despite Min Hyun-Wook (Yoon Jong-Seok)'s opposition, Yu-Gyeong didn't change her decision.

Baek-Du and Yu-Gyeong spent more time together. Seok-Hee, who didn't know their situation, still doubted their relationship. Seok-Hee witnessed them coming out of the same house and made a fuss, saying that they needed a countermeasure. But Jin-Soo realized that Oh Yu-Gyung was Oh Du-Sik, recalling their childhood from the bickering of the two.

And the "childhood friends" finally met again for the first time in 20 years. Jin-Soo and Seok-Hee rushed into the cafe to check if Yu-Gyung was Du-Sik. Seok-Hee asked her about that directly. Then he started talking about Du-Sik despite Baek-Du's warning. He crossed the line by bringing up the past, saying that "ugly" Du-Sik couldn't be Oh Yu-Gyung. Yu-Gyung's patience exploded by his words. Her true self that revealed "Du-sik" made Seok-Hee panic. Yu-Gyung's narration, "We're still together even after 20 years", followed by the childhood images of the 5 friends, added to the emotion.

Meanwhile, Yu-Gyung found the public phone number of Geosan Market from Choi Chil-Sung (Won Hyun-Joon)'s call history. The last call before Chil-Sung's death also came from a public phone, and it was revealed that Chil-Sung's cell phone was in Geosan. 

All the clues pointed to the culprit being a Geosan person. Plus, interestingly, Park Pil-Du (Woo Hyun) was named as the last witness of Joo Chul-Yong (Yoon Jung-Il) 20 years ago. Pil-du's uneasy expression, saying that he didn't remember the old incident, raised suspicion.

(Source: naver.com)