Like Flowers in Sand has me wondering if Jang Dong-Yoon is a professional athlete, because those running skills are incredible. We’ve got to admit, it’s incredible how the Korean entertainment industry mixes small-town slice-of-life with crime thrillers. This one is an especially impressive show with its inspiring storytelling and sweet message. However, things are getting moody now that we’re approaching the show’s end. We’ve passed the mid-way mark, so it’s time to get into the gritty details of what went down in this town, not just in the recent past but 20 years ago. Last week, Hyeon-Uk noticed there was something strange about Mi-Ran, and this week we’re going to learn how she’s connected with Du-Sik and the rest of the ssireum team.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In Episode 7?
In the childhood flashback at the beginning of every episode of Like Flowers in Sand, we learn a little bit more about Du-Sik and Baek-Du’s relationship. In episode 7, we learn that Du-Sik didn’t ever say goodbye to Baek-Du before leaving the town unannounced in the wee hours of the morning. In the present day, Du-Sik tells Hyeon-Uk what really happened 20 years ago. There was an athlete on the “ssireum” team by the name of Joo Cheol-Yong. At the time, Du-Sik’s father was the head coach of the team. Supposedly, Du-Sik’s father had asked Cheol-Yong to throw the match on purpose, and he had refused; Du-Sik’s father had killed him. However, he was proven innocent. Still, the small town didn’t find the story fascinating enough, so they basically pushed Du-Sik’s family out by spreading rumors. Du-Sik knows that Chil-Seong was involved in the case back then as well, so she thinks there’s a connection between 20 years ago and the present case.
Baek-Du has decided to compete in the championship this time, but the team, not knowing, leaves him behind and travels without him. Du-Sik is left with no choice but to drive him to the town where the championship’s taking place. Baek-Du asks his family not to show up this time because he wants to make it on his own and possibly doesn’t want to see them disappointed again. Snowball, the dog, knows there’s something up at the reservoir, but nobody has been able to find this clue. At night, when the whole team gets sashimi together, Baek-Du runs after Du-Sik, who gets an important phone call. They both end up chit-chatting a little bit, and Baek-Du misses dinner completely. Du-Sik tells Baek-Du that there was a time when he used to toss people two times his size to the floor. He’s now become a coward and is too kind to his opponents, which is why he’s been losing. Du-Sik reminds him of why he used to be a champion as a child and the techniques he used to use. Missing dinner turns out to be a stroke of luck because the entire team gets a bad case of food poisoning and can’t participate in the competition the next day.
Du-Sik learns that Mi-Ran is the daughter of Cheol-Yong and rushes back to Geosa, leaving an expectant Baek-Du behind. He doesn’t know she’s left, though, and just before she gets the call, she shows herself to Baek-Du in the audience, so he believes she’s right there. I suppose it’s his motivation at that moment that Du-Sik is there and she truly supports him, so he goes straight up to the semi-finals all by himself, not even a coach by his side. Right before the semi-finals, two of the kids who are feeling better show up to play Baek-Du in the game. They tell him that the general manager (Du-Sik, but Yu-Gyeong to them) had left because of some important business. This leaves Baek-Du heartbroken, and he ends up losing the semifinals.
What Happens In Episode 8?
It turns out Mi-Ran is two years younger than Du-Sik and Baek-Du, and she used to lose in all the games the kids played together, leaving her sad and alone. She never liked losing, so she decided to become the owner of her own store when she got older. She asks her father how to spell “coffee” and he spells it as “coffe,” which eventually goes on the board of her cafe in the future. Du-Sik confronts Mi-Ran and wonders if she too thought that Du-Sik’s father was responsible for her own father’s death. Du-sik tells Mi-Ran that Chil-Seong is the missing puzzle piece, and she’ll be sure to solve the case soon. Du-Sik realizes that Chil-Seong came to town that day to meet Mi-Ran. Baek-Du, on the other hand, loses his match and gets angry with Du-Sik for leaving without telling him. The whole team is proud of him, but he looks more sick than all of them put together. Jin-Su offers him a drink because he played so well, and even though everyone knows Baek-Du can’t handle his liquor, he drinks a glass of beer. Then he goes rushing off to find Du-Sik, who takes him to their childhood spot, where nobody can hear him scream her name at the top of his lungs. He sure can’t keep secrets. Drunk Baek-Du asks Du-Sik to compliment him for doing well, and Du-Sik does, which then leads to Baek-Du kissing her. She smacks him on the head and leaves.
Does Baek-Du Remember Who He Saw That Night?
As always, Baek-Du has a complete blackout and doesn’t remember why he got marked on his forehead or by whom. When he meets Du-Sik, he repeats himself about being mad, and she tells him that he should try really hard to remember what happened on that day with Chil-Seong, and she’ll grant him a wish. On the other hand, if he remembers anything else, though, she will kill him. Obviously, Baek-Du ends up remembering the kiss first and thinking it was a dream, but when he tells Du-Sik about it, he’s shocked to realize it was real. So, he puts extra effort into figuring out what happened with Chil-Seong. At the end of episode 8 of Like Flowers in Sand, Baek-Du retraces the steps he took on that fateful night. The memories somehow flash by, and he realizes that there was someone in the passenger seat in Chil-Seong’s car. Again, he rushes to tell Du-Sik what he’s remembered, and shockingly to both of them, Mi-Ran is already there and tells Du-Sik what Baek-Du wanted to say—that she was the one in the car. What could Mi-Ran have possibly done that night, and why did she meet up with the man who might have had something to do with her father’s death on the night that he died?
