‘Twinkling Watermelon’ Episode 12 Recap & Ending Explained: Who Does Se-Kyung Choose?

After all the hard work and persistence, Watermelon Sugar is ready to perform at the school festival. But there’s one big problem: Eun-Gyeol has tried everything he can to save his father, Yi-Chan, from getting into an accident in the rehearsals one day before the festival, but it seems circumstances aren’t allowing him to. Finally, at the end of episode 11 of Twinkling Watermelon, Eun-Gyeol manages to show up in the nick of time to save Yi-Chan from Do-Jin’s gang. Yi-Chan is about to get hit in the head with a blunt object by Do-Jin, but Eun-Gyeol kicks up a storm by literally kicking Do-Jin in the chest and screaming loud and clear not to touch Yi-Chan.

Spoilers Ahead


What Happens In The Episode?

Yi-Chan has already been hit in the head once, so he lies on the floor while Eun-Gyeol fights Do-Jin and gets hurt himself. The junior comes in, saying the police will be there any moment, and Do-Jin’s gang makes a run for it. Eun-Gyeol rushes to Yi-Chan, asking him if he can hear him clearly. Again, Yi-Chan makes one of his jokes, and Eun-Gyeol is relieved. Yi-Chan, on the other hand, suddenly feels like everything Eun-Gyeol said about coming from the future is true. They stay and clean up the gym till the morning, and then go to a public bath to get cleaned up so their parents don’t get suspicious. It turns out Hyun-Yul never betrayed Do-Jin; he only left the gang after joining the band because he really enjoyed playing. Do-Jin is convinced it was Hyun-Yul who reported him to the police, though.

Eun-Gyeol realizes he left Se-Kyung out to dry when he ran off to save his father without a word. She’s furious and tells Eun-Gyeol that the thing she hates the most is abandonment because her parents did the same thing to her. When her parents were getting divorced, they fought each other for a whole year for Se-Kyung. It turns out it was because her father didn’t want to appear like a person abandoning his child, and her mother wanted a trophy for a child. She has decided she doesn’t want to be anybody’s trophy, including Eun-Gyeol. The poor boy is speechless and tries to apologize, but he’s so focused on Yi-Chan and Chung-Ah that he asks Se-Kyung to choose him even after all that she’s said.

Back at home, the Chairman sees Chung-Ah’s stepmother mistreat Eun-Gyeol and calls her out. Considering the Chairman is taking Eun-Gyeol’s side, the stepmother asks him if he’s going to take him in as family, but the Chairman says something cryptic and dismisses her. He’s probably talking about Chung-Ah’s mother. In his studio, the Chairman tells Eun-Gyeol that he will extend the contract by one month with higher stakes. Chung-Ah must smile at the Chairman specifically. Eun-Gyeol accepts delightedly. In school, Chung-Ah asks Se-Kyung who she’s going to choose, and Se-Kyung tells her to bet on Yi-Chan, what with the big fight and all. Chung-Ah is devastated, even though she is certain Se-Kyung liked Eun-Gyeol. She visits Yi-Chan’s school, where the band is making announcements of their performance and distributing fans with their faces on them (if only school festivals were like this everywhere).

Chung-Ah gifts Yi-Chan a watermelon guitar pick along with a necklace of the same design with the words “Viva La Vida” written on them. Yi-Chan is overjoyed to see her and asks her if she’ll come to see the show. Chung-Ah lies that she will, but because Se-Kyung is choosing Yi-Chan, she is not going to show up. When they part ways, Chung-Ah begins to cry and tells him in her head that he should win the bet, too.

Se-Kyung arrives at the festival and ignores Eun-Gyeol completely. She has decided the only thing that matters now is her mission, but she’s in for a shocking revelation. Se-Kyung and the band all play some games together, leaving Eun-Gyeol behind at the booth. The junior who helped them shows up, and Eun-Gyeol makes him stay in the booth while he goes looking for Se-Kyung. As he watches her have fun, it’s very clear that he’s fallen hard for her.

Finally, it’s time for the performance, and Chung-Ah’s step-sister, the one who used to be close to the real Se-Kyung, shows up, too. During the performance, she tells Se-Kyung that Eun-Gyeol looks familiar and realizes that he’s the guy who jammed with Ji-Hwan. Se-Kyung is in utter shock when she realizes that her father was a singer, too. Everything rushes back to her, and she’s stuck grasping the fact that her mother’s first love was not either of the two boys she’s been playing with; it’s been her father the whole time. She’s already run out of the gym and cries on the steps of the school, where her biological father asks her if everything is alright. Since it’s not really Se-Kyung, she doesn’t know who he is, and he plays along because he thinks it’s his punishment for abandoning her. The performance goes fantastically, and thanks to Se-Kyung buying the merchandise and being popular, the boys end up making a lot of money. 

They head out to eat, but Yi-Chan is the only one who notices that Chung-Ah didn’t show up at the show. He disappointingly leaves the rest of the boys to eat their Korean-Chinese food while he goes off to find her. On the other hand, Eun-Gyeol has gone to Se-Kyung’s house to apologize to her. Se-Kyung is obviously not in the right state of mind, and she doesn’t care for what he has to say. She tells him that she’s not choosing either of them, and they’re from different worlds. She continues to say that they’re never going to see each other again, so he should just leave her alone.

At the same time, Yi-Chan is waiting in front of Chung-Ah’s house, and she thinks he’s been chosen by Se-Kyung. She pretends that he invited her to pretend like he has a “disabled” friend to make the school swoon over him more. She basically pushes him away, saying he should not try to contact her again because the festival is over. Yi-Chan is confused about why Chung-Ah would help him with the festival, and instead of answering his question, Chung-Ah writes him a note and leaves him teary-eyed. The note reads something similar to what Se-Kyung told Eun-Gyeol. Oh, what a mess!

Se-Kyung packs to go back to 2023 to confirm her discovery while Eun-Gyeol sits in front of the guitar shop, listening to the song he sang for Se-Kyung. At that time, they were alone. He’s still not realized that this man is the same one who helped him as a child and taught him how to play the guitar. The old man consoles Eun-Gyeol. He tells him that this is wrong, but he’ll get over it. When he gets back home, the step-sister is talking on the phone, saying Chung-Ah is going back to the US, as if there’s a bus she can take any time she likes. Eun-Gyeol overhears and rushes to the airport to find her.


What Does Eun-Gyeol Tell Se-Kyung?

Se-Kyung makes it to the airport and runs through the door when a flash of white appears. It’s a full moon, and it appears as if her plan might have actually worked. Back at home, just before she was leaving, she got a phone call from the Master, but the conversation was off-screen. Eun-Gyeol finds it hard to get a taxi to go to the airport. While he waits, all his memories with Se-Kyung flash in front of his eyes. He doesn’t care if it’s a 28-year age gap (yikes), because right now he wants to live in the moment. Finally, Eun-Gyeol makes it to the airport, and the New York flight appears to be on time. He searches for Se-Kyung, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

Se-Kyung sits outside in the rain with her bag, crying. Eun-Gyeol appears with an umbrella and asks her why she’s crying alone, making him feel all sad. She says she thought it would be just as easy to go back as it was for her to come here. She tells Eun-Gyeol that she needs to confirm some things, but there’s no way she can now. Eun-Gyeol puts out his hand and tells Se-Kyung that he will help her figure out a way back, but for now, she should stay there with him. Se-Kyung takes his hand, and Eun-Gyeol says that it doesn’t matter if they’re from different worlds or if she’s a zombie; he wants to be with her (how adorable). At the end of the episode, Master is happy to see that Eun-Gyeol has finally found his helper. It’s not certain if he’s realized that Se-Kyung is not, in fact, Se-Kyung, but it should only be a matter of time before he does.


Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika Bhat
Ruchika, or "Ru," is a fashion designer and stylist by day and a serial binge-watcher by night. She dabbles in writing when she has the chance and loves to entertain herself with reading, K-pop dancing, and the occasional hangout with friends.


 

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