Dear Hongrang- Episodes 5-6

If you thought Dear Hongrang was slowing down, think again. Episode 5 throws everything—betrayal, bloody secrets, tortured romance, and a runaway wedding train—straight at us with no brakes. Let’s dive into the chaos.

We start off with a gut-punch: Yeon-ui’s henchman Yuk-son stabs a pregnant Kkot-nim in the stomach, claiming Yeol-guk gave the order. Kkot-nim survives—but loses her baby. Instead, she adopts an orphaned boy who just escaped captivity. You guessed it: Fake Hong-rang.

Flash-forward to now, Kkot-nim warns her “son” not to get soft over Jae-yi. The plan is still clear: eliminate the Sim children, and install Hong-rang as the Min Guild heir. Hong-rang argues she’s useful, but Kkot-nim quietly tells her assassins to end Jae-yi if she steps out of line. Yikes.

Meanwhile, Mu-jin is spiraling. He didn’t mean to put Jae-yi in danger by ordering “protection”—but that “protection” came with a kill switch. Jae-yi, oblivious to all this, opens up to Mu-jin about the Soulless Reaper rumors. He confirms that Hong-rang was an assassin. Instead of recoiling, she worries for him. Her heart, she says, knows him—even if her head doesn’t. Oof, poor Mu-jin.

Fake Hong-rang, meanwhile, snoops in Jae-yi’s cave and finds childhood drawings of Little Hong-rang—with a mysterious sachet he recognizes. Jae-yi catches him, and he pretends his memories are returning. Smooth. She asks about his past to make peace with who he is now. He dodges the question.

Hong-rang starts digging. He asks the cook about the sachet and learns it’s a protective charm—Little Hong-rang wore Jae-yi’s after losing his own. Flashback: Kkot-nim and young Fake Hong-rang bury Yeol-guk’s gift for her lost child. Fake Hong-rang unearths it now. If he gives this to Jae-yi, it’ll be “proof” he’s the real Hong-rang.

But when he sees her and Mu-jin looking close, he hesitates. Jealousy? Yep. He confides in Goldie the dog (bless), saying if he gives her the sachet, he can’t be anything more than a brother. Complicated much?

The Min Guild’s rep is tanking. To fix it, Yeon-ui kills the Jin verifier and fakes a suicide note blaming herself. Patrons, guilt-ridden, return. But there’s a price—Yeon-ui demands Jae-yi be married off. Yeol-guk’s furious but knows better than to provoke her. He turns his attention to the sketchy Gyu-ha instead.

Jae-yi searches for answers about the Soulless Reaper in a gambling den. Bad idea. She’s kidnapped by Bang-suk, who claims to know where the real Hong-rang is.

But Jae-yi gambles right back—she tells Fake Hong-rang she doesn’t care if he’s an impostor. She cares about him. Turns out, Bang-suk lied. A fight breaks out. Kkot-nim’s assassins intervene, then turn on Jae-yi.

In a last-ditch move, Fake Hong-rang begs her to believe he’s Hong-rang. He gives her the sachet and confesses the truth about his assassin past. She believes him. In-hoe calls off the assassins.

Cue a doting montage: Jae-yi cares for her “brother,” while Mu-jin tries to act supportive but remains deeply suspicious. Hong-rang’s feelings get messier. At her secret picnic spot, he crosses boundaries—wiping sugar from her lips, licking her fingers. It’s flirty. It’s weird. It’s confusing. Especially since she now sees him as her brother.

Kkot-nim, watching from afar, is furious. Her son is getting too close. She orders In-hoe to kill Jae-yi—no more warnings. He hesitates, but Gyu-ha intervenes with a new problem: Jae-yi’s upcoming marriage.

Enter Choi Ju-yeol. At first, he seems sweet—talks about art, losses, and tries to win Jae-yi over. Yeol-guk supports the marriage because of the prenup: if the Chois mess up, the Sims take their land.

But red flags are flying. Hong-rang and Mu-jin investigate separately and discover Ju-yeol’s past is horrifying: three dead or missing wives, one of whom—Lady Ko—is found mutilated. No face. Just trauma.

Despite everything, the wedding begins. Ju-yeol smiles after beating a servant. Jae-yi’s in danger, everyone knows it, and time is running out.

🔥 Dear Hongrang Episode 6 Recap: A Wedding, a Kiss, and One Explosive Betrayal

Episode 6 of Dear Hongrang is pure K-drama chaos, packed with scheming, secrets, and a wedding no one asked for. Buckle up, because between thwarted murders, guilty kisses, and blown-up mines, things are officially spiraling.

Gyu-ha warns Hong-rang about Kkot-nim’s plan to have Jae-yi killed. His advice? Let her get married—it’ll keep her safe. But Jae-yi has zero interest in marrying a walking red flag and makes a break for it. Sadly, she’s caught and dragged back by Yeon-ui’s muscle, Yuk-son, who doesn’t hesitate to threaten her poor sleuth crew.

Meanwhile, Mu-jin receives a lifeline: Lady Ko, Ju-yeol’s very much alive wife, sends a note. If she shows up at the wedding, the whole marriage can be invalidated. Easy, right? Wrong.

The big day arrives. Lady Ko is nowhere to be found. Jae-yi looks like she’s being marched to her doom. And Hong-rang? Guilt is eating him alive—because he helped Lady Ko escape and was the one who tipped off Mu-jin in the first place. Plot twist: Yeon-ui plans to kill Jae-yi after the wedding, pin it on Ju-yeol, and claim his land as prenup compensation. Peak villain move.

As Mu-jin and his crew scramble, Yeon-ui’s assassin strikes—Jae-yi is drugged and attacked. Hong-rang steps in and kills the assassin, then hides her away. When she wakes, dazed and confused, she grabs his hand… and he kisses her.

Outside, Mu-jin confronts Ju-yeol about Jae-yi’s disappearance. Before things get bloody, Yeol-guk crashes the party with Lady Ko in tow. Bombshell dropped: Ju-yeol is still married. The wedding is annulled.

Back in the manor, Jae-yi’s tucked away in her room with a hazy memory of… something. Mu-jin says Hong-rang was drunk the whole night. But the kiss won’t leave her mind—and it doesn’t match that story. Something’s off.

In-hoe confronts Hong-rang, who finally admits the truth: he’s fallen for Jae-yi.

Hong-rang begs Kkot-nim to leave Jae-yi alone, promising he’ll help her get the Min Guild’s deed. But Kkot-nim’s convinced Jae-yi will betray him just like Yeol-guk betrayed her. Speaking of betrayals, Gyu-ha offers Yeol-guk a surprise alliance. Turns out, Yeol-guk was once dirt poor and intended to use the Min family’s wealth to run away with Kkot-nim. Gyu-ha plays it cool and offers to take down Yeon-ui together.

Jae-yi, meanwhile, confronts Hong-rang about the kiss. She wants it to be a dream—because if it was real, it hurts. Hong-rang lies and says it was. His face? Pure heartbreak.

Feeling bitter and rejected, Hong-rang goes full villain mode. He whispers to Yeon-ui that Yeol-guk is having an affair, prompting her to send Yuk-son to spy. Yeol-guk is busy forming a secret guild under his own name, putting Mu-jin in charge and quietly transferring assets. That timing? Terrible.

The royal registry suddenly gives the Min Guild’s power to the Muns. Yeon-ui loses it. Yeol-guk conveniently offers a “solution” to join forces with the Muns—but Yuk-son reports back: Yeol-guk is secretly meeting with Kkot-nim’s brother. Yeon-ui connects the dots. She’s furious.

Mu-jin, meanwhile, thinks Jae-yi is finally moving on from Hong-rang… until he finds her sketchbook filled with drawings of him. Oof. Not great.

It gets worse—Yuk-son discovers Mu-jin’s men hiding assets at the Min silver mine. He blows the whole place up, killing most of them.

Yeon-ui publicly accuses Mu-jin of illegal sulfur trading, causing the mine deaths, and embezzlement to fund the new Sim Guild. Yeol-guk tries to defend him, but she gives him an ultimatum: hand over Mu-jin to the authorities or deal with it quietly. Yeol-guk, spineless as ever, lets her imprison Mu-jin.

DramaZen's Opinion

Look, if Dear Hongrang Episodes 5 and 6 taught me anything, it’s this: never trust a wedding, a sachet, or a man who claims to be your long-lost brother and then kisses you in the dark. Seriously, this show is unhinged in the best way.

Episode 5 gave us:

• A forced wedding to a serial husband with “missing” wives (three, to be exact—classic red flag).

• Hong-rang going full "brother-zoned but jealous" mode.

• A dog named Goldie becoming the only emotionally stable character in this entire show.

Episode 6 upped the ante with:

• A kiss that may or may not have been real.

• Jae-yi’s “was-it-a-dream” dilemma (girl, we’ve all been there).

• Yeon-ui pulling a full corporate sabotage and blowing up a mine like it’s just another Tuesday.

Mu-jin, bless his angsty soul, keeps trying to save Jae-yi and run a guild while everyone gaslights him and blows stuff up behind his back. Meanwhile, Hong-rang is falling in love with his “sister” and lying through his teeth about everything except his tragic crush.

In conclusion: I have no idea who’s actually related, who’s in love, or who’s going to survive Yeon-ui’s next meltdown—but I am obsessed.