High School: Return of a Gangster – Episode 3 Recap & Review

The Truce 

High School: Return of a Gangster episode 3 starts with the homeroom teacher approaching Se-kyung and asking him to protect Yi-heon from the bullies. At the same time, Yi-heon is outside giving the bullies the beating of their life. The teacher and Se-kyung are shocked as they witness the scene through a window. The teacher quickly rushes to handle the situation.

She heavily criticises Jae-min and his gons and empathises with Yi-heon. She brings him to the staff room and informs him that he can file charges against his bullies through the school violence committee. Yi-heoon is surprised that there was always such a simple solution and asks why no teacher had intervened before.

The teacher reminds him that when they tried, Yi-heon himself refused to cooperate with the investigation. She tells him it is not too late and Jae-min and his friends will be expelled from the school if he reports them. 

After the discussion with his teacher, Yi-heon approaches Jae-min and his goons, but they don’t seem scared of being expelled. If anything, they don’t care about getting a high school diploma, and Yi-heon realises he has to punish them in another way.

If they get expelled or transfer to another school, they will bully other kids. They are continuing with their antics even though Yi-heon just gave them a beating. He decides he will keep his eyes on them and make sure they graduate. And when they disobey him, he slaps them to bring them to their senses. Soon, he has the bullies in line and the other students are left in awe.

After school, Yi-heon devises a list of tasks to complete before the real Yi-heon can return. Topping the list is dealing with the bullies, followed by protecting his mom, graduating high school, and making friends.

Meanwhile, Se-kyung, still suspicious of the changed Yi-heon, seeks his dad’s friend’s help for DNA testing. He is dumbfounded when the results prove Yi-heon is not an impostor. He continues to monitor Yi-heon, perplexed by his drastic transformation.

Simultaneously, Yi-heon confronts Jae-min, demanding an explanation for his relationship with Se-kyung before the accident. He’s taken aback to discover that Se-kyung was the one who reported the bullying. It appears Se-kyung gave up on aiding Yi-heon due to his failure to disclose the truth about the bullying.

Elsewhere, Dong-soo starts looking into Yi-heon’s mom. Based on his conversation with Jong-cheol, they are planning something big and need many men to help see it through. Wherever the mission is, Dong-soo thinks it will help the gang curve out their turf and get a better standing among other gangs. 

Back at school, Yi-heon continues to fail in his studies but excels at making friends. He approaches Se-kyung to help him study and is initially turned down.

However, Se-kyung changes his mind after Yi-heon saves him from a sticky situation with Jae-hoon. Yi-heon also starts gaining popularity after winning a basketball game against Jae-hoon and using the moment to teach the students why it is wrong to keep spreading rumours about each other.

As the two study together, they grow closer but still suspicious of one another. Yi-heon wonders what secret nature Se-kyung is hiding, and the latter worries about the drastic changes in Yi-heon. Although Se-kyung acts quietly fierce, he seems to be extremely concerned about what happened to the real Yi-heon. He also dedicates himself to helping Yi-heon study even though he is a lost course, especially in mathematics.

However, as the days pass, his curiosity deepens. One day, he is shocked that Yi-heon doesn’t remember he is allergic to pineapples.

To test a theory, he doesn’t stop Yi-heon from having a slice of a pineapple cake. Immediately, Yi-heon develops an allergic reaction and is rushed to the hospital.

After regaining consciousness, Se-kyung confronts him. He wonders how the house manager forgot to tell Yi-heon about his allergy and if he really lost his memory. He argues there was no memory loss because the people close to Yi-heon would have known.

Se-kyung demands the truth and starts crying, saying he needs to apologise to the real Yi-heon. He is sure the man before him is not Yi-heon. He feels guilty for abandoning the real Yi-heon when he visited him that fateful night. He blames himself for what happened and hopes he can make amends.

Although Yi-heon doesn’t explain what happened, he promises Se-kyung he will have a chance to make amends. He asks for Se-kyung’s help until that happens. Se-kyung agrees to help on the condition that the real Yi-heon returns—the two start by focusing on their studies. 

We return to Dong-soo and Jong-cheol and their grand mission. To assist their men, they opt to give Jae-min a chance in the gang after Dong-soo is unable to join his men due to an unexpected event. An excited Jae-min is thrown into a car and finds himself as an accomplice to a kidnapping attempt at Yi-heon’s house.

The Episode Review

It seems like Se-kyung and Yi-heon finally have a truce and are getting along much better. We now understand why Se-kyung was so keen on finding out the truth. He feels guilty for what happened to Yi-heon and his role in it. Overall, Se-kyung is a nice guy who made a mistake. 

On the other hand, we have Jae-min, who is in over his head. He wanted to join the gang, and his wish came true. Only his first assignment is to kidnap someone at Yi-heon’s house. We also can’t help but wonder why Dong-soo is coming after Yi-heon. There are so many questions, but with five chapters left, we are bound to get answers.