In the second episode of Four Hands, Two Sonatas, Pio and Jeongyo’s friendship emerges from the painful shards of their childhood.
Four Hands, Two Sonatas delivers on its promised chemistry as its central pairing finally comes together. Pio’s cold demeanor finally softens when Jeongyo is faced with the possibility of expulsion, and Jeongyo confronts difficult truths with the help of his new friend.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers. Read with discretion.
Flash forward in Four Hands, Two Sonatas
This time, we see a scene from present day 2026. Pio wakes in an anxious sweat from a nightmare of the competition where he played with bloody hands. He also recalls a scene where his hands are wrapped around Jeongyo’s throat. When he wakes up, Pio finds a watch in a drawer and smashes it with one of his trophies.
Back in 2016, Jeongyo asks Pio again if he remembers him from the competition years ago where they played four hands together. Pio coldly insists he doesn’t remember.
Discipline
After a confrontation with his mother, Pio goes off to a convenience store to blow off some steam. He finds Jeongyo working there and continues to act coldly towards him. While Pio is outside, the bullies from school come to the store to buy alcohol. Jeongyo refuses to sell it to them since they are minors. The bullies retaliate by making a mess of the store, which gets Jeongyo in trouble. The store manager eventually fires Jeongyo as he doesn’t have parental consent to work.
Jeongyo goes back to his safe space, the music arcade, where he picks up some carefully annotated sheet music from his childhood. The next day, the bullies throw the sheet music out the window, and Jeongyo beats them up. He gets sentenced to disciplinary action and the parents of the bullies demand that he be expelled.
Saving Jeongyo
When he learns that Jeongyo is about to be expelled, Pio asks the convenience store manager for CCTV footage of the bullies trashing the store. He also gathers Jeongyo’s sheet music and returns it to his desk. The footage is shown to the bullies’ parents, who agree to back off on their complaints.
Though Jeongyo is allowed to remain at school, the director feels that they should do a better job of protecting him to prevent similar instances from happening. She entrusts Jeongyo to Hyunsoo’s mentorship, so he can hone his talent and eventually show that he is worthy of attending such a prestigious school.
Meanwhile, Pio’s mother approaches Hyunsoo for a similar request, as no other music teacher will take Pio after he acted out against his previous teacher. She asks him to teach her son “for old time’s sake” and he agrees.
A rocky start
Hyunsoo decides that Pio and Jeongyo should play four hands for the upcoming recital. While Jeongyo is intimidated at the thought of performing, Pio simply does not want to do it due to his own pride. However, eventually, they decide to start practicing.
Jeongyo misses the first few practices for a variety of reasons, as he seems to always get sick around practice time. Once, an old friend warns him about the loan sharks coming to find him. Jeongyo tries to explain everything, but Pio thinks he’s just making excuses and gets mad at him for not taking things seriously.
The next morning, the bullies place shards of broken glass in Pio’s and Jeongyo’s desks in an effort to damage their hands. Jeongyo, who saw the bullies breaking the glass the day before, kicks over their desks and stops Pio from hurting his hands. Pio instantly wants to get revenge, but instead, Jeongyo drags him to the nurse’s office so his wounds don’t get any worse.
Stage fright in Four Hands, Two Sonatas
At the nurse’s office, Jeongyo confesses that he’s been unable to play onstage because of what happened at the competition where the two of them met. Pio recalls that Jeongyo’s mom suffered a health emergency that likely brought about her death.
Pio invites Jeongyo for one more chance to practice. Jeongyo arrives to find the practice room lit up with dozens of warm candles. Pio explains that it’s to help him slowly get used to performing onstage, by starting out with a comforting setting and gradually increasing the pressure. Pio assures Jeongyo that stage fright is normal and encourages him to face it.
The two go through their first real practice session and play until late, not realizing that the school has already locked up for the night. They sneak out to avoid getting into trouble with the teachers. With Jeongyo leading the way, Pio smiles for the first time.
Focus on me
The two boys begin to enjoy practicing together. Pio eventually brings Jeongyo to a public concert where they can play in front of passersby. At first, Jeongyo is overcome by his stage fright, but Pio encourages him to focus only on his playing as though they were just practicing together at school. They successfully perform for the first time in public, with Jeongyo playing his part with his eyes closed. Pio and Jeongyo enjoy the rest of the concert together and return home.
Thoughts and What To Expect Next on Four Hands, Two Sonatas
This episode is the calm before the storm, the one to rewatch when things get complicated and circumstances (like Pio’s grandfather) force these two apart. For now, it’s just wonderful to see them in sync with each other. The scene where they both move towards the bullies at the same time, with Jeongyo in the foreground and Pio in the background, is a thing of beauty, as is Song Kang’s goofy smile atop the school gates.
Unfortunately, the clouds are already gathering on the horizon as the preview for the next episode shows Pio’s grandfather discovering Jeongyo’s talent and Jeongyo still suffering from the trauma of losing his mother.
Source: tvN Drama
