The My Country recap for October 5, 2019, features a training montage, bribery, and a first kiss.
Han Hui-jae, Nam Seon-ho, Seo Hwi, and his sister Seo Yeon all go kite flying. Hwi and Hui-jae go chasing after Yeon's fly away kite, giving them some alone time. Hui-jae realizes that Hwi's father was the one that saved her life when she was young, right after her mother was killed by assassins.
Two of the guards that have mistaken Hwi and Seon-ho as being part of the illegal poster group corners Seon-ho. He ends up getting sliced in the arm by a sword, but was saved when one of the guards killed the other. The guard told him to forget about this incident.
On the day of the exam, Hwi and Seon-ho face each other in the final round. Seon-ho was at a disadvantage with his arm still injured from the cut by the guard. Hwi strikes Seon-ho down and the examiner signals the end of the match with a head nod. As Hwi stands thinking it's over, Seon-ho gets up and blindsides him with a hit to the back of the head. The examiner then announces the end of the match with Seon-ho as the winner. Hwi feels cheated and questions why he wasn't the winner when the match was already over. The examiner claims it was never officially over since he only nodded his head. Hwi made a scene demanding answers which caused the guards to beat him and throw him out of the exams. As Hwi laid in the streets bleeding, Hui-jae brought him back to Ihwaru to help him recover. In the heat of the moment, they shared their first kiss and confessed their feelings for one another.
Seon-ho confronts his father (Nam Jeon) about bribing the examiner. His father admits to it and claims he did it knowing Seon-ho was at a disadvantage cause of his arm injury. General Yi finds out about the bribery and summons Seon-ho and Nam Jeon. Seon-ho is told to kill the examiner and ensure no one else knows. Nam Jeon privately tells Seon-ho to kill his friend Hwi. In return, Seon-ho suggests drafting him to the army instead where it'll be worse than hell itself.
Soldiers storm Hwi's home to capture him to force him to join the army. During the chaotic scene, his sister Yeon has a seizure and Hwi wasn't able to help her. He gets dragged away as he begs the soldiers to help his sister. Seon-ho brings Yeon back to his home and threatens his father in order to allow her to stay at their home to recover.
We're left with a beaten Hwi on a battleship leaving the dock to head to war. He's thinking the worst has happened to his sister. Hui-jae runs to the dock as they see each other one last time.