I suspected this book had to be Heon’s writing, but I never thought the secrets would unravel this quickly. And the more they do, the faster my heart races—with excitement and dread all at once.
.png "Episode 4 marks the beginning of Heon and Ji-young’s full-on romance.")
(Episode 4 marks the beginning of Heon and Ji-young’s full-on romance)
In Bon appétit, Your Majesty, Ji-young—a French chef who time-slips into Joseon—keeps asking about Mangunrok, convinced it’s the key to finding her way back. But the whole time, it’s already being written right in front of her. By him. By the tyrant who can’t stop looking at her.
.png "Ji-young time-slips after reading Mangunrok on the plane.")
(Ji-young time-slips after reading Mangunrok on the plane)
At first, it’s curiosity. He writes because of her food—every flavor, every dish, every moment that shocks his “absolute palate.” It feels like a cookbook, a record of tastes. But you know where this is going. The more she becomes part of his world, the more those notes stop being about food and start being about her.
.png "Heon begins recording Ji-young’s dishes, one by one")
(Heon begins recording Ji-young’s dishes, one by one)
And then comes the cruelest twist. Ji-young, who slipped into the past through Mangunrok, searched for it endlessly, but the copy in her bag disappeared the moment Heon named his own writings after what she kept calling it. The book she thought existed was never real—it only came into being because he wrote it.
.png "The moment Heon names his writings Mangunrok, Ji-young’s copy disappears")
.png "The moment Heon names his writings Mangunrok, Ji-young’s copy disappears")
(The moment Heon names his writings Mangunrok, Ji-young’s copy disappears)
What makes it worse? We’ve already seen fragments of what he’s writing:
.png)
If my mother had seen the royal chef, she too would have cherished her as much as I do. How regrettable.
— excuse me, WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THIS (crying)
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One day Ji-young may return to where she came from, but that can only happen if I allow it. Not even Yu-geun can dare to ask this of me. Not even an emperor could make me give her up.
— the obsession has already begun (sobbing)
.png)
My dearly beloved, if you were to read this someday, may you come back to my side.
— so in the end, he realizes his Mangunrok will reach her hands, and it turns into a love letter disguised as a diary… help.
Mangunrok shifts. From curiosity → to longing. From describing flavors → to recording the one person who gave them meaning. We thought it was a culinary diary. It’s actually a love letter he can never send.
.png "Even the cover ornament of Mangunrok was something Heon once gifted Ji-young…!!")
.png "Even the cover ornament of Mangunrok was something Heon once gifted Ji-young…!!")
(Even the cover ornament of Mangunrok was something Heon once gifted Ji-young…!!)
This isn’t just a rom-com subplot. This is a tragedy in disguise. We’re watching a tyrant fall in love, knowing he’ll end up with nothing but a book full of hunger and grief.
Mangunrok isn’t about food. It’s about desire. And I’m not okay.
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*Last updated: 2025.09.08
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