Starring: Park Min Young, Seo Kang Joon, Lee Jae Wook

Synopsis

Mok Hae Won (Park Min Young) is sick of the big city bullshit and returns to the small town where she spent her high school years and meets her old classmate Eun Seob (Seo Kang Joon). She decided to take a break from the rat race in Seoul and stay until the weather is nice. The story and the plot itself is simple and understated but the show itself is so beautiful and has so many feels.

There are some minor spoilers in this post but it doesn’t take away from the beauty of the show or ruin it for the viewer.

That Warm Fuzzy Feeling

“You are always warm to me” was what Hae Won said when she confessed to Eun Seob how she felt about him. This kdrama takes place in the winter but the entire show is just warm and fuzzy. Park Min Young brings her talent of creating chemistry and let’s be real, Seo Kang Joon is no stranger to romance either. These two just melted me from the inside. I am a huge fan of both actors and it was so good to see them together.

Blood is Not Always Thicker

You have the comparison between Hae Won’s Aunt and Eun Seob’s adoptive parents. Hae Won’s aunt gave up on the love of her life to take care of Hae Won, her niece. She took responsibility for what she did and make sure Hae Won had a decent life and gave up on her own.

Eun Seob’s birth parents gave up on him and his adoptive parents gave him a life full of love. Eun Seob adoptive mom told her husband, “how can I treat him differently when I cared for him and he fell asleep on my arm”. His sister screamed at him, “you were already my brother when I was born and I already liked you”. She always lived in fear that he would go live with his uncle. Eun Seob’s family was always scared they would lose him to one of his blood relatives and it would have crushed them.

Romantic Small Town Life

The scenery in this kdrama is beautifully understated. The village and bookshop creates a feeling of warmth that can’t easily be accomplished. It’s a simple small town which reminds me of where my grandparents lived, about an hour outside of Daegu, in a rural farming community. Everyone in the village knew each other and were friends. When someone was having a hard time, everyone gathered to help them.

The members of the book club are all different ages, different educational backgrounds, and it didn’t matter. They all come together every week to talk about the books and poems they love. Eun Seob’s sister, Hui (Kim Hwan Hee) breaks the rules about age among Korean and selectively calls her elders by their first name.

Every Show Great Kdrama Has a Little Edge

Hae Won’s mother was severely abused by her husband which led to his death. This was a big secret that Hae Won carried and only told her best friend. The mystery of Eun Seob’s birth parents is an odd story as well. They both had very painful family lives. Despite this, they were still able to find love within each other (in a non-cheesy way).

Lessons in Forgiveness

Forgiving someone does not mean you have to forget and go back to the way things were. I love that about this show. Hae Won was burned badly by her childhood friend, Bo Yeong (Im Se Mi). They never had a chance to talk about it as Hae Won cut her out. They finally had a chance to see each other’s side but you know what, they did not go back to being friends. And, that is perfectly okay. They unloaded the pain they carried about each other and moved on with their lives, individually.

This show is super underrated but also not for everyone. It is definitely a slow burner but the images of the show will burn into your heart and stay with you for a while. You have to be patient with the show, there isn’t much movement until about episode 6 but stick with it and thank me later.

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