A trip down memory lane helps mend old wounds, but deceit and misgivings threaten to ruin a lifelong friendship along the way. Though the two friends find themselves bonding over their shared history, their lives have diverged since their high school days, and now, they must choose how they will move forward in their relationship. As their story meets its end, another takes its place, and the focus shifts to a new couple with their own set of challenges.
EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP: HAN-SOO & EUN-HEE; YOUNG-OK & JUNG-JOON
No secret remains hidden for too long in this small village of Jeju Island, and soon enough, rumors about Han-soo and Eun-hee circulate. When her friends hear about her weekend escapade to Mokpo, they warn her that he is a married man, but Eun-hee ignores their incessant calls and enjoys her trip down memory lane with her first love.
It’s a sweet outing filled with nostalgia as the two friends open up and find companionship in their shared struggles of growing up poor. Their conversation also reveals why Han-soo is so obsessed with his daughter’s golfing career, and though his current behavior is detestable, it becomes wholly understandable. He simply wants to give his child the future he always wanted and not have to give up her dreams like he did.
However, Han-soo becomes too focused on his own trauma to actually see the people around him, so when his daughter calls him again, begging him to let her quit, he refuses to believe her. Even when his wife shows him her beaten face and explains how she was mugged on the street, Han-soo hangs up on them — choosing to run away from the truth rather than accept it.
While there are genuine moments of vulnerability and happiness between Han-soo and Eun-hee, an undercurrent of unease permeates every scene between them, and the actors capture that unspoken tension perfectly. Every move Han-soo makes feels calculated, and the flashes of guilt and shame on his face become heightened when coupled with the joy and confusion on Eun-hee’s.
To Han-soo’s credit, he struggles to bring up the request for money, and in the end, she learns about his true intentions from her friends back in Jeju. She confronts Han-soo about his lies and realizes that he never truly saw her as a friend. Han-soo listens without fighting back, but before he leaves, he tells her that he did not want to ruin the only happy memory she had.
Though his words might sound biting, Eun-hee notices the quiver in his voice and the weariness in his eyes. His apology might be far too little and too late, but Eun-hee understands his sincerity. The trip might have been an unsuccessful sham, but it opened her eyes to her own grief — it wasn’t just a lifelong friend she lost but her youth as well.
When Ho-shik and In-kwon call her again, Eun-hee berates them for being hypocrites. She lends them money all the time, so what makes Han-soo any different from them? She lists all the wrongdoings they committed against him, including her own, and she asks if they only care about her because she is rich.
As Han-soo takes the ferry alone back to Jeju Island, he talks with his wife over the phone. His family is returning to Korea, and a part of Han-soo is relieved. He wonders if their daughter will resent them for this in the future, but his wife assures him that feelings change. He asks if that means they can be happy, too, and she tells him that they will.
After quitting his job, Han-soo packs up his things to leave when he receives a message from Eun-hee. She wired over the money he needed, but Han-soo returns it. He tells her that he gained a lot from his visit to Jeju Island and found the strength to live again after meeting them. With this, Eun-hee finally says goodbye to her first love and closes the chapter of their story.
Before moving on to the next main pair, the show introduces MIN SUN-AH (Shin Mina). In the previous episode, she appeared to share a history with Dong-suk, but when he kissed her, she put up a wall between them.
In the present, she lives with her husband and young son — and on the surface, her home seems clean, but the clutter is poorly hidden. Though her husband insists that she go to counseling for her depression, Sun-ah does not seem to take his words to heart. Instead, she gets up to wash herself since her husband scolded her for not bathing, but when she finishes, her husband returns home, carrying their son.
He tells her that she forgot to pick up their son from school, and Sun-ah walks out of the bathroom in disbelief. The day is completely gone, and she stares out into the city with searching eyes. As the world around her blurs, the lights go off one by one until everything is swallowed in darkness.
The next storyline focuses on Young-ok, the relatively fresh face in town who still remains a mystery to those around her. She’s pretty and charming, which captures Jung-joon’s attention, and he follows her like a protective (albeit broody) puppy. Young-ok doesn’t seem to mind his presence, but she warns him to keep his distance because he will only get hurt if he falls in love with her.
Behind her smile, Young-ok has her own closet of secrets. She repeatedly receives texts from a volatile person who constantly needs her, and it seems to take an emotional toll on her. She takes a stroll with Jung-joon to clear her head after a particularly draining night, and while she overshares her dating history with him, she doesn’t actually say a lot about herself, as a person.
To the other haenyeos, Young-ok is a lying scoundrel, and her recent stunt — going out of bounds to catch more abalone — only solidifies her awful image. Even her friend calls her selfish, but to Young-ok, the idea of loyalty and teamwork seems delusional.
Regardless of how she feels, Young-ok needs this job, so she finds the leader, HYUN CHOON-HEE (Go Du-shim), to apologize. Unfortunately, Choon-hee refuses to keep a liar on the team and dismisses her.
Young-ok accepts the decision without a fuss and leaves to meet with Jung-joon who asked her out to talk. He invites her to his home — a converted bus — and she sees the notes he has written on the wall about her.
One of questions posed is if he could love a woman who has met a lot of men, and Young-ok asks if he has found an answer. Jung-joon tells her that he can and asks her out. His sudden confession takes her by surprise, and Young-ok reminds him that she will only hurt him. Staring into her eyes, Jung-joon replies, “Don’t hurt me, then.”
Jung-joon asks if she needs more time to think it over, and Young-ok meets his gaze, telling him that she doesn’t need it. A small smile spreads across her face, and she rises from her seat to kiss him.
The show continues forward at a fast pace as it enters a new love story. While I am interested in Young-ok and Jung-joon, I was surprised by how invested I became in Han-soo and Eun-hee by the end of Episode 3 and was a little sad to see them go. However, the shortness of their tale is also part of the charm, and sometimes the best endings are the ones that let the characters live in the uncertainty of life.
It was bittersweet, overall, though I want to believe the ending was more hopeful than not. While Eun-hee realized that it was time to say goodbye, maybe this closure will help her accept herself not as a jaded and cynical person incapable of love, but a woman who is worthy of the finer things in life. As for Han-soo, I hope he finds happiness as well, and I’m glad the show treated him and his family as people. Flawed as they were, their mistakes did not define them, and the show made it clear that everyone deserves a chance at happiness.