Pretty WoMan
Episode 12 of Hometown Cha Cha Cha begins with Du-Sik and Hye-Jin together, eating watermelon and enjoy each other’s company. However, Du-Sik falls asleep and has a horrible nightmare, with his own inner-self questioning whether he’s really happy. Well, Hye-Jin is most certainly happy, deciding to write up a bucket list of 100 things she wants to do with Du-Sik. Mi-Seon scoffs at the idea but Hye-Jin shrugs off her critiques. Her and Du-Sik continue to get along like a house on fire, working their way through her list which includes yoga poses…and brushing their teeth together. Du-Sik eventually learns about her list but unlike Mi-Seon, he’s actually onboard with it and decides they should work through it together. Meanwhile, I-Jun wins a prize at the math competition, which both Yeong-Guk and Hwa-Jeong are happy about. Only, they both end up squabbling over who is the better parent. It’s subtle, but enough for I-jun’s smile to be a little more forced. As the fractured family head out to have food, Hwa-Jeong agrees to let him get the hedgehog back from Hye-Jin. When she finds out though, Hye-Jin has clearly grown quite the attachment to the little critter. After giving him back, Du-Sik gathers all the residents together for news regarding the upcoming episode for JUNE and Seong-Hyeom’s show. In order to decide who stars, Du-Sik decides they should all draw straws to see who joins Gam-Ri on camera. Chun-Jae, Nam-Duk, Yun-Gyeong and Yeong-Guk are the ones chosen. As filming gets underway, Nam-Suk ends up incredibly nervous, touching her hair constantly. Yun-Gyeong winds up swearing while Chun-Jae decides to sing with his guitar. All these crazy occurrences leaves Seong-Hyeon with a tough job of editing out all of this. Du-Sik gives him a knowing glance. Meanwhile, Eun-Cheol escorts Mi-Seon down to the rotisserie chicken stall. He admits to being a little slow and misinterpreted her playing hard to get. The vendor ends up getting frustrated and interprets Mi-Seon’s words for him, eventually leading to the pair “going steady” with one another. When Hye-Jin finds out, she’s super excited and wishes her luck with the new relationship. The big date between Hye-Jin and Du-Sik goes ahead too, with them both heading out to Seoul. After visiting a gallery together, they go clothes shopping, paying homage to Pretty Woman but with Du-Sik playing the role of trying on clothes. While in the busy shopping center together, Du-Sik runs into his old friend Tae-Gyeong. He hands over his business card and urges Du-Sik to call. Du-Sik claims they went to college together but this meeting certainly rattles him, throwing off his mood completely as he and Hye-Jin sit and eat. Another mood thrown off comes from Yeong-Guk, who learns that Hwa-Jeong still cares about him. The reason for them breaking up soon now becomes clearer, as the socks were just a part of a much larger issue, including how Yeong-Guk has always viewed their marriage as a convenience, rather than with genuine love. Hwa-Jeong’s heartbroken rant was just the result of pent-up frustration and sadness over this turn of events. When Yeong-Guk learns what he’s done, he realizes how much of a jerk he’s been. Meanwhile, Seong-Hyeon receives some bad news when Ji-Won unveils that he’s been given another offer and this coming shift will be her last. She calls him a good person though and is convinced that he’ll find other writers to replace him. Back in Gongjin, Hye-Jin and Du-Sik head out for their date that evening. Under the light of a fire, with the flames dancing merrily next to the light breeze from the sea, Hye-Jin and Du-Sik both admit that they love one another.
The Episode Review
Hometown Cha Cha Cha follows up from yesterday’s fluffy episode with more romance and a little more drama too. There’s clearly something to Du-Sik’s past – if his meeting with Tae-Gyeong is anything to by – but it still seems like an important bit of drama that will drive the rest of the episodes forward. At least one of the secrets from Gongjin is unveiled though. It seems like Hwa-Jeong does still really like Yeong-Guk but at the same time, he’s always viewed their marriage as a convenience, acting like a slob and not actually doing his fair share of work around the house. Take it from experience, that’s incredibly annoying when you’re left to do all the housework. On top of that though, Hometown Cha Cha Cha continues to deliver the good vibes and this light, fluffy drama has been a great addition to the weekend drama line-up. It may not have massive amounts of tension or crazy twists but it is undeniably enjoyable to watch.
