Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 4 recap – the beginning of Gongjin love story

This recap of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 4 contains spoilers.

Tonight’s episode marks the beginning of our dimple couple’s relationship. So far I am loving how the drama is progressing. It is slow-paced but rich in the story, heart-warming, and reflective. It starts with Hye-jin and Doo-sik crossing each other. While Hye-jin wears different outfits every day, Doo-sik does different jobs every day. Things slowly turn in Hye-jin’s world as she begins to acknowledge Doo-sik’s presence. The next day, Doo-sik does not appear on the street making our Hye-jin question and frown all day. Even a bowl of jjajangmyeon does not help lighten up her face either. Hye-jin is looking through a magazine where she sees Sung-hyun, a rising star TV producer, who happens to be her crush. Mi-seon blurts that, “When it’s not meant to be, it’s won’t happen,” bursting her bubbles.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 4 recap

Not long after, a mysterious guy comes into the dental clinic wearing a high-end luxurious brand. As usual, Hye-jin undermines a Rontgen and consultation. She explains the kind of treatment he should take but before she finishes her sentences, he says that he trusts her judgment to follow the procedure. Something is fishy when he starts to ask about camera installment at her dental clinics. Hye-jin hasn’t put one since she needs her customer consent to do it. He also secretly flirts with her by praising her beauty but Hye-jin does not bother and finds him polite instead. When the mysterious guy pays the check, something feels off and Mi-seon senses it. Gam-ri, who happens to check her implants, feels like she has seen the guy somewhere before but is unsure of who he is.

After work, Hye-jin and Mi-seon meet Ms. Jo. She invites them to join the shopkeeper meeting. Both of them decline the invitation until Doo-sik’s name is mentioned as the treasurer. Hye-jin quickly agrees to join the event even though she ends up regretting her decision. At the meeting, she finds it hard to blends in until Doo-sik comes. Everyone is busy chatting here and there, except for our Hye-jin who is dying to go home. She goes to the toilet where she meets Oh Joo-ri (Oh Chun-jae’s child), still as fierce as ever. Later, she finds out that Joo-ri is a Hacker, a fandom name of a boy group DOS. Hye-jin brags about treating one of the members named JUNE before, but Joo-ri does not believe it unless she sees proof.

After that, Hye-jin comes back to the table and pretends to be drunk sleeping so she can go home. Unfortunately, her plans fail when Doo-sik appears to be singing while gently weeping his guitar gathering all attention. He notices that she sneaks a glance at her and pretends to be sleeping so after everyone wraps up the night, he offers to carry her home. During the walk, a pair of her favorite dazzling heels fall off the ground. Hye-jin gets flustered and that is when Doo-sik asks her to stop the acting and hops off because she weighs like a stack of rice. She awkwardly goes to grab her pair of heels. Doo-sik asks her to be more sociable since she only has Mi-seon as her friend. Cannot avoid the truth, Hye-jin rushes her way home.

Upon her way home, she notices someone is moving into the neighborhood. Who could it be?

The next day, Hye-jin comes to Chun-Jae’s cafe to brags about her photos with June to Joo-ri, she encounters Doo-sik who happens to be making a coffee instead. She orders two cups of coffee, americano, and a latte. She asks him to deliver it to the clinic. Doo-sik says that it adds 2,000 won for the delivery services. Hye-jin frowns and cancels the orders. But to her surprise, he delivers it anyway and does not count the delivery services, something that Chief Hong does not usually do.

At the clinic, the mysterious guy comed back for his treatment. Mi-seon feels more and more uncomfortable to the point that she begins to skip her lunch. Hye-jin begins to worry. After Hye-jin finishes her part, she asks Mi-seon to treat his gum. Mi-seon being so cautious and hesitant while the guy is sending a dangerous signal all over his face. She quickly pulls the residue out and asks him to clean the rest himself but the guy is adamant about wanting Mi-seon to do it for him since he does not understand. Mi-seon helplessly obeys.. and that’s when Hye-jin yells at them.

Yup, he has been sexually assaulting Mi-seon by grabbing part of her body. Things get pretty heated up when Hye-jin stands up against him and tells him that she will report her disgusting behavior to the police as sexual harassment. He defended himself by playing the victim and insisting that they have no proofs (since there are no CCTV that records). He even calls the police claiming that he’s been wrongly offended as a sexual assaulter. The last card that he pulls is indeed using his superstitious background as a way to threaten them. Gam-ri secretly witnesses the commotion and rushes to find help.

Mi-seon gives in to the situation and asks Hye-jin to let it go. She’s afraid of the damage that it will cost to the dental clinic’s reputation. It’s ironic how Mi-seon helplessly says, “I’ll let it slide away, it’s not like it’s the first time.” But our Hye-jin does not back down easily and kick his face instead. They later got into a fight. He tries to slap her, but thank God she is quick-witted and slaps him first instead. Way to go, our dentist! Not long after that, Doo-sik, who is in the middle of his day-off– not even the neighbors can stop his plans to surf–comes in and knocks the predator to the ground. He later falls to the ground as well–almost running out of breath. Of course, our Chief Hong is running his life towards the women he bickers the most. Not long after, the police come and everyone is already knocked down. 

After all the fuss, Eun-Cheol accompanies the beaten guy at the hospital. He tells him that the police are in the middle of investigating the case and they need to investigate him as well. He defends himself saying that the woman does not have any proof of his action, and Eun-cheol boldly states that the victim statement is also enough to be used as evidence itself. The guy later tries to call the lawyer instead but can’t find his phone. 

At the police station, Hye-jin is stuck behind the bars with Doo-sik who is comfortably sleeping. Hye-jin keeps on nagging the officer to set her free but everyone seems to purposely ignore her. Later, she begins to shift her nags to Doo-sik who remains unbothered until she asks him how he knows about the accident that happens at the dentist. That’s when Doo-sik alarm goes on and tries to avoid the question by asking the officer to free him so that he can change his swimming clothes since it’s hot. The officer–who turned deaf over Hye-jin minutes ago–gladly opens the bars for Doo-sik and offers him to wears his clothes instead. The police station suddenly feels like a home for Doo-sik, leaving Hye-jin bewildered.  

Eun-cheol comes back to the station reporting about the sexual offender’s condition. He later opens the barrel for Hye-jin, but since she has heard that they still have yet to arrest him, she refuses to go out. Not long after that, Mi-seon comes to the station and the dramatic encounters between two besties begin. This scene is touching yet hilarious at the same time. Mi-seon apologizes for causing a mess–even though she’s the victim–while Hye-jin feels guilty for putting her in the terrifying situation and not noticing it earlier. Mi-seon scares that her issue will cause her best friend’s dental clinic to crumble down so she chooses to keep up with it anyway. Both of them cries and hug each other between the bars in the most dramatic way while the guys are watching them just like watching the operas. Doo-sik chirps in saying that the door is open so they can at least hug each other in a more comfortable way, but they’re too immersed at the moment.

Gam-ri suddenly shows up and brings one of the most important pieces of evidence for the case, the offender’s phone. Eun-cheol remembers how the guy is also losing his phone at the hospital. That’s when justice prevails. Doo-sik visits the offender at the hospital. He greets him and says that both of them go to the same middle school by singing their school’s hymn. The offender tries to defend himself by calling him “attackers.” but everything is doomed for him the moment Doo-sik shows his phone and exposing his gallery that is full of his victim’s photos. The offender tries to grab his phone back and Doo-sik knocks him down. He begs him to let go saying it’s hurt and Doo-sik twisting his hand harder saying, “And how about the pain you causes for the victim?” 

He later asks Doo-sik why he intervenes. “Is there’s a special connection between you and one of the women?” Doo-sik replies with an agreement, labeling the connecting with, “a great one.” After that, he slaps him with his phone, and the offender is arrested. Bravo, Chief Hong!

I think this is one of the highlighting events of the episode. Most of the time, the victims are powerless over the laws, moreover if the offender comes from a superstitious family or more superior background than the victim. The interesting part is how the writer decides to come up with a situation where there’s no CCTV or any evidence that can be used against the offender. Makes it like the advantages for the offender. But, they later use his phone instead to reveals his crimes. Since it is more revealing. I also appreciate how they emphasize that the victim statement and the support of the witnesses is also part of the solid proof. Some cases happen undercover where all the victim has it’s her own truth and it is really hard to win without any backups. It is easy to shut the victim and threats them just like what the guy tries to do with Hye-jin and Mi-seon. 

The beginning of something.

Mi-seon goes out to buy lunch where she encounters Eun-cheol. She awkwardly tries to avoid him but he calls her instead. He begins to awkwardly shout the police slogan and later gives her his name card. He reminds her to reach out whenever something like that (sexual harassment) happens again. “Don’t endure it by yourself,” he says and leaves. She smiles while looking at the card. On the other side, the rival has finally arrived in town. Sang-hyuk, Hye-jin’s first crush comes to visit Gongjin with JUNE–the ones whom she brags about to Joo-ri. They come to Oh Chun-Jae’s cafe and order a large delicious shrimp. Chun-jae orders Joo-ri, who happens to come back at the right timing, to bring the food to their table. She notices their similarities but thinks that he’s a creeper who tries to look like her idol. 

Meanwhile, Hye-jin brings a basket of fruits and a luxurious wine to show her gratitude towards Doo-sik. She begins to battle herself whether or not she should give the luxurious wine in front of his house. Doo-sik comes to say hi and invites her to drink the wine together. While he prepares the sidedish for them to enjoy, Hye-jin strolls at the house. She was fascinated by his book and CDs collections, which later she refers to as “junk”. Well, it’s our Hye-jin after all.

Upon her stroll, she notices the photos of the mischievous boy with his grandparent that she sees at the photography shops on her first day in town. She asks him if the boy is him and he says yes. She later asks him where is his family and he answers “I have no one.”. Doo-sik later opens up how his parent passes away when he is 6 years old, and both of his grandparents also passes away when he is in middle school. To cut the gloomy atmosphere, they enjoy the wine afterward. Hye-jin is surprised that Doo-sik manages to prepare all the sidedish. Well, what can’t he do anyway?

Hye-jin tries to act cool and starts the lesson about “how to drink a luxurious wine 101” but ends up embarrassing herself. As the night gets deeper, the wine gets deeper. Hye-jin starts to feel like she’s on cloud nine but refuses to be swept by the wines. She unintendedly opens up herself, saying she hates being vulnerable and honest over a glass of wine. Each time she feels like she gives in to the alcohol, she’ll clench her tiny hand tightly. Doo-sik comments on how tiring for her to hold her life with those tiny little hands. He later fills in the glass with ice cubes. 

The ending: The penguin from Antarctica and Polar Bear from the North

As the night gets deeper, Hye-jin begins to ask various questions to Doo-sik. From his friendliness with the police officers to whether or not he ever leaves Gongjin. He later brags about receiving two Brave Citizen Awards from caught theft to saving a sleeping old man at the railways. He later comments how she asks a lot of questions for someone who does not like stepping boundaries. 

Hye-jin tells him that she is probably fascinated by him since both of them seem to come from a different world. She wonders if a penguin from Antarctica meets a polar bear from the North, will it feels the same? Doo-sik finds it lame since both of them come from the same climate situation so it might not be many differences. But, maybe, if you look at it from another perspective. Even though they come from the same climate situation and areas, the way both of them live is entirely different. It symbolizes Hye-jin and Doo-sik with the way they live is different, but both of them come from the same battleground: griefs and loss. Anyway, opposites attract, right?

Enough with her endless question, she lets him ask her just one question. Doo-sik later asks about the reason she comes to Gongjin. Hye-jin backs down a bit but later she opens up tells her that the day she comes to Gongjin is the day of her late mother’s birthday. She feels that each year, her mother’s presence is slowly fading away as if everyone is forgetting her presence on earth. It’s ironic how your birthday gets completely forgotten after you die and only the day you die remains.

Despite her tough appearance, deep down she still wishes that she can enjoy meals together with her late mother that might have turns 60 that day. Her last memories together with her later mother is a trip to Gongjin. Later, her tears begin to fall and she immediately tries to cover her vulnerability. She asks Doo-sik if her face is red. Doo-sik holds her face gently, saying “Yes, It’s so hot.” follows by the melting ice cubes.

…And that’s when my heart drops. 

You can stream Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 4 right now on Netflix.