Summary
Another heartwarming lesson from Gongjin and turning point for our dimple couple relationship. Cherish and tell your parents your story even if nothing is happening in your life. It means a lot to them.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 6 recap contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 6 recap
The episode starts with beautiful scenery of two people under pink umbrellas with a mix of shades of pink and a soft blue tone, captured in a wide shot of a beautiful beach filled with uncertainty and blossoming feelings. Hye-jin tries to confront him about the kiss, but our Chief Hong pulls the “I-don’t-remember” card quickly. Feeling puzzled, Hye-jin leaves him first. The night breaks and the two of them are being confused by their own feelings. Hye-jin tries to open up to Mi-seon about the kiss. Mi-seon senses something is going on between her bestie and asks what she thinks about Doo-sik, but Hye-jin denies it afterward. Meanwhile, Doo-sik is reading a book with a beautiful paragraph, “A first kiss tastes like mud, sunlight, and roses,” where he immediately closes the chapters and dries the drenched umbrella while staring at it.
The next day, Hye-jin goes to the coffee shop to order a cup of americano and an iced latte with extra syrup for Mi-seon. She meets Doo-sik and purposely avoids Doo-sik and refuses him to take her order. Suddenly, Chun-jae and Joo-ri loudly enter the room over. He scolds her for her poor grades and obsession over D.O.S. Despite the chaos, Hye-jin personally asks Chun-jae to make her coffee for her even though it tastes bad. Doo-sik notices the awkward tension between them and later he leaves the coffee shop first. “So she does remember [about the kiss],” he mumbles.
Doo-sik comes to the clinic and asks for checkups where he straightforwardly mentions the kiss. Hye-jin is caught off guard and coughs awkwardly. Doo-sik explains that the kiss is just a drunken kiss. He also uses references to another country where a kiss is seen as a friendly gesture rather than a romantic one. He also suggests they be friends first which annoys Hye-jin more. After Doo-sik leaves the clinic, Hye-jin loses her appetite. Mi-seon later asks about Doo-sik’s thoughts about the kiss, where she nonchalantly answers that he takes it as a drunken kiss and they’re friends. Speaking of the devil, the gossip group is back at it again. Mi-seon receives a message through group chat about Doo-sik strolling around the town with a woman. She later shows it to Hye-jin which triggers her more.
After the big fight over braces, her poor grades, and her obsession with her K-pop idol D.O.S with her father, Joo-ri runs from her house to Hye-jin’s house while bringing all of Chun-jae’s money. At the coffee shop, Chun-jae is worried sick about her daughter’s whereabouts and mistakes Hye-jin for a crazy woman who kidnapped her daughter until she explains the situation. Doo-sik comes over to Hye-jin’s house to bring Joo-ri back to her house so Chun-jae can be at ease. Hye-jin, who is still annoyed over their relationship, insists to go home instead.
As the night deepens, Hye-jin receives numerous texts from Chun-jae. From Joo-ri’s skin concern to her need to drink warm milk to comfort her from sleeping on someone else’s bed. Well, father’s always right. Joo-ri comes out of her room because she can’t sleep. Hye-jin makes warm milk and both of them bond over the same situation of being raised by a single father. Joo-ri opens up about being blamed for her mother’s death by her grandmother because she passed away the moment she is born. Hye-jin also shares her stories of running away all along to Gong-jin after knowing about her father meeting someone new. Hye-jin is surprised at how thoughtful Joo-ri is despite her childish and stubborn behavior after commenting how narrow-minded Hye-jin is back then. Joo-ri cares a lot about her father’s happiness if he ever finds someone new to fill his emptiness rather than watching him missing the dead people. I personally love their deep talk a lot.
On the other side, Chun-jae has been drinking all night long. Doo-sik accompanies him as soon as he notices that Chun-jae cries anxiously. It’s quite emotional seeing his vulnerability as a single father. You know, a parent is still an individual who most of the time has no idea how to handle the situation of their child. Some do not intend on hurting their child. The scene is very well executed. It reminds me of my own father and how he would feel each time we argue. Doo-sik tries to cheer him up by saying that Joo-ri is privileged enough to have a great father like him. The orphanage is dying to be in her situation. Chun-jae is taken aback since Doo-sik is basically an orphan himself but an exceptional one. Chun-jae later suggests he make things work with Hye-jin which Doo-sik laughs off. But Chun-jae advises him to find someone to lean on since he is always being everyone’s savior.
After their drink session, Doo-sik comes home alone. Before entering the house, he is looking at Hye-jin’s umbrella. His mind suddenly flies back to the times they spent happily at the beach. He later knocks himself out and blames the drink for having a quiet impact on him. Later, he grabs a book where he is looking tearfully at a photo of a woman and a baby. This adds another clue to Doo-sik’s past that is yet to be revealed and his whereabouts before returning to Gongjin.
The next morning, Hye-jin sends Joo-ri back to her house. Hye-jin offers advice to Chun-jae to give more personal freedom for Joo-ri since her world is changing and she’s actually already found something she likes to do for her life. She also shows him Joo-Ri’s drawings which fascinate him since he never knew about his daughter’s drawing skills. In front of Chun-jae’s coffee shop, she sees Doo-sik is walking side by side with the same woman she sees in the photo yesterday. Mi-seon grabs the opportunity to spice things up which successfully triggers Hye-jin. To feed her jealousy, Hye-jin buys a whole pack of sausages at the market. Not long after she leaves, Sung-hyun also goes to the same market to buy the same sausages. Too bad, the sausages are out of stock due to jealousy.
At the town hall meeting, the Gongjin squad is preparing for the Lighthouse Song Festival. Doo-sik takes a glance at Hye-jin who is unbothered. The villager tempts Doo-sik and Hye-jin to give it a try at the festival as a duo. Ms. Joo adds the fuel to the fire by openly saying that things are over between them by how far they’re sitting next to each other. Hye-jin feels uncomfortable. She straight-up clarifies that there’s nothing between him and Doo-sik and the rumors bother her. She later leaves the room making everyone feel bewildered. Doo-sik catches her outside and asks her to let everything slides. Hye-jin being driven by her emotion confronts him by asking Doo-sik to not step over the lines since she does not befriend just anyone which leaves Doo-sik offended. He gives back her umbrella and both of them part ways.
If only both of them were more honest with each other.
The Lighthouse Festival is finally here. Everyone is having a blast. From Chun-jae successfully stealing the heart of Gongjin with his passion for singing, Geum-cheol putting his wife on a secondhand embarrassment, Ms. Jo makes our ears bleed, the haelmoni argues while performing, Gam-ri warms everyone with her singing, to Bora who surprises everyone with her golden voice. But beneath the spotlight, someone is anxiously waiting her turn. Yes, it is our Joo-ri. Sadly, she injures her ankle while practicing dancing.
Doo-sik notices her ankles and asks Hye-jin to check up on her. Hye-jin suggests that she should go to the hospital since her ankle is badly swollen. Joo-ri insists on continuing the competition since she wants to win for getting braces. Hye-jin persuades her that she can get braces later but Joo-ri insists because there’s a boy she likes and because of her snaggletooth, she can’t smile in front of him and it affects her self-esteem. Later the announcer calls her name to the stage. Joo-ri who has no other choices goes to the stage. Chun-jae got surprises at seeing her daughter on stage.
Joo-ri starts singing anxiously. She slowly stops singing by seeing the reaction of people who are watching her on stage. Chun-jae even asks her to go off from the stage. But surprisingly, Hye-jin goes to the stage together with Doo-sik to help her out which surprises everyone. Hye-jin and Doo-sik lightly argue before the music plays and they dance like there’s no tomorrow, even giving the best ending fairies that defeat the entire K-pop industry. Oh! I adore how Chun-jae is so proud of Joo-ri’s performance despite asking her to step down from the stage earlier. We all just need a little encouragement to make the magic happen. I am having a secondhand embarrassment over seeing their dancing scene but it is greatly entertaining. In fact, the whole festival is thrilling to watch!
Speaking of lucky fans, Joo-ri is probably one of the luckiest fans out there. After performing with her favorite idol song, she gets to witness her favorite idol group and bias performing in front of her. Well, she just represents all the fans over there. Together with Hye-jin who just can’t seem to stop herself from fangirling while Doo-sik is dancing himself on her back.
After successfully winning second place at the Festival, Hye-jin asks to claim the prize for herself which leaves Joo-ri and Doo-sik dumbfounded. But later, Hye-jin reveals to her the reason is to give Joo-ri her braces. She’ll take it as her first payment and she needs to pay the rest once she grows up. Doo-sik, who was once on the edge of hating her, melts like snow when the spring comes. Later, Hye-jin tries to reach for Mi-seon but she seems to be out of reach enjoying herself. Doo-sik, who finds her sitting alone approaches her and teases her about “not being nosy: and “stepping over the lines”, where in fact, she’s been doing it all the time. From Gam-ri implant to Joo-ri braces issues. He teases her action and words teds to backfired each other. He later asks her to not draw imaginary lines over their relationship and just comfortably crosses the line as he did. Just like that, they smile at each other.
But you know what’s more heartwarming than our dimple couple? The daughter and father duo. Chun-jae and Joo-ri. She tries to catch her bias, JUNE, who is leaving for their van. But she falls due to her injuries and helplessly calling his name on the verge of tears. Chun-jae quickly drops his guitar and piggyback his daughter all the way to her bias. They made it and what makes everything pays off is JUNE acknowledges Joo-ri for her snaggletooth since she once mistakenly judge him as someone who tries so hard to be like JUNE. But he says he forgives her because he finds her adorable. Wow, what a lucky fangirl she is.
After all the rush, Chun-jae finally gives in and approves Joo-ri’s plan on getting braces. He offers the money but Joo-ri later refuses by saying she doesn’t want it anymore because JUNE finds her snaggletooth adorable. Both of them walk to find food to eat in the most heartwarming way. Hye-jin is watching them from afar. She reminiscing the day where she skips class and wonders to Gong-jin. When she goes back to the city, she finds her father is patiently waiting for her at the bus stop. Without saying anything, he later gives her his jacket because it’s cold that night, and the two of them go home together. Another scene that almost brought me to tears.
I appreciate how the writer decides to highlights both Hye-jin and Joo-ri’s situation of being a daughter that is raised by single father. Since I understand how it feels not having any feminine figure and how exhausting the relationship might go at some point for both of the parties. A father might hurt you with their words nor action, especially when you hit puberty and blossom into womanhood. Especially since they tend to take double roles in our life. But they’re still individuals who have their own scars and stories. But in the end, the last thing they don’t want is to see their daughter hurt and all they want to understand is their daughter’s world.
Hye-jin takes a moment to call her father. He finds it strange that she calls for no reason. Hye-jin later informs him that the plant that he sends her to the clinic has started to blooms. Her father is thrilled to hear the news since he hears that the plants only bloom once in a seven-year. He later refers to it as a greatest luck in life find its way to the person who sees it. Speaking of the timing, Doo-sik a.k.a our Chief Hong walks toward Hye-jin, representing the flower that brings luck to Hye-jin itself. She quickly turns around and says that she will cherish the plant. Before they hang the call, her father asking her to call even if nothing is happening. Hye-jin agrees and her father is smiling at the news of the plant.
Doo-sik approaches Hye-jin who is not knowing how to react and asks her what she’s doing. She later tells him that she’s on a walk. They later walk together. Doo-sik straightforwardly says that he’s close to hating her again after all the stuff she says back then but what she did for Joo-ri is admirable and he praises her for that by patting her head. Hye-jin shrugs his hands off saying that people will misunderstand them by his action. Doo-sik says that it’s going to be his last because he does not befriend just anyone and smiles warmly at her. There’s a clearly different intention between Hye-jin “I don’t befriend just anyone,” with Doo-sik’s.
The ending
After that, the firework begins to light up the sky. Both of them watch it together. Hye-jin is mesmerized by the firework, while Doo-sik is mesmerized by her enchanting smiles. Yeah, we get it Doo-sik. Where Hye-jin quickly grabs his hand and surprisingly, another hero steps into the screen. Yup, it’s Sung-Hyun who dramatically holds Doo-sik’s waist. Hye-jin is astonished by seeing him.
“I’ve finally found you. Long time no see, Hye-jin,” says Sung-hyun. It turns out Sung-hyun is not losing his direction the last time Doo-sik explains the direction to his guesthouse. He purposely turns left instead of right to chase after Hye-jin, and he finally finds her while performing with Joo-ri and Doo-sik at the festival stage.
Well, it isn’t Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha if there’s no epilogue and season 1, episode 6 gives one! The day when Hye-jin runs from her house by skipping class and wander around Gongjin, she goes to buy milk and a riceball at a supermarket. When she’s about to pay at the cashier, she does not have enough cash to pay for the meals. A boy, wearing a school uniform, offers to gives his precious 100 won for her so she can enjoy her milk. She refuses but the boy insists. Later, Hye-jin enjoys her meals while looking at the sea. Surprisingly, the boy is also there but both of them are unaware of each other’s presence. Well, it turns out the boy is no other than Hong Doo-sik himself. This marks their third encounter at Gongjin.
And that’s a wrap on Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 6! The writer decides to go for the cliche storyline but I’m here for it.
What did you think of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 6? Comment below.
