Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12 recap – Du-Sik’s past crawls into his life

This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12 contains spoilers.

Read the recap of the previous episode.

SikHye stop making our heart flutter challenge: fail.

In the name of the Gongjin sea and its beauty, SikHye can’t seem to respect all the single audiences through the screen. As if the previous episode isn’t enough, things just get more heart fluttering. But as we get to keep on getting all of these sweet and happy scenes from our leads, I can sense something arousing is going to happen soon. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12 starts with the SikHye playfully splashing water at each other followed by them playing with each other’s feet and laying down happily while looking smitten with each other. “I am truly happy,” says Hye-Jin. 

Later, the scene suddenly shifts with Du-Sik laying all by himself in the never-ending black room. The empty room is filled with the voice of the baby crying hysterically. Du-Sik helplessly calls Hye-Jin’s name while desperately avoiding all the noise. Suddenly, a man wearing the same shirt as him approaches Du-Sik from the back with a hollow gaze and soulless look upon his face. It’s the other half of Du-Sik, or should I say, it’s Du-Sik’s alter-ego asking him, “Are you happy? Do you think you deserve to be happy?” which pushes Du-Sik to the verge of breaking down. 

Du-Sik anxiously tries to wake up, until Hye-Jin”s voice finally reaches him. He is sweating heavily on his bed where he finds Hye-Jin is sitting right beside him trying to wake him up. He immediately hugs her. Later, Hye-Jin asks him to get up to watch the sunrise together. Too bad, as the two lovebirds sit by the beach, there’s no sunrise, only clouds. After failing to watch the sunrise due to the bad weather, Hye-Jin is busy making a bucket list of 100 things she wants to do with Du-Sik. Meanwhile, Hwa-Jeong is proudly pampering Yi-Joon for winning a silver medal in a mathematics competition. She videocalls Mr. Chang to inform him of the news. He proudly congratulates his son. I love how the writer emphasizes silver instead of gold and both Hwa-Jeong and Mr. Chang is still showering him with so much pride. 

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12 recap

Let me feed your loneliness with SikHye’s loveliness. Of course, it is another episode of Hye-Jin’s clingy, cutesy, cringy moment. Nevertheless, it’s heartwarming how Hye-Jin adores Du-Sik. She waits for him at his house and welcomes him home with an endearing love. No wonder Du-Sik can’t seem to help being smitten and hugs her every time. Before tonight’s episode drops, TvN is giving us a sneaky preview about Hye-Jin asking Du-Sik to wash up because they’re about to do something. Calm yourself down, SikHye lovers. It turns out, Hye-Jin is asking him to do yoga together. Don’t worry. Nobody is more disappointed than Du-Sik himself.

After giving up doing some Yoga poses, Hye-Jin invites him to meditate which happens to be the only poses that Du-Sik enjoys. After he closes his eyes, Hye-Jin wittily teases him that he looks adorable as a puppy. Du-Sik cutely tells Hye-Jin that he looks like a mix of cat and puppy, followed by Hye-Jin’s sudden aegyo with honey dripping on their eyes. Hold on. It does not stop there. Hye-Jin finds his dimple adorable and kisses it. Du-Sik kisses her dimple back and suddenly they can’t stop kissing each other’s dimples in the most adorable way. 

After teasing each other, Du-Sik tries to go for another kiss but Hye-Jin hilariously backs down because she has not yet brushed her teeth. So the next thing that they do is brushing each other’s teeth. While Hye-Jin finds it romantic, Du-Sik finds it odd but still happily plays along. See? Regardless of what they do, it will give us the whole zoo in our stomach anyway.

“Let’s do everything together for a long time.”

The next day, our dimple couple is seen adorably sulking over the school uniform. Hye-Jin insists on taking a couple of photos of them wearing school uniforms but Du-Sik eagerly refuses… But he gives in anyway. Anything for our Hye-Jin. After getting the photo she wants, Hye-Jin is asking what he wants to do with her. Du-Sik shows off his pamper side by saying he is tired; sitting and doing nothing together will do. Hye-Jin sulks again and bids farewell to go home. Du-Sik is surprised by her response and asks her to stay.

Upon stopping her, Du-Sik finds a paper. It’s Hye-Jin’s bucket list. Du-Sik reads the list out loud while Hye-Jin tries to reach her paper out of embarrassment. She even checks everything they did. After finding out her bucket list, Du-Sik hugs her. He pampers her by asking what she wants to do first based on the list. Hye-Jin asks him for a Seoul date on the weekend. She cutely warns him that they’ll do many things on the list. Du-Sik hugs her again, stating that they can take their time because he wants everything together for a long time. 

“He’s so dense, it’s frustrating.”

Hwa-Jeong and Mr. Chang gather to celebrate Yi-Joon’s achievement of winning the silver medal. Of course, their encounters are not complete without bickering here and there. Hwa-Jeong tells Yi-Joon that they do not gather to eat together only because he wins a competition. “I thought it is the purpose of us eating together right now,” Mr. Chang interrupts.

Hwa-Jeong continues to insist that even if he does not win anything, they can still eat together like this in the future. From this scene, we can see that Mr. Chang got a poor sense of sensitivity and is quite self-centered. Well, he’s a civil servant after all. He has that tendency and needs to be directed and told what to do to understand the context. Hwa-Jeong tries to imply how they should spend more quality time for Yi-Joon’s even if nothing is happening at all. 

A few days later, Mr. Chang finds his secretary in front of Hwa-Jeong’s restaurant where he gives back the same bottle that he sees when he’s having a hangover. Later, his secretary reveals that he’s been doing the Hwa-Jeong’s favor in secret such as giving Mr. Chang’s tonic for his joint and hangover soups for his nasty hangover. But she’s been adamant about making it like it is from him instead. “You’re so clueless. She may speak harshly to you but she cares a lot about you,” he says. 

But Mr. Chang is not the only clueless man in Gongjin. There is also this man named Eun-Cheol. Tired of seeing their lovey-dovey scene all over their home, Mi-Seon decides to take a walk to buy roast chicken instead. She encounters Eun-Cheol along the way where he decides to tag along. While waiting for their chicken, Mi-Seon casually talks about his confession at the clinic and complains that he gives up easily. Eun-Cheol is surprised that she understands what he’s saying and insist that he never gives up. Rather than confessing, he apologizes for being slow-minded. Even the chicken seller is frustrated at him and later pushes him to confess after knocking some sense out of him that Mi-Seon is already giving him a signal of approval.

Suddenly, Eun-Cheol is on his knee, holding a grilled chicken, and announcing their official relationship to the world: “I’ll be good to you!” he shouts, which surprises and puts Mi-Seon in both joyousness and embarrassment. This couple is so extra yet awkwardly adorable.

Jealousy in the bites of Chicken Drumsticks.

They say love is like a spell that magically transforms people. Well, our Chief Hong has fallen greatly under its spell then. After another day of embracing each other, Du-Sik finds himself trapped inside the flames of jealousy after Hye-Jin shows concern over Sung-Hyun-looking unwellness. She asks him to take care of Sung-Hyun for her. “If you’re having chicken tonight, make sure to give him the drumstick,” Well guess what happens? Du-Sik is eating all drumsticks for himself instead. Even though Chun-Jae is giving it to Sung-Hyun. 

Sung-Hyun notices that his beloved brother is acting up, he approaches Du-Sik who is eating his snack all alone outside the cafe. He later confesses that Hye-Jin is worried about him looking gaunt. Sung-Hyun starts to complain that Du-Sik should be grateful because he is able to experience various emotions because of Yoon Hye-Jin. He’d rather feel jealous than be pitied. Du-Sik realizes his lame behavior and asks him to take good care of himself so his girlfriend can feel at ease. 

Not long after that, Writer Wang joins the duo because it’s loud inside. Sung-Hyun is concerned because her back is not really in a good condition to sit on the floor but she adamantly says she’s okay. Later, Sung-Hyun says he is grateful because Hye-Jin still shows concern towards him. Yup, another man has joined the Gongjin-dense-man club. There’s a slightly different expression on her face upon hearing it and Du-Sik seems to read the situation. Little did Sung-Hyun knows that this will finally take a toll on their professional relationship later on. 

Du-Sik leaves the squad early and flies to his girlfriend’s side to sincerely apologize for being childish towards the situation due to his jealousy. It is something that feels new for him, too. Hye-Jin adorably teases him and finds the new side of him is charming and cute. Yes, Hye-Jin. We all agree with you. 

SikHye’s Seoul Date!

The two lovebirds go for a Seoul date. It’s exciting how we see the growth of their relationship. From not being allowed to touch anything to driving her car because he is no longer the same as the others. Du-Sik also emphasizes the development of Hye-Jin while taking the hedgehog to the Yi-Joon house. The two go to visit an art museum, where Hye-Jin exposes Du-Sik’s past love who happens to be the same age and an art student during his college days. She can’t stop asking about her while Du-Sik hilariously tries to avoid conversation. 

What Hye-Jin wants, Hye-Jin gets. After their museum dates go offbeat, they go shopping where Hye-Jin adamantly asks Du-Sik to tries numerous outfits to buy. Although Du-Sik finds it cliche and bothersome, he still happily does it. It turns out the outfit is for an early birthday gift. Later, Hye-Jin is aiming for an elegant diamond necklace. Du-Sik attempt to buy it for her but got shocked at its price. Well, it doesn’t matter since Hye-Jin happily buys it herself. 

Everything is going smoothly until they encounter a mysterious man that calls Du-Sik out of nowhere. Both of them look flustered at seeing each other. The man is asking about his whereabouts and genuinely showing his concern after being unable to contact him all this time. It turns out, the man is Du-Sik’s senior during college days. The man gives his name card and asks Du-Sik to contact him anytime he feels like it. After the encounter, Du-Sik becomes quiet, as if his mind is scattered all over the place. Hye-Jin notices the different atmosphere but chooses to let him be. Finally… it’s time to face the past, Du-Sik.

Gongjin Mystery #1: Revealed. 

After finding all the things Hwa-Jeong has done for him in secret, Mr. Chang tries to decode everything by having a drink with Chun-Jae at his coffee shop. The two grown-up men juggle into marriage talk. Chun-Jae shares how he’s missing his late wife every day and can’t wait till the day he’ll reunite with her after Joo-Ri is capable of living by herself. Mr. Chang, on the other side, stubbornly thinks that it’s impossible to miss her late wife who has been passed away for a long time. He thinks marriage and love are completely different things. Chun-Jae brings up that Mr. Chang loves to ask the same question twice regarding marriage and the two suddenly go down memory lane. Back in the days where Mr.Chang is not yet a divorced man. 

It’s raining heavily that day, Chun Jae and Mr. Chang are heavily drunk together. Chun-Jae is crying because he misses his late wife dearly while Mr. Chang finds him ridiculous. He starts to blurt about staying in the marriage is not the same thing as being in love. He even says that marriage is boring. Chun-Jae later remembers that day, Hwa-Jeong comes soaked in the rain and patiently brings Mr. Chang home after he goes completely knock out after drinking. It’s heartbreaking how she secretly hears all the words he says while holding the umbrella for him outside.

The next day, the socks incident happens that eventually leads to divorce. Hwa-Jeong is finally having her breakdown where she throws all of the laundry towards Mr. Chang who has just awoken from his hangover and is enjoying his soup as if nothing happened. “I’m not your maid. Don’t put all of your stuff all over the place at home. Just don’t!” shouts Hwa-Jeoung. Her whole body is trembling and her voice is shaking. Mr. Chang is standing outside the house that used to bring him warmth and serve him all delicious food made by love.

Finally, he finds the answer that he’s been desperately looking for. The reason why Hwa-Jeong is asking for a divorce. “It’s all my fault. I’m an idiot,” says Mr. Chang in agony. Here are the fruits of thoughts. To stay in a marriage is not as simple because you love each other. Yes, love is the greatest thing. But to love means to sacrifice. To love means to compromise. Love means respect, even letting go. And by letting go, I mean.. Letting ourselves go. A relationship does not survive merely because you have great chemistry with someone. In the end, marriage survives because we choose to make it work. It’s a lonely battle when you’re the only one who is trying so hard and devotes yourself. So, never take your partner for granted, everyone.

The ending of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12: “You’re the one I like the most.”

Hye-Jin is in distress after Du-Sik’s sudden change after their Seoul date. She begins to assume things because of the distance between them. Hye-Jin thinks the reason is that she buys an expensive necklace which turns him off. Later, our impulsive Hye-Jin chooses to sell the expensive necklace online. Don’t worry Hye-Jin, it’s not because of the necklace. Since it’s hard to reach for Du-Sik, she goes to wait for him outside his house. Du-Sik is surprised after seeing him waiting for him. He later takes her to a place outside the house.

Hye-Jin anxiously follows him but got astonished after arriving at the place. All this time, Du-Sik has been busy preparing romantic camping by the beach for her. Hye-Jin sighs in relief because all this time she thought that Du-Sik was annoyed by her for buying an expensive necklace. Du-Sik laughs upon hearing her assumption. Later, the two share a romantic night by the beach together. Du-Sik reassures her that she can buy and do whatever she wants with her money. It’s the fruit of her hard work after all.

Finally in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12, we hear Hye-Jin’s giggle once again and she says that she already sold the necklace online. Du-Sik is surprised after hearing that she sells her necklace because this man is crafting a beautiful necklace box as a gift just for her. “I want to buy the necklace for you but it’s too expensive, so I make this for you instead,” says Du-Sik. Hye-Jin happily receives her handmade gift. She even says that she will fill the box with all of her accessories. 

Hye-Jin clings to her boyfriend. Du-Sik tells her that the place is his favorite spot. Hye-Jin expresses that it has also become her favorite spot because of the memory that they share today. “I love everything about this place. The bonfire, the sound of waves, the sound of water, the scent of summer, the stars, and you. Out of all the things that exist in the world, I like you the most,” says Hye-Jin.

Du-Sik smiles while honey drips from his eyes. “Then I should be the first one to say this. I love you, Hye-Jin,” he says, endearingly. “Me too, I love you, Hong Du-Sik,” says Hye-Jin with sparkles in her eyes. The two share a passionate kiss under the starry summer night of Gongjin. And me? Well, I have melted into the ground. 

The epilogue

We always see how Hye-Jin is the one who dares to show more love to Du-Sik throughout the episode, but each time the epilogues come in, we can see how Du-Sik’s love overflows more. After teasing his girlfriend’s bucket list, guess who’s making one himself? It’s Hong Du-Sik. He goes with his first list which is to give her a present that he made by himelf. And that’s the pivot of the birth of Hye-Jin’s beautiful necklace box.

What did you think of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 12? Comment below.