Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 13 recap – the most important thing

This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 13 contains spoilers.

Read the recap of the previous episode.

I can’t believe we’re nearly towards the end of this healing series. I am not yet ready to say goodbye to the warm sea of Gongjin. Nevertheless, I don’t want to be a party-pooper. Since it’s the weekend and it’s another episode with our SikHye, let’s celebrate it! Moreover, it’s finally July 24th on Gongjin which means it’s Du-Sik’s birthday! All the residents gather at Du-Sik’s house to celebrate his birthday with various delicious foods. Meanwhile, our Hye-Jin happily visits her boyfriend, wearing a Gucci dress that makes her look like a whole gift herself, with a Seaweed she makes by herself.

It’s heartwarming seeing Du-Sik is loved by the residents. They bring him cakes, prepare all the fancy meals, and stay with him. But this time, everything is even more special because Du-Sik now has someone on his side to blow the candles and slice the cakes together. It’s Yoon Hye-Jin, happily standing beside him.

The two sneak into the house to grab a watermelon while Hye-Jin keeps hiding her ultimate gift. Du-Sik notices it and finally takes her hidden homemade seaweed soup. She anxiously asks him about the taste. He cooly drinks it like there is no tomorrow and saying that he likes it. On the other side, Mi-Seon hilariously mumbles to herself after tasting Hye-Jin salty’s seaweed soup at home. “Nobody deserves to eat it,” says Mi-Seon. Well, except our birthday boy. Perhaps, Hye-JIn is in the mood for a salty kind of love. 

Hye-Jin gets excited after knowing that Du-Sik likes her seaweed soup and she demands to try it, too. Du-Sik playfully tries hard to avoid Hye-Jin from getting slaps with the reality that her seaweed is bad. They end up playfully teasing each other. Hwa-Jeoung notices the lovely couple and plans to ask everyone to come home early so they can give them some private space. Later, the two share another hug, and Hye-Jin says that she wants to spend every season with him. Aw. 

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 13 recap

You know your relationship gets deeper when the talks about the future start to intervene. But to have open and clear communication about it, one must confront and dodge all the bargains that stop him from moving forward. But I guess Du-Sik isn’t ready. After spending time golfing with her Seoul friend and finding more charms of Hong Du-Sik in the golf field, Hye-Jin’s curiosity radar towards Du-Sik begins to grow further. She’s whipped but it’s ironic because the reality is, Hye-Jin still barely knows Du-Sik apart from what he wanted to show.

She starts to bring the topic about his whereabouts before coming to Gongjin. Du-Sik holds himself again but later, she starts to chatter all the nonsense rumors about him, from Du-Sik’s being the mysterious lottery winner to him being a North Korean spy. Unfortunately, none of them is the truth. Hye-Jin still nags him, reminding him that she doesn’t want any secrets between them. Du-Sik vaguely answers, “I’m just a desk officer.” 

Well, the point is not in the desk officer, but in-between what happens during his office days. Later, Hye-Jin asks whether Du-Sik has any plans to move back to Seoul in the future. Du-Sik straightforwardly answers that he has no plan to go back since he likes Gongjin. He tries to dodge the topic by preparing something to eat. Hye-Jin frowns. Not because Du-Sik likes Gongjin more than Seoul, but it’s because she is unable to break through the barrier to communicate further with him.

Later, Du-Sik is happily looking at the suit that Hye-Jin gave to him as his early birthday gift. When he hung it, his expression suddenly changes after seeing the black suit that once he wanted to throw away. His mind suddenly travels back to the memories showing a mysterious woman, whose face is exactly like the woman in the photo, smilingly accompanying him while buying the suit. 

Never take your partner for granted

I adore the Gongjin community but you can’t always have rays of sunshine without a little rain. Also, today’s episode is about respecting your partner. From Mr. Chang to Geom-Cheol, from Sung-Hyun to Du-Sik. No man can escape the danger of a woman, right? But the four of them offer us plenty of lessons in their spectrum. It is learning to listen to our partner, open up, and the importance of presence. Not just existing, but attentively being there for each other.

Mr. Chang wrenches in emotion after realizing Hwa-Jeong is purposely changing her place for him when deciding about who’s going to attend the shooting and appears on Sung-Hyun’s program. It’s all because she sees how he truly wants the slot. After knowing all of her consideration towards him, he secretly washes her dishes at the restaurant and persuades her to meet the guy Ms. Cho sets her up with, while internally denying himself over the idea. 

Meanwhile, Sung-Hyun is having a breakdown upon writer Wang’s sudden decision on taking new projects with a new director. Du-Sik is trying to knock the sense out of him over a chicken soup, as a way to apologize for his childish behavior over the drumsticks incident. Over the past seven years, Sung-Hyun has been so dense to realizing the sparks that they have aren’t just about finding ideas related to their projects. It’s more than that. “No wonder you lose Hye-Jin,” says Du-Sik, adding salt to his wound. Well, Du-Sik… you better not get ahead of yourself and quickly fix your struggles of showing your true colors to Hye-Jin.

Moving on to Bora Supermarket. After hiding her disappointment in trying to pursue Geum-Cheol to have a date and do what the couple do together before she gives birth, Yoon-Gyeong asks him to help to tie her shoelaces because it’s hard to bend when you’re carrying a baby inside your belly. But Geom-Cheol nags back saying by saying that she’s not a kid that needs help on tying her shoelaces. Tired of tolerating her inconsiderate husband, Yoon-Gyeong breaks down. She begins to speak her heart out about the struggles of being pregnant while raising their daughter and runs the market every day. Her explosion leaves Geom-Cheol speechless. She forces him out from the minimarket and she starts to cry her heart out. 

A baby is born

After the big fight, Yoon-Gyeong’s water tube burst. Luckily, Hye-jin is right there at the right time. She calls Du-Sik for help. Later, our dimple couple tries to help Yoon-Gyeong to the nearest birth clinic. Due to the typhoon, all the access is closed down. They go straight to Hye-Jin’s house where she volunteers on helping to deliver the baby out of having no experience in doing so. She asks guidance from Gam-Ri and braces herself while Du-Sik anxiously waits for them outside.

Later, after Du-Sik giving some sense of his stubbornness, Geom-Cheol is seen running throughout the typhoon with Durian in his hand. It’s Yoon-Gyeong’s favorite food that he finds troublesome. He begins to worry after seeing the market is open and the lights are on. After knowing that his wife is about to deliver their second child, he rushes his way and made it to Hye-Jin’s house just before the labor begins. After seeing his husband drenched in rain, Yoon-Gyeong breaks down crying. Geom-Cheol apologizes and vows that he will be by her side. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha knows how to play with our emotions. 

In the meantime, Bora is awake at night due to the thunderstorm. She begins to cry and calls her parents in fear. Yi-Joon wakes up and comforts her. He stays with her and both of them pray to make her feel better. She prays for her upcoming siblings and her mother. The touching scene suddenly turns into a comedy when the labor begins. Well, don’t worry Bora. Your mother is a legend after all. Yoon-Gyeong keeps on cursing Geom-Cheol while pulling his hair. She even swears to kill him after putting her in so much pain due to his wish on having another child. Everything is so chaotic and hilarious. 

In the end, all we need is somebody to lean on through thick and thin. We’re just a fragile soul stepping into these giant waves we call life filled with uncertainties and fears. 

The mysterious man in a suit

After successfully delivering the baby, everyone is overwhelmed with joy upon hearing the baby first’s cry. Hye-Jin let Du-Sik hold Yoon-Gyeong’s baby in his hand. He softly whispers, “Welcome to the world.” After all the struggles, Du-Sik and Hye-Jin sweetly lay side by side, taking a nap together. After holding the baby, Hye-Jin talks about wanting to have a baby in the future. Suddenly, Du-Sik looks at her with a shallow smile and loneliness in his eyes. He closes his eyes and avoids the conversation getting deeper.

Hye-Jin is looking thoroughly at Du-Sik bookshelf. She finally grabs the book that we’re all been waiting for her to see! It’s the book with the photos that Du-Sik hides. Remember those days when we wonder that Du-Sik was once a married man that loses his wife and baby? Well, we are all sure good at clowning ourselves, aren’t we? It turns out the man in the photo is an unfamiliar man wearing his suit and tie holding the baby while smiling at the camera. 

The ending of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 13: “the most important thing”

Before we start on this section, I suggest you play True Colors by Phil Collins to understand the context that Hye-Jin is desperately talking about. It’s also a good song to ease yourself because this is where everything starts to fall apart. After unintentionally finding the hidden photo, Hye-Jin wonders who are the people that he keeps. Du-Sik startles as soon as he finds out that Hye-Jin is holding his most treasured book and the photo. He rudely takes the photo and the book from her hand and begins to defend himself by asking her why she is seeing through his book without permission. Hye-Jin apologizes and asks him about the photo. Du-Sik vaguely answers, “Just some people I know,” 

Tired of receiving vague answers, Hye-Jin confronts him. She helplessly tries to reach out to him, but every time she tries to mend the distance between them, Du-Sik goes further away from her. “You agree to do everything on my bucket list but why can’t you do the most important thing?” asks Hye-Jin, “Open up yourself to me. I want to know the life that you live in and what’s on your mind.” 

Du-Sik helplessly stares at Hye-Jin, as if the whole world starts to crumble. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Hye-Jin says that she doesn’t know him anymore. Everyone, it’s frustrating when the person is hiding from you because that’s when everything becomes uncertain. The relationship will become lonely as if you’re the only one who’s ready to dive in and risk it all while the others just want to stay on the surface. She wants him to say something. Anything to ease her insecurity. Du-Sik, who’s on the edge of breaking down, finally comes up with words. A word that finally pushes him with no turning back. “I’m sorry,” he says, followed by, “I don’t know myself either.” Perhaps…This is the time to finally reconnect with yourself, Du-Sik.

Nevertheless, that’s a wrap for a rollercoaster episode today! So many feelings in one episode. Stay strong, SikHye supporters!

The epilogue

Bo-Ra and Yi-Joon visit Du-Sik with their cute little hedgehog, Seumseum. He cooks them pork cutlets and meat. Bo-Ra asks him does he loves animals. Du-Sik proclaims himself as an animal lover and he likes all types of animals. But then, Bo-Ra asks him why he refuses to take care of Seumseum in the past, which Yi-Joon nags her saying that it’s rude to bring up past issues on the table. Both of them are adorable quarrels. Meanwhile, Du-Sik looks vaguely at Seumseum who’s running on its wheels. “Perhaps, I’m still not ready to say another goodbye,” says Du-Sik.

What did you think of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha season 1, episode 13? Comment below.