“Backstreet Rookie” Episode 1 Recap

I had to wait for my rest days this week to officially add Backstreet Rookie on my watch list.

Eagerly-awaited owing to its love pairing featuring Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung expectations are soaring high for this new romantic comedy.

And why not? Its premiere episode delivered with a free-spirited tale that viewers will surely be fond of.

Light and an easy watch so far, prepare to bask on romance with comic hints in this latest SBS series.

Episode Recaps:  01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | Mid-Series | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Finale Week Feature | REVIEW

Episode 1: Wanted: Part-Timer To Help The Weary Convenience Store Manager

Managing a convenience store is no easy thing for Choi Dae Hyun (Ji Chang Wook). Aside from shamelessly using his handsome looks to attract school girls as customers, the job physically exhausts him.

Enter Jung Saet Byul (Kim Yoo Jung), from head to toe she’s a natural charmer; and she is on a mission to be Choi’s convenience store part-time worker. However, Dae Hyun is bugged of the unsettling vibe beautiful Saet Byul gives off. After all, three years ago, she stole a kiss from him.

Three Years Ago…

Kind-hearted Dae Hyun sees a kitten needing a rescue after getting trapped in a manhole en route a date with his girlfriend. Choosing kindness seems to have not favored him, and his girl ended their connection right there and then.

Upset he wallows in alcohol in broad daylight with a life-size stuffed toy and flowers he was intending to give his ex-gf. On his way home, he encounters three school girls about to puff some cigarettes. Discovering, they don’t have any left, they corner Dae Hyun and asks him to buy some cigarette packs.

Thinking Dae Hyun is really a pushover, their smiles fade when the cigarette packs they thought he bought turned candies. Tipsy, Dae Hyun advises them to do the deed when they are adults and make the days of their youth useful.

Saetbyul, who is infamous for her campus fighting skills, calls Dae Hyun as he walks away. She lunges toward him and plants a fleeting kiss on his lips. Nonchalant on her action, she beams justifying she kissed him because he is the first adult who gave an advice to quit smoking.

Back to present time…

To keep his sanity intact, Dae Hyun decides to hire a part-timer, and he gets the surprise of his life, when he meets Saet Byul, three years after. While interviewing his pretty applicant, he struggles to keep himself awake. Saet Byul offers him her calming drink, and boy he was really calmed because he woke up from a satisfying sleep and a convenience store packed with customers.

He sees Saet Byul manning the counter accommodating the customers sweetly and efficiently. Confident that she got the job, Dae Hyun just let it be and briefed her with her work task.

Things get awry between the convenience store manager and part-timer, when Dae Hyun jumps into conclusion that Saet Byul might have stolen money and goods from the convenience store. When he belatedly learned that his mother borrowed the money from the cash register and Saet Byul was just organizing the cigarette packs, Saet Byul was disappointed even more when Dae Hyun gave a lame excuse that she should have told him about it.

Worried that Saet Byul might quit, Dae Hyun mumbles his thoughts to his friend Dal Shik, an erotic webtoon writer. When Saet Byul showed up, Dae Hyun knows he has to make up for her. So, he helps with her tasks at the store. But, when he receives another cleaning task, he bursts and partly blamed her for not clearing the suspicion. Demanding apology, she sighs and relents on two slaving conditions, which he was left no choice but to fulfill.

In high spirits, Dae Hyun looks forward to his girlfriend’s promise date. Saet Byul arrives smelling her manager’s manly perfume and feel good about it. Her mood shifts when Dae Hyun quips that he is up for a date that night. Striking another confident remark, Saet Byul tells Dae Hyun to extend her apology to his girlfriend owing to her being beautiful and might cause their breakup one day.

All pumped up for a night of being together and sweating it out, Dae Hyun finds himself in a gym with his girlfriend who wants to work out together. Receiving a call from Dal Shik, he learns that Saet Byul is with her friends drinking happily in front of the convenience store. Rushing to the scene, Dae Hyun gets a blast from the past of his first encounter with the trio.

Peak Points

On-Screen Chemistry

Sparks definitely fly between Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung in Backstreet Rookie. Viewers who love rom-com are in for the treat as the zesty mood of the drama really invites you to cheer for something special to happen between the convenience store manager and her part-timer.

Jung Saet Byul

Kim Yoo Jung is rocking her role as Jung Saet Byul, I bet she will become a favorite kdrama heroine spirit by regular patrons. Her confidence level is just adorable, especially its sedating effect to peace-loving Dae Hyun.

Unearthing more of her stories is inescapable because it will explain her quite mischievous and uncaring attitude.

Musings

Thank God, I stumbled on Backstreet Rookie on iQIYI because I was struggling to watch on other online streaming sites. Episode 1 of the series pretty much paraded the characters who will move in the story. With its light approach, I don’t think we will suffer annoying conflict.

Interestingly, the series is quite wordy, but the lines thrown are so far entertaining. In particular, I can’t wait for more of Saet Byul’s love-yourself-declarations-a-la-BTS. She’s just the life of the party so far. Given the easy mood of this drama, I am only expecting heart-fluttering moments from Ji Chang Wook.

His character is pictured as self-sacrificing in contrast to Saet Byul’s me-first attitude, thus, the bickering romance is so far fetching.

Backstreet Rookie is slated on Friday-Saturday spot of SBS.

Watch it on iQIYI!

Photos: SBS | Screencaps from iQIYI

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