A believer of transparency, Hye-jin confronts the reality that Du-sik’s emotional fears made him so guarded in opening up his past story.
Different faces of relationships are also paraded in the 13th episode of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. Budding couples, deciding-to-still-stay couples, and estranged couples might learn a thing or two from this chapter.
abbyinhallyuland watched Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Finale Episode + Review |
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Episode 13 Key Moments
“It’s Chief Hong’s Birthday Today. Since it’s the first time we’re spending it together, I should cook for him.”
Pouring her love to at least salvage her bad cooking skills, Hye-jin concocts seaweed soup because it’s Du-sik’s birthday. She goes excitedly to his house only to be greeted by all Gongjin people preparing a grand feast for him.
He tells her how his birthday is like a yearly celebration for the whole village. Inside his house, he learns of the seaweed soup Hye-jin prepared for him and gets it from her to eat some. He praises the taste so as not to offend his girlfriend, but back at Hye-jin’s house, Mi-seon whines about its salty taste.
When Hye-jin attempts to get a taste of it, Du-sik saves her from her trauma-inducing soup by reasoning he wants it all by himself. Conspiring to give the dimple couple some time, Gongjin people excuse themselves one by one.
Finally having their time alone, they chat casually about the wine he prepared for her that they can drink after a year. She wonders how they will be in a year, and he assures her, it’s gonna be sweet.
“Your slowness is what made you lost Hye-jin.”
Dragging Ji PD and Doha to his abode, Du-sik treated them with a hearty samgyetang. Finding time to chat with PD Ji, Du-sik tells him that writer Wang might like him as a man. That could be another reason why she wants to leave.
Cutely adding salt to his wound, Du-sik tells PD Ji that he’s strangely slow in terms of reading relationship signals. He also points out how looks more dejected, even losing his appetite because of the thought of writer Wang leaving him than when Hye-jin rejected him.
Hye-jin gets surprise visitors when her classmates arrive. She brings them to a cafe just as Du-sik arrives. He also agrees to join them in playing golf the next day.
“I chose to lead my own life instead of being led by someone else. Change your view on life just a bit, and this lifestyle will bring you joy.”
It’s golf D-DAY with Hye-jin’s friends. Meeting his girlfriend halfway, Du-sik agrees to use formal words. He also impressed her friends with his golf skills and eloquence in explaining his lifestyle. They praise him for being a great guy, but comments on how at the end of the day, Hye-jin still needs to be realistic.
Curious to know more details about his lifestyle, Hye-jin asks if Du-sik can tell her about his disappearance five years ago. When he remained silent she runs down her own hypotheses. That he could be Gongjin’s lottery winner; a tech company genius; a secret illegitimate child of a chaebol family; a secret agent or a spy sent to North Korea. However, he remains mum on what happened to him.
“There’s no manual for dating. Just follow your heart.”
Eun-cheol and Mi-seon enjoyed a date and she noticed how he paid attention to please her. Amused at her new boyfriend, she tells him that they don’t need to follow dating rules since they only need to follow their hearts.
Touched by what she said, Eun-cheol hugs her and apologizes for skipping the holding hands base. He tells her he wants to slow down but she said there’s no manual anyway.
Praising Eun-cheol for being a fast learner, Mi-seon cutely encouraged him that he can skip more bases.
In contrast to the sweet budding romance of the two, other Gongjin couples are facing problems and unexpressed emotions. Expecting parents Yun-gyeong and Geum-cheol fight without talking out their sentiments. Divorced couple Yeong-guk and Hwajeong seem to be in a limbo of defining what they mean to each other.
Geum-cheol who seeks Du-sik for comfort ends up leaving right away for the solid pep talk his friend gave to him. That he has been neglecting his wife who has always braved the odds to raise a family with him.
Hye-jin finds Yun-gyeong fixing the store items she threw at the fit of anger because of her husband. She helps her right away and spots the shoelace that needs to be tied. Just then, Yun-gyeong’s water broke so Hye-jin called Geum-cheol, but his phone was left at Du-sik’s place.
Learning from Eun-cheol that a road going to the hospital is not passable, Hye-jin decides to bring Yun-gyeong to her place with Du-sik’s help. She gets instructions from Grandma Gam-ri and she successfully delivered the baby.
“My parents gave their all to have me in this world. So, I must do my best to find happiness.”
Du-sik brings Hye-jin to his place so she can get some sleep. He listens to how she used to be not drawn on kids, but she got emotional when she held the baby in her arms.
She shares how the experience made her realize the sacrifices of parents to bring a new life to the world. Thus, finding happiness can return the favor.
When Hye-jin gets a lukewarm response about Du-sik’s future plans, she decides to get up and finds a book not properly settled on the shelf. She finds a photo but Du-sik quickly takes it from her.
Reaching a point when she can no longer ignore his vague answers, Hye-jin voiced out how she has shared her true self with him. However, he keeps a wall of ambiguity. She shares how envious she was of Yun-gyeong to have someone by her side.
With tears welling in her eyes, she relays how she appreciated his effort to do the bucket list with her, but she questions why he’s not doing the most important one.
“Why won’t you open up to me about yourself? Why is it so difficult for you? You see, I really like you. So I want to know what kind of life you’ve lived and what’s on your mind. I’ve been dreaming of the day you and I will become a family.”
Pleading for him to say something, Du-sik can only say he’s sorry. Just like Hye-jin who cannot understand him anymore, Du-sik admits that he feels the same way.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Episodes 13 Musings
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha presents how deeply carved emotional pain withholds a person’s ability to fully trust and love. The 13th episode of the series also tackled the uncushioned reality of Hye-jin and Du-sik’s love story. Something that happens in real life.
It acknowledged how a mutual love admission can be one of the sweetest moments of a relationship. But, there’s more to its fleeting happy glow. Sustaining the problems and incomprehensible emotions along the way would make or break the relationship.
Let’s hope Du-sik’s pain would be explained in a way that Hye-jin and us viewers can understand him. Hye-jin, on her part, is commendable for not letting the unsettling qualms she has just be kept in the dark. That gives a message to Du-sik that she is reaching out, and he only needs to reach back.
We’ve seen “dimple couple” grow and learn from each other before falling in love. They efficiently made use of the proper way of communicating to nurture their connection. The same pattern we still see, now that they are officially lovers.
Hye-jin courageously sends the message of her wanting a future with him. If she needs to pick up his broken pieces that years of trying to forget still can’t salvage, she’s all willing to do it. Thus, this chapter really presents the frustrating nebulous standpoint of Du-sik’s fear of saying goodbye. Let’s hope it will be tied up neatly down the last three episodes.
It’s still not too late for PD Ji to do something for writer Wang to stay. Let’s pray “timing” will be friendlier to him.
On a happy note, watching this series weekly has sure made us nominal virtual villagers of Gongjin. That we can’t help but be happy about Yun-gyeong’s new baby. Similar bliss is what “Mi-Cheol” couple is bringing to us. We’d love to see them go for more dates and skip bases. *wink
Initially, I thought a “dying card” might be pulled in Hwajeong-Yeongguk love line. But her divorce reason seems to follow the most overlook reason of failed marriage. Hwajeong who probably loved Yeongguk for the most part of her life was taken for granted.
She was emotionally disrespected a few times. She has learned to not expect from him, but she hopes he would know when to be there when she needs him. Realizing too late, what she endured, still, a happy ending for them is definitely welcome.
Catch up on the latest episodes of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha on Netflix every Saturday and Sunday!
Photos/Videos: tvN | Netflix
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