What heart can’t vocally say, actions can freely express in the 8th episode of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
Our heroine unwittingly takes the special treatment from her college senior and newfound friend as kindness. But there’s something haunting when you share a kiss with someone, no matter how fleeting it is or if it is an impulse.
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 8 Key Moments
“There’s something I want to know. Is Hye-jin seeing someone?”
Preparations for the variety show in Gongjin village are in full swing. Du-sik does her job to guide Sung-hyun and his team. At the cafe, gossiper ajumma Namsuk also does her role well in spreading rumors about Hye-jin, Du-sik and Sung-hyun sleeping together.
Mi-seon who overheard it chides on her being nosy. Later, she spills what she heard to Hye-jin whose Sunday got interrupted by Juri, Bora and I-jun. Meanwhile, Du-sik and Sung-hyun go for an animated surfing simulation before they hit the waves. But it’s no use since the latter can’t get the hang of it.
Spotting Yeong-guk who came from a checkup, Hwajeong snoops on his injured back. He takes the opportunity to have a quiet talk with her and tell her his intention of pursuing Cho-hui to which Hwajeong refused strongly. Du-sik and Sung-hyun bump on Hye-jin and Mi-seon who were planning to have brunch.
Sensing it’s an extraordinary opportunity for her friend, Mi-seon bailed off. At the restaurant, the two men silently compete with Hye-jin, and she is totally oblivious.
“You want us three to go back to being friends, but I can’t. How can I be when Yeong-guk and I are divorced?”
Obviously, in a sour mood, Hwajeong is visited by Cho-hui who brought in cosmetics gifts for her. But Hwajeong quickly refuses it and tells her straight that if she’s intending to have all three of them go back to how they were good friends, it’s not going to happen. She also draws the line between them as her son’s teacher, nothing more – nothing less.
Back at the restaurant, Du-sik listens to the two schoolmates reminisce about the old times. He learns of how they first met with Sung-hyun giving Hye-jin proper food after their lecture.
Things are feeling a bit awkward for Du-sik who finds himself being not needed much by the Gongjin people. Working to gain the townspeople’s trust, Sung-hyun has been lending his helping hand. Seeing Cho-hui drinking alone, Hwajeong helps her when she was almost taken by a suspicious person in the village who seemed to be taking women’s clothing recently as well.
“I’m renting my luck out to you.”
Hye-jin confronts Nam-suk for being a broker to her patients and introducing a dental technician to do tooth inlays. But she remains unaffected by the trouble she caused on Hye-jin’s business. Du-sik steps in to urge Nam-suk to apologize.
Bothered by the roaming attacker targeting women, Sung-hyun rushes to see Hye-jin and offers protective gears and amulet. While roaming the village, Du-sik bumps on Hye-jin and Sung-hyun and gives her a bag of medicinal herbs for her herniated disc.
She later concocts a drink and endures its bitter taste. Thinking she has to thank him, she tries calling, but Du-sik is not feeling well and was not able to answer it.
The next day, Du-sik joins Sung-hyun and his team. He stubbornly carries on with his work even when he was asked to just rest. It seems like karma quickly moves in Gongjin as Nam-suk falls on a trap giving her hard-earned money to a scammer.
Thankfully, Hyejin followed her while she was jogging. Du-sik also successfully catch the fraudster.
“It’s sad when you’re sick alone. Everyone knows that, why don’t you?”
Hye-jin visits Du-sik to clean his wound and prepare some food. Even when he urges her to not worry and go home, she imposes to be his on-call doctor. After cooking a bowl of porridge, Hye-jin finds Du-sik sleeping and almost plant a kiss on him. She rushes to leave but sees some tangerines Du-sik craves and left some in front of his place.
Back at his place, Du-sik wakes up and starts eating the porridge. He beams wondering how Hye-jin messed up cooking when the ingredients are just rice and water. He heads to his kitchen and saw a war that had just ended there, he also forced himself to finish the badly cooked porridge.
Hwajeong drags Hye-jin for a quick chat and explains to be more understanding of Nam-suk. She shared how beneath her nosy attitude, she does goodwill by earning money and donating it. She also had once a daughter who unfortunately died. It left her devastated and she appeared to be living dead for quite a while.
Hence, the people in the village are more understanding of her because they’d rather see her lively than almost living.
At night, filming began for Sung-hyun’s variety show. Noticing Hye-jin is not among the crowd, Du-sik senses something. It leads him to be at the right place and time as Hye-jin who finishes work late sensed being chased by someone.
Seeing Du-sik at the alley, she runs to his embrace to feel safe.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Episode 8 Musings
We got a useful lesson from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha this week about being more understanding to people. Like what Hwajeong implied, troublemakers are coming from something. While we can’t be forced to be more understanding, if we can do it, our inner peace will benefit.
Inevitably, Du-sik and Hye-jin are going to cross the friendship line they thought they would never cross. Will they confront the aftermath of the unexpected hug like how they did it with the mistaken kiss? Hopefully, not.
Nevertheless, it’s reassuring how they slowly mark each other as their safe haven even without realizing it. Their familiarity with each other has also reached a point that they are syncing well effortlessly.
I thought I would have a lot to say crossing the middle part of the series. But I, too, have become too familiar with the characters that I treat my weekly hangout with them as a quick vacation to my father’s serene hometown.
Still, we don’t have the three elaborated answers to Gongjin’s three secrets. Eventually, it will be rolled up in future episodes. Next week’s teaser appears to be a meet-the-parents situation for Hye-jin’s admirers.
We also foresee more interactions from the villagers because of the variety show buzz. It would be wise for the series not to linger on the love triangle situation. As much as Sung-hyun is also adorable in his own right, it would be nicer to just focus on the romantic development between Du-sik and Hye-jin.
Tune in to the healing romance every weekend in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha on Netflix.
Photos: tvN
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