First lovers reunite a decade later as adults. They might have changed much from the old days, but the buried feelings were always close, ready to bloom.
For romance stories, the more the merrier. And we have another couple crossing paths again, though we have yet to dive into their story.
Bunny S. watches My Youth on Viki
Opening Week Ratings:
My Youth Opening Week Story
“I guess I should buy a plant.”
Back in his younger years, our male lead, Sunwoo Hae (Song Joong-ki), stepped into the spotlight as a gifted child actor, bagging the best actor trophy at a young age. However, a yet-to-be-revealed setback led him to quit acting and live as a recluse, working as a florist who sells flower bouquets instead of receiving them. People in the entertainment industry would occasionally bug him. But Hae has no plans to return to that field. Or, that was the case until a serendipitous meeting with his first love turned his tranquil life upside down.
Enter our heroine, Seong Je-yeon (Chun Woo-hee), Hae’s first love. Having dropped out of college after her family went bankrupt, Je-yeon took on a job in the entertainment industry as a talent manager in charge of promising actress Mo Tae-rin (Lee Joo-myung). Like Hae, Tae-rin used to be a child actress, and they were known as the nation’s siblings. Yet, only Tae-rin continued with her career.
Our story begins when Je-yeon is tasked with securing Tae-rin a spot on a famous PD’s new show. The assistant director offers to set up a meeting. But in return, she needs Je-yeon to find Hae and convince him to star in a documentary with Tae-rin. Which would evoke nostalgia and get their fans updated on how the nation’s siblings turned out.
Stumbling across Hae’s SNS account, Je-yeon senses it is him, though it is mostly pictures of flowers. But she is reluctant to approach him since Je-yeon was harsh to Hae during their last meeting. Still, she heads to his shop, and it only takes a few seconds for them to recognize each other and perhaps have their hearts flutter.
Hae seems pleased to see Je-yeon again, but he gets disappointed after learning she is there because of the documentary. Je-yeon tries to get him on board. But Hae turns her down. They run into each other again shortly after when Hae delivers some flowers meant for Tae-rin, and Je-yeon picks them up. And it seems the old flames are being rekindled, especially on Hae’s end.
“If that high schooler’s guardian wasn’t a producer, would you still have set us up because she is my fan?”
Since Hae won’t star in the documentary, Je-yeon approaches the PD directly. But he only starts listening to her when she mentions being high school classmates with the anonymous writer, Jin Mu-yeong, whom the PD’s daughter is a big fan of. If Je-yeon sets up a meeting with Jin Mu-yeong, the PD will consider casting Tae-rin.
Unsurprisingly, Jin Mu-yeong is the pen name Hae used to write novels back when he was in high school. (It was his mother’s name.) Excited to hear that his fan wants to meet him, Hae readily accepts Je-yeon’s request, showing up with Je-yeon’s favorite flowers in hand. But he gets disheartened once again after hearing the girl’s father works as a PD. Taking off, Je-yeon follows after Hae, and they get into an argument that runs long enough for the PD and his daughter to arrive.
Hae is mad about Je-yeon keeping the PD part a secret from him, wondering if she would still set up a meeting if the girl’s father didn’t work in the entertainment industry. He had his hopes up about rekindling the old feelings. But Je-yeon flat-out dashed his hopes. Still, she softens up a bit after Hae drops by her workplace to see her.
“Things usually turn out the way adults say they will.”
Interspersed with the present, we see flashbacks of Hae’s high school days. His mother died when he was young (probably because she was sick), and his father went around causing trouble and scamming people using Hae’s name. As if it wasn’t tough enough having to provide for himself, Hae’s father dumped his ex-girlfriend’s daughter on him after the woman fled.
Taking pity on the young girl, Hae takes her in. And though it is basically more pressure, Hae genuinely looks after her as an elder brother, getting mad at his father when he brings up sending her to an orphanage and almost losing his mind when she disappears while they were hanging out in an amusement park, and feeling relieved when he finds her.
One night, Hae (Nam Da-rum) returns home to find a guy in a high school uniform waiting for him. Apparently, Hae’s father is getting married to the guy’s mother. And the guy, Kim Seok-ju (Cho Han-gyeol), loathes this marriage and hopes Hae will help him call it off. But Hae can’t be bothered.
Seok-ju’s mother offers to pay Hae off so he won’t cause any problems later. But he refuses to take her money. Still, he complies when she gets him transferred to another high school (the one that Seok-ju attends), arguing he needs to at least graduate from a decent high school after being held back for a year.
It is there that Hae first meets Je-yeon (Jeon So-young). The two of them and Seok-ju are classmates. But Je-yeon is more interested in Hae, who sleeps during class, than in the sharp-tongued Seok-ju. Things happen, and Hae and Je-yeon strike a friendship when she drops by his house on an errand for their homeroom teacher. When other students gossip about Hae being spotted leaving a motel, Je-yeon trusts him, and he opens up to her about working at the front desk there.
“When I am with you, I forget all about my problems, which I know I shouldn’t.”
On summer break, Hae and Je-yeon hang out together. They first stop by a bookstore where Je-yeon buys Hae’s first published novel and has him sign it for her. And then she gifts him with wish bracelets that adult Hae still wears. After that, they head over to see the ocean, and it seems like Hae has a significant memory of the sea that we aren’t privy to yet.
Walking along the ocean, Hae says he feels happy and forgets about his problems whenever he is with Je-yeon. Seizing the chance, Je-yeon confesses to liking him. But she is busy studying now. So, if she asks him out after she gets into college, will Hae say yes? If it were up to him, Hae would gladly wait for Je-yeon. Yet the harsh reality of his situation has him turning her down. The rejection gets Je-yeon baffled. If Hae doesn’t like her, why hang out with her and buy her flowers?
When Hae doesn’t budge, Je-yeon storms off, tossing the flowers away. Unable to focus on anything, Je-yeon heads to see Hae, but he keeps holding back on how he truly feels, getting her mad. It was here that they broke apart and probably didn’t talk again until their reunion.
Back to the present, our leads catch up a bit before a drunk Je-yeon dozes off. Hae piggybacks her to the taxi stop, and Je-yeon turns into a softie like she was during high school. As we end this week, Hae changes his mind and agrees to star in the documentary, claiming it will help boost the flower shop’s sales, but we can tell it is because of Je-yeon.
My Youth Opening Week Musings
Reunited lovers is a repeatedly explored theme in K-Dramas. Still, the drama has potential to stand out and leave its mark. There is Hae’s past, the entertainment industry backdrop, and the upcoming documentary. Speaking of which, it feels refreshing that the documentary will feature Hae and Tae-rin, unlike the usual case when romantic partners are cast.
Hae has always lived as an old head on young shoulders, so it is delightful to see adult Hae sustaining his charm and not crushed under life burdens. Teenage Je-yeon was a cheerful, soft girl. But the cutthroat entertainment industry had her turning fierce. Which is understandable. To survive in that field, she has to fight tooth and nail, deal with weirdos, and carry pretty much everything in her handbag, including a fire extinguisher that came in handy in a quirky way.
Song Joong-ki and Chun Woo-hee are bringing their A game and have decent chemistry together. This week was mostly set up, with episode 2 dedicated to our leads’ past. So, we can’t say much about the writing, yet we are looking forward to watching the romance unfold.
Last but not least, we have adult Seok-ju (Seo Ji-hoon) and Tae-rin getting a love story of their own. From the little snippets we got, Tae-rin had a crush on Seok-ju during high school, which hasn’t died down yet, given how she recognized his voice immediately. It isn’t clear if Seok-ju remembers Tae-rin or not. But we are already on board this ship. Keep it up, show.
Photos and Videos: JTBC Drama
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