Ji-yul struggles to ignore the growing fondness he’s feeling for Ja-young. But things might shake up now that someone has reminded him of what he forgot.
Week 2 of Once Upon A Small Town delights with a love confession, a brewing love triangle and a slew of memories that resurfaced.
abbyinhallyuland watched Once Upon A Small Town on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 – 03 | 04 – 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 – 11 | Finale + Review |
Once Upon A Small Town Episodes 4 to 6 Highlights
Settling a new life in the countryside, Ji-yul accepts his fate that Ja-young will be a constant face he will encounter in the neighborhood. Eventually warming up to her gregarious attitude, he also agrees when she asked to adopt the wild dog which kept causing chaos to the livestock raised by the townspeople.
Naming him Nuranji, she fixes his new home. When she was young, Ji-yul once gave her a puppy called Cloud. So, she’s happy to have a new pet again. Quite a troublemaker, Nuranji caused Ja-yeong to panic when she arrived not seeing him in the house. Thanks to Ji-yul, they were able to locate him in the woods. It turns out he is a new father to adorable puppies.
Oblivious to Sang-hyun’s territorial taunts towards Ji-yul; the two engage in cute silent disputes. At one point, Sang-hyun spots them after coming from their respective lunch breaks and mentions his farm problems. Ji-yul listens to his words implying the space he used to share with Ja-yeong is being invaded by him.
Another situation has had the two in a drinking contest to prove they are man enough after Ji-yul helped deliver a calf raised by the town’s Women’s organization chief.
“Ahn Ja-young, I’m also like other men who wants to hold and hug you when I see you. I like you. So, don’t feel too comfortable with me.”
Obliging to the elders’ request for her to sing, Ja-young mesmerizes at the mini party. Unable to comprehend the strange fascination creeping inside him, Ji-yul decides to leave.
Giving an excuse that it was time for her to also work, Ja-young went with him. On their way, she almost fell so he was forced to let go of his bike to steady her.
Instinctively checking on Ji-yul’s bike, a moment of faint romance erupts when he accidentally held her hand. Witnessed by Sang-hyun, he stops the moment and proceeds with his silent taunt.
Excusing himself since Ja-young can be accompanied by Sang-hyun, Ji-yul listens to the latter’s impromptu confession that he likes Ja-young as a woman. Sang-hyun also asks her not to respond but think about it first.
The next day, Sang-hyun delivers coffee at the station and he talks with Ja-young about the event last night. Both acknowledging his confession changes something in their relationship, he tells her how he would love to be someone special to him.
But if it goes otherwise, she can always be a friend and family to him. He expounds on how the memories they shared should not change because of his unrequited love. Urging her to think about it thoroughly, he gets up to leave. Unknown to them, Ji-yul spots their sweet moment of Ja-young letting him sip coffee with her help.
“If you’ll be gone soon, don’t give her the wrong idea.”
Choosing not to be bothered by what he just witnessed, Ji-yul ends up following Ja-young to the woods when he learned that she came to the clinic to borrow a cage. He also learns that she fixed his bike.
After checking all the puppies of Nurunji and Boksil are healthy, he tends to a small scratch she got while chasing after the puppies alone.
The next day, Ji-yul gets alarmed by Seon-dong’s wailing after his dog accidentally ate chocolate. Ja-young, who usually picks him up to send to school, unfortunately, fell from her bike forgetting she took a screw from her bike to put it on Jiyul’s bike.
Sang-hyun relays what happened to Ja-young, again emphasizing how selfless she is in taking care of the whole village. Getting his point of not wanting Ja-young to care for him, Sang-hyun corrects him that he just doesn’t want Ji-yul to lead Ja-young’s emotions when he’s bound to leave the town soon.
Finding himself checking Ja-young’s situation, Ji-yul gets mad when he sees her doing something for the village when she’s supposed to rest, he burst out. He chides her extreme kindness has led to him feeling bad that she got hurt because she fixed his bicycle.
“In life, there are things you’d rather forget.”
After his outburst, Ji-yul meets Seon-dong who checks on his dog. The child pries if he and Ja-young are in a fight and expresses his concern. Seon-dong tells him that Ja-young always means well which Ji-yul understood.
Just then, Seon-dong calls Ja-young who at that time encountered a road accident. Rushing to the scene, Seon-dong broke the police car window with all his might to bring her out.
Waking up to the sight of the hospital, Sang-hyun looped Ja-young in about what happened. She wants to thank Ji-yul the next day but he’s not in the clinic.
Ji-yul is preoccupied with an old man’s request of putting his bull to sleep since it has not been eating for a month. Resolving the old man’s request, he also learned from him about his old connection with Ja-young, his childhood friend that he forgot.
Finding Ja-young at the spot they frequented when they were young, flashes of their fond memories resurface as they exchange gazes.
Once Upon A Small Town Episodes 4 to 6 Musings
Providing us a dating tip to involve animals to fire up budding romantic flames, Once Upon A Small Town continues to live up to its initial promise of therapeutic moments.
This series is reminiscent of the vibe of those classic romantic Korean movies which makes it easy for viewers to like the story. Now that Ji-yul remembers Ja-young is an old friend of his years ago, everything changes. We are still curious to know why he didn’t recognize Ja-young.
Will this be a temporary reunion for them or will Ji-yul choose a life-changing decision? Sang-hyun’s unrequited love is another headache in the story since his love pitch also makes sense. However, love is always two-way.
This week’s episodes resonated Ja-young’s emotions as an orphan raised by a small town who wants to return the same amount of love to the neighborhood. Through Ji-yul’s perspective viewers were also presented that living with a certain amount of kindness is healthy.
Grandpa and his bull story impressively imparted quite a message as well. It captures the idea that being in any kind of long-running relationship requires a painful moment when you are confronted to let it go.
Sweetly reaching its goal of an endearing story the series looks forward to Ji-yul’s and Ja-young’s reconnection next week.
Once Upon A Small Town airs one episode from Monday to Wednesday. Overseas fans can watch it on Netflix.
Photos: kakao TV
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