Thread by @acapitalchick

My heart just exploded.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

He doesn’t know how to let someone take care of him and she is ignoring it and doing it anyway aghhhhhhhhhhh

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

She just took his temperature and ignored him and walked inside his house!!!! Ahahahaha!

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

I —— I am not okay

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp8

Someone is finally taking care of Hong Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

I love that the woman is a fucking disaster in the kitchen 😂

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

LOOK AT HER AGHHHHHHHHHH

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

She is stone cold sober and almost kissed him while he was asleep aghhhhhhh

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

He’s going to eat all of it even though it tastes terrible just like she drank the tea 😭😭😭

This episode is not only about giving care —- but allowing yourself to receive it.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp8

Every last drop. Just like Ms. Dentist told you.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

Oh Nam-sook. My heart hurts.

Now we know why she was clutching that wand a few episodes ago.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

I can’t believe I might cry over a bag of tangerines.

All of the small yet big ways that we can listen and express love.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

“Maybe it’s because we’ve seen her wither away … so despite all the trouble she causes, I’d rather see her be all right.”

There is so much quiet wisdom in this show.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp8

Hahahahaha. It’s details like this that demonstrate when a show really knows its characters.

(Please don’t stop)

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

Oh no. It’s late at night and everyone’s watching the filming

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

Whaaaaaat the fuuuuuck

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

He’s there. Of course he’s there. Because when everyone else was focused on the filming, he was thinking of her and whether she’d be okay.

Small acts. Huge consequences.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

The way she ran to him I —-

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

Yes Du-sik. This is actually happening.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaCha

He was there, like he always is. She ran to him and embraced him, never letting go. And then he overcame his shock and hugged her back.

It’s all a simple series of events. And yet it feels like an emotional earthquake.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

Did you all feel that shaky exhale too?

My god

#HometownChaChaChaEp8 #HometownChaChaCha

All of the things that people did for one another in this episode — from lending money to make a teenager’s day better to making porridge to interceding to prevent a crime to buying tangerines.

It’s those small acts that, together, form a community.

#HometownChaChaChaEp8

What is happening in this preview for #HometownChaChaChaEp9?!!!

Boyfriend?!

You shouldn’t be seeing him?

Break up?

Can you meet up with me?

Yes I like her a lot.

I sense fuckery on the horizon ugh

#HometownChaChaCha

Time to see how far #HometownChaChaCha will stretch the rubber band of romantic tension.

In the words of Jane Austen, this weekend I am half agony, half hope.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9

Oh you want to replay that epic alley scene just like my brain did all week?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

My daughter actually yelled at the screen:

“JUST KISS ALREADY!!!”

😂😂😂😂

(She’s not wrong.)

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

LOOK AT THEIR FACES AHAHAHAHA

If that doesn’t tell us that they both were just having A MOMENT I don’t know what does. The synchronization is amazing lol

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

May I introduce you to the wisest man in Gongjin?

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

He is wrecked — literally clutching his chest — while the sound of a heartbeat is layered just under the music.

🥺🥺🥺🥺

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Full disclosure: I am going to retweet this gif every time I see it for the rest of my life.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

I can’t believe this gif is actual footage of Hye-jin in #HometownChaChaChaEp9.

#HometownChaChaCha

The #HometownChaChaCha fandom between the hours of 11 pm - 7 am every Monday-Friday.

Actual footage of Hye-jin trying not to think about her face smashed against Du-sik’s chest.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Meanwhile Du-sik is cleaning his house so thoroughly in the middle of the night that animated birds are about to join in.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

The have created their own decathlon of trying not to thinking about the other person.

It’s. Not. Working.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

Du-sik is helping a stranger who will soon be important to him and annoying him upon first meeting at the same time.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

“He said you and Chief Hong passionately embraced last night.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Whenever Du-sik & Hye-jin actually do date the entire town of Gongjin is going to be like

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

ME TOOOOOO

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Du-sik for the love of god, you are NOT slaying this first meeting with her dad lol

I love how Du-sik has endeared himself to the audience but this reminds us that he can be just as awkward as Hye-jin in his own unique way.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Your honor, I’d like to note for the record that at the 11:22 mark of #HometownChaChaChaEp9, Mr. Hong made the following admission.

I submit that it is canon. No backsies.

#HometownChaChaCha

And further, please note that at 11:35 Hye-jin did not say otherwise

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Stepmom is into it

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

Hye-jin’s face when Du-sik explained why he supposedly said that …. Oof.

Always with the cursory way out huh Du-sik?

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Du-sik: “Women know what’s best right?”

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Wow Hye-jin is so like her dad. Prickly and judgmental on first meeting.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Look they’re not wrong

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Me while Seong-hyun is holding court as “successful professional guy” in Gam-ri’s house while Du-suk has to just sit there despite practically growing up there & being brilliant.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

I now hate that effing llama keychain.

🦙❌

(Yes, I am now reaching the irrational stage of a love triangle)

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

Look I don’t like to be petty but come on. Seong-hyun had ten years to call her since college. He didn’t.

So did I think to myself “that’s right, suck it”? Yes. Yes, I did.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Mi-seon could never be the protagonist of a tv show because it would be over in three episodes lol

Get. It. Girl.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Hey Choi Eun-chul? Wtf?

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin’s dad: is competitive, acts a little sullen, and doesn’t want to try new food that’s fed to him

Du-sik:

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

The journey of watching Du-sick’s face as he overhears Hye-jin’s father not wanting her to date an orphan & then Hye-jin swiftly shut it down

Some big “It taught me to hope as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before” energy 🔥

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Someday, she is going to have a big family, dad 🥺

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

“This is their first time meeting. So how does he seem to blend in so well? How does he make us feel so comfortable? How does he warm our hearts like so?”

Not all stories take the time to explore the ripple effects of relationships like this.

#HometownChaChaCha

“She sure does take after you. She also admits her mistakes quickly.”

Such elegant writing. It lets us know how closely Du-sik observes Hye-jin & what he admires about her. It peels back a layer about her father. Then it bridges the gap between these two men

#HometownChaChaCha

On the first day of meeting, Hye-jin’ father found someone to play Go with instead of playing alone.

And rather than perform a task, Du-sik shared a game with a father who also knows profound loss.

The ripple effects of human connection are so lovely in #HometownChaChaCha.

“Yes … I like her as a friend.”

What do you call it when someone is being both honest with someone else & lying to themselves at the same time?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

“I truly hope she’ll find someone good that she deserves.”

“And that could be you.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

My dude, you’re already too late. You had ten years and it’s episode 9.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

So can we talk about this boat scene? There’s a lot to unpack

Hye-jin seeks him out. She saw how he fit into her family; but her dad also echoed her original concerns. She asks him questions about the past & future. She wants to know him & to grasp what a life with him could be.

But Du-sik shuts her down. Deflects or refuses to answer the deeper questions. Acts nonchalant about not wanting anything else out of life. Jokes to ease the tension of her questions or her disappointment in his answers.

It’s a real conundrum. THIS is the real obstacle to them being together — not the love triangle. How can two people who seemingly want such different things out of life and won’t share the deeper reasons why find a way to be together?

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

The boat on a hill is a Rorschach test for their POVs

Is it isolated & purposeless — absurdly stranded where it cannot fulfill its potential?

Or is there peace in opting out of how everyone thinks it should be used? Value in the different vantage point?

#HometownChaChaCha

And the thing is — there’s somewhere possible in the middle, right? But neither will explain WHY they want what they want. Hye-jin has at least hinted at her earlier financial struggles. But Du-sik yields NOTHING about his past.

It’s frustrating & so real.

#HometownChaChaCha

Listen ladies, you both tried to talk to the men you’re interested in.

They’re the ones who punked out and ran away emotionally.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Yeah dude. I’d say you need to do some thinking.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Okay Eun-chul, you came through big here.

But just like Du-sik you express your care through acts and then run away from intimacy.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

“Then why does it seem that that job is still ongoing?”

“Then maybe it is.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp9

The way she smacked that trope down 👏 👏👏👏👏

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

All the ways in which he has brought light into her world.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

Hey Du-sik, you better follow Seong-hyun’s advice.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

This is fine. Super chill way to end an episode.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

“So everyone you loved has left you?”

“And I’m to blame, it’s because of me.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

We still know so little. And yet this insight tells us so much about what he thinks he deserves and the grave risk he believes is inherent in love.

It makes my heart hurt.

#HometownChaChaChaEp9 #HometownChaChaCha

I am staring at the screen because episode 10 is now available

So far, #HometownChaChaCha has carefully calibrated a story on simmer - slowly turning the heat up and back down just before it comes to a boil.

I think it is time to let the pot boil over.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

THIS A NIGHTMARE

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“It’s a great night to catch a sick pervert.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

OMG it’s so wrong how effing hot he is slamming that asshole’s head into the wall sweet jesus

Gonna stick my head in a freezer for a second like Hye-jin so I can actually focus on the perilous plot developments again. Be right back

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Did he just fucking jump in front of a knife and get stabbed what is happening sweet jesus mary and joseph Afhhhdnwjanakwnwne

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

That’s right Hye-jin kick that motherfucker!

I love it when women defend themselves in believable & relatable ways. Pity the man who gets in the way of Hye-jin’s foot.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Imagine that this man thinks that he only brings death and loss to the people that he cares about.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

In that moment —and even now as they sit bruised or bleeding — they are more worried about the other than themselves.

That is love.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

SEONG-HYUN YOU JUST ROBBED US OF A HUG

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Rewatch this scene and just follow Du-sik’s eyes.

You know absolutely everything that’s going through his head without a single word.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Oh well! Guess you’ll just have to stay at his house again!

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“Welcome, it’s your … No, it’s not your first time.”

“It’s my third.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“As you know, three is a lucky number…”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Guess you’ll just have to wear his clothes and he will have to joke about the fit to mask his internal screaming!

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

He’s opening up about his grandfather -confiding in her about the memories fading, his guilt…

Their scenes are so quiet & still and yet so significant as walls come tumbling down. It’s hard won intimacy front and center in the story.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

If she gives him soccer cleats someday I swear that you all will have to send paramedics to my home.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“Those what-ifs are pointless. There are too many variables in this world & they’re beyond our control. So it’s not your fault.”

I was waiting for Hye-jin’s turn to teach Du-sik. Her logic is exactly what he desperately needs to hear.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp10

His face when he realized that she was tearing up about him is EVERYTHING.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“Is this the first time you’ve talked about yourself?”

“You’re the second person that I’ve told my personal stories.”

“Second?”

I love the idea that who we tell our stories to is the most intimate thing we can share with someone.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Fine Seong-hyun! I feel bad okay! I FEEL BAD. Happy now?

Kdrama really excels at making you feel guilty for wanting what it told you to want. Maybe Kdrama is actually my mother?

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

I feel like I don’t say this enough:

Hye-jin is an amazing woman to have on our screens. I am grateful for the way she matter of factly asserts her self worth and calls out misogyny nearly every episode.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“But I guess all pretty things have thorns.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin not telling Mi-seon what happened so that she could focus on her mother was just such wonderful selfless friendship I actually choked up.

Du-sik is basically like “and that’s why I love you even if I won’t admit it myself.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

This dog howling is the opposite of the deer yelling on “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.”

Thank you for pushing our leads together lol!

❌ 🦌
✅ 🐕

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin’s version of “Don’t go.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Oh so he’s going to read poetry to her so she can sleep.

That’s fine. I’m fine. No big deal.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“Doorkeeper: You can’t be here. Saying that is my job…. It is also my job to deny you the next day again. And waiting for you the next day in order to deny you is also my job. It is my job to fall in love with you while waiting for you the next day.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Thus denying my love…”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

I feel like I’m going to have a nervous breakdown.

Don’t. Go.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin: “Chief Hong. Who is the first person you told about your grandfather?”

Du-sik: “There was this person, very warm hearted.”

Hye-jin: “Damn it.”

🐕: “Owoooooooooooooo”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

How are we ever going to move on with our lives?

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

See Papa Yoon, she already has a family.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Mi-seon needs to become a therapist for every other television character out there. She is so self aware.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

I would just like to take a moment and congratulate the editor on this transition.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

NEVER GO FIRST IN AN AWKWARD LOVE CONFESSION SCENE MI-SEON!

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

My daughter now calls this “The Cafe of Rejection.”

(At least it’s not a Subway 🤷🏻‍♀️)

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Family 🥺

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

The way Hye-jin felt insecure that she had not prepared her offering herself and then he made sure to include it and tell her how it was her grandfather’s favorite.

The circle of consideration between them is staggering sometimes.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

The way he invited her to stay, sit with him & talk to his beloved grandfather — all emblematic of the gradual unfurling of his heart

And then

“Hello. I’m Yoon Hye-jin.”

This is just truly such a rare & deeply meaningful love story

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

She is peeling the snow crab for him
I ———

Same Du-sik. Same.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

IT LANDED NEAR YOUR RIGHT DIMPLE THOUGH

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

They are such a beautiful disaster. I could truly watch one hour and twenty minutes of just this.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Her face when he told her was a key moment of realization of what she doesn’t want.

And the fact that he eating alone in contrast to the shared meal in the previous scene tells us what we need to know.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“It feels empty now that she’s not here.”

The way this episode examines the space that the people that we love take up in our lives sometimes before we even realize it.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Girls trip!

Shopping, eating & going to spa? Can I come?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaCha10

Du-sick to himself when he heard that Hye-jin was going out of town.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Me preparing myself for the epilogue as soon as they cut away from what Du-sik was looking at in her room.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

She’s doing something that she normally loves to do for herself in the city that she used to live in.

But now she is thinking of him.

Say it with me: that’s love

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Gam-ri just smacked Du-sik on his wounded arm.

It’s time for real talk.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

LOOK AT HER FACE AHAHAHAH

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp10

“I can now see through people like I can see through water. She has taken up all the space in your heart, so why on earth are you fighting it? Du-sik, life may seem long but it really isn’t.”

Gam-ri, the hero of #HometownChaChaCha

I SEE YOU EDITOR

From the advice —-> to the three people who need to hear it most in four successive frames. 👀👀👀

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Look at this elegant shorthand for the change that Gongjin has wrought in Hye-jin.

It is the perfect analogy for how her perspective has been changed by a place and its people.

Now she can’t help but think of Gongjin while sitting in her old home.

#HometownChaChaCha

SHE WANTS TO RUN IN THE RAIN WITHOUT AN UMBRELLA

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

You guys.

I think Hye-jin’s mind hacked our social media accounts.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

We long anticipated that the rain symbolism would return

I love that this is solely Hye-jin’s moment of self realization. She’s taking the risk to walk calmly & bravely into the rain -both literally and figuratively - to her home. Both the place & a person.

#HometownChaChaCha

The entire audience at home

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

I need you all to know that from this point forward my teenage daughter was in my lap and we were squeezing each other’s hands so hard it actually hurt

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Ted Lasso would be so proud of this truly perfectly executed rom-communism moment.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to say this

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

She is so brave.

I love that it was her to say it first. It’s both true to character & her journey and a woman seizing her own fate by saying what she feels and wants out loud.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChachaCha

I wonder if he ever thought that the woman who said they could never be a good match would say that she has feelings out loud to him first.

That after all of these years of loss & solitude that life could still offer this kind of joy

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“But to hell with all that …”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

The way I gasped.

It’s both so softly intimate but also asserting that she has more to say.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“Me feelings for you keep inflating my heart and it could burst at any second.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp10

How perfect is it that he then — finally kissed her?

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

“I can’t — deny it anymore either.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

This was a kiss worth waiting ten episodes for.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

Fuck it. Here’s another angle. Because we all fucking earned this.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10 #HometownChaChaCha

The brilliant @EmmaB_Videos pointed out to me that Hye-jin’s confession is a subversion of the When Harry Met Sally confession. She explains all the things that are idiosyncratic about her and then chooses her opposite.

This is ME and I like YOU anyway.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10

For all the complications, this beautiful scene comes down to two people bravely taking a risk to stand before someone else and say what they want out loud.

Two lights at opposite ends and distinct in nature lighting up the night together

#HometownChaChaCha

I love how #HometownChaChaCha plays with the idea of fate. Are there coincidences? Yes.

But Hye-jin & Du-sik actually coming together is the result of a series of individual choices and hard won intimacy. Ultimately, it is a fate of their own making.

#HometownChaChaChaEp10

I anticipated that this weekend would tell us what kind of story that #HometownChaChaCha wants to be. It was more than I ever could’ve hoped for.

Episodes 9 & 10 kept faith with the audience’s emotional investment and deconstructed tropes to explore profound human connection.

I am ready to sit down to a feast of these two characters that I both adore being in crazy, stupid love.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Oh #HometownChaChaCha, you thought I would like to watch this all time tv hall of fame confession scene again even though I watched it 100000000000000 times this past week?

You are correct. Thank you.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11

It’s quiet moments like this that set #HometownChaChaCha apart.

The hand suspended in the air, the sudden looks away.

All of it conveying that life changing, staggering thunderbolt moment of falling in love.

God tier romantic storytelling.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11

“WAIT. YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE LIKE THIS. BUT I SAID ONE SENTENCE.”

The way this is so perfectly in character & REAL in a way that punctures the classic tv grand sweeping romantic moment while infusing it with grounded nervous emotion.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

They gave us the romantic sweeping scene but then tethered it to open and honest communication. She went out on a limb and he meets her there in full measure.

Just beautiful.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Look. At. Their. Faces.

Their acting is just incredible. You feel the improbable joy, the raw emotion of this moment.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“Now that we’ve shared a kiss & confessed our love, what’s next?”

“What do you think?”

Then they walk together hand in hand. Come what may.

That’s a thesis statement for the kind of story this is.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

They are just grinning at each other and I am grinning at them so wide my face hurts.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Oh Du-sik. Buddy. You poor bastard.

You are in so, so deep.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“As big as Lake Baikal.”

Has there ever been a love confession more in character than Chief Hong referencing a geographical feature on the fly with a depth of meaning that matches its actual depth in meters?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Interesting that Lake Baikal is in Russia & Du-sik was speaking Russian in the first episode & reading Tolstoy….

Fun fact that Chief Hong would appreciate from my kids: it’s home to a rare species of seal. I hope Hye-jin wouldn’t eat it 😉

#HometownChaChaCha

This was less than two minutes apart lol

Hye-jin you are so whipped.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

I swear I am also as giddy just watching them be giddy in love.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“It’s fate.”

“It’s coincidence.”

I love that they examine the childhood connection and address it AFTER their mutual choice to be together after countless decisions to reach out.

Coincidence only becomes “fate” because of choice.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“We’ll reveal the reason later to make it more fun. It’ll evoke the viewers’ curiosity and offer a twist at the end.”

The writer winking at us regarding Du-sik’s backstory.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Back to The Cafe of Rejection….😬

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

If Seong-hyun were the protagonist these moments could’ve been the “fated” interactions of offering care. But because of their mutual failure to take a risk, the moment passed them by

A fascinating contrast to SikHye. Again, “fate” turns on choice & timing #HometownChaChaCha

“I’d like to be honest this time around…”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“That wasn’t your lowest… you still radiated. You worked hard every day of your life and tried not to lose yourself no matter what. And I loved you for that. I’m truly honored that someone like you is my first love.”

THIS is how to wrap up a love triangle.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Be good to her. Make her laugh a lot and treat her to good food… I like her. But I think I’m pretty fond of you too.”

The emotional maturity is breathtaking on my television screen right now.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Me watching #HometownChaChaCha

Me 🤝 Seong-hyun

“Love triangles just aren’t for me.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

I need everyone to please stop and take a moment to examine the journey his face goes on when she speculates that the gossip would be that they are getting married and having a baby lol

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“Eroticism? What’s it about?”

Look. At. His. Fucking. Face.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Remember when he flinched at her touch? 🥺

#HometownChaChaCha

“It is raunchy?”

“Sort of.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

The broken remnants of two love triangles.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Me gearing up to watch the coffee slapping scene like I haven’t watched the preview 80000000 times already.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

He is in so much visible shock and distress I almost feel guilty for laughing every time.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Remember episodes ago when she ordered this take out just because she missed seeing him?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“Are you sure you want to date me?”

Poor Du-sik 😂

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

HE. KNITS.

Chief Hong, you are ruining all men for us.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Hye-jin 🤝 the audience at home

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

I think every character in this episode has a Gong Yoo fetish.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

[incoherent screaming]

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Gasp

From flirting to a nosebleed

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“Is he in a hurry to do something?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“Heavy as a sack of rice.”

The details in the writing! This is so exquisitely crafted.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

That subtle moment of his dread about sharing his past lurking just under the surface.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

The way I stopped breathing.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

THROW THAT PHONE INTO THE OCEAN!!!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Y’all. They are both WRECKED.

When they finally do make out horizontally it may need to come with an incendiary warning for our televisions.

I need a drink.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

I know he’s now twinning with his future love interest writer but damn these glasses are a good look for him.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Love can make us obsess over text messages like Hye-jin or leave us quite literally heartsick.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Mi-seon you sly fox. You absolutely understood and are going to let him sweat it out anyway.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Look. At. Them.

I love how well they are capturing that frenetic time when you first start dating someone that you REALLY like and just seeing them is the best feeling in the world.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

The #HometownChaChaCha fandom every Monday-Friday.

You guys.

The pieces of my heart are all over the floor.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

“I lived for 34 years without you, but each day seems to last forever since I’ve met you.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

I don’t know if actors can win awards just for looking absolutely, irrevocably & soul crushingly in love …. but if they can, he should win one.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“I’ve heard people call my name millions of times. But it sounds unfamiliar now. As if I’ve got a new name.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Well we know if Du-sik is excusing an intimate moment by saying people in other countries do it casually, then he is 100% full of shit.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

“We’re dating.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

“I want to love you openly.”

What’s that feeling when you’re just so happy because a character that you love is getting what they absolutely deserve?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“We are in a relationship.”

“We know.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

All of Gongjin over the last three days.

#HometownChaChaChaEp11 #HometownChaChaCha

This is like being a fly on the wall in a tv writer’s room.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

Sometimes I feel like Gam-ri can look into my soul.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

There was comedic mileage out of keeping it a secret, but Hye-Jin feared the gossip with good reason based on her experience — she wanted to protect something new & precious

Then it turns out that their family rose to the occasion & supported them from afar

#HometownChaChaCha

I am her also looking at them.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

“You can mark it on your calendar if you want.”

I love that the man is a sentimental romantic.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp11

The audience waited ten long episodes for them to get together. I suspect we have a painful reckoning with the past on the horizon.

But they let us just feel joy with them for a little while. It’s moments like this that make the journey worth it.

#HometownChaChaCha

I actually felt pangs of remembering what it’s like to fall in love watching this.

The director perfectly captures the heady days early on in a significant relationship when you’re happy just to look at the person’s face.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

The contrast between these shots is breathtaking.

With Hye-jin, Du-sik is in the forefront — tethered and bathed in a warm, glowing light.

In his nightmare, he is lost and surrounded by darkness.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Guilt personified: He asks himself perhaps the central question of his mysterious state of living.

“Do you think you deserve to be happy?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

My heart hurts for both of them at the contrast in tone.

She has no idea how bad this is. And neither do we.

#HometownChaChaEp12 #HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin has an excel spreadsheet entitled “100 Things I Want to Do with My Boyfriend.” 🤣

I know two other women who would 100% approve of her organization skills and would probably make a corresponding binder set.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Mi-seon, a fucking queen.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Ladies & gentlemen

SEX IS OFFICIALLY ON THE LIST

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Du-sik working with wood while bathed in a golden light?

I’m sorry but this is essentially porn as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it’s Paxton’s fault.

#HometownChaChaCha #NeverHaveIEver

“Go wash up?”

“There’s something we must do today.”

Goooooooooooooooooo run like the wiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!!

I swear I want this for you guys maybe as badly as you do.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

YOGA?!!!!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

The two villains of Episodes 11 & 12:

Hye-jin’s cell phone & couples yoga

#HometownChaChaCha

Look the nightmare reminds us that there is a lot of pain coming around the corner.

So I’m just going to enjoy them kissing each other dimples like the beautiful fools in love that they are for right now.

#HometownChaChaCha

Ahahahahahahahaha

I love how self aware this is 😂

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

The pitfalls of dating a dentist.

#HometownChaChaCha

This is absolutely how stupid arguments between couples unfold.

EXACTLY.

#HometownChaChaChaEp12 #HometownChaChaCha

“Come to think of it, you’re no longer like a hedgehog. I mean, you used to raise your sharp quills. But you don’t raise them anymore even when I pat you.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

I’m just admiring the view.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

She has a point lol

#HometownChaChaCha #CrashLandingOnYou

This argument about Seong-hyun is one of those irrational fights where in your head you’re like “wait are we actually fighting about this?”

I like how the writer captures all the ways big & small that falling in love can sometimes make you feel a little crazy

#HometownChaChaCha

Rotisserie chicken Greek chorus guy is a damn hero.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Eun-chul asking Mi-seon just to date.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

There are so many people who bicker & are petty in this episode out of love. People argue with one another or act on jealousy because they care about someone.

To paraphrase Ted Lasso, anger & hate are connected to love. Indifference is the absence of it.

#HometownChaChaCha

Du-sik is so ashamed of himself 🤣

He who always counsels others to be direct or calm with their emotions based on his extensive reading absolutely lost his shit over a drumstick.

#HometownChaChaCha

“You lucky jerk. I’d like to be jealous rather than pitied.”

#HometownChaChaCha

He is so perceptive.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I nitpicked when knowing what you meant, sulked and acted out after jealousy swept over me, and slammed the door on my way out. And it took so long to apologize.”

Now THAT is how you say you’re sorry.

#HometownChaChaCha

Look how far we’ve come 🥺

#HometownChaChaCha

“I didn’t know you were into art.”

“Actually I’m not.”

“Then why is it on your bucket list?”

“Because it’s fancy.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Did you have a girlfriend who studied art?”

The way I just leaned forward just like Hye-jin.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

“Don’t change the subject like that.”

She’s been paying attention to what you do when she asks a question you don’t want to answer, Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

“I doubt the relationship was deep.”

#HometownChaChaCha

Ahahahahahahahaahahahahah

You didn’t stand a chance, Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

ARE WE GETTING A FASHION SHOW?!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Hot men watch rom coms

#HometownChaChaCha

This is so deliciously meta I want to lick the spoon.

The show is like yes, you and we both know what we’re doing but we also know that you love it.

#HometownChaChaChaEp12 #HometownChaChaCha

“I’m Richard Gere today!”

This is so fun. But it’s also subverting the cliche in a fantastic way.

#HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin is so amazingly bossy in this scene I am all about it.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Okay. Real talk for a second.

He is so attractive and charismatic. It really is a big freaking problem.

#HometownChaChaCha

I AM SCREAMING

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

In #CrashLandingOnYou, Se-ri paid. It subverted the “rich guy pays for a shopping spree” but the political circumstances also made it unique.

Here, Hye-jin simply makes more money than Du-sik. And he accepts her gift with thanks.

It’s feminist as fuck

#HometownChaChaCha

“Then let me …”

I’m glad they’re not shying away from this. That’s always been a difference between them — now much money they make and what they’re willing to spend.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

I don’t know what’s happening with this other love triangle.

I hope this is about that we can care for people & be kind to them even if we are no longer in a relationship with them.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

“Hong Du-sik?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

“Do you know how I worried I was? You suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

We have no idea what this is about — there are only the hints at something tragic for which he feels guilty.

But because of Kim Seon-ho’s acting I feel like I just got punched in the stomach along with Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha

My chest hurts.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

This conversation between Young-guk & Cheon-jae is so interesting.

First, it contrasts with the beginning of love that we’ve been watching with Hye-jin & Du-sik. Two men sit alone bitter over divorce or bereft after losing a spouse. Either way, at an end.

#HometownChaChaCha

It raises an interesting chicken & egg question about marriage

Does the attitude we bring to it effect it’s outcome? Do we whittle away at one another or lift each other up? Does the fact that Cheon-jae lost his wife so soon explain in part his romanticism?

#HometownChaChaCha

When a fight about socks being on the floor isn’t really about the socks being on the floor at all.

The writer brings so much wisdom to her writing about relationships at different stages and crossroads.

#HometownChaChaCha

Point of view is so important. WE know about the nightmares and vague allusions to past events in therapy sessions, but Hye-jin has no idea.

So she zeroes in on what they’ve been at odds about before and questions herself. So human.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Mi-seon and Hye-jun torturing themselves over interpreting the meaning behind tone in text is so relatable

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Du-sik with his signature move: walk briskly and give no answers.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

Gasp.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp12

We thought he was pulling away because of the past. She thought he was upset with her materialism.

The writer:

#HometownChaChaCha

“You don’t have to worry about how I view your actions. You bought yourself a gift with the money you worked hard to earn, so why worry about what I think? I’m not fazed at all, so do whatever it is you want.”

#HometownChaChaCha

He couldn’t afford to buy her the necklace. But he knows she loves beautiful things. So he made her something beautiful by hand to keep the things that she can buy for herself in.

The symbolism, the secure masculinity. It’s so subtly feminist. And lovely.

#HometownChaChaCha

There are different. They knew this.

Rather than try to change each other or feel threatened, they accept how the other expresses love: a list on an excel spreadsheet, an expensive suit, a hand made box, a night on the beach

They are individuals, together.

#HometownChaChaCha

“In that case, I should be the one to say this first.”

She already knows. We already know. And yet

#HometownChaChaCha

It seems deeply significant that a man who was shaken by his past still sat down and made a hopeful list of the things he wishes to do for the person he loves.

Perhaps that’s an answer to the question if he thinks he deserves happiness.

#HometownChaChaCha

Two characters as different as can be and yet — where it counts — the same.

#HometownChaChaCha

Episodes 11 & 12 examined the spectrum of love

The way it’s painful or makes us lash out: bitter words, jealousy, physical sickness, stealing drumsticks, obsessing over the number of words in a text, leaving a successful professional partnership, mourning…

#HometownChaChaCha

To finding joy & acts of kindness: holding someone after a nightmare, taking care of someone sick, making a gift with their own hands, getting a chair for their back, secretly making soup, wanting to share new experiences with someone to create memories.

#HometownChaChaCha

I suspect we will soon delve into the past so I appreciated two episodes to just enjoy them being stupidly head over heels in love. In the beginning, it can be a special kind of madness.

Whatever comes next, I trust in the way they began.

#HometownChaChaCha

Last weekend we had dessert. I think it’s time for the main meal. And we are going to have to eat all of our vegetables.

Deep and meaningful relationships are hard. Opening yourself up is hard. We are at the point in the story where this won’t be easy.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13

The pitfalls of a cooking novice making birthday seaweed soup for the first time…

#HometownChaChaChaCh13 #HometownChaChaCha #HerPrivateLife

The idea that this found family assembles every year without even being asked to celebrate Du-sik’s birthday when he has lost his entire blood family makes my heart explode.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13 #HometownChaChaCha

“They look great together.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp13 #HometownChaChaCha

“Seeing then side by side makes this seem like an engagement ceremony.”

Gam-ri, you’re my favorite.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13 #HometownChaChaCha

The way they’re looking at each other hearing that from Gam-ri is so important. There’s no embarrassment or scoffing in front of their found family. It’s natural.

If it were just about how he feels about her & how she feels about him the answer is clear.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13

As we head into the inevitable conflict over the past & future it’s important to focus on what the story shows us about significant moments in the present.

Like how happy he is for her to cut his birthday cake in front of their family.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13 #HometownChaChaCha

He’s going to drink it anyway. Just like he ate her terrible porridge & made sure to include the market food brought for his grandfather.

But Seok-hyun shrugs off the idea of a date.

It’s an examination of the small ways that love is tended or neglected.

#HometownChaChaCha

This show really has some masterfully comedic editing cuts.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

This is my most favorite subtitle ever.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13 #HometownChaChaCha

The entire village clearing out so they can hook up

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

There’s a new jar of wine made for her in the place of the one they drank that fateful night. It will be a year before they can share it.

Du-sik may say he doesn’t think of the future but he talks & acts as if she will be a part of his life a year from now.

#HometownChaChaCha

“The alcohol will become sweeter with time.”

We’ve seen that’s not always the case with relationships. But the writer is telling us to be patient. There’s a process that takes time to create something new — to transform into something even better.

#HometownChaChaCha

He avoided a direct answer about the future. Like he always does about past.

You can see how much it hurts her that he deflects a question gently asking about where they are going as a couple.

#HometownChaChaCha

Nam-sook should probably have a talk with Du-sik too.

Changing the subject is currently an epidemic in Gongjin.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

This was just adorable.

Kim Seon-ho has this effortless charm that reminds me of Jimmy Stewart. You absolutely believe that everyone adores him.

#HometownChaChaCha

Now that’s the whole drumstick.

An apology chicken.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

There’s this thread through out the episode about the food we offer to others as an expression of care or love or not being able to eat as a clue to our emotions.

It’s so emotionally intelligent in a very every day way.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

Hong Du-sik, a man.

#HometownChaChaCha

Same energy.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

The rudeness of the friends from Seoul recalls Hye-jin’s first arrival.

While we want her to call out their snobbery, it’s also natural given her experiences in college that she still wants their approval. Her journey with respect to expectations is ongoing

#HometownChaChaCha

The episode is so good at showing how everyone else’s expectations start putting pressure on Hye-jin & Du-sik. It may be what Hye-jin organically wants but it feels lousy not to have an answer.

It’s so real it’s painful.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“He’s the guy from that photo. The guy who was chasing you….”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

The classism underlying this scene with Hye-jin, her high school friends, and Du-sik is excruciating.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

Hye-jin is both realizing her own shift in perspective but also clearly still cares about what her old “friends” think.

There’s something so unfortunately real about measuring your life against what people from school think.

#HometownChaChaChaEp13

There’s something that’s probably fair here in terms of making an effort to meet people where they are in terms of social mores. He advised Hye-jin often when she first came to Gongjin.

Even if her friends kinda suck.

#HometownChaChaCha

I admit that I hate golf for many probably very specific American class-related reasons but they look adorable in golf gear.

I can’t believe this show made me go 😍 at the screen over golf gear.

#HometownChaChaCha

Oh my god Hong Du-sik just made golf hot what the actual fuck how

#HometownChaChaCha

WHAT A FUCKING FLEX FOLLOWED BY BEING ADORABLE AGHHHHHHH

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

Same girl. Same.

#HometownChaChaCha

The first time we met Hye-jin she refused to let runners pass her.

I fucking love how unabashedly competitive she is and how he just smirks like “yep, that’s my girl.”

#HometownChaChaCha

This scene is so interesting because he just watches her brags about him to her friends.

Why does she feel the need to justify how he lives his life in her friends’ eyes?

Because it doesn’t fit with society’s expectations. And he’s never explained why.

#HometownChaChaCha

I’m going to call bullshit on our beloved Du-sik here.

Is there merit to leaving a career path that doesn’t make you happy even if it’s not what society expects? Of course.

But he also disappeared for five years & hid away from everyone he knew in Seoul.

#HometownChaChaCha

“You only live once and I already have everything that I need. A comfortable bed I’ll be sleeping in tonight, a sturdy surfboard, and the love of my life.”

Ok, PAUSE:

#HometownChaChaCha

Ok first off let’s take the fun part first:

LOVE OF MY LIFE

He just said that out loud like it was a matter of fact. There is ZERO question in this story that is true. And it’s just beautiful to see a man hold nothing back with respect to this feelings.

#HometownChaChaCha

So … let’s just fucking flail over that for a moment because if I was Hye-jin I would’ve absolutely lost my shit

#HometownChaChaCha

BUT here’s the other part:

Everything about the above philosophy is rooted only in the present— a bed to sleep in, the surfboard, the woman by his side.

And that’s the brewing problem between them. She’s a 34 yr old woman who wants to plan for the future.

#HometownChaChaCha

“You need to be realistic.”

When those doubts in the back of your head get louder when people poke at them.

I actually think Hye-jin would be willing to meet Du-sik more than half way long term if she could just understand why.

#HometownChaChaCha

“When did you first decide to live this lifestyle?”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Something must have triggered you.”

Uh oh I think the hedgehog just put his spikes up.

#HometownChaChaCha

Okay can we stop for a moment.

They’re in a relationship. They’ve said they love each other.

But he will not explain where the hell he was for five years or why?

WE understand that it’s rooted in deep trauma but imagine if you’re Hye-jin!

#HometownChaChaCha

“So I came up with a few hypotheses…”

The audience at home:

#HometownChaChaCha

Because we’ve all been speculating wildly on Twitter about the TINIEST shreds of information since August, Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Why on earth won’t you tell me?”

Look at his face. Ouch.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I told you. I don’t want any secrets between us.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“I just had a desk job.”

#HometownChaChaCha

They’re still circling around the same fundamental question. Her quiet disappointment and his rising discomfort is so hard to watch.

When they talk about the future like back at the boat in Ep 9 he shuts it down and doesn’t explain why.

#HometownChaChaCha

New entry for urban dictionary:

“Pulling a Hong Du-sik”

v. to obfuscate and then wildly change the subject for the purpose of avoiding answering a personal question directly.

#HometownChaChaCha

I really appreciate how this episode has firmly reminded us of Hye-jin’s point of view.

How frustrating, confusing & hurtful it must be to constantly be shut out by someone who says they love you & not have the first clue as to why. She’s been so patient.

#HometownChaChaCha

“There’s no manual for dating.”

Mi-seon, tell you friends! Tell everyone!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“I bet you can skip more bases.”

I’m with Mi-seon. And that applies to everyone. Except Hwa-jung & Young-guk.

#HometownChaChaCha

A lesson in miscommunication. He was playing defense because of trauma. She focused on the word “you” rather than “we.”

She didn’t even care if he didn’t mean it but she just wanted an olive branch offering the possibility for the future framed as together.

#HometownChaChaCha

How it started —-> how it’s going —-> where it’s headed because of how it started

#HometownChaChaCha
#HometownChaChaChaEp13

The symbolism of a dark suit hanging in a closet that we can’t throw away for our past trauma & grief is just heartbreakingly beautiful.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

Y’all.

They did not just do our sacred Sikhye swoon and catch with Hwa-jung & Young-guk.

That has to be a red herring.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

Du-sik yelling at Geum-chul for being an inconsiderate husband is pretty damn sexy.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“Would you like me to tie your shoelaces? It must be difficult to bend down.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaCha13

I deeply appreciate that they showcased a woman being a badass professional under pressure contemplating whether she wants children & a mother working under stress both supporting each other emotionally no matter their life choices.

THAT, to me, is feminism

#HometownChaChaCha

So this is bananas but my friend once delivered in her car in downtown DC because the baby came so fast and that was NOT in a typhoon so nothing seems far fetched to me anymore.

I’m sure she would’ve taken a dentist as back up.

#HometownChaChaCha

Me realizing for the first time in the middle of episode 13 that Geum-chul & Eun-chul are brothers.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

There can be this moment sometimes when you hold a newborn that is so emotional thinking about all that could be ahead in that baby’s life that really throws the beauty and frailty of life into sharp relief.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

The quiet tragedy of the coming discord is that none of it has to do with how they feel about one another.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“Well done. I’m proud of you. Really.”

“I’m also proud of myself.”

You know, just a boyfriend being in awe of his amazingly brave and resourceful girlfriend and her being proud of herself. No big deal.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

LOOK WHO GOT A BIGGER BED HOLY SHIT

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

USE THE BED TOGETHER SIKHYE!!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

The two of them looking at each other so lovingly & thinking about the happiness that they brought to their parents — three of whom are gone — just destroys me.

I love a story that explores conflict but never questions that the love is there.

#HometownChaChaCha

“My parents gave their all to have me in this world, so I must do my best to find happiness.”

Hye-jin frames seeking happiness as not just a selfish endeavor but also honoring your parents.

But look at his face. He’s thinking “Do I deserve happiness?”

#HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin goes out on a HUGE limb here asking if he wants kids. It’s a big jump for anyone to ask in a relationship but especially someone as closed off about the future as him.

The subtext is clear. She’s dreaming of a future with him. She looks so hopeful 🥺

#HometownChaChaCha

“I’m not sure. I’ve never really thought of that before.”

Oooooooooooof. Okay let’s take a moment again

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

For Du-sik, he’s an orphan who lost his grandfather at 16 & then experienced another loss. He’s lost everyone he’s ever deeply cared about.

So planning for the future went out the window long ago. To love welcomes grief, to plan invites disappointment.

#HometownChaChaCha

But Hye-jin has fallen in love with a man who told her that she’s the love of his life. And so she has begun to dream of a future with Du-sik.

And what she hears with no other context —as she lies there vulnerable & exposed — is that he has not.

#HometownChaChaCha

The entire audience:

Look! That’s him! Whoever that is?!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“Why are you going through my books?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“They’re just some people I know.”

Just like you had a “desk job” right, Du-sik?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“Will you continue giving vague answers?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“I’ve show you everything. My dad, my stepmom, even my stupidly drunken self. I don’t mind showing my true self to you. Do you not feel the same way?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

He’s so paralyzed by his trauma and fear of what she will think of him if she knows what happened.

And so despite again going out on a limb to draw him out, Hye-jin is met by a crushing silence.

This is such well done conflict I’m upset but I’m not mad.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I was so jealous …[of] having someone who vowed to be by her side through thick and thin. You kept your promise about my bucket list wishes…But why won’t you do the most important one? Why won’t you open up to me about yourself?”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Why is it so difficult for you?”

God his face - the way he’s both frozen and barely holding it together.

Fuck me

#HometownChaChaCha

“You see, I really like you. So I want to know what kind of life you’ve lived and what’s on your mind.”

She is just laying it ALL out on the table. She’s saying I’m here, talk to me.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“I’ve been dreaming of the day you and I become family.”

#HometownChaChaCha

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

#HometownChaChaCha

“I’m sorry.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

“Why are you drifting away … I don’t understand you.”

Remember when he told her to cross the line? When he pushed her to go out of her comfort zone with others & him over & over?

Now she is & she’s asking him to meet her half way. And she’s met by a wall.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Me neither. I don’t know either.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp13

He made wine for his girlfriend a year from now. He affectionately welcomes children into his home & remembers what they like to eat.

It honestly makes me heart ache how much trauma and its effects are getting in the way of what he wants.

It’s so real.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I think I’m still afraid of saying goodbye.”

And if you were Du-sik, wouldn’t you be too?

#HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin lost her mother but still had her father. When she took risks & worked hard, she achieved her goals.

Du-sik lost his parents, grandfather & then despite his best efforts another trauma shattered his life.

Their experience with risk is so different.

#HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin wants him to take the same risk she did & open up. She wants to protect happiness by planning for a future.

But for Du-sik, death is always around the corner. Loss always lurks. So he’s paralyzed in the present because nothing lasts.

Dear writers,

#HometownChaChaCha

Hang in there #HometownChaChaCha fans!

In the words of one of my favorite television characters, “No one ever writes songs about the ones that come easy.”

#HometownChaChaCha13

The story has carefully led us to this moment of conflict all. Where we are in Hye-jin & Du-sik’s journey reminds me of refrain from a story I read to my children:

“We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We have to go through it.”

#HometownChaChaChaEp14 #HometownChaChaCha

My heart just breaks for both of them.

#HometownChaChaChaEp14 #HometownChaChaCha

“The tears just keep coming out.”

“Have you had breakfast?”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Hye-jin nor we have any idea of just how bad it was.

And this is something that she absolutely needs to hear from someone else right now to give her vital context for his silence.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“No, you’re wrong about that. I’ve never seen Du-sik happier than he is these days.”

Man did she need to hear that right now.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“What may be easy for one person can be difficult for another.”

This is so wise. One of the hardest things is to understand how other people process their emotions. Hye-jin talks about her feelings far more easily than him.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“For a long time, he hasn’t had anyone that he could share his pain with. I believe that you can be his rock, someone he opens up to.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Going through both marriage & divorce has enlightened me. I regret being so impatient.”

This is some hard won wisdom that Hwa-jung is sharing with Hye-jin. Just a really honest & raw conversation about what we can learn from regret.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Dammit why are fictional angst ridden men so attractive?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Holy fuck

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Ha-rang!”

“Uncle Seong-hyeon!”

The writers:

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“I’ve been meaning to come by sometime. I heard a lot about it… [from] someone I know. This is his hometown.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

God he’s so desperate to answer the phone.

“I’m sorry I didn’t stop you when you left.”

“Where are you?”

“I’ll be right there.”

This impasse is NEVER about how he feels about her. He communicates that even when incapable of saying more.

#HometownChaChaCha

“We need to have some time apart. Not in a way people don’t as a formality before breaking up. I don’t want to break up with you. It just seems to me you need some time... Time you’ll need to finally be honest with me.”

#HometownChaChaCha

I know Mi-Seon said that there is no manual to dating, but the mature & brave way that Hye-jin is communicating exactly what she needs & deserves from him in a compassionate & patient way is just truly amazing

Du-sik is very lucky to have found such a partner

#HometownChaChaCha

She’s laid it all out there and is giving him the space he needs. Time to dig deep, Du-sik.

It’s an impossible conundrum. He’s terrified that he will lose her if he shares everything with her. But he will lose her anyway if he doesn’t.

#HometownChaChaCha

Eun-chul thank you for being so adorable because my heart hurts and I needed a dose of cuteness.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

My heart is in pieces all over the floor.

#HometownChaChaCha

“[Wisdom] teeth… emerge when you get wiser about love…It stayed hidden for long without showing any symptoms… I recommend that you bravely dig it out.”

Then the editing shifts for the second time in #HometownChaChaCha to Cho-hee & Du-sik.

This time almost looking at us.

The symbolism of Hye-jin putting her name on a bottle that won’t be ready for a year is so powerful.

She’s putting herself out there: I’ll be here then if you let me be. Even if it takes time.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Du-sik, you are killing me.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

A visual summary of the status quo:

Hye-jun is waiting with a window open, looking out for him. Du-sik is hiding from view unable to show himself.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Cho-hee: “You don’t realize your own feelings until they’re seen from a distance.”

I —- wow this is not where I thought this was going.

#HometownChaChaCha

Remember when he dragged her out of bed for trash day and she was so annoyed at him and we laughed at the way they bickered?

Yeah.

#HometownChaChaCha has made me nostalgic about picking up trash.

#HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Chief Hong, you still have nothing to say to me?”

She is so brave you guys. Truly. I adore her. There are women on tv who wield swords and that’s fun. But this is quiet, every day emotional honesty & vulnerability while also expecting what you deserve.

#HometownChaChaCha

This episode is all about having difficult discussions — who people have feelings for, finances, wanting a future with someone, divorce & trauma.

The relatively easy shift to talking about marriage & children here is heartbreaking in contrast to Sikhye.

#HometownChaChaChaEp14

“I may not seem to like it but I am your friend.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Um —— so yeah.

There are two episodes left. They showed us in canon that Cho-hee has feelings for Hwa-jung. I’m going to wait to see what the last two episodes bring …

#HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Make up with her already. If you keep being like that, my giving up on her won’t be worthwhile.”

Seong-hyun giving Hwa-jung a run for her money for #HometownChaChaChaEp14:

“I feel like I’m not worthy of her. She’s transparent, honest and brave — unlike me.”

I love this friendship. And I love that this is allowing the audience into Du-sik’s head.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“You can be just as transparent, honest, and brave. I don’t know what you’re holding but just lay all your cards on the table. Relationships aren’t a poker game where you bluff and make bets.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Show her what kind of a person you are.”

“But what if she’s disappointed in me?”

This is such an important piece of information. It’s not just that it’s a trauma. It’s that he fears that he will disappointed & lose her.

#HometownChaChaCha

This is my favorite “love triangle” that’s ever been on tv. And I suspect he still has a greater role yet to play.

What a decent human being & a good friend to them both.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

Hye-jin reconsidering all the ways that Du-sik has opened up to her already in light of what Hwa-jung told her & hearing from her parents 🥺

Because relationships are not for bluffing or betting.

Or needing to “win” an impasse.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

So his found big brother prepared a memorial for Du-sik’s grandfather & spoke to him directly. Just as Hye-jin did. Both times, his new found family spoke to the family that’s gone.

There were so many layers to the significance of him asking her to stay.

#HometownChaChaCha

“How dare you come here? How dare you show your face! It should’ve been you. You should’ve been the one to die!”

It’s not just a voice in his head. This is beyond words.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

And she’s there.

Like she was to say thank you.

Like she was to care for him when he was sick.

And now, to reach out even though he hasn’t.

She’s there.

#HometownChaChaCha

“If you can promise that you’ll someday open up to me, I could wait. … All I want is for you to acknowledge the possibility. Am I part of the future you paint? And do you think you could see a future with me?”

She is offering so much compassion & grace.

#HometownChaChaCha

“It’s what I want too but—”

“Leave it that. Nothing else matters if that’s what you ultimately want as well…Take your time while we’re together.”

His rock, indeed.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“How you help others is admirable but you must live your own life too.”

“Am I allowed to do that?”

“Yes of course. You deserve it.”

Everyone in their found family supporting them individually & together is really beautiful.

#HometownChaChaCha

Ok I panicked at the Seoul thing too. But I trust this writer.

It’s a good thing that our female lead gets to make her own choices too & perhaps find a compromise to achieve professional goals if she wants to.

You can remind me if this take ages poorly lol

#HometownChaChaCha

Remember when Hye-jin absolutely hated being at a party where food was being cooked outdoors and embarrassed herself horrible on a hot mic?

Now she’s smiling happily in the crowd with everyone else.

#HometownChaChaCha

Watch him watching her during these lyrics:

“Trust our laughter. Let’s stop being sorry. It’s all in the past. … I believed it would be momentary when I tossed and turned unable to sleep, you reached out & held my hand. Someone new entered my life…”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Can we talk?”

My heart is in my throat.

#HometownChaChaCha

How many times has she followed him on a path?

But this time, he is seizing the path she laid out.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“It will probably be a very long story.”

This is a moment they both earned. She was transparent, honest, and brave. And now he has found the strength to be too.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“We can talk all night … and I also have something to tell you.”

“Okay. We’ll talk later then. We’ll talk about everything.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“He used to address her as ‘Ms. Dentist’ with a frown on his face, but now he calls her Hye-jin.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Chief Hong, is your name Hong Du-sik? Did you perhaps work at YK Asset Management?”

#HometownChaChaChaEp14 #HometownChaChaCha

His excellent memory. The details about the medicinal aids for a father paralyzed. The crumbs along the
way …

#HometownChaChaCha

Even in a flashback of doom dressed for a desk job in finance he looks out for others when everyone else just walks by ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

“Hong Du-sik you bastard!”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp14

This is a fucking nightmare. Just as he was about to tell Hye-jin on his own terms he is literally hit in the face with the past in front of the entire village.

#HometownChaChaCha

BUT:

1) He made the choice to tell the truth before

2) It shows us the stakes for his concern in hiding it. If someone who admired him immediately turned on a dime what will everyone else think?

3) It gives his entire found family a chance to support him

#HometownChaChaCha

He crossed out: “Make YOU happy” then wrote instead: “BE happy WITH you for a very long time.”

It answers the question he asked himself in the dream & asked of Gam-ri.

It’s a seismic shift for Du-sik. And I hope it’s the end to the story.

#HometownChaChaCha

As we near the end, a quote from the play Hadestown comes to mind: “To the world we dream about & the one we live in now.”

#HometownChaChaCha shows us how the world often is: words cut, mental health isn’t linear, intimacy is hard labor & we cruelly blame others for misfortune.

But this episode also shows us all the ways that the world CAN be:
reaching out, taking responsibility, offering care, real intimacy, speaking hard truths, and self forgiveness.

And all of those acts, however small, are transformational.

#HometownChaChaChaEp15

I’ll admit I had to watch Ep 15 twice. At first I was anxious & frustrated that life seemed to go on even as one character was alone & in crisis. But that’s how life often is, isn’t it?

The more I think about it the more I appreciate the intricacy of #HometownChaChaChaEp15

“Running away again?”

This hurts. Because this is exactly what Du-sik did. He ran back to Gongjin & never talked about it with anyone other than his therapist. We understand why — but this confrontation is the inescapable catalyst to fully face the past.

#HometownChaChaCha

If only the speaker knew just how deep this question goes.

He survived. He is just beginning to live.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaCha15

The way he staggered for a moment just broke me.

The physical devastation that Kim Seon-Ho conveys in this episode is really just next level acting.

#HometownChaChaCha

On rewatch it’s so important to note that Hye-jin just heard the most reductive and horrible version of what happened. And what does she do?

She follows him. She is worried about him. Her focus is on him.

#HometownChaChaCha

And then Du-sik, reeling from what just happened, lets his darkest thoughts out — almost as if to repel her; to chase her away.

He doesn’t explain. He harshly frames the past to the point that she takes a step back.

And then he walks away.

#HometownChaChaCha

I will admit that I yelled at my screen for the next 20 or so minutes….

BUT….

#HometownChaChaCha

I think the point is that Hye-jin was never going to leave Gongjin or Du-sik because of this. Rather, she knows him & that he needs space. He retreated from his promise to talk to her because of what happened.

So she did what she promised him. She waited.

#HometownChaChaCha

This scene is devastating. I felt the gutting depths of his emotional turmoil.

But it shows how hard he’s worked in therapy. He is in pain because recovering from trauma is a long & winding path. But even when faced with the past, he is not where he was.

#HometownChaChaCha

And I know that we are all understandably worried about Du-sik, but frankly our girl deserves her own space to process because this all a fucking LOT.

#HometownChaChaCha

The village absolutely is falling apart with Chief Hong.

#HometownChaChaCha

Same guys, same.

#HometownChaChaCha

She is still bringing him food, just as she did when he was alone as a boy.

This hurts to know that these are her last acts of love for Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp15

One of the threads that runs through out #HometownChaChaCha is that we often don’t know what the people around us are going through.

How many years have they worked together and Seong-hyun never knew what his colleague was going through?

“And that bastard convinced him to invest in a fund he managed. Stock prices plummeted worldwide & so did his fund.”

Isn’t the son’s version of the story so telling in where it places all the blame?
That was his family’s narrative of what happened.

#HometownChaChaCha

And it makes sense. They didn’t know Du-sik, it fits with their expectations of the financial world, and that’s easier than the far more complex layers of the choices made by the man lying in a hospital bed.

#HometownChaChaCha

“My dad wasn’t the only one that bastard had ruined. I heard Du-sik’s boss also died then. In a car accident.”

This scene from Episode 3 sure hits differently now. Watch his face.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp15

Please explain it to me too, Hwa-jung.

#HometownChaChaCha

This is not the marriage that I ordered.

#HometownChaChaCha

Because of Hye-jin, Gam-ri’s final days were pain free & filled with enjoying her favorite food.

And they are the two people in Du-sik’s life who reached out to him on that bridge & in the present.

Together they are a bridge between the past & the future.

#HometownChaChaCha

So I had imagined the big scene between Du-sik & Hye-jin all week as what television usually does (at least American tv). I expected dramatics — him not to let her in, or she waits outside stubbornly or [insert whatever over the top scenario here]

Instead…

#HometownChaChaCha

The Doorkeeper of the poem is absolutely obliterated.

She just walks right in.

Hye-jin progressed from nervously standing at the door, to knocking, to asking to come in, to just walking in.

And the man who has always kept the walls up just lets her.

#HometownChaChaCha

Instead what Hye-jin does is simple & yet extraordinary. She has a million questions & a huge decision looming. She mentions none of it.

She’s there to make sure if he’s ok. She took care of him when he was physically sick. She’s there to do the same now.

#HometownChaChaCha

By doing so, Hye-jin signals to Du-sik that whatever he has to say, she’s going to be there no matter what.

She keeps her promise to wait. He keeps his promise to let her in.

Despite all the upheaval, what is between them is on solid ground.

#HometownChaChaCha

“… this must be how it feels to have an older brother.”

This line delivery BROKE ME.

#HometownChaChaCha

We wondered how he ended up in finance when his major was engineering.

This line from episode 13 hits differently now.

#HometownChaChaCha

I love how they edit their interactions one way according to one person’s narrative and then give greater context in line with a different point of view. It’s the same scene but edited differently.

Which is what we all do in our heads.

#HometownChaChaCha

The stock crash is just like the truck on the road — it’s a cataclysmic event beyond one person’s control & yet the result of a series of decisions beyond you.

Is it any wonder that Du-sik now values money earned by one’s hands rather than speculation?

#HometownChaChaCha

If you’ve ever been close to suicide or attempted suicide, then the what if’s and guilt of these scenes is so much to take in.

Because this is what those left behind do: second guess every choice we made trying to find a different ending.

#HometownChaChaCha

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay….”

“It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not. And even if that’s the case, I’ll carry the blame with you.”

The people who love Du-sik & aren’t speaking out of grief always tell him it’s not his fault.

#HometownChaChaCha

“You’re bound to meet unexpected situations in life. Even if you use an umbrella, you’ll end up getting drenched.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“You can cry if you want. It must’ve been so hard for you …You can be sad when you’re with me. You can show me your pain. You can cry.”

Showing relationships that embrace men crying when they are in pain is so important I can’t even begin to articulate it.

#HometownChaChaCha

This story has been playing with the idea of fate all along.

What is a coincidence transformed by an individual’s action into something significant?

Or conversely, what’s a horrible event that we have to find someone to blame in order to make sense of it?

#HometownChaChaCha

Oh Cho-hee. I wanted so much for you.

#HometownChaChaCha

The quiet emotional violence of this scene will haunt me.

She spews hateful words to him because —like his brother’s wife —her world has stopped and she needs someone to blame.

This is what human beings are capable of when we are in pain.

#HometownChaChaCha

Oh the things we think we know.

#HometownChaChaCha

There is a lot of hard earned grace in this conversation.

Each man tries to turn the blame onto themselves and the other says —- don’t do that.

It’s the opposite of all the conversations in the past in the wake of grief.

#HometownChaChaCha

When we began, the suit hung in a closet. He tried to throw it away and couldn’t talk about it.

Now he’s wearing it to pay his respects to his brother and telling its story.

#HometownChaChaCha

Permit me to be shallow for a moment.

Damn sir.

#HometownChaChaCha

Seong-hyun made this happen. Perhaps he will be the brother for which Du-sik yearns. Because they are already family.

#HometownChaChaCha

There is more to unpack about their later conversation but this was so significant.

She is telling her son, he is family.

#HometownChaChaCha

This is such a carefully crafted story. The cry of this little boy haunted his dreams.

Looking back, this moment from episode 13 was a far more significant sign that Du-sik was on a steady path to healing than we realized.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I won’t apologize for what I did back then. I’d lost the will to live.”

Taking the translation as it is, I think two things are important— she both acknowledges that she “did”something & explains that what she “did” was out of grief (and therefore not valid)

#HometownChaChaCha

Do I wish she had said sorry? Sure. But while tv usually works that way, life often doesn’t. We have to grapple with imperfect conversations.

But what happens next is far more significant. Because what Du-sik needs is to forgive himself.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Remember what I said back then? It’s not your fault.”

The emotional climax is not forgiveness from his brother’s widow, but rather Du-sik forgiving himself.

It’s the answer to the question in his head: Do I deserve to be happy?

The answer is yes.

#HometownChaChaCha

“It’s good to see you smile. Keep smiling. Don’t think twice about whether or not you should smile or be happy.”

It’s like she’s answering the voice in his head.

#HometownChaChaCha

Think about their push & pull of emotional intimacy. He could’ve let the moment just go on & said nothing. He didn’t have to reveal the lowest moment of his life.

But he once said that he admired her bravery and honesty.

This was so brave & honest.

#HometownChaChaCha

I know I keep pointing this out but —truly — this story is so carefully crafted.

Episode 3 vs. Episode 15

#HometownChaChaCha

“Wouldn’t this river eventually take me to the sea?”

Just painfully exquisite writing.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Du-sik, I’m in Seoul right now. Can I see you? I brought your favorite side dishes. I’ve practically forgotten what you look like. I miss you.”

When you think about what she meant to him. And what he meant to her when her own family never had time time.

#HometownChaChaCha

“But people kept knocking on my door. They didn’t ask any questions. They just brought food and checked on me…then one day, they started asking me for help…I bet it was intentional.”

I think back to how we first met him surrounded by community 🥺

#HometownChaChaCha

“So that’s how you became Chief Hong. You’re right. Gongjin saved you.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Don’t tell me now if you’re not ready. This time, I’ll wait for you.”

I don’t think you’re doing to have to but I’ll sit here emotional over your reciprocation all the same.

#HometownChaChaCha

“But you see, I like that I’m old. Looking back, I’ve had many tasty dishes, seen great scenery, and met wonderful people. What more could I ask for?”

“Look around yourself closely and you’ll realize that you’re surrounded by many precious things.”

#HometownChaChaCha

Four times that choice turned “coincidence” into “fate.”

#HometownChaChaCha

She was there at his lowest point & did what many would not do. She called an ambulance & waited to make sure a stranger was okay.

On the day they met, Du-sik took note of her compassion. It had helped him before he even knew her.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Those what-ifs are pointless. There are too many variables in this world & they’re beyond our control. So it’s not your fault.”

All we can do is reach out in small ways and hope that sometimes it will make all the difference in the world.

#HometownChaChaCha

WHEW THAT WAS A LOT.

I’ll still be unpacking the layers of meaning for a long time.

I don’t know about you but I’m ready for a lot of horizontal kissing & a wedding.

🎶Laaaaaaaa la la la la la la la la romaaaaaantic Sundaaaaaaaay 🎶

I don’t want to say goodbye to Gongjin.

But it’s time. 🥺😭

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Do you guys ever watch the credits before a finale with that feeling of “I’ll never watch these again not knowing what will happen next” or are you normal?

I’m so nostalgic about these scenes.

#HometownChaChaCha

They are that rare acting pairing that is capable of conveying all the different stages of a relationship.

Like when that person is the anchor for the other in a room full of other people. The wordless I know, I’m here.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

“What are all these photos?”

“A while back, Ms. Gam-ri saw a table of photos at our neighbor’s son’s wedding and said to me that she’d like something similar at her own funeral.”

He was taking the photographs all along.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

The details of #HometownChaChaCha that show rather than tell us about a character’s journey are just exquisite.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16

One of the things I love most about this finale is how it shows that community is just as important in times of grief as times of joy. The ritual of gathering together to share stories, food, laughter & tears.

Because “people should live among other people.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“It seems to me you’re pretending to be okay.”

How well she knows him. How gently she nudges him to open up and how honestly he does now.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

“I don’t know what to do with this guilt.”

“Don’t be like that …you were her joy.”

This is such a character moment for Du-sik to offer hard won wisdom to someone else feeling what he knows all too well.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

The cinematography for the funeral procession was so beautiful. I couldn’t help but think how we started this journey with two strangers walking and ended it with an entire community walking along the same path in a different direction.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“This time I memorized the whole recipe. It’ll be good, so just wait a bit.”

She is so caring I just —- I just really adore Yoon Hye-jin so much.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

They should give awards to actors for looking so fondly at someone your heart feels like it’s going to burst.

Kim Seon-ho can shatter all of us a thousand different ways.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“They say when you lose a loved one, you should mourn plenty. If not, the grief travels all through your body, and it bursts later.”

Every other scene has so much wisdom I am just in awe of writer Shin Ha-eun.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Fuck where are the tissues. Fuck

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“Ever since you were a child, you’ve been living with a broken heart…”

Y’all. I’m going to run out of sobbing gifs

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“Du-sik, do you remember what you said to me? You said the best thing a parent can do for their child is stay healthy.”

Hye-jin shared her wisdom born of grief with Du-sik. He passed it along to Gam-ri. Now she offers it back. It’s a beautiful circle.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Du-sik, you are my son and also my grandson.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“Du-sik, people should live among other people. Life may seem like a burden to you at times, but if you choose to be among others…someone will carry you on their back.”

It’s the thesis statement of #HometownChaChaCha. And so deeply meaningful during a pandemic.

“But she called me her son. And also her grandson.”

Can you even fathom what that means to him?

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

I feel like my chest is breaking open watching him finally let himself truly weep with someone there to hold him.

#HometownChaChaCha

“That day, we said our belated farewell to Ms. Gam-ri. Despite so many losses he’s experienced in his life, he’s always kept his sorrow bottled up. Not even once has he been able to fully mourn or grieve. For the first time, he cried his eyes out.”

#HometownChaChaCha

I love how #HometownChaChaCha makes a point of showing that grief can look differently depending on the person and that is inherently valid.

The family that we are born to and the family that we choose and chooses us, side by side.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

SEONG-HYUN IS TAKING THINGS OUT OF HIS BAG FOR HER

Who else knows what that means?!!

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Can I just express the mad respect I have for writer Shin Ha-eun writing in a happy ending for the female writer of a tv show?

#HometownChaChaCha

THE WAY THEY PLAYED US 😂😂😂

They are actually laughing with us and it’s just such a damn delight and playful poke in the ribs to the way tv so often works with fake obstacles lolllllllllllll

Writer Shin Ha-eun: BUT NOT THIS SHOW BITCHES

#HometownChaChaCha

The journey he goes on before mustering a selfless “It’s a good opportunity.”

That is love.

#HometownChaChaCha

“You always wanted to move back there.”

“I DID.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“You’re quite dense, aren’t you?”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Do you think of me as the submissive type?”

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

“There are a lot of things I need to do here. Cleaning the neighborhood, visiting Seunseun … talking about DOS with Ju-ri. More importantly though, I’m the one & only dentist Gongjin has. And last but not least, because you’re here.”

Now that’s an arc.

#HometownChaChaCha

Now THAT is a fucking character arc.

#HometownChaChaCha

Mi-seon & Eun-chul are reviewing their bank account & future site for their house and I’m just grinning from ear to ear.

Writer Shin Ha-eun said you know what, everyone gets a happy ending. Because in both fiction & the real world everyone’s earned it.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I praise my own eyes for discovering you.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“I’m getting sick of this you know, I mean it.”

Y’all, writer Shin Ha-eun is winking at you.

#HometownChaChaCha

I’m going to frame this and hang it on a wall.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

Hey writer Shin Ha-eun, I am ready for the sequel set twenty years from now that calls back to this scene.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

They are so adorable together and clearly giggling their way through being apparently REALLY excited about one of the least tasty pizza delivery options in the world that this is now —by far— my most favorite product placement scene ever 😂

#HometownChaChaCha

He had it coming.

#HometownChaChaCha

“It’s like staying indoors because you’re afraid it might rain and starving, afraid of stomach aches. Stop hesitating or you’ll lose out on the chance once again.”

He came for advice from his friend.

They have forever raised the bar on tv.

#HometownChaChaCha

I like to think of this as meta about writer Shin Ha-eun. She should be celebrating.

And I thank her for this gift of a story.

#HometownChaChaCha

“We have four seats around the dining room table. We have room for him.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“I miss her like crazy.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Du-sik as soon as he got the text that Hye-jin was back in town.

I know she’s the runner but she sure has made him sprint a lot in this show 😂.

Get it, my dude.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

Y’all.

I really believe that their adorableness could solve climate change.

#HometownChaChaCha

As a member of Gen X, I would just like to point out that there are FOUR plaid patterns in this frame.

Either Du-sik also enjoys Seattle grunge in addition to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or they’ve been binging Outlander.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“I shouldn’t have expected any less from Yoon Hye-jin.”

She quit her job on principle, opened her own practice in a new place, stood up for women over 16 episodes & was so emotionally brave with Du-sik every step of the way

Damn right she’s going to propose

#HometownChaChaCha

“I want to be his family.”

#HometownChaChaCha

“Meet me at the beach.”

#HometownChaChaCha

THEY ARE ON THE BEACH WHERE THEY WERE THREE TIMES BEFORE SHE MOVED THERE AND HER SHOES ARE THERE AND AGHHHHHHHHHHH

#HometownChaChaCha

“Well I was reminded of the day we first met.”

“We were both such a mess.”

“Absolutely. It was the worst.”

WE WERE THERE. YOU GUYS WERE A BEAUTIFUL MESS & WE SANG LA LA LA TOGETHER

#HometownChaChaCha

I would just like to take a moment a bid a special farewell to Du-sik’s wet suit in this flashback.

You really made our lives better, oh noble wetsuit.

Thank you for your service.

#HometownChaChaCha

SHE GAVE HIM SHOES

I swear I have never been so emotional about shoes in my entire damn life.

#HometownChaChaCha

This show has played with many tropes and turned them upside down in a feminist way.

Here, the Cinderella story is turned on its head because this time it’s Hye-jin bringing a pair of shoes to ask Du-sik to marry her.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I’d love it if our shoes were always side by side at the door together.”

What beautiful and simple imagery for sharing your lives together.

#HometownChaChaCha made me nostalgic about trash. Now I’m crying over shoes.

“So that neither would be lonely.”

They were both so lonely when they first met. She had no community. He was surrounded by one but kept everyone at a distance.

Imagine what this must feel like now.

#HometownChaChaCha

This is one of the greatest proposals in the history of television.

It went from movingly emotional and beautiful with a gauzy lens to record scratch actually laugh out loud funny.

And that perfect blend of humor and earnest emotion is why #HometownChaChaCha is magic.

He is SUCH a disaster I actually had to pause it from laughing so hard 😂

#HometownChaChaCha

“I was going to propose to you today too. I wanted to ask you first.”

“Well it doesn’t really matter who does it first.”

They bickered when they first met. Now they are bickering over who proposes.

It’s just perfect. 😂

#HometownChaChaCha

If this was ad lib it was GOLD.

“Fighting!”

#HometownChaChaCha

“You said our first encounter was on the worst terms. Not for me though…”

Y’all. The piano notes of my emotional break down just started

#HometownChaChaCha

“I saw a woman on the beach that day. She sat there for a long time, but all I could see was sadness in her eyes. And I couldn’t get it out of my mind so my eyes kept being drawn to her.”

It is so moving to hear him narrate what we saw from his point of view

#HometownChaChaCha

“I worked 637 hours to get you this necklace. Don’t you dare sell it online.”

The call back. The hours spent so that he could give her something so meaningful for both of them.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Two pairs of shoes by the door, two toothbrushes in the bathroom & two aprons in the kitchen… In a house where we keep those, will you enjoy today, tomorrow, and all of your time with me?”

The way his voice broke imagining a future beyond tomorrow.

#HometownChaChaCha

Me on my couch while they are engaged and kissing on the beach to their theme song

#HometownChaChaCha

The fact that they again punctured the emotion & romance with humor & in a way that calls back to how they originally met AND their moment on the beach with the umbrella?

Just some next level, god tier romantic comedy.

God I am going to miss this show.

#HometownChaChaCha

Hye-jin always pushes his ass down in the water and it’s so freaking funny and I love her for it.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“Let’s play.”

#HometownChaChaCha

Sikye’s foreplay is making a list to evenly divide house hold tasks when they get married.

#HometownChaChaCha

“Cleaning goes to Chief Hong.”

Oh we know, Du-sik. We know. 😏

#HometownChaChaCha

They are laughing about this name and I am just like

#HometownChaChaCha

We have been on a such a journey with “oppa” 🤣

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

I swear to god if a telephone rings right now I am going to light shit on fire.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

“I’m not going home tonight.”

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“I wasn’t going to let you.”

Du-sik, you’re a fucking legend.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

Y’all.

Y’ALL.

I hope we will all take this fan fic prompt as seriously as it demands.

#HometownChaChaChaEp16 #HometownChaChaCha

Chief Hong always gets the job done right.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

“You must be hungry.”

I bet.

#HometownChaChaCha

“I’ve never really thought about that before.”

That was his answer over a month ago. Yet he never forgot her question. And now he dreams of the future too.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Yoon Hye-jin, a hero.

#HometownChaChaCha

Some things never change. 🤣

#HometownChaChaCha

Literally also the audience around the globe at home.

#HometownChaChaCha

Happiness is a good look for Hong Du-sik.

#HometownChaChaCha

He wore the old suit his brother bought him to reconcile with the past.

He wears the new suit his fiancé bought him to celebrate the future.

#HometownChaChaCha #HometownChaChaChaEp16

Why did they think that they could sneak around to take their photos without the whole village joining? 😂

This is so perfect my heart might burst.

#HometownChaChaCha

Gam-ri is absolutely smiling somewhere right now.

#HometownChaChaCha

“The sea won’t always be this gentle though. We will be met with wind & waves. And even typhoons will come our way.”

“So what if we get soaked in rain? Who cares if the wind blows a bit when we’re in the same boat?”

#HometownChaChaCha

I just —-

This show.

#HometownChaChaCha

The boat meant many things over the course of #HometownChaChaCha.

A hint of a mystery, a refuge from the world, a link to the past & a focal point for conflicting points of view. Now it’s symbol for marriage & the place where they take their wedding portrait

#HometownChaChaCha

I love this touch of humor that our beloved dentist & chief will just continue their adventures off screen.

It reminded me of a similar tongue in cheek moment at a wedding in the final scene of #DescendantsOfTheSun

#HometownChaChaCha

One of my favorite television writers once said that the hardest thing to do is to write an earned happy ending.

This was so earned. And it made me feel so happy.

#HometownChaChaCha

In 1854, Thoreau asked from an isolated cabin while mired in grief, “What sort of space is that which separates a man from his fellows & makes him solitary?”

In 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, Shin Ha-eun answered “People should live among other people.”

#HometownChaChaCha

Over the last 18 months, we have all been isolated & suffered to varying degrees. And like the characters of Gongjin we all have our own struggles & pain.

With humor, emotional honesty & tenderness, #HometownChaChaCha showed us that words hurt, everyday choices matter, empathy

& kindness are transformational. Intimacy requires courage & hard work.

So we should be brave & honest. Knock on doors. Share good food with wonderful people & carry one another on our backs.

It’s a beautiful & timely story that will always stay with me

#HometownChaChaCha