Spoiler Alert: 3 Mysteries in Hometown Cha Cha Cha Explained
- Naymichele Rhengboi
- Oct 19, 2021
- 6 min read
Hometown Cha Cha Cha is a Korean show series with 16 episodes. This show depicts a life of a dentist from Seoul, South Korea, Yoon Hye Jin, who's a dentist that recently got fired due to publicly badmouthing her boss on social media. After countless of failed attempt to reclaim her reputation, she decided to move to a quiet little town called Gongjin. There, she meets a peculiar man name Hong Duk Sik but everyone calls him chief of the town.
After moving there, she quickly opens a dental clinic. Since she was new to the town, she didn't get any clients for her first week of opening. To promote her business and to get acquainted with the towns people, she went to the towns event. There, she encountered culture shock with how people gossip and to how people eat with their bare hands. While in a state of shock, she got a call from her friend in the city. On the phone, she up front tells her friend that she hated this little town, little did she know that her conversation is being picked up by the mic in the room which airs her complaint to the whole towns people.
As Yoon Hye jin tries to restore her reputation in town, she starts to doubt her decision about starting her new life in Gongjin. As a surprise, her friend appeared on her front door and decided to move in with Yoon Hye Jin. This made Yoon Hye Jin reassess her decision to leave. As she redeems her reputation and begins her new life in Gongjin, she starts to adapt to her new life.
One day, she hears that there are 3 mysteries in Gongjin that no one knows.
They are:
What's the reason for the Divorce between Yeo Hwa Jung and Jang Yeong Guk
Who Secretly Won Lottery in Gongjin
Hong Doo Shik’s Real Identity
The first mystery revolves around Yeo Hwa Jung and Jang Yeong Guk. Yeo Hwa Jung and Jang Yeong Guk are childhood friends that eventually ended up together. But all of the sudden one day, she divorces Jang Yeong Guk over his habit of unfolding his socks. But the two remain a great co-parents to their son. At around the same time that Yoon Hye Jin moved into the town, a women who used to be the now divorced couple's friend moved back to Gongjin as well. Later we know that this women was Jang Yeong Guk's first love. Rumors starts in the town that Jang Yeong Guk will finally be able to confess to his first love, but that didn't go as planned. We as viewers find out that Yeo Hwa Jung felt like she was always the second option for Jang Yeong Guk after his first love. Jang Yeong Guk never loved her or cherished her. So after hearing the conversation between Jang Yeong Guk and his friend about how he still misses his first love, she decided to throw a fit about something as plain as unfold socks to divorce her husband.
The second mystery is about a mysterious lottery winner in Gongjin. In this little town, lottery was one thing that everyone could purchase easily and hope that they would one day hit the lucky draw. It was known that three years ago from the present day, a citizen of Gongjin won $1.2 million, but no one said anything nor no one knew who that person was. Everyone believed that it was Hong Doo Shik because he works only part times and he leisurely takes his time to pursue his hobbies which are to take videos and photos of the town's people. But this rumor fails to be true.
Eventually, the lottery winner came to be a humble police officer in Gongjin. Even though he won $1.2 million, he decided to study hard and pursue his dream to become a police office unlike others. He didn't tell anyone because he doesn't want the attention nor everyone sucking up to him due to his money. He only tells one person at the end of the show because he fell in love with a dentist assistant who was a friend of Yoon Hye Jin.
Third and final mystery in Gongjin is the real identity of Hong Doo Shik's. Hong Doo Shik's was born in Gongjin. His parents died in a tragic accident when he was a child so he had to live with his grandfather. In middle school, another bad luck strikes again as his grandfather died from a heart attack while he was playing soccer with his friends. Due to all the deaths surrounding his family, everyone in town started a rumor that he must be cursed. Nonetheless, it didn't stop Hong Doo Shik from pursuing his dream. He graduated with top honor and he went to a prestigious school in Seoul National University. He even studied engineering there. But after 5 years after college, he came back to Gongjin as a completely new person.
Everyone starts to wonder why he came back to Gongjin and what happened to Hong Doo Shik that he didn't want to talk about his life in Seoul. People in the town starts to theorize that he worked as a spy in North Korea or climbed Mt. Everest. But none of those theories seem to be true. His constant nightmares hints that he had a dark past.
Going back to the story line of the show, Yoon Hye Jin tried to repair the damages that she's done to the towns people by buying rice cake for her neighbor since this was a Korean tradition when someone new moves to a new place. But the towns people didn't forgive her easily. This is when Hong Doo Shik starts to lend Yoon Hye Jin a hand, but for a price. The two starts to have feelings for each other as they stumble upon one another under different circumstances.
They then become a couple and everyone in Gongjin roots for them. But after the butterfly stage, Hong Doo Shik starts to close up and Yoon Hye Jin realizes that he's not opening up as much as she is in the relationship. This eventually leads to a break up.
One day, a guy from Hong Doo Shik's past recognizes him and starts to pick a fight calling him a "murderer." The whole towns people were there since it was a town's gathering. This leads to a flashback for the viewers to realize that Hong Doo Shik must have done something very terrible. As everyone stood there in disbelief, Yoon Hye Jin runs after Hong Doo Shik. Yoon Hye Jin asks him if what the guy said was true and Hong Doo Shik tells her that he was right. He is indeed a murderer. This left Yoon Hye Jin trembling.
After a few days has gone by, Yoon Hye Jin decided to barge into Hong Doo Shik's house and told him to at least eat. There, Hong Doo Shik decided to open up about his life. He told her that after college, he decided to pursue a career in finance with his former roommate in college. Hong Doo Shik felt guilty for ruining a man's life because he had given the security guy at his office building a contact of a person who could manage his assets. Unfortunately, the economy collapsed which caused major damage to the guy's assets and he later attempted suicide.
When Hong Doo Shik heard the news, he was shaken up. He quickly grabbed his car keys to head to the hospital to meet the old man. He tried to unlock his car, but he couldn't unlock them due to his shaky hands. His college roommate saw him struggling so he told him to sit in the passenger seat and he will drive. Unfortunately, the two of them were in a car accident and it ended up killing the roommate instantly. This triggered survivor's guilt in Hong Doo Shik and he began to have nightmares starting from that day. Hong Doo Shik even tried to commit suicide, but due to a text from a grandma that he loved in Gongjin, he decided to stop himself. This is also the reason why he went back to Gongjin. Hong Doo Shik believes that he is cursed and everyone who he loves will die. This left a scar in his heart for a long time. But Yoon Hye Jin comforts him that everything that happened was not his fault and he is not cursed.
This show teaches the viewers many lessons. First, neglect and talking about the past can hurt someone especially loved ones. The past should stay in the past and shouldn't hinder the present nor the future. Second, money does not bring true happiness. Finding one true self and love should be the priority in life and then money comes second. Finally, bad tongue can damage someone's soul. Rumors and false accusations against someone can cause emotional baggage to someone which eventually can lead to physical harm or self sabotage. Someone who is hurt deserve to be heard and loved.
So that is the Korean show Hometown Cha Cha Cha. Make sure to check the show out on Netflix if you like this breakdown even though I've spoiled the show for you already. Nevertheless, it's a great show and I 10/10 recommend this heart warming series.
Comments