K-DRAMA FIRST LOOK: “Our Unwritten Seoul” – kdramadiary
In a potentially repeated act, identical twins switch places, immensely impacting their professional and romantic lives.
It is a heart-warming tale of love and healing, with a side of self-discovery and complicated familial relationships.
Bunny S. watches Our Unwritten Seoul on Netflix
Opening Week Ratings:
Our Unwritten Seoul Opening Week Story
“No matter how bad things get, you two are closest to each other.”
Opening our drama, we get a quick sneak peek into our twins’ childhood days. They looked remarkably similar, so only their father and grandmother could tell them apart. Their mother (Jang Young-nam) was so busy at work that our twins spent most of their time playing with their father until he sadly passed away when they were kids.
Growing up, our twins had distinct sets of skills that made up for what the other person lacked. One’s strength was the other’s weakness. So, they decided to switch places and help each other out until they got caught by their mother. Furious, Mum cut the younger twin’s hair. Hence, putting an end to the switch game.
Years passed, and our twins got into high school. Older twin, Yu Mi-rae, was a high achiever in academics. While younger twin, Yu Mi-ji, was gifted at running and used her speed to reach the cafeteria first and eat lunch before her peers. Acknowledging her talent, the PE teacher supported Mi-ji to become a track and field athlete. Back then, she was a prodigy and won countless medals. Yet an injury during a crucial tournament cut her sports career short.
At present, our twins (both roles played by Park Bo-young) are now adults. Having graduated from college, Mi-rae landed an office job at a public company in Seoul while Mi-ji (still living in the countryside with Mum) picks up random jobs to make a living. Through a brief glimpse of Mi-rae’s life in Seoul, we can tell she is distressed. Sharing the sentiment, Mi-ji is sick and tired of her life. Mum is ashamed of her and seems to favor Mi-rae. And people always compare her to Mi-rae and give her all sorts of unsolicited advice on how she should live her life.
Meanwhile, a familiar face, Lee Ho-su (Park Jin-young), drops by the village. Through flashbacks, we learn that Ho-su suddenly transferred schools from Seoul and became classmates with Mi-ji. Unlike Mi-ji’s sociable personality, Ho-su was a recluse who mostly sat silently. Getting the wrong idea that he disliked her and intentionally ignored her, Mi-ji got annoyed by Ho-su until she found out his backstory.
Before he got transferred, Ho-su got into a big accident where half of his body was damaged after getting burned. His leg is made of artificial bone, so he limps at times. Also, he has a hearing impairment and gets tinnitus whenever someone or something comes near his ear. Having learned the truth, Mi-ji feels bad about unknowingly hurting Ho-su with her words. And somehow, along the way, they became friends.
It also seems like Mi-ji has harbored a crush on Ho-su all those years, but might have chosen not to confess her feelings because a rumor (probably a baseless one) spread that Ho-su and Mi-rae were dating and teachers let them off the hook because they are both high achievers. Given the disappointed look on Mi-ji’s face when Ho-su asked about Mi-rae instead of asking how she was doing, it might be safe to say Mi-ji still likes him, even if she doesn’t admit it. It isn’t clear who among the twins Ho-su likes, yet we have an inkling that he likes Mi-ji.
Later, Ho-su explains he ran into Mi-rae recently, but she didn’t look good. He tried to approach her, but she ran away. So, he thought Mi-ji might know something. Arguing they aren’t close now like they used to be, Mi-ji counters that she hasn’t seen Mi-rae for over a year. So, Ho-su assures her that Mi-rae finds Mi-ji the most comfortable and only shows her weaknesses when she is around Mi-ji.
“Why the heck did you even think about jumping from there?”
With a nudge from Ho-su, Mi-ji visits Mi-rae to drop off some side dishes. Something about Mi-rae feels off, but Mi-ji can’t figure out what happened. Declaring her wish to take a break, Mi-rae blurts out weird ideas like how sustaining an injury can get her time off work. She even entertains the idea of quitting. Oblivious to Mi-rae’s struggles, Mi-ji encourages her to endure it since that is how everyone lives. But then Mi-ji puts the pieces together and rushes over to Mi-rae’s place, having sensed she might be in danger.
Good thing that she did, as Mi-rae was about to jump off. Refusing to let go of Mi-rae’s hand, both girls fall off. Thankfully, they only sustain minor injuries and are treated quickly. As we come to learn, Mi-rae fell victim to workplace bullying after stepping up for a colleague who got unfairly treated for blowing the whistle on a superior’s wrongdoing. Mi-rae tried to reveal the truth, but her colleague gave in and quit. After that, Mi-rae got assigned a menial job and was practically an outcast, and the superior got a slap on the wrist.
Mi-ji urges Mi-rae to quit or at least transfer companies. Yet, neither option is applicable as Mi-rae has a loan to pay back, and it isn’t easy to transfer from a public company. Worse, her experience might not be acknowledged, and she might need to start from scratch. After arguing for a bit, Mi-ji respects Mi-rae’s opinion and heads to the terminal. But she comes back running. Mi-rae doesn’t have to quit or hold it in. Mi-ji will switch places with her like they did in the past.
“We promised not to interfere in each other’s lives.”
Before they part ways, Real Mi-rae urges Pretend Mi-rae (who is actually Mi-ji) to stay put and not draw attention. But that might not be possible given their vast personality differences. Also, Real Mi-ji has a condition: Pretend Mi-ji (who is actually Mi-rae) has to visit their sick grandmother at the hospital twice a week. Scared of getting caught, Pretend Mi-ji uses work as an excuse to avoid seeing her grandmother. Real Mi-ji got accepted for a strawberry farming job, and Pretend Mi-ji will now go in her place.
The owner, Han Se-jin (Ryu Kyung-soo), aims to grow organic strawberries using traditional techniques and needs a partner to share the journey. However, Se-jin doesn’t give Pretend Mi-ji any actual work and just pays her daily, getting her bored out of her wits. Things remain like this for almost two weeks until Pretend Mi-ji decides to clean the storage and throws away a worn-out chair that Se-jin normally sits on.
Mad at Pretend Mi-ji for acting on her own, they get into a pretty intense argument. Se-jin planned to watch over Pretend Mi-ji and decide what to do with her. Yet Pretend Mi-ji finds this method exasperating, especially since she was bullied at her previous work. Se-jin tells her to do whatever she wants and leaves her hanging. And when she does something, he gets mad at her. Frustrated, Pretend Mi-ji quits on the spot.
A jobless Pretend Mi-ji visits her ill grandmother (Cha Mi-kyung), who recognizes her at a glance. Grandmother’s comforting words bring tears to Pretend Mi-ji’s eyes. Resolving to give this new life a shot, Pretend Mi-ji leaves a plan for Se-jin to read along with the broken chair. And judging from the look on his face, this partnership isn’t over yet. Still, Se-jin needs to rack his brain for a way to win Pretend Mi-ji back.
Meanwhile, Pretend Mi-rae jumps at the offer to handle a task after doing nothing for two weeks. Yet it is a set-up to send her to a different branch using her poor performance review as an excuse. Pretend Mi-rae is tasked with convincing a stubborn granny to sell her restaurant. But she just gets splashed with salt whenever she drops by without a chance to pitch the offer. Worse, she can’t tell Real Mi-rae about it since she is supposed to stay put at work and do nothing.
Running into Ho-su (He works as a lawyer in a big law firm in Seoul), Pretend Mi-rae treats him coldly lest he recognize her. (In high school, Ho-su could tell them apart even with towels on their hair.) He wants to meet, yet Real Mi-rae is dead set against Pretend Mi-rae meeting Ho-su, getting us curious. And we are up for a big surprise when Pretend Mi-rae meets him behind her sister’s back.
The whistle-blowing incident involved sexual harassment, though we are yet to learn whether Real Mi-rae and her colleague were victims or only witnesses. Representing the company, Ho-su went there as an external investigator to cover for his superior. Spotting him, Real Mi-rae got nervous and ran away.
Hearing that the complaint was dropped, Ho-su got worried it was because of him. Shocked at those new findings, Pretend Mi-rae keeps up the act, claiming she only dropped the complaint because she is busy handling a project. But we have to say, she was pretty mean to Ho-su, who was genuinely concerned and only wanted to help.
Scolded for not getting the task done, Pretend Mi-rae drops by the restaurant again. This time, she can’t grin and bear it like she always does. Why is the granny treating her harshly when she is only there to do her job? What did she do to deserve that treatment?
On the way back, Pretend Mi-rae gets a call from Ho-su asking to meet. As it turns out, Ho-su’s superior deliberately sent him to get Real Mi-rae to drop the complaint. Realizing the truth, Ho-su feels bad and offers to help in whatever way he can. Just then, Pretend Mi-rae gets a call from the granny agreeing to meet. Thrilled, Pretend Mi-rae expresses her excitement a bit too much, so Ho-su catches on that this one isn’t Real Mi-rae. We end this week with Ho-su recognizing Mi-ji, to her utter shock.
This cliffhanger has us on tenterhooks for next week. Please, no fake-outs. Imagine the confusion that might happen if Ho-su only figured out the truth in the end after falling for the girl before him. We are only week one, yet the guy had butterflies in his stomach thinking of Pretend Mi-rae (unaware she is Mi-ji) and got perplexed. So, we hope the drama gets that arc out of the way. At least, Se-jin isn’t acquainted with our twins and wouldn’t get confused about his feelings. But the situation is different with Ho-su, as he has known our twins for a long time.
It will also be helpful for Pretend Mi-rae/Real Mi-ji to have someone on her side who is aware of her secret. She is completely on her own, without any family or friends, in an unfamiliar place. Hopefully, after sorting this situation out, Ho-su and Real Mi-ji/Pretend Mi-rae will help each other heal and grow while hanging out together and exploring new places they didn’t visit before. Also, we can’t wait to see those two falling in love with each other, or more precisely, admitting to those feelings they kept buried inside their hearts.
Our Unwritten Seoul Opening Week Musings
That was a solid premiere, and we appreciate the realistic portrayal of our quartet and how relatable they are. They all lead different lives, and each has a distinct reason for living that way. Each person is layered and has more to them than meets the eye. To strangers, Mi-ji might look like a slacker. But she gave up on college and stayed in town because she wanted to look after her ill grandmother. She also turned down the offer to get an office job because she wanted to be within reach if something happened to her grandmother.
People might envy Ho-su’s life. But he suffered too much in the past and feels conflicted about his job since he sometimes has to represent criminals. Mi-rae might seem aloof, but she was struggling and didn’t want to burden her family. Se-jin looks like he is wasting his time and money, but he must have a reason for setting up the strawberry firm after quitting his office job.
The top-notch writing, combined with compelling dialogue and voice-over, creates an emotionally resonant story. We got plenty of emotional scenes, so it is hard to pick out just one to muse over. But the confrontation scene between our twins after the fall had us crying our eyes out. Also, Grandma’s scenes got us sentimental. Shout out to veteran actress Cha Mi-kyung, who always impresses.
Park Bo-young is stunning, playing dual roles, and Park Jin-young and Ryu Kyung-soo are doing an amazing job. Also, the teenage actors are shining, and we are glad the flashback scenes are sprinkled throughout the episodes instead of getting them all at once.
It has been a while since we enjoyed a premiere that much and got hooked immediately. So, here is hoping the drama keeps the momentum and entertains us with the journey of our quartet.
Photos and Videos: tvN Drama
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