Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Season 1 Episode 3 recap

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

Hye-jin attends her school reunion

Arriving at Seoul late for her special occasion, Hye-jin is a bit upset. It is her first time to be late for the event, as she was always arrive early than the others and has been called ‘Cinderella’. Her so-called friends presses that Gongjin is far and intentionally tries to look down on her. Hye-jin rebounds by telling them that she is getting richer at Gongjin because she has all the community to herself, no other competitors in the area and Gongjin is a really nice place to live in. Her friends smirks turned into frown as they get jealous of her success.

Hye-jin goes out to breathe some air but is still annoyed of her so-called friends mocking her earlier. While outside, she glimpse of a newly wedded bride saying her goodbye to her mother for her honeymoon. Du-sik sees her feeling sad and tries to cheer her up. Hye-jin is surprised and embarrassed that others may see him with her, they went to her car straight away after Du-sik tells her that he forgot his phone in her car.

Hye-jin ends up driving with Du-sik from Seoul all the way back to Gongjin. Du-sik tries to offer him driving the car, but Hye-jin disagrees telling him that she dislike someone else to drive her new car. Hye-jin says she can not believe she will be going back to the countryside, Du-sik says that he could not wait to get to Gongjin because the Seoul skyscrapers are suffocating him. Du-sik requests to turn the air-condition which Hye-jin does so. So much for opposite attracts.

Du-sik wakes up from his nap when they are almost at Gongjin. Hye-jin looks upset with Du-sik who fell asleep, she says that she has been driving traffic jam after traffic jam but Du-sik says he already offered her this but turned it down. She says he could have keep her company during the long drive but Du-sik remembers that she wants to drive quietly.

Back home, Hye-jin is nervous that her classmate took a photo of Du-sik and Hye-jin together earlier, saying that they did not know she has a boyfriend. Hye-jin tries to tell them that he is not her boyfriend and he is just someone she knew. While typing, a friend of hers tells that Du-sik is handsome and asks more question where did they meet. Hye-jin changes her text and tells them that he is not her boyfriend but is chasing her.

Du-sik remembers Hye-jin’s smile

At his home, Du-sik prepares his brewed coffee for the evening and remembers what happened earlier when he was dozing off in the car. Hye-jin slants his car seat as he sleeps and chuckles since he looks like a kid dozing off. He takes a peak to see her smile. Then he smiles to himself.

Grandma Gam-ri visits Hye-jin’s clinic

After in so much pain because of her toothache, grandma Gam-ri visits Hye-jin’s dental clinic while on Du-sik’s back. Hye-jin did x-rays and sees her worse teeth conditions. She says that grandma Gam-ri needs to undergo treatment so she does not have feel the pain while eating. But Gam-ri remains stubborn and says that dentists only overcharge fees.

After more probing, Hye-jin learns that Gam-ri has the means to pay for her treatment, she just does not want to. So Hye-jin tells her to get out of her clinic. Gam-ri does exactly that and this has upset Du-sik. He comes into Hye-jin’s office and tells her why does she have to say it that way, even if he understands Hye-jin’s point. Hye-jin says a dental clinic is not a convenience store where he can just ask whatever he wants. Du-sik says that she should say the words like she is speaking to her grandmother, but Hye-jin says Gam-ri is not her grandmother. Du-sik looks hopeless with the conversation and sighs, telling her that people does not change easily and then goes on his way.

Du-sik tries to convince Gam-ri to get her treatment

Du-sik collects his money from the hardware owner and rushes to Gam-ri’s house. He thanks her for taking care of him while he was still a boy and now that he is grown up, he wants to pay her treatment. He holds out the money inside an envelope for her to take. But Gam-ri gives him three seconds to run, grabs a pitcher full of water and splashes the water in his face trying to get rid of him. And it works. Du-sik leaves for the day and tells her he will be back again tomorrow.

Du-sik meets with Hye-jin at the pier

In the evening, Du-sik sends a message to Hye-jin so they could meet up at a pier. He starts their conversation by pointing out at the sea, that the lights coming from the squid boats looks pretty but those fishermen are working hard. He says Gam-ri has been cleaning squid for decades but it is still her favorite food, although she has not eaten them for years. Hye-jin roles her eyes uninterested in the topic and tells him that getting sympathy from her is useless. Du-sik gets to the point and tells her that he is willing to pay for her treatment, only if Hye-jin could keep it a secret, for her to tell Gam-ri that she can offer a cheap treatment.

Hye-jin declines and tells him that as a doctor, she needs to take responsibility for what she does. Fine, Du-sik says she could just tell Gam-ri that she gave a discount. Hye-jin asks why does he care if Gam-ri does not want to get her treatment. Du-sik says she just can not. Grandma Gam-ri is selfless for years that is why she does not know how to take care of herself. And Hye-jin scoffs that is why she willingly endures the pain, finishing his sentence off and says how it is selfish of her.

Do you know what it means to be a good parent? It is staying healthy for a long time. They (parents) should not endure pain to save money for their children. They should take care of themselves.
Yoon Hye-jin to hong du-sik

Back at home, Hye-jin reminisces her childhood when she bought food to share it with her mother while on her way back from school. And when she returned home, she sees her mother looking so sickly and vomiting in the toilet bowl. Then she hides the food she bought at her back, not letting her mother see it at all.

Du-sik knows about Hye-jin’s bitterness

A flashback while they were at Seoul, Du-sik sees Hye-jin from a far bitterly looking towards a newly wedded bride who bids her mother goodbye for her honeymoon. He remembers that Hye-jin has told them that her mother passed away when she was very young and barely remembers anything about her.

When he hears those words from Hye-jin what makes a good parent, he knows right away that Hye-jin is not okay and is probably upset at her mother for not taking care of herself and living longer with her.

Hye-jin changes her heart

While having their lunch, coincidentally Hye-jin and Mi-Seon are eating squid. Hye-jin tastes each and every dishes of squid and realizes all of them are tough to chew.

She finds herself walking towards Gam-ri’s house and is invited over for dinner when Gam-ri sees her. She welcomes her at her home, gives her food that she cooked and watches a recording with Gam-ri and Du-sik. In that documentary recording, Gam-ri’s father has received a letter written in Chinese characters which Du-sik has read. It was an acknowledgement that her father was a patriot who fought for their nation’s independence.

Gam-ri knows why Hye-jin came to her. Hye-jin says that toothaches are a pity. She continues on saying it does not show so no one but herself knows how painful it is. Not even her kids. Hye-jin asks her to come back to her dental clinic and she will give her a discount.

The next day, Gam-ri visits her dental clinic to get her treatment and pays her treatment cost in full. Du-sik learns of this from Gam-ri herself when she called out for Du-sik’s help to cook him a porridge.

Du-sik finds Hye-jin’s lost shoe

Hye-jin’s electrical power at her home goes out and she phones Ms. Yeo for help. The handy Du-sik rings her doorbell. Hye-jin does not have any candles so Du-sik uses her phone’s flashlight. Unintentionally, he flashes the light to Hye-jin eye’s which irritated her, so she flashes her phone’s light back at him, playfully teasing him.

Du-sik pulls out a candle from his bag and lights it up. He checks the fuse box and confirms the issue is in the service wire. The service provider tells him that the company will get it fixed soon. Hye-jin complains that she has to wait in the dark all by herself, and Du-sik offers if he should accompany her since Mi-Seon went out for her facial sessions. Indirectly saying yes, Hye-jin offers him an ice cream.

They briefly talked about her changing her mind and pushing through Gam-ri’s treatment, then Du-sik gets a tissue and gives it to Hye-jin since her ice cream is melting on her hand and goes on his way. He touches her hand as he wraps the tissue around her ice cream popsicle leaving Hye-jin speechless.

He gives her a text message for her to look at her fuse box, which is inside her shoe closet. To her surprise, her favorite pair of shoes are there. She runs off to Du-sik and asks him where did he find it. Du-sik just tells her he found it on the street.

Hye-jin curiously says that her shoes were wipe off at the sea but it is amazingly looks fine. (Du-sik may have fixed it though). As soon as she wears her favorite pair of shoes, coincidentally, her house electrical power is right back on. A beautiful Hye-jin stands in front of her house with a huge, beaming smile on her face as if beautiful things are finally unfolding for her.

There you have Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Season 1 Episode 3 recap! There are still a lot of side stories with the Gongjin villagers but for now, I’ll do a straight forward recap about the main story. Meanwhile, let us know in the comments below about what you think on this Episode!