Our Beloved Summer (Kor: 그 해 우리는note ) is a 2021 Korean Drama from South Korea. It ran for 16 episodes.
Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da Mi) end up featuring in a documentary during their high school days. Ten years later, videos from their documentary start to go viral again, prompting the producers to plan a follow-up documentary about their current adult lives. While they are initially hesitant, mostly due to their apparent dislike of one another, they finally relent. What follows is a journey that deals with love and heartbreak, a little bit more of the latter for some.
The series follows the pair’s life as adults, their careers- that seem to mingle quite a bit in spite of belonging to different spheres, their families, friendships, secret admirers and the revelation of a past romantic relationship and a messy break up with each other.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Absent Parent
- Yeon-Su’s parents are never seen or their absence explained and she was raised by her grandmother.
- Ji-Ung’s father never appears and his mother is frequently away for work.
- Artists Are Attractive: Both Yeon-Su and NJ like talented artist Ung.
- Beautiful Dreamer: In episode 6, Yeon-Su makes a move to smooth out Ung’s furrowed brow as he sleeps.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: After their break-up, estrangement and eventual reunion, Ung and Yeon-Su deny having feelings for the other in order to save themselves from further heartbreak.
- Bland-Name Product: The website HAVER is the in-show counterpart to Korean search engine NAVER.
- Blind Date: Sol-I goes on one in episode (), prompting Eun-Ho’s jealousy. She ends up abandoning her date when she realises she forgot about a clam delivery to her bar only to find Eun-Ho diligently cleaning and storing the clams for her.
- Book Ends: The first episode begins with the opening scene of Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-Su’s high school documentary. The last episode closes with the opening of a documentary on their now married life.
- Call-Back
- Ung and Yeon-Su’s first kiss was during a sudden rain shower and the documentary producer had left to get an umbrella and some equipment. Their first kiss five years after their breakup also occurred during a rain shower when a documentary producer left to get an umbrella and more equipment.
- One of the times that Yeon-Su and Ung broke up was because she felt as though she was holding him back after he rejected an offer to study overseas in order to be by her side. In the final episode, Ung asks Yeon-Su to follow him to France (where he wishes to attend architecture school) so they can be together. She declines his offer but instead of breaking up again, this time they commit to a long-distance relationship.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: In episode (), Yeon-su gets drunk and accidentally insults Jang Do-Yul, leader of the Soen Company marketing team. She also starts telling him about her messy life story.
- Changing Yourself for Love: In episode (), Yeon-Su believes that she needs to “show different sides” of herself in order to be a better girlfriend to Ung. She takes advice from her colleague Ye-In, changing her style and personality to better appeal to him. Ung is confused and worried about the sudden changes and confronts her about them, stating that he likes her just the way she is.
- Childhood Friends: Choi Ung and Kim Ji-Ung.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Lampshaded by Chae-Ran in episode () during a car ride with Ji-Ung.
- Comforting Comforter
- Confession Cam: Used regularly.
- Coordinated Clothes: In episode (), Ung and Yeon-Su are wearing couple shirts on a trip to Disneyland.
- They also frequently wear clothes with matching colour schemes.
- Cry into Chest
- Death of a Child: In episode (), it’s revealed that Mr and Mrs Choi’s biological son has passed away but they eventually adopted Ung into their family.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Yeon-Su initially looks down on Ung for not caring about his studies but over the course of their high school documentary filming, she eventually warms up and falls in love with him.
- Disappeared Dad: Ji-Ung was raised solely by his mother.
- Documentary Episode: The set-up for the show.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Despite being a lightweight, Ji-Ung is frequently shown drinking to avoid thinking about his troubles.
- Played for laughs in episode 16 when Yeon-Su gets drunk in Sol-I’s bar, lamenting about how much she misses Ung while he is in France.
- Endearingly Dorky: Part of why NJ is attracted to Ung is because of his dorky charms.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Different hairstyles are used to distinguish between the younger and present-day versions of our characters.
- Especially prominent in Yeon-Su. When younger, her hair is parted to the side with no bangs; as an adult, her hair is cut into a fringe.
- Family Business: Ung’s parents manage a series of restaurants called “웅이와 (With Ung)”.
- First Love
- Flashback B-Plot: The bulk of the plot is set during our characters’ present-day adult lives but flashbacks are interspersed to show them growing up from high-school until now.
- Flowers of Romance: After the Soen live drawing show, NJ gives Ung a large bouquet of flowers.
- Friendless Background
- Gilligan Cut: In the epilogue of episode 16, a now-married Ung and Yeon-Su vehemently reject Ji-Ung’s request to film another documentary, this time a follow-up on their married life. Cue a cut to Ung and Yeon-Su sitting on the couch introducing themselves to viewers once again.
- Held Gaze: The first time Ung sees Yeon-Su in high school, he smiles at her to try and make her feel welcome. This backfires however as Yeon-Su looks at him weirdly then turns away.
- High-School Sweethearts: Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-Su.
- I Gave My Word: When Yeon-Su and Ung meet for the first time after five years, he throws salt and water at her because back when they were dating, he promised that he would do just that to her if they ever broke up and met again.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
- Yeon-Su breaking up with Ung because she doesn’t want him to feel obliged to help with her family situation.
- Ji-Ung keeping silent on his feelings for Yeon-Su because she’s dating his best friend.
- NJ distancing herself from Ung since he is happily in love with Yeon-Su.
- I Will Wait for You: Yeon-Su promises to wait for Ung when he moves to France to attend architecture school.
- Intimate Artistry: While arranging books in a music library in the finale, Ung and Yeon-Su are reminiscing on their relationship and Ung starts sketching a portrait of Yeon-Su from the first time they met. note
- It's Not You, It's Me
- Just Friends: Lampshaded by Yeon-Su in episode 9 in response to Ung’s request to start being platonic friends for once instead of romantic partners.
- Lap Pillow: Ung is lying on Yeon-Su’s lap when he tells her about his childhood abandonment.
- Like Father, Like Son: Discussed in episode (). Ung hears a report on the radio about studies showing that personality is influenced by genetics. He is afraid that he will turn out to be worthless like his birth father who abandoned him when he was a young child.
- Living a Double Life: Choi Ung is actually anonymous renowned artist Go-Oh.
- Love Confession
- Long-Distance Relationship: Ung and Yeon-Su when Ung is in France for architecture school.
- Love Dodecahedron: NJ likes Ung who is in love with Yeon-Su despite their break-up five years prior. Yeon-Su still has feelings for Ung and is oblivious to Ji-Ung’s affections for her. In turn, Ji-Ung doesn’t notice that Chae-Ran has a crush on him.
- Maybe Ever After: In the last ten minutes of the finale, Chae-Ran tells Ji-Ung that she likes him, prompting him to look at her in surprise. It isn’t shown whether he reciprocates her feelings but judging from the soft smile on his face after, it’s highly implied.
- Never Gets Drunk: Subverted and played for laughs. Yeon-Su claims to be this to Jang Do-Yul but gets flat-out drunk and has to be escorted home by him, all the while insulting him and spilling her life story.
- Oblivious to Love: Yeon-Su is this towards Ji-Ung’s feelings. She never realises that he has been in love with her since high school, ever only having eyes for Ung.
- Office Romance: Jung Chae-Ran has a crush on her senior colleague Kim Ji-Ung.
- Only Friend: Lee Sol-I is this towards Kook Yeon-Su.
- Parent-Preferred Suitor: Ung’s parents highly encourage Ung to get back together with Yeon-Su.
- Parental Abandonment: When Ung was a young child, he was abandoned by his father on the street. He was later adopted by the Chois.
- Parental Neglect: Ji-Ung’s mother was rarely around for him ever since he was still a child. This prompts anger and resentment when she suddenly shows up at his house.
- Parental Substitute: Ung’s parents are this to Ji-Ung, practically raising him as their own son alongside their own.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Yeon-Su towards her grandmother when her grandmother is hospitalised after a fall in episode 16.
- Possessive Wrist Grab
- Product Placement: Both Yeon-Su and Ung seem to really like eating Subway sandwiches.
- Relationship Revolving Door
- Relationship Upgrade: Ung and Yeon-Su finally confess to each other and get back together in episode ().
- Rescue Romance: Subverted. In episode (), Ji-Ung pulls Yeon-Su out of the way of being run over by a motorcycle and they share a brief moment but she merely thanks him and continues on with her way.
- Returning the Handkerchief: Invoked when Yeon-Su leaves her pouch at Ung’s house as an excuse to call him and visit him later. Played straight when Ung shows up at her house to deliver it to her personally.
- Romantic Rain: It’s raining when Ung and Yeon-Su share their first kiss. And also during their first kiss after breaking up.
- Running Gag: Sol-I constantly shoots down Eun-Ho’s burgeoning crush on her, claiming that she “doesn’t date younger guys”. She eventually does agree to go on a date with him, but only after three years and at least 35 rejections.
- Self-Serving Memory: Ung and Yeon-Su have very different memories of the time they shared their first kiss.
- Shipper on Deck
- Yeon-su’s colleagues believe that there is something going on between her and Jang Do-Yul.
- Ung’s parents really want Ung and Yeon-Su to get back together.
- SBC senior producer Park is very invested in Ji-Ung and Chae-Ran’s relationship.
- Show Within a Show: The high-school documentary and the present-day documentary filming.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: After getting back together, Ung and Yeon-su act like this.
- Significant Name Overlap: Ung and Ji-Ung share the same syllable “웅” in their names, which prompts their childhood friendship.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Ung and Yeon-Si ever only have eyes for each other, never seeming to consider anyone else as a potential new love interest even after their breakup.
- Snow Means Love: Snow begins to fall when Ung asks Yeon-Su to marry him at the end of episode 16.
- Stood Up: Yeon-Su doesn’t show up to Ung’s nighttime art exhibition because her grandmother had fallen and was taken to the hospital.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Ung and Yeon-Su begrudgingly agree to the documentary filming to help longtime friend Ji-Ung and also to pettily annoy the other.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest
- The "I Love You" Stigma: One of Yeon-Su’s insecurities is how Ung never told her that he liked her or that he loved her. She finally hears “I love you” from him when they reunite after he returns from France.
- Time Skip: The story begins when Ung and Yeon-Su are 19, then skips to ten years later to when they are 29. There is another time-skip in the finale, set two years after the main events of the show.
- Umbrella of Togetherness
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Ung has to hold Yeon-Su back from fighting with two boys who insulted Ung.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: After a two-year time skip in the finale, Ung’s parents are donating towards an event at the local music library. Ung has returned from France and as him and Yeon-Su are arranging books, he proposes to her. Chae-Ran confesses to Ji-Ung in the car on the way to the event, and Sol-I agrees to go on a date with Eun-Ho.
- Workaholic: Ji-Ung throws himself into his work in order to escape from thinking about his unrequited pining and to avoid his estranged mother who is staying at his house.
- Working with the Ex
- You Must Be Cold: At one point during the high school documentary filming, Ung and Yeon-Su are trapped at a small hut waiting for the rain to stop. Ung notices that Yeon-Su is shivering and offers her his overshirt. This leads to a mutual confession and their first kiss.
