Lee Sung-kyoung and Chae Jong Hyeop's mutual salvation romance began, adding a warm thrill to living rooms that had stayed in winter.
On the 23rd, according to FUNdex, the official platform of Good Data Corporation, a K-content competitiveness specialist organization, the MBC Friday-Saturday drama In Your Radiant Season (planning Namgung Seong-woo, screenplay Jo Seong-hee, directors Jeong Sang-hee, Kim Young-jae) ranked 4th in TV-OTT drama buzz for the third week of Feb. It proved strong online interest by ranking first in total news article count for dramas and second in the SNS category. Also, as of the 22nd it rose to No. 1 on Wavve and No. 2 on Kinolights' integrated domestic movie-drama rankings (based on the 20th and 21st), underscoring its hot popularity.
In episodes 1 and 2, which aired on the 20th and 21st, the connection between Song Ha-ran (Lee Sung-kyoung) and Sun Woo-chan (Chae Jong Hyeop) that began through online chat, the destiny reversed by an explosion, and their reunion after seven years were depicted, raising the curtain on the radiant romance. Here we examined the main narratives in episodes 1 and 2 that plunged viewers into "radiant fever."
◆ "The truth behind the boyfriend stand-in" Lee Sung-kyoung's boyfriend ≠ Chae Jong Hyeop, the real identity of "Chan"
The biggest twist in episodes 1 and 2 was that Song Ha-ran's ex-boyfriend was not Sun Woo-chan but Kang Hyuk-chan (Kwon Do Hyoung). Sun Woo-chan had been a roommate living with Kang Hyuk-chan, who seven years earlier had been Song Ha-ran's (Lee Sung-kyoung) lover. Kang Hyuk-chan, who was studying abroad, gradually became neglectful of Ha-ran due to the long-distance relationship and eventually asked Sun Woo-chan to reply to messages on his behalf. Since Kang Hyuk-chan's pet name was also "Chan," curiosity intensified about who the real identity of "Chan" was. This formed misunderstandings around the two and heightened the drama's tension.
During a short break, Ha-ran decided to go to the U.S. to meet Kang Hyuk-chan, and the scene in which she leaves a video message saying "I love you, Chan-ah" cast a question mark over their relationship and piqued curiosity. However, the ending of episode 1 delivered a twist when it was revealed the confession was addressed to Kang Hyuk-chan, not Sun Woo-chan.
◆ Laboratory explosion shakes the three people's fates
Seven years earlier, Sun Woo-chan, who had lost the will to live and was spending colorless days, could not ignore Ha-ran's sincere messages and continued the conversation while pretending to be Kang Hyuk-chan. Ha-ran's confession and comfort, voiced as if all paths were blocked, took on a different meaning for Sun Woo-chan.
Sun Woo-chan, who went to the laboratory to inform Kang Hyuk-chan that Song Ha-ran had come to the U.S., suffered an unexpected explosion and as a result sustained hearing damage and severe burns. Kang Hyuk-chan lost his life in the accident, and Song Ha-ran, having lost her parents and then her lover, fell into deep grief. Afterwards, Ha-ran chose a life of blocking her emotions and protecting herself tightly so she would not lose someone precious again.
◆ Sunshine and winter, the two become opposites
Sun Woo-chan, who had stayed in Korea seven years earlier for treatment, accidentally reunited with Ha-ran at the Ttukseom bridge and recalled memories of the accident. Meanwhile, Ha-ran, unaware at all that the person she had exchanged messages with seven years earlier was Sun Woo-chan, lived sifting through memories of him. Facing each other again ahead of a project meeting, the two become entangled repeatedly amid crises and sudden variables, and Song Ha-ran began to be wary of Sun Woo-chan's actions surrounding her.
Once each other's comfort, the two met again after seven years in completely opposite states. The contrast between Sun Woo-chan, bright like sunlight, and Song Ha-ran, who seemed to be stuck in winter and had blocked her emotions, starkly revealed the temperature gap between them and evoked a poignant sadness. In particular, the visuals capturing the four seasons and the OST that fully convey the two people's psychology amplified the lyrical atmosphere unique to In Your Radiant Season.
Amid the whirlwind plot, pieces of memory surrounding the two began to slowly fit together. Sun Woo-chan declared he would openly treat Song Ha-ran well for the three-month project period, signaling a direct approach. Attention is focused on what changes Sun Woo-chan's determination to make Ha-ran's time, trapped in the winter seven years ago, fun will bring, and whether the two can safely meet each other's spring.
[Photo] MBC In Your Radiant Season broadcast capture
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