Lee Se-young and Na In-woo of MBC‘s Friday-Saturday drama ‘Motel California’ have raised the flag of cruising with their groundbreaking acting transformation and passionate acting.

The first episode of MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama ‘Motel California’ (planned by Jang Jae-hoon/directed by Kim Hyung-min, Lee Jae-jin/script by Lee Seo-yoon/produced by HB Entertainment/hereafter ‘Motel California’), which first aired on the 10th (Friday), focused attention by containing the story of Ji Kang-hee (played by Lee Se-young) and Cheon Yeon-soo (played by Na In-woo), a first love couple who have been by each other‘s side since they were innocent nine-year-olds, living with each other in their hearts for about 10 years after a sad breakup. Accordingly, ‘Motel California’ episode 1 recorded 4.5% in viewership ratings nationwide and 4.5% in the metropolitan area, starting off the drama cruising. Especially in the scene where Kang-hee and Yeon-soo miss each other on a snowy day, the highest viewership ratings rose to 5.7%. (Based on Nielsen Korea household standards)

The broadcast that day began in 2013 in Hana-eup, the year Kang-hee and Yeon-soo broke up. In Hana-eup, a rural town with a lot of gossip and interest in other people’s business, Kang-hee, who had been bullied since childhood for being a mixed-race child who stood out, decided to leave his hometown that had hurt him countless times and stand alone in Seoul. Unable to break Kang-hee‘s stubbornness, her boyfriend Yeon-soo and Kang-hee’s father Chun-pil (played by Choi Min-soo) just silently prepared to send Kang-hee away.

Then, on the night before New Year‘s, Kang-hee suddenly called Yeon-soo and told her that he was planning to leave today, and when Yeon-soo said that she had a promise, he declared, “I’m going to say goodbye now. I won‘t come to Seoul again.” Yeon-soo, startled by Kang-hee’s threats, ran to Motel California, Kang-hee‘s home, and Kang-hee, who met Yeon-soo in a dark motel with the electricity cut off, asked her one last time if she was thinking about going to college in Seoul. However, Yeon-soo, who could not leave her hometown for some reason, simply said, “I’m sorry.” Kang-hee, who tried to calm his disappointment by pretending to be okay, suddenly asked Yeon-soo, “Do you want to sleep with me?” and confessed to Yeon-soo, who was flustered, “I want you to be my first. It‘s not curiosity or rebellion. It’s just that first times are the purest.” Kang-hee and Yeon-soo, who were about to break up, engraved memories of their first experiences on each other‘s bodies, and after that, Kang-hee and Yeon-soo, who were left behind, had a heartbreaking farewell as they boarded a bus to Seoul.

Soon, 10 years had passed and it was 2023. While Yeon-soo, who had been a chubby bear, became a warm and sharp veterinarian and guarded Hana-eup, Kang-hee, who had left for Seoul and cut off contact, was enduring a difficult and harsh life. Kang-hee, who had become an interior designer, was blacklisted for reporting unpaid wages at her previous job and was unable to find a decent job, working part-time at construction sites.

At that time, Kang-hee caught the eye of Hwang Jeong-goo (played by Woo Mi-hwa), the director of Moment, a leading interior design company, who had come to be the site manager, and got another chance to interview as an interior designer. Kang-hee, who had excitedly created a portfolio and visited Moment, was ignored by Hwang’s secretary (played by Oh Seung-ah) because she was a parachute employee with no academic background or qualifications, so she gave up the interview and turned away lonely. At that moment, Kang-hee thought of Yeon-soo, whom she had left behind in her hometown, and she gathered her spirit again to show Yeon-soo the Ji Kang-hee she was now, who was not ashamed of. And as if he was changing into his combat uniform, Kang-hee, who returned to Moment with fierce smoky makeup, successfully met Director Hwang after avenging the rudeness of the secretary who tried to block him.

Despite the blatant rejection of the recruiter, Director Mok (played by Jo Sang-gi), Kang-hee was able to join Moment as a three-month intern with Director Hwang’s support. One day, Kang-hee, who was able to attend a client meeting after being relieved of his chores, met the slightly eccentric Geum Seok-gyeong (played by Kim Tae-hyung) for the first time. Seok-gyeong, who wanted to remodel his new home as a surprise wedding gift for his girlfriend, Esther (played by Seo Ye-hwa), liked Kang-hee’s philosophy that “it’s not about fitting people to the house, but fitting the house to the person,” and Esther, who was the actual resident, was also satisfied with Kang-hee’s consultations, and Kang-hee’s influence within the project gradually grew.

At the same time, Yeon-soo was in Seoul. At that time, Yeon-soo would wander around Seoul on her days off, hoping to run into Kang-hee. Yeon-soo met Han-woo (played by Jung Yong-joo), who was working in Seoul, and stopped by a cafe. Yeon-soo happened to see Kang-hee, who came out to buy coffee with Seok-kyung, and recognized Kang-hee at a glance. However, Yeon-soo, frozen as ice because she had finally met Kang-hee, whom she had dreamed of for the first time in 10 years, missed Kang-hee right before her eyes as he left the cafe, which was heartbreaking.

Meanwhile, Kang-hee did her best to create a design draft for Esther, but Director Mok ignored Kang-hee‘s draft and even fired Kang-hee in the middle of the project. He absolutely did not want to acknowledge Kang-hee’s skills, who had no academic background or background. At this time, Director Mok argued with Director Hwang and said, “It‘s a B-grade design, like a cheap motel room in the countryside. Kang-hee, who heard Ji Kang-hee gossiping that she was a ”hopeless B-class country girl,“ snapped, ”If I’m B-class, then the director is trash. It‘s not even bullying, it’s evil,“ and left the moment. Kang-hee thought of Yeon-soo again and said, ”I didn‘t come to Seoul to live like this, and I didn’t abandon you to live a miserable life like this.“

What comforted Kang-hee, who was going through such bitter pain, was his memories of Yeon-soo. When Yeon-soo was nine years old and begged Kang-hee to marry her, Kang-hee told her, ”If you eat the first snow ten times, your first love will come true.“ From that day on, whenever the first snow fell, Yeon-soo would eat snow and make a wish for Kang-hee. And now, Kang-hee and Yeon-soo, who have broken up, each miss each other and make their hearts ache as they look at each other in their own spaces.

And at the end of the play, Kang-hee and Yeon-soo unexpectedly meet again after 10 years, creating a new wave of conflicting love stories. Kang-hee, who heard the news of Yeon-soo‘s grandfather’s death, came to Hanaeup, where he had completely stopped visiting for 10 years. The funeral home of Yeon-soo‘s grandfather was in an uproar at the news of Kang-hee’s arrival, and Kang-hee leisurely headed to the funeral home, pushing through the Hanaeup people who were muttering to him as if they were looking at him like a witch from a legend. At that moment, Yeon-soo hugged Kang-hee and burst into tears that she had been holding back. And only then did Kang-hee see Yeon-soo‘s face and couldn’t hide his surprise at how different Yeon-soo had looked from 10 years ago. In this way, the relationship between Kang-hee and Yeon-soo, who met again in a completely different way from when they were just a boy and girl who liked each other, raises curiosity about how it will change in the future.

Meanwhile, MBC‘s Friday-Saturday drama ‘Motel California’, which will bring healing to living rooms in the new year of 2025, deals with the twists and turns of a first love remodeling romance experienced by a female protagonist who was born in a rural motel and grew up in a motel and reunites with her first love in her hometown she ran away from 12 years ago. Episode 2 will air tonight (the 11th) at 9:50 PM.

Photo=MBC ‘Motel California’

Reporter Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com misty82@donga.com