The middle child of her family, she is infamously ranked 999th in school and is the only girl in their group of five neighborhood friends. Though not academically gifted, Deok-sun has a bright and compassionate personality. She cares deeply for her friends and classmates but feels lost without a "dream" to pursue. Deok-sun moves through the stages of her youth alongside her male friends, and the mystery of which of them she eventually marries is a continual point of tension for viewers throughout the series.
Stoic and sarcastic, but with a secretly sweet heart. Jung-hwan is called Jung-pal by his friends. Jung-hwan is smart and athletic, often taking on extra feelings of responsibility to fulfill the dreams of his older brother Jung-bong, who has a chronic heart condition. While Jung-hwan doesn't often share his emotions with others, he feels things deeply and uses his sarcasm and attitude as a shield. He develops feelings for Deok-sun early but is reluctant to admit his crush, even as the right timing slips away.
A class president, caring brother, and dependable son to his widowed mother, Sun-woo is an ideal young man. He is devoted to his friends and dotes on his younger sister, Jin-joo. Like Deok-sun said in first episode, Sun-woo is the most "normal" between them. Sun-woo harbors a secret crush on Deok-sun's older sister that lingers into adulthood.
An internationally renowned genius Baduk player, Taek is the quietest of his neighborhood friends. Taek dominates on the Baduk board but struggles with simple everyday tasks. His Baduk success has brought money and fame but has left him distant from his age group, so he relies on his neighborhood friends for companionship, grounding, and a connection to other teens. Taek is generous to a fault and hesitant to make a fuss, but that hesitancy disappears in competition. However, when he realizes that the person he cares for has another admirer, he has to weigh romance against friendship.
The neighborhood clown, Dong-ryong loves to sing, dance, and play jokes on his friends. Like Deok-sun, Dong-ryong is not a natural academic, but his thoughtful insight and surprising wisdom serve him and his friends well. As the son of two working parents surrounded by tight-knit families, Dong-ryong sometimes feels neglected by his parents and makes up for their absence by acting out. He is known for his disgusting nature whilst with the group, much to the anger of the others. His nosy nature means that he ends up knowing many of the neighborhood's secrets before anyone else.
A fraud and security specialist at a bank, Dong-il fell into debt after lending money to a friend who never paid it back. He struggles to provide for his family as he wants to while paying off the debt, but does his best to give everything he can to his children. He and his wife, Il-hwa, argue a lot but love each other very deeply.
Il-hwa is a kind woman who spends much of her time with the other moms and caring for her family. She worries about her children and husband and shows much of her care by cooking massive quantities of food to share with her family and the neighborhood.
Ryu Hye-young as Sung Bo-ra (Deok-sun's older sister).
Bo-ra is a tough-as-nails college student who wants to become a lawyer. While outwardly stoic, she has a warm heart and shows compassion to those who need it most. Where Deok-sun struggles academically but excels at interpersonal relationships, Bo-ra is a stellar student who stumbles in social and emotional situations.
Choi Sung-won as Sung No-eul (Deok-sun's younger brother)
Dong-il's only son and assistant in his schemes, No-eul is a kindhearted young teen with a poetic, dreamer's mind.
Sung-kyun is a kind and humorous man who runs an electronics store. He loves to joke and play with the neighborhood kids, and generally keeps an air of joviality among the adults. Although he often seems childish and unhelpful to her, he adores his wife, Mi-ran, and hopes for good futures for his sons.
A strong lady with a tough past, Mi-ran is the indisputable empress of the Kim household. Worried and annoyed about Jung-bong and his constant academic failures punctuated by collecting obsessions, Mi-ran can sometimes come off as short-tempered. This short temper is really an expression of her anxiety and love for her children and family.
Ahn Jae-hong as Kim Jung-bong (Jung-hwan's older brother)
A student who failed his college entrance exam six times, Jung-bong would rather collect posters and stamps, solve Rubik's cubes and play arcade games than studying and thinking about his future. He has an often childlike personality and is easily distracted. Nevertheless, Jung-bong is kind, thoughtful, compassionate, and easy to like. He happily cares for the neighborhood kids including Jin-joo, Sun-woo's little sister. He is a surprisingly poetic romantic.
A kind young widow, Sun-young dotes on her children as much as possible, probably to try to make up for their father's absence. She struggles with her mother-in-law and does her best to keep the family afloat. With a sunny personality and an upbeat disposition, she is always looking for the best side of any situation and can make even the most bear-like person laugh.
Kim Seol as Jin-joo (Sun-woo's little sister)
A precocious toddler, doted on by everyone in the neighborhood. Jin-joo adores sausages, bananas and red bean buns. She loves her older brother but is a bit more reserved with others.
Taek's father and the owner of a watch store, Bonghwangdang, at the entrance to the alley. Moo-sung moved to the Ssangmun neighborhood after the death of his wife. He was adopted into the neighborhood family as he raised Taek by himself. Quiet and reserved, Moo-sung's unassuming exterior conceals hidden depths of emotion and compassion for his son, his friends, and the neighborhood as a whole.
Yoo Jae-myung as Ryu Jae-myung (Dong-ryong's father)
A dean at the local boys' high school, Jae-myung once harbored dreams of being a dancer. Now focused on shaping the men of the future, he does his best to keep his son in check while still enjoying his life.
A student born into a house of good wealth. A good friend to Deok-sun and Ja-hyun, she is practical and excitable. Gets in trouble with family after she starts dating someone from Deok-sun's neighborhood.
September 1988. One evening, five neighborhood friends, all born in 1971, watch "A Better Tomorrow II" in the bedroom of Taek, when one by one, their parents call them back home for dinner.
Deok-sun is the middle child of the Sung family, led by Dong-il and Il-hwa, that struggles to make ends meet. She fights a lot with her older sister, Bo-ra, who is a student at Seoul University, and is sometimes jealous of her younger brother, No-eul. Deok-sun demands her birthday celebration to be separated from her sister's, whose birthday is three days before hers. They live in a 'half-basement' home. Jung-hwan is the youngest child of the Kim family, a family of relative wealth, which lives upstairs to Deok-sun. Their breadwinner is Sung-kyun, an eccentric and often childish electronics store worker. The father's behavior is frowned upon by Jung-hwan and his mother, Mi-ran, and by nearly everybody except Deok-sun. The tech-savvy first-born son, the 24-year-old Jung-bong, refuses to study and angers Mi-ran further. Sun-woo is the oldest child of his family and lives with his widowed mother, Sun-young, and younger sister, Jin-joo, in the house up the street from Deok-sun's. His mother is a bad cook, but he approves of her cooking because it's hers. Across the street, Dong-ryong lives with two full-time working parents, Ssangmun High School's fearsome dean, Mr. Ryu, being his father. The families share and switch side dishes to go with their evening rice, sending their children to exchange those dishes. Taek, who lives next to Dong-ryong, goes downstairs and has dinner with his widowed father, Moo-sung; their dinner table is slowly filled with dishes their neighbors brought to them.
The neighborhood mothers discuss whether sons or daughters are best while preparing food. Dong-ryong and Jung-hwan confront a gang of people who want to steal their money to buy tteokbokki and lose their sneakers, after their classmate 'Michol' (nick-named after a Dooly the Little Dinosaur character)[12] has lost all of his money. Sun-woo involves himself in the case and hurts himself in a fight, and his mother is concerned about him, especially after finding his room empty after calling him for errands. She is concerned that her son had taken up smoking, but he comes home after buying a drink for his father's altar.
Deok-sun is preparing hard for her role as picket holder for the Madagascar delegation at the Seoul Olympics opening ceremony, about to be held on her 18th (Korean age) birthday. She struggles, but she is committed, practicing every night in the bedroom she shares with Bo-ra and in the streets after rehearsing. As she is one of only three high schoolers taking part in the event, the entire neighborhood is talking about her role. Stakes become very high when rehearsals start in the Olympic stadium. During a TV interview, Deok-sun finds out that Madagascar is part of the countries that refuse to take part in the games. However, her reaction in the television broadcast impresses the Olympic organisation, and she is reassigned to the Ugandan delegation. After fulfilling her role as a picket holder in front of the world, she comes home to her father, who gives her a separate birthday cake.
That night, the Sung family experience carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping and flee out of their house.
2
"The One Thing You're Mistaken About Me"
November 7, 2015 (2015-11-07)
N/A
Grandma, the mother of Dong-il, visits the Sung family. She tells her granddaughters about how she bore and raised two daughters and two sons, and how the oldest-born son worked jobs to earn money at a young age so that their father could study hard and become a banker. Deok-sun adores her.
The next morning, Deok-sun is late for school, but finds time to greet Taek on her way. Deok-sun is befriended with two classmates at the Ssangmun Girls' High, Wang Ja-hyun 'Joey Wong' and Jang Mi-ok 'Maggie Cheung'.
The parents joke about how everyone wants Taek, a Baduk player of the 6th dan, to be their son-in-law after he wins a major tournament with the equivalent of 50.000 dollars in prize money, enough to buy a high-end apartment. Bo-ra later comes home, and announces that her superior wants her to go on a trip.
The Seoul Olympics have come to an end, with Korea winning the largest amount of medals in their history. Dong-ryong, who has instant foods for his meals every day, complains how bad Sun-woo's meal is, to the disdain of the class president. The boys later play shirtless soccer, and Sun-woo impresses the opponent's captain. He is picked on for wearing his father's bracelet by the opponent, but defends himself. That evening, Dong-ryong plans to sneak into the cinema without tickets, but rethinks that and instead borrows an adult movie to watch at Taek's. The next evening, Dong-ryong, Sun-woo and Jung-hwan attempt to hitch a seat at the cinema, but they get caught.
At the girls' school, the juniors each get a different book about romance or another topic to read. Deok-sun panics when she hears she has to meet the headmaster. Instead of a punishment, she gets a phone call with bad news: her beloved grandma has died.
When arriving at grandma's hometown with her family, she is surprised that nobody, including her dad, feels down or saddened, happily eating Korean barbecue and drinking copious amounts of soju. Dong-il is instead happy to see family and friends again who he has not seen for a long time. Only after the first-born of grandma, coming all the way from a laundromat in the United States, arrives at the site, everyone breaks down.
The next evening, Dong-il is back in town, and asks Taek when he misses his mother the most. Taek, who lost his mother at the age of five, responds with a clear answer: every day. As the youths come together to celebrate his birthday, the episode flashes back to the 1970s, when they were toddlers. Taek moved to Seoul with his father after his mother died to cope with the loss, and despite his shyness, he was accepted as a friend by the other, much noisier kids.
Deok-sun fights with Bo-ra after she accuses her elder of reading her diary, which she still keeps with her to this day.
3
"Not Guilty If You're Rich, Guilty If You're Poor"
November 13, 2015 (2015-11-13)
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October 1988. Joey and Maggie congratulate Deok-sun with getting a boyfriend after assuming Sun-woo has a crush on her. She has in fact dated Sun-woo for the first time in the past summer. The girls practice hard for their performance at a school trip, with a cassette player at stake. Deok-sun is motivated, because she now has to share her player with her sister.
Dong-il gets mad after seeing boiled potatoes on the dinner table. Il-hwa is mad at him for spending all the little money that is left after paying expenses and debt on useless things and alcohol, instead of saving it. Dong-il then proceeds to say that sellers of useless things are sympathetic, as young as his children or reminiscent of his mother. Mi-ran is irritated with Sung-kyun to such an extent that she jokes about selling him off. Jung-bong is caught saving postal stamps instead of studying. Il-hwa tells Mi-ran that the Sung family is poor, because they are indebted. Moo-sung struggles with cooking meals for his son.
When she goes off with her school on the trip, Deok-sun is reminded to never lose her parents' expensive camera. When she finds out that she left the camera in the train, she breaks down, and her headmaster informs her parents calmly about this event. She continues the trip with a good mood. Meanwhile, No-eul is caught selling alcohol in the streets, and Il-hwa is concerned further. Sung-kyun buys an expensive jacket which he thinks is of good quality, only for his wife to easily break its zipper.
When Joey and Maggie attempt to venture into the boy's pavilion, they are injured after falling from a high ledge. Jung-hwan, Dong-ryong and Sun-woo are reluctant to replace them, but they accept the offer. They perform so well that they win the cassette player for their neighborhood friend. Deok-sun and Jung-hwan run off, but are being chased by master Ryu. They are driven into a small hole in the wall, where their bodies are pressed against each other. Deok-sun gets home, and is chased by an angry mother because of losing the camera.
Sung-kyun and Mi-ran talk about their past, when they were so poor they had to borrow money from everyone. It is revealed that they became rich overnight three years ago. When tofu was a luxury in the Kim household, Jung-bong was busy saving Olympic-themed lottery tickets, priced at the amount of money their house could be heated for three days. One of those tickets presented the family good fortune: they had won the jackpot.
4
"Can't help ~ing"
November 14, 2015 (2015-11-14)
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November 1988. Deok-sun and Jung-hwan miss the bus to school. The next day, they succeed, but it gets tumultuous in the full bus. In an attempt to stabilize herself, Deok-sun rips open the shirt of Jung-hwan in an embarrassing moment. As their final year of high school gets closer, the youths of Ssangmun spend more and more time in rooms dedicated to studying. They listen to music, study and fall asleep. Deok-sun has decided to study hard, but refuses to get tutored by Bo-ra.
The parents eat with the Kim family, where fried fish is served; a luxury for the Sung family. In order to get better at focusing, taking up Baduk is suggested for Deok-sun. She spends one evening with Taek, where she fails to remember the rules of Baduk.
It's Mi-ran's birthday, and the Kim family eat out at a pork cutlet restaurant. When Sung-kyun calls everyone for dinner, the family members appear distant to each other, and the family elder struggles to keep everyone together and in a good mood, while the waiter asks if he could take a picture of them as a souvenir. Dong-il is revealed to like marinated clams so much, he angers his wife over their absence at the dinner table. Tired of the fights between his parents, No-eul puts on the TV loud. After coming home, Sung-kyun tries to attract family members by buying premium ice cream, but finds the box untouched and the ice cream melted. Drinking in broad daylight, the ladies complain about their husbands' behavior, and deem Sun-young the luckiest one before suggesting she should be together with Moo-sung. The kids gather to get tutored by Bo-ra. She is gravely disappointed with the work attitude of most of her juniors.
Taek lost to a novice opponent, and has difficulties dealing with his very first professional match loss. The neighborhood friends come to help, skipping dinner with their parents to gather at his place. They say discouraging things to Taek, who soon realises they are jokes. They teach him to let things out by swearing, and they spend the rest of the night doing fun things.
Disappointed with the school grades of their middle child, Dong-il and Il-hwa eat at a restaurant together to cope. They see another couple loving each other, and that inspires them to get along. Sung-kyun gets further disengaged with the rest of his family. Jung-hwan realizes that, and greets his father the way the elder likes to greet Deok-sun, only to tell him he eats dinner elsewhere. His mood is lifted when his wife makes him a hot meal and asks him for soju. Similarly, Il-hwa cheers Dong-il up with freshly marinated clams.
Deok-sun tends to Jung-hwan when he stubbed his toe, and goes to school with him the next rainy morning.
5
"Ready for Winter"
November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
N/A
After former President and dictator Chun Doo-hwan apologizes for his actions, Seoul experiences a wave of renewed student protests. Dong-il is caught in these protests and gives his pocket money to a student to pay for his way home. The breadwinner gets home safely, but with Bo-ra nowhere in sight. Bo-ra later enters the living room and fights with her parents. In her room, she cleans up wounds on her forearms and checks a note for a follow-up meeting with a political party. When the mothers gather, Il-hwa assumes that her eldest daughter is taking part in the protests.
During recess, Sun-woo successfully re-enacts a popular commercial, but when asked to do it again, he falls and injures his ankle. Concerned about her son, Sun-young plans to cook him certain foods, but Sun-woo thinks she may not be able to afford the ingredients needed. She buys both of her children banana milk instead.
When an amount of briquettes are delivered to the Kim household that could warm their house for a thousand days, Sun-young defends herself against comments about her poverty and appearance. Mi-ran, who had to warm her house with firewood until not long ago, is concerned about the way Sun-young's mother-in-law treats her daughter-in-law. When Sun-woo's paternal grandmother pays a visit, Sun-woo politely declines any conversation, after which she talks down on Sun-young on her financial situation and how she lives in her house for free, on the pension of her son, after he died.
Deok-sun goes to the study room for the first time, but soon falls asleep. She dreams of being in a relationship with Sun-woo. At the meantime, Jung-hwan is asleep in front of the TV and dreams of being in a relationship with Deok-sun. Leaving the study room late, she manages to get a ride home under Jung-hwan's umbrella.
Mi-ran is irritated that the men in her house are lazy, dirty and incompetent in doing housework, or at least appear as so. A concerned housewife, she explains everything that needs to be done in the house in detail before she leaves home for the weekend to tend to her mother, who has injured herself. Jung-bong turns out to have extensive expertise in housekeeping. After Mi-ran leaves, the gentlemen do as they wish, finish the leftovers she ordered them to eat for dinner and clean the house in a hurry just before she returns. It turns out that they intentionally keep Mi-ran busy with tasks since she could afford to be a housewife.
Deok-sun is requested by her parents to study as hard as her older sister, when the latter is seen protesting in front on television. Bo-ra comes home, and her parents are enraged. She is grounded by her father, who guards the door of her room tightly to prevent her escape in the middle of the night. Her mother insists that she at least gets to eat.
Unlike her mother-in-law, Sun-young's own mother is a warmhearted person who cares about her children. She pays a visit to her, shows concern for Sun-woo, and brings in goods before having to leave quickly. Luckily, she has time to call her daughter by phone that evening. Jin-joo requests a banana from her mother, which costs a fortune in 1980s Korea. After receiving a hefty sum of money from her mother, Sun-young treats her children with a real banana.
One day, Il-hwa finds her daughters' bedroom empty and searches for her troubled daughter. Bo-ra is on her way to a conference with the protest group when she gets arrested. Only after her mother defends her firstborn child to the tooth by explaining that her child is the pride of the neighborhood, Bo-ra confesses to the police officer and her mother what she has done.
Jung-hwan sneaks into Sun-woo's room and finds out through dictionary notes that Deok-sun is having a crush on Sun-woo.
6
"The First Snow Is Coming"
November 21, 2015 (2015-11-21)
N/A
December 1988. Dong-ryong helps pack Taek's suitcase for his next tournament in China and requests him to buy pizza for his friends when he gets home. Taek instead insists that he watches a movie with his prize money. At the tournament, he is the only representative of Korea left, and he has a handicap of three dan against most opponents and six consecutive lost matches behind him.
Jung-bong regularly writes letters to the editors of the nationally broadcast radio program Starry Nights, and with his seventh college entrance exam upcoming, he gets several letters of his read on the show, in which he wishes good luck to Taek and praises Bo-ra. Taek makes it to the final round of the tournament, and Bo-ra saves his butt while he is confronted by two unruly, smoking men.
Jung-hwan finds out that Deok-sun plans to send a letter about her crush on Sun-woo to Starry Nights. Taek wins the tournament, and orders pizza to eat for his friends. During the pizza party, Jung-hwan asks Sun-woo to confess his love on the first day of snow. Instead of confessing to Deok-sun, he meets up with Bo-ra on the first day of snow. When she bawls her eyes out after realizing that Sun-woo has his eyes on her sister instead of her, the love letter she sent to Starry Nights is read aloud on the show.
Taek phones Deok-sun and asks her if she wants to see a movie with him.
7
"To You"
November 27, 2015 (2015-11-27)
N/A
The neighborhood's children play Secret Santa on the initiative of Jung-bong, who is collecting LPs and would like someone to buy a record he misses from his collection. Bo-ra does not like taking part in games, but Sun-woo insists that she still take part. Dong-ryong meets the fate of picking his own name.
The parents discuss which presents to get for Christmas. For long hours, they cannot decide how to play Santa for Jin-joo, who is purposely kept asleep. Sun-young tells the other parents that Jin-joo was told the previous year (by Bo-ra) that Santa does not exist, which the toddler later confirms. Nevertheless, the parents try to make her believe in Santa again, as only he can get what she wants: a snowman.
Sun-woo meets up with Jung-hwan, who insists to watch Die Hard with him later that afternoon. He declines, as he finds more value in studying. Jung-hwan then tells him that he found out about his relationship with Bo-ra, and is surprised that he does not like Deok-sun.
After the parents have decided what to get for Jin-joo, they all insist to leave, but Sun-young and Sung-kyun decide to order Chinese. Moo-sung is concerned that Taek won't eat dinner while he is training at the Baduk association, doing everything he can to bounce back from several consecutive losses. Il-hwa asks Deok-sun to order delivery for the entire block, while Sung-kyun and Mi-ran are fighting. Moo-sung waits outside the association, in streaming rain, for Taek to come.
During dinner, Dong-ryong is revealed to also know about the relationship between Sun-woo and Bo-ra. Jung-bong and No-eul are shown to be good friends. Jung-hwan sneaks into Deok-sun's bedroom to read an adult content book. Deok-sun comes in and is embarrassed about this. They exchange rumors about which person has drawn which person's name. It is revealed that Deok-sun has to buy a present for Jung-hwan. Moo-sung sits down for an interview about his son shortly before he leaves to Busan to compete.
Taek calls Deok-sun and asks what he could get for his father as a birthday gift. Deok-sun misinterprets this, thinking that he has picked her for Secret Santa, and asks for pink gloves. Mi-ran gets jealous of Sun-young because of the good-hearted, hardworking nature of Sun-woo compared to her own two sons. Instead of forcing Dong-ryong to sleep at home, Sun-woo puts him in a more comfortable position in the study room, as he understands that he does not want to sleep where his dad is. He then goes outside to meet Bo-ra. It rains, and Sun-woo does not want her to get wet, so he gives her his umbrella, much to her dismay.
Sun-young meets with Moo-sung after the interview. The interviewer had asked for his wife's conception dream and time of his son's birth, something fathers cannot answer. Moo-sung feels sorry for his son for not having an ordinary childhood and ordinary household, especially when it comes to food. Sun-young then tells him she saw him trying his very best to be a good father to his son, and Taek really appreciates that. Moo-sung then spends much of his time drinking. Taek goes home and brings his father a present: pink gloves. Moo-sung is very appreciative of this gesture.
Deok-sun meets with Joey and Maggie at a McDonald's, far away from Ssangmun, where they ask Deok-sun if a boy she knows could join the table, preferably Jung-hwan. Deok-sun is disgusted, but still calls Jung-hwan, which arrives at their table surrounded by a flattered Joey and Maggie. Deok-sun goes home with him that night, and he tells her that he has Taek as Secret Santa, to the unpleasant surprise of Deok-sun. On Christmas Eve, the teens watch the MBC College Campus Song Festival together (the series' title song wins it that year).
The parents discuss how exactly they would build the snowman they had promised Jin-joo, because upcoming rainy weather would make that very difficult. They come up with the idea to sculpt a snowman out of ice, since there is an ice vendor in the neighborhood, and they are not worried about rain on Christmas Eve. The sculpture is a success, however, it melts entirely, as it does rain on Christmas Eve. Sun-woo clarifies to the disappointed parents that Jin-joo referred to a waffle cone with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, and gets some for his sister at the nearby shop.
All teens have fulfilled their Secret Santa task: Jung-bong obtains the LP he wanted, Deok-sun gets a pair of pink gloves from No-eul, who reveals that Jung-hwan is her Secret Santa instead of Taek, and gives a pink shirt to Jung-hwan. Taek receives a video tape from one of his managers. On it is a part of the interview his father gave which was not aired on TV. In it, Moo-sung directs himself to his son and says 'I love you', regretting that he did not express such love to his son before.
8
"One Warm Word"
November 28, 2015 (2015-11-28)
N/A
Every morning, Moo-sung makes breakfast for his son and sweeps the street, this time showing off his pink gloves.
Deok-sun meets with friends at the tteokbokki shop. Joey and Maggie think that Deok-sun has a crush on Jung-hwan, angering her. When Deok-sun returns home, she finds her mother angered, because a large sum of money disappeared out of her wallet. Bo-ra immediately suspects her younger sister, while Deok-sun thinks No-eul did it. Il-hwa suspects that her son is in the rebellious phase of his life and does not blame him. Dong-il comes home late. Drunk, he is yelled at by his wife for using up his time and money to 'help out others'.
Jung-bong fails his college admission exam for the sixth time. Mi-ran is mad and disappointed, while Sung-kyun says failure is nothing to worry about and is still proud of his oldest son. The parents worry about his upcoming heart surgery: Jung-bong wears a pacemaker and needs to have its batteries replaced. The once-poor family can now afford the best hospital of the country to perform surgery on Jung-bong. The oldest son is still very scared and concerned that he would not make it, packing all his possessions in boxes in case for the worst.
Bo-ra and Sun-woo call each other. Sun-woo suspects that Bo-ra already has a boyfriend. The boys discuss how people show that they are attracted to someone. Bo-ra meets up with a good college friend, who reveals that she has kissed Bo-ra's boyfriend. Bo-ra sees her boyfriend and he tells her that he ends his relationship with her. Sun-woo remarks that it was Bo-ra that advised him to express his feelings when his father died two years ago, and formally begins his relationship with her.
For the surgery, Jung-bong needs to be sober and not consume any food for an extended period of time. Mi-ran brings festive foods to the hospital, which her son refuses to eat. Sung-kyun praises the strength of his wife. The night before the surgery, Mi-ran tells Jung-bong that he is very strong, having to deal with a heart condition since a young age, and breaks down in tears. The surgery is a success, and Jung-bong does not have to go under the knife for a decade.
No-eul is revealed to have a girlfriend: he calls her and meets with her. Deok-sun meets with Joey and Maggie, and sees her brother hanging around with a rebellious gang. No-eul cries, and while attempting to save her brother, Deok-sun starts a fight, involving his friends and her friends, and they get arrested. It soon turns out that the rebels are misjudged because of their unusual hairstyle. No-eul's girlfriend lives with her sister since their parents died in a car accident. To deal with the loss, she had taken up bad habits, while people around her said it was alright. No-eul was the first person to tell her that she should quit smoking, and that is when they fell in love.
9
"Crossing The Line"
December 4, 2015 (2015-12-04)
N/A
January 1989. Dong-il and Il-hwa warn their youngest children about kidnappers and low grades. Deok-sun is almost attacked by a kidnapper, who turns out to be Jung-hwan. The parents notice that Moo-sung is absent and his shop closed.
Starry Night organises a public jam session on January 11, with big names on the lineup. Deok-sun is particularly excited about this concert. She reluctantly attends the jam with Jung-hwan after the other boys reveal that they have other plans; the two get a picture taken at the concert together. Sun-woo continues dating Bo-ra, but struggles in connecting to her as a loving person, instead of Deok-sun's childhood friend. Bo-ra masks her dates, saying she meets up with fellow student protesters. The relationship fares well, despite the fact that Bo-ra is older than Sun-woo.
Life continues to be unfair for the widowed parents. Moo-sung is in Busan to pay respects to a friend of his who recently died at age 45, leaving behind a wife and 10-year-old daughter. He explains the harsh reality of life and death to another friend, who is grappling with grief and uncertainty. Taek stays home and eats with his neighbors. Sun-young receives a letter from the district court that her house, formally owned by her mother-in-law, would be taken from her and sold if she does not complete a payment of 10 million won. She is afraid of taking too much money and help from her fellow housewives to make ends meet. Shortly after Moo-sung returns home, he falls unconscious and collapses. Dong-il, who planned to have some drinks with him, arrives on time to call emergency services and save his life. This incident means that someone else than his usual companions must accompany Taek during his upcoming tournament in Shanghai. Moo-sung appoints Deok-sun for that task, assuming she likes his son.
Deok-sun receives a coveted passport and travels to China to assist Taek with his tasks. In the hotel, she becomes known as a chaotic, but cheerful and lovable young woman, who communicates the best she can with the Chinese staff to get everything according to her and Taek's wishes. Taek sleeps well without the abundance of sleeping pills he usually takes, and plays Baduk at his best. Deok-sun gets a picture taken with Taek at the hotel after the tournament.
Moo-sung and Sun-young are assisted by their neighborhood and faraway friends and family for their hardships. Moo-sung receives food and help as his motor skills are affected, and Sun-young receives the needed amount of money from her older brother. The widowed parents meet at the hospital. Moo-sung was surprised that Sun-young, someone he sees every day, did not inform him about her potential eviction. It is revealed that the two were childhood friends while growing up in the south-east of the country, and that Sun-young convinced him to move to Seoul after the death of his wife to prevent him from falling addicted to alcohol and his son to be left behind in life. Moo-sung lived in Gimhae at the time, and his clock shop is named after the neighborhood he used to live in, Bonghwang-dong.
10
"Memory"
December 5, 2015 (2015-12-05)
N/A
Deok-sun meets with Joey and Maggie, who consider going to a group date, at her house. They tell her that Jung-hwan appears to actually have a crush on her, judging on his remarks. Sung-kyun has bought a new car, much to the dismay of his wife. Jung-bong is crazy about Bubble Bobble and attempts to finish all of the game's levels on one coin, gathering angry elementary schoolers around him. Instead of playing at an arcade elsewhere, he persists, and as he runs away from the young boys mad at him for not letting them play, he crashes into Maggie and instantly falls in love with her.
Sun-young takes care of Moo-sung until he recovers and prepares him meals. She is concerned about him when he plans to help clear the table and do other tasks. Bo-ra is busy studying and leaves the ticket for a concert she planned to attend with Sun-woo on the desk of her study room. She rushes to the concert hall to bring the ticket back to him, but ends up attending the concert.
Sun-woo, Bo-ra, Jung-hwan, Deok-sun and Taek head to the beach, where Dong-ryong is also going. Deok-sun accompanies Taek throughout the trip, eating at cafes and playing Baduk against elderly men, who praise him for his skills. Taek and Deok-sun then go for a walk on the cold beach, when a volleyball shoots their direction; Taek protects Deok-sun from the impact.
Sung-kyun celebrates his birthday, but he is not as happy as usual. It is this time of year that he feels melancholic, as he longs to his mother every time he is served seaweed soup. He decides to throw out stuff he had put in boxes and stored somewhere. Mi-ran stumbles upon an old audio cassette from when the boys were still toddlers, and plays it.
Dong-ryong also celebrates his birthday. After being tasked to throw his own party with his parents' money for years, he is eager to finally get seaweed soup from his mother, Chief of an insurance company. As he comes home, he finds out it is the usual situation: his parents do not care about him. His friends throw him a birthday party instead.
Deok-sun asks Jung-hwan if she should go on a blind date with one of Joey's former classmates. He advises against.
11
"Three Different Prophecies"
December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)
N/A
Il-hwa, Mi-ran and Sun-young go to a fortune teller. She tells that Jung-bong awaits great fortune in life, causing Mi-ran to think that he will finally make it into a university this year. She estimates that Sun-woo is bound to do well, but Sun-young is destined to be more fortunate than her son. To Il-hwa, she advises her middle daughter to be called by the name Soo-yeon from now on, because it would increase her chances to go to a college in Seoul. At home, Dong-il disagrees with the prophecies of the fortune teller, especially with calling his daughter by another name.
Joey is sad because a boy dumped her. Maggie and Soo-yeon immediately know why: Joey has confessed her love towards him too soon. Jung-hwan asks himself if he could get a hold on Soo-yeon as he realises that Taek is a serious challenger. Mi-ran gathers the neighborhood for a meal of Hamburg steak. Soo-yeon is asked to drop the meal off at Taek's room, as he refuses to leave his room in preparation for his next match. Soo-yeon holds on tightly to her new name, determined to make it into college.
The mothers play Go-Stop. As they discuss playing against Mr. Ryu to the men, they are warned about the dean's cheating behavior. Sun-woo always insists to be the good son and eat dinner with his mother and sister every evening, no matter his schedule. To stretch the ends of her husband's pensions and simply have more to spend, Sun-young now works as a cleaner at a jjimjilbang every evening. She tries her best to not make her children realise. Dong-il, revealed to be an anti-fraud inspector at his bank, plays a match of Go-Stop against Mr. Ryu and soon overpowers the dean by barring him from cheating. The Kim family hears that Jung-bong has failed his college entrance exam again, leading to Mi-ran distrusting the fortune teller.
As Sun-young decides to work longer hours during the holidays, Moo-sung meets up with her more often, and babysits Jin-joo when she is working. As now, all Koreans are allowed to travel abroad, Mi-ran and Sung-kyun prepare to go vacationing in China for Lunar New Year. While Sun-woo and Bo-ra have their first kiss, Jung-hwan and Soo-yeon spend the night together, in one bed.
Sun-young tells Moo-sung that the fortune teller predicted "another son coming at her" next year.
12
"Loving Someone Means"
December 12, 2015 (2015-12-12)
N/A
February 1989. Between long hours of studying, Sun-woo and Bo-ra meet up as often as they can afford to. Aiming to keep their relation secret, they call each other up in the middle of the night one day, but the younger kids in the street notice. Taek notifies to his friends that he can confirm they are in a relationship, angering Soo-yeon. Bo-ra brings food to Sun-woo and they stay in his room until Sun-young comes in, while Soo-yeon joins the dinner table at Jung-hwan's.
Sun-young negotiates prices on the market while Moo-sung improves his relationship with Jin-joo, who is learning how to write. The mothers discuss their children's grades and school attitudes as they approach their last year of school. Jung-bong is in a letter writing frenzy, hoping that he can keep in touch with Maggie. Bo-ra tells Sun-woo she is studying to become an accountant to earn extra money, as teaching math would be difficult because, owing to her participation in the student protests, she now has a criminal record. Dong-ryong loans a tape with 'X-rated content' from Michael; he and Taek get scammed.
As the friends get together to eat cutlets, and Soo-yeon leaves for the toilet, a man with a long coat approaches her and shows his business. She manages to fend the man off by telling him he has a sausage too small to impress anybody, then breaks down in tears. Taek enters the lavatory to comfort her. Sun-woo is favoring Bo-ra over cutlets, and finds out that his mom is cleaning bathrooms all evening.
After sending countless messages to his beloved girl, Jung-bong finally gets a letter. He finds out that Maggie is unable to write back because she was in a severe car accident.
13
"Superman Has Returned"
December 18, 2015 (2015-12-18)
N/A
When walking down the streets with Jung-hwan, Soo-yeon has a shock encounter with her middle school crush. Back home, she is asked by Moo-sung to encourage Taek to eat, as he is facing his next tournament. Dong-il and Sung-kyun drink and play Go together, while Sun-young discusses remarrying. Bo-ra meets up with her friends while planning to meet up with Sun-woo, who is introduced to them as a younger sibling of hers.
Jung-bong sends chain letters to the kids in the neighborhood. The block gets threatened by a thief and chase him down, only to find out it was someone they know. The kids play Blue Marble, and Sung-kyun is busy trying to fix things, angering his wife by making things worse. Concerns about Taek grow when news of a plane crash comes out.
Dong-il and Il-hwa are having a medical checkup, paid for by the husband's employer. The wife is concerned that she has breast cancer. Dong-il and Il-hwa concern themselves so much, they could not gather the energy to make dinner for the household. Fortunately, the doctor finds out Il-hwa just has a pocket of water under her breast.
Jung-bong heads to the hospital to give a letter to Maggie. Inside is a special love note: the highly valued "Space Adventures" Blue Marble key card.
14
"Don't Worry, Dear"
December 19, 2015 (2015-12-19)
N/A
March 1989. Taek brings home fruit after winning the tournament and shares it with the neighborhood. Bo-ra studies hard, although Sun-woo alerts her about public holidays. The Kim family's clothes iron has broken down, and Sung-kyun manages to fix it, but as a result, the plug cord is too short for Mi-ran to actually iron clothes with it. Sun-woo builds a model plane for a school competition, using the instructions his father gave him when he was younger. He sees no problem with his mother working as his little sister grows up and gets taken care of by Moo-sung, as long as mom takes good care of her health. He later breaks down in tears, thinking about how hard his mother works for him, and he is not used to another man taking care of his mother and sister.
Dong-il comes home late again after binge-drinking at the local stall after work, where he met up with the person to whom he is indebted to. Dong-il comes home, and announces that his debt has been paid off. The next morning, Il-hwa cooks a feast for breakfast, and the children beg for sneakers as they are about to restart school. The parents talk to Bo-ra about how they regret not being able to support her financially back then.
Things are getting serious for the neighborhood kids now that they are in their final year of high school. Dong-ryong still refuses to focus on studying, and a new student takes her seat in the class of Soo-yeon. Maggie tells Soo-yeon and Joey she is going on a date with Jung-bong. They both arrive at the same restaurant, but take a seat on different floors, never meeting each other. After Jung-bong leaves out of frustration, Soo-yeon insists he return to the restaurant, and he succeeds in finding Maggie. The two have their first kiss.
Sun-woo thinks about his father often, and mentions that even though he likes soccer and gladly plays it with his friends who prefer the sport, his real passion is baseball and he has not been able to play catch with someone since his father died. The new student has an epileptic seizure while in class, panicking everyone in the classroom, except Soo-yeon. When recovering, she is ashamed of who she is, but Soo-yeon manages to make her feel comfortable. The mother of the new student trusted Soo-yeon to do the right thing if her daughter, Song-hee, would have a seizure, because the principal found Soo-yeon best suited for that job.
Sun-woo and Bo-ra are spotted dating again by Taek, as he tells Sun-woo that he likes Soo-yeon very much. As Sun-young and Moo-sung are getting closer to each other, and as Jin-joo has had an accident, Sun-woo misses his father more and more. Soo-yeon and Taek meet up with each other, and so do Jung-bong and Maggie in front of her mansion.
15
"Between Love and Friendship"
December 25, 2015 (2015-12-25)
N/A
Sun-woo takes Moo-sung to a field to play catch, and is surprised by how well Taek's father throws. As Bo-ra quits working, her parents reassure she is now in good hands. Dong-ryong is asked to order delivery once again for lunch, but Jung-bong makes him and his friends kimchi fried rice instead. Bo-ra blames her personality for her troublesome relationship with her father. Dong-ryong gets injured while riding motorbikes with Michol. Sun-woo reveals to Sun-young he likes Moo-sung. Taek's management team receives an unpleasant request of someone wishing to play Baduk with the prodigy, and hold a 30-minute interview with him about his relationship with his father.
Il-hwa tells Soo-yeon to study hard and make it into a university, as she will receive her odds of entering one soon. When she gets negative prospects, she breaks down in tears and apologises to her mother. She becomes the more determined to solve difficult math problems, asking Song-hee for help. At the meantime, Bo-ra is busy finding housing near her college to focus more on studying.
Sung-kyun is humiliated by the strength of Moo-sung and decides to start exercising, breaking his back while doing so. When he arrives at the hospital, the surgery rooms overflow with people injured in a car pile-up. Fortunately, he is able to get surgery on time with the help of Taek. Dong-ryong and Michol get arrested. The former is scared that his mother would scold him, but as she comes in, the opposite happens: she gives her son a hug. The next morning, she stays to have breakfast with him, as he tells his mom all the stories about his neighborhood friends she has missed.
Jung-bong is sent a chocolate bar with a message. By calling Maggie, he finds out that her father is very strict and he will have to date in secret.
The neighborhood friends watch a TV dance show in Taek's room. Dong-ryong and Soo-yeon happily dance along together, leaving Taek and Jung-hwan flabbergasted.
16
"Life is Ironic (Part 1)"
December 26, 2015 (2015-12-26)
N/A
The boys rumor that Taek will confess to Soo-yeon, as he plans to meet up with her the day after he finishes his next tournament. Moo-sung considers buying stocks, but Dong-il warns him. Jung-bong asks Soo-yeon what present he should give to Maggie, and starts folding a thousand paper cranes to have his wish granted. Meanwhile, Sun-young and Moo-sung grow closer to each other. Dong-ryong, who dreams of becoming a dancer, heads to a national dance-off competition, which sports a brand new car as its main prize. Bo-ra moves out to focus on her studies, and her parents try to hold back their concerns about her.
The ladies contemplate taking part in the KBS National Singing Competition upon the announcement of its return. Five years ago, they took part as a group, but they completely messed up their audition. Upon advice of her bedridden husband, Mi-ran decides to take part on her own. She practices relentlessly, only for the cassette of her song to be swapped with the advertisement tape of the eggs salesman. Dong-ryong also took part, and his Western singing style falls out of favor with the judges. Just one person from the neighborhood advances to the next round: No-eul auditioned with his classmate after being asked to sing in front of his class.
17
"Life is Ironic (Part 2)"
January 8, 2016 (2016-01-08)
N/A
April 1989. Graduation and the college entrance exams come ever nearer to the youngsters. Sun-young tends to an injured Moo-sung, while Mi-ran keeps being burdened by her husband. The boys play soccer while trespassing and get chased away; Taek carries away an injured Soo-yeon. Jung-bong and Moo-sung express their wishes for their close family members. Dong-ryong is hospitalized following a motorcycle accident and finally gets his mom's seaweed soup. Soo-yeon gets humbled when she visits Bo-ra at her dorm room. Relationships are broken in favor of education.
January 1990. The class of 1971 have finished their college entrance exams and have received their results. Jung-hwan successfully enrols in the Air Force Academy. Sun-woo receives a full scholarship for Yonsei University Medical School, to the enthrallment of his mother. Soo-yeon, now Deok-sun again, frequents a community college in a smaller town, together with Dong-ryong. Jung-bong finally gets accepted into college; law school will be the main occupation for the next phase of his life. Taek continues to be a fierce Baduk player, breaking three national records.
October 1994. Mi-ran learns to ride the bicycle, Sun-young lives with Moo-sung, and No-eul attends songwriting school. Dong-il is glad he has gotten rid of his monetary problems, but cannot get used to both his daughters working and not eating dinner with him every day. The parents await the return of their children, who meet up for the first time in years.
18
"Goodbye, My First Love"
January 9, 2016 (2016-01-09)
N/A
The neighborhood friends celebrate the birthday of Taek, who is now a player of the highest dan. Pagers, computers and CDs are all the rage now. Deok-sun is a flight attendant for Korean Air, Jung-hwan is an airman with the rank of second lieutenant. Sun-woo is an excellent medical student, who studies in a small group together with Michol. He studies all the time, and on the rare occasions he gets home, he often does not much more than sleep.
The parents discuss empty nests and wish for their children to start relationships. Il-hwa is increasingly concerned about the health of her family. Dong-il works until late seven days a week, as bank runs have become commonplace at his workplace. He announces that he might be better off resigning, as his job offers him twice the amount of retirement money if he does, but Il-hwa insists he keep on working.
Jung-bong does what he has always done: not studying. However, he proves to be a good houseman. He owns a computer and runs a chat room, and discovers that Maggie has anything but forgotten him. Sun-woo is forced to replace one of his fellow students on a blind date, which turns out to be with Bo-ra. They agree to restart the relationship. Deok-sun attends a concert, but finds no one to go with her. Taek and Jung-hwan rush to the concert hall to get the ticket.
The neighborhood friends now have time to meet up with each other regularly, and they do so as often as they can. They go out eating and drinking at Dong-ryong's barbecue restaurant. One meet-up, Jung-hwan offers Deok-sun his graduation ring; she leaves it on the table when they head home.
19
"You Did Your Best"
January 15, 2016 (2016-01-15)
N/A
No-eul and Jin-joo happily take part in dating gossip together with the parents. Deok-sun reunites with her high school friends at the old tteokbokki shop, with Maggie having her first meeting with the girls in six years because she was in the US all the time for college. Dong-ryong's mother does not easily get used to being a housewife and grandmother, so she takes up a job as a cashier. Taek meets up with Jung-hwan at the Air Force base camp in Sacheon before leaving for multiple tournaments. In China, he is welcomed and taken care of Deok-sun, who stops over there because of her job. Taek is revealed many sensitive secrets in those two meetings.
Dong-il perseveres through long working days, although he continuously tells his wife about his company's lucrative voluntary retirement plan. As his bank's senior employee, he is eventually forced to retire. He is at peace with his new life, but his employer does not show much gratitude towards him. Mi-ran is going through menopause and is having a hard time. Jung-bong commits to being a better houseman for his mother, and restarts his relationship with Maggie. When a wedding at Dong-ryong's place gets cancelled, the restaurateur gathers the street to his place for a barbecue on Mi-ran's birthday. To help her cope with her emotions, the party becomes a wedding anniversary for Mi-ran and Sung-kyun, and Dong-il too gets a surprise.
Bo-ra and Sun-woo have restarted their relationship, and it soon becomes clear to the neighborhood that things have started to become serious.
20
"Goodbye, Youth, Goodbye, Ssangmun-dong"
January 16, 2016 (2016-01-16)
N/A
December 1994. Sun-woo tells Bo-ra he intends to marry the next year even though he has yet to finish medical school. When rumors go through the street, they confirm that intention to their parents. Marriage is hard to approve, however, because the two have the same surname. However, law changes allow them do formally do so.
Sung-kyun and Mi-ran feel blessed having two sons that looked up to them instead of being ashamed when things were much tougher. They are proud of Jung-hwan, and support Jung-bong even though he has decided to quit college and start working at a nearby pub. Jung-bong meets Maggie's father, a renowned textile salesman who demands much from his daughter, as well as her boyfriend. The firstborn of the Kim family would go on to be a famous TV chef. The parents talk about their empty nest syndrome when their children leave their houses again, and about their plans to move out of the street.
When Taek and Deok-sun go on a movie date, they get the inevitable media attention. The two confirm they are in love with each other and start dating regularly. Moo-sung reveals that Dong-il sent Deok-sun to the Baduk association in an effort to improve her concentration at school, and Taek followed right behind her. Baduk was not a good match for Deok-sun, but Taek got so obsessed with the game, he became a professional player and the household's breadwinner when he was just a child. Moo-sung initially disapproved of his obsessive attitude towards the sport, but eventually supported him throughout his career, albeit silently and not visibly. Despite their many differences, Taek and Deok-sun have always been closely befriended, perhaps even more than with the other kids.
Late 1995. Seven days before the marriage, preparations are well under way. The Sung households give their best advice to their eldest children, who will both continue to work after the wedding. Sun-woo approves of Moo-sung being his stepfather.
Sun-woo and Bo-ra marry. When they leave for their honeymoon, Bo-ra and Dong-il trade letters to each other in appreciation. Bo-ra and Sun-woo are still happily together.
Soon afterward, the families who have occupied the Ssangmun neighborhood for many years move out to live in more attractive residencies, never to see each other again. The blocks where they used to live and raise their children into adulthood are now vandalized, deserted and abandoned, ready to be demolished. The lively atmosphere that once occupied these buildings is now a distant memory, which the Ssangmun residents share with many Koreans of their age.
Production
Leads Hyeri and Park Bo-gum in costume at a fan-signing event for the series, February 2016
Reply 1988 marked the third collaboration between director Shin Won-ho, screenwriter Lee Woo-jung and actors Sung Dong-il and Lee Il-hwa after Reply 1997 (2012) and Reply 1994 (2013). Kim Sung-kyun, who co-starred in 1994 also joined the cast. The first script-reading was held in August 2015.[13] Choi Taek, played by Park Bo-gum, was loosely based on the real-life Go player, Lee Chang-ho.[14]
Unlike the previous Reply series, 1988 focused more on filial bond than romance between characters with director Shin saying that most of the story was about family, and only a small fraction was about Deok-sun's love.[15]
Original soundtrack
Like its predecessors, the soundtrack for Reply 1988 also consists of remakes of old songs.
This drama airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
The series set a record by receiving over 200 million cumulative views within a month of its official online premiere in China.[58]
^"[TV톡톡] '응팔' 마이콜, '응사' 정우 소환? 미래가 궁금해" [[TV Talk Talk] Michol of 'Reply 1988' summons Jungwoo of 'Reply 1994'? curious about the future]. OSEN [ko] (in Korean). January 4, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
^'응답하라 1988' 드디어 베일 벗다… 대본리딩 현장 공개 ['Reply 1988' finally takes off the veil... Opening the script reading site]. Naver (in Korean). August 10, 2015. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
^Lim, Joo-hyun (October 10, 2016). 조진웅·이서진, tvN10 어워즈 대상..'응답하라' 싹쓸이(종합) [Jo Jin-woong · Lee Seo-jin, tvN10 Awards Grand Prize...'Reply' sweeps away (comprehensive)]. Naver (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
^Kim, Bo-ra. 박보검, 아시아 스타상 "'응팔'·'구르미' 사랑해주셔서 감사" [Park Bo-gum, Asia Star Award "Thank you for loving 'Reply' and 'Love in the Moonlight'"]. OSEN [ko] (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
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