‘When The Weather is Nice’ is a 2020 production by JTBC, written by Han Ga-ram and directed by Han Ji-seung. This drama is based on the Book “I’ll Go to You When The Weather is Nice” by the author Lee Do-woo.
JTBC has brought incredible productions to the small screen this year, and this drama was not an exception.
A Healing Drama
‘When The Weather is Nice’ tells the story of Mok Hae-won (Park Min-young) a cello teacher who decides to quit her job and go back to the small town where her remaining family lives. There she spent part of her teenage years after her mother was sent to jail for killing her husband (Hae-won’s father).
In this set-up she meets her former secondary school classmate and neighbour Im Eun-seob (Seo Kang-joon), a bookstore owner who has had a crush on her since they were very young.
Mok Hae-won returns to the guesthouse formerly owned by her grandmother, where her aunt Shim Myeong-yeo (Moon Jeong-hee), a former author, lives. She’s looking to take a break from her life in Seoul but she faces memories from the past which made her become a rather cold-hearted person.
Hae-won had a tough secondary school experience after classmates discover the reason why she is back in the town. Her unhappiness grew and she decided to end her life, but her aunt saved her thanks to Eun-seob’s call. From then on she decides to live and continue on with life and its misfortunes.
Im Eun-seob spent part of his childhood living isolated in the mountains, and was later adopted by a loving family after his father died. He is an insomniac and introvert, running his bookshop and writing personal stories and thoughts in his blog ‘Goodnight Bookstore Secret Post’.
Hae-won decides to stay in the small town for the winter season and takes on a part-time job at Eun-seob’s bookstore. Here, they get to know each other while comforting each other’s past wounds.
In the process of getting to know each other their feelings deepen and they start seeing each other. However, Hae-won will return to Seoul once the winter ends, sentencing this relationship to a short time.
Eun-seob knows this and he tries to enjoy the time he has with her, and writes his thoughts and feelings in his private blog. Hae-won discovers it and finds out about her being his life long crush and the feelings he has toward her.
This couple’s storyline development and growth was wholesome and adorable from start to end. They truly cared and understood each other, they knew their relationship was time bound and tried to make the best of it while they were together.
They healed each other through understanding, compassion and love that did not ask anything in return.
The happiness behind the simplicity of life
There isn’t anything extraordinary behind the life and personalities of the characters in this drama. They all lived in the small town and day by day they just enjoyed the small things in their life.
Eun-seob is surrounded by people who love and take pride in these small details. One of his closest friends Lee Jang-wo (Lee Jae-wook) works in the city hall and enjoys having these small details in life such as the occasional drink with friends, a book club meeting, the enjoyment of eating at the local restaurant and the assurance of having a job to go to every day.
Is the first time I have seen Jae-wook in such a lighthearted, carefree character and as usual his portrayal was natural, adorable and captivating.
Seeing characters that were so simple and yet so lovable made this drama extremely enjoyable and heartwarming. One of my favourite ones was Eun-seob’s sister Im Hwi (Kim Hwan-hee) a very clever secondary school student with the tendency of falling in love fast, however she is also really confident, straightforward and absolutely adorable.
The Truth behind the bars
This drama’s approach to an abusive relationship was heartbreaking, Hae-won’s mother Shim Myeong-joo (Jin Hee-kyung) put up for years with an abusive relationship out of empathy. She was constantly physically and mentally abused.
Her sister Myeong-yeo walks in on them having a fight, and while trying to stop it, finds herself being also hurt by her sister’s husband. While trying to run away from him she accidentally kills him, however, her sister takes the blame and makes her leave.
The psychological impact this situation had on the former author leads her to stop caring after herself, making her go blind in one of her eyes after not being treated. The guilt leads this character to take little care for her life and is basically consumed by unhappiness and loneliness.
Eventually, Hae-won finds out the truth behind her father’s death through a book Myeong-joo writes as a way to expose the reality behind her sister’s imprisonment. Myeong-joo wants to turn herself in but she is stopped from doing so by Hae-won, who asks her to live and deal with the guilt everyday.
The relationship of the Shim sisters and Hae-won is rather distant and somehow cold. They care about each other but do not express it in any way or form.
This family’s dynamic is very unique but understandable given their past and the way their life turned. I liked how these three characters interacted with each other, they were cold but honest and overall I felt they did care and loved each other but just didn’t know how to express it.
Final thoughts
‘When The Weather Is Nice’ is a healing drama, with stories and characters that are relatable, heartwarming and overall were just common people living life, trying to move on, love and find happiness in things that truly matter to them.
Having these types of characters could have dragged this already slow paced dramas, however, engaging writing and captivating stories made it very enjoyable. I loved how appealing the dialogues were and how rich the conversation in the book club turned.
On another note, the OST is fantastic and extremely suitable for the setting of the drama with soft vocals that felt perfect for this winter set drama.
‘When The Weather is Nice’ is available on Viki. You can watch the trailer below.
