Moon in the Day 2023 K Drama Episode 1

Episode 1 of Moon in the Day opens 1500 years in the past where The Great Gaya betrayed Silla. During an expedition ordered by the king, a warrior named Do Ha fights and manages to attack the Gaya general, ending the infernal war. Han Ri-ta is the daughter of the deceased General killed by Do Ha.

Do Ha executes the remaining family members of the General but Ri-ta manages to escape. She watches as Do Ha kills the remaining members of her family and decides to kill him. After multiple attempts of trying, Ri-ta is finally successful. However, Do Ha’s vengeful spirit continues to follow her everywhere she goes. Ri-ta ends up giving her life by drowning in a river.

The episode moves to the present time where Ri-ta’s reincarnation is in the form of Kang Young-hwa, a firefighter. She wakes up from a nightmare and her colleagues tell her that she needs to see a doctor as she looks sick. Young-hwa ignores her health but has to rush on a distress call when an old building catches fire.

Despite her failing health, Young-hwa manages to resuscitate a puppy who was trapped inside an apartment with its owner. Young-hwa’s merit is featured on the news and she is called the Miraculous Firefighter.

That night, Young-hwa goes back home on the train and ends up sleeping on a monk named Hae-in’s shoulder. She misplaces her phone which Hae-in manages to collect for her.

Hae-in wonders if he has seen Young-hwa somewhere and she tells him it was probably on the news. He senses a poltergeist behind Young-hwa and recalls how he had seen Young-hwa as a child when he was a young monk in the monastery. At the same time, Joon-oh, the reincarnation of Do Ha is an actor who plays a firefighter in his new ad film.

Joon-oh keeps throwing tantrums on set which causes his director and manager a lot of trouble. Joon-oh tries to flee from the shoot to go on a date with his girlfriend – Jung Yi-seul. Yi-seul tells Joon-oh that she is only dating him because he is a top star.

Meanwhile, Beginning Entertainment staff discuss what they should do about the latest scandal involving Joon-oh. Han Min-o asks the lawyer to pay off the paparazzi in order to keep the news of Joon-oh’s relationship a secret. On the other hand, Joon-oh decides to throw a party to celebrate his 300th day anniversary with Yi-seul.

After shopping for hours, Joon-oh runs into a fellow actor Goo Tae-joo. The two rival actors have an argument and Tae-joo finally reveals that he had signed a new drama with Yi-seul. Joon-oh is restless after the revelation and is worried sick wondering why Yi-seul has kept the news a secret from him. His manager, Jang Yoon-je, suggests that the actress probably wanted to split up from Joon-oh.

Joon-oh meets Min-o and throws another fit there, threatening to reveal the truth about his relationship with Yi-seul if she stars in the historical drama with Tae-joo. Joon-oh calls Min-o out for firing Mr Seok and leaves the room in a hissy fit.

Attorney Go enters the room right after Joon-oh’s exit and Min-o asks him if he knows where Mr Seok is. As it turns out, Mr Seok is the man whose dog Young-hwa saved.

That night, Mr Seok is released from the hospital and thanks Young-hwa for how she helped him. He hands over his business card to Young-hwa and offers to repay her kindness. Young-hwa reads the card and learns that Mr Seok is the CEO of Beginning Entertainment.

The firefighters discuss how Mr Seok is wearing an old, worn-out luxury suit as if he were stuck in the past. They also notice how Mr Seok’s dog was incessantly barking at Young-hwa. That night, Young-hwa is about to wake up from a nightmare when Do Ha’s ghost tries to pat her on the head to calm her down.

A flashback shows how Ri-ta used to sing Do Ha to sleep. Back to the present time, Do Ha’s spirit manages to calm Young-hwa down. On the other hand, Joon-oh is celebrating his 300th day anniversary with Yi-seul. Joon-oh throws a tantrum, asking Yi-seul to let him star in the drama instead of Tae-joo. Yi-seul refuses to let Joon-oh have his way and leaves.

The next morning, Joon-oh is late to his shoot when Manager Yoon-je finds him still sleeping. Yoon-je reads a note on Joon-oh’s head left by Yi-seul wherein she states that she has decided to break up with him. Joon-oh manages to get to the shoot where he meets Young-hwa who is being awarded for her merit.

Joon-oh and Young-hwa have an awkward interaction during which Joon-oh belittles Young-hwa’s profession. She gets angry at him and decides to teach him a lesson by snatching his phone. Young-hwa takes his phone away after which Joon-oh chases after her. She twists the actor’s arm and asks him to apologise to her.

Joon-oh threatens to report Young-hwa and the two part ways on an angry note. However, Joon-oh tells Yoon-je how Young-hwa had twisted his arm. After seeing a huge bruise on the actor’s arm, Yoon-je goes to reprimand Young-hwa. At the same time, Min-o is at the hospital when he finds out that Joon-oh has been suffering from a rare type of blood cancer.

Due to the intensity of the illness, Joon-oh only has a few days to live. Min-o is saddened by the news and decides to make Joon-oh happy in his final days. He calls someone and orders to have Tae-joo’s scandals leaked. Joon-oh, on the other hand, is alone in his van when he falls unconscious. He faints on the steering wheel and the van starts to move. 

Young-hwa, who was nearby, notices the van sliding into the ocean and jumps in to save Joon-oh. She somehow manages to break open the glass and rescues Joon-oh, who is taken out by other firefighters. Young-hwa ends up losing consciousness underwater but the mysterious spirit of Do Ha helps wake her up.

After coming to the shore, Young-hwa watches the firefighters resuscitate Joon-oh. When the firefighters are not able to wake him up, he is taken to the hospital. There, Young-hwa makes a prayer and wishes for Joon-oh to come back to life. She somehow passes out from exhaustion and is taken into urgent care.

Meanwhile, the doctors try their best to bring Joon-oh back but fail. They declare him to be dead and Min-o leaves to arrange for his funeral. In the morgue, Joon-oh suddenly wakes up with Do Ha’s spirit in his body. He leaves the morgue to see Young-hwa who is admitted to the same hospital.

The episode ends with Joon-oh suddenly hugging Young-hwa while holding a knife in his hand with the pretext of killing her. 

The Episode Review

This looks like an interesting drama and after seeing Kim Young-dae and loving him in Shooting Stars, I am Joon-oh’s character will be a hit with fans. The other character that he plays, Do Ha resonates with his tsundere acting from Extraordinary You and Penthouse and it’ll be exciting to see this duality. 

After watching Pyo Ye-jin as the diligent hacker, Ahn Go-eun in Taxi Driver Season 2 recently, it is surprising to see her as a clumsy main lead. I hope her character as Young-hwa is much more than a damsel in distress, as her character, Ri-ta, seems extremely promising. This show has a good start and hopefully this continues as the story progresses.