Recap Korean Drama "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha" Episode 5

Jul 18, 2022

Episode 5 of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha begins with Hye-Jin waking up next to Du-Sik. As she sneaks out the house, she believes she’s in the clear… but she’s not. She’s spotted leaving, sending rumours abuzz across the small town as everyone learns what the pair have been up to.

Hungover and struggling to remember the details from the night, the visions slowly start to come back. Pole dancing, playing with a ship’s wheel on the dock and messing about in the outdoor gym are but a few of the activities she’s ended up engaging in.

Hye-Jin eventually heads out in the morning, on her way to the clinic. Only, in doing so Du-Sik shows and questions why she didn’t do the dishes. The small crowd growing “ooh” and “aah” over this development, eventually watching the pair heading out to breakfast together. There, Du-Sik finally learns what’s going on.

Outside, the gang have second thoughts about the relationship, especially the brash way Du-Sik wipes Du-Sik’s mouth. Believing it all to be a misunderstanding, the gang decide to leave them in peace. Instead, the gang discuss who has the upper-hand and who is the better prospective match – Du-Sik or Hye-Jin.

Mi-Seon even gets involved in the conversation too, as the crowd gets bigger and discusses their relationship.

After breakfast, Hye-Jin does the same. She tells Du-Sik frankly that they’re not a good match as he looks pretty hurt by this revelation. When Hye-Jin does head into work though, Mi-Seon echoes some of the town concerns, including three unresolved mysteries.

While the first is in regards to Yeong-Guk and Hwa-Jeong’s divorce, the other centers on Chief Hong’s whereabouts for five years. The third mystery? Well, that remains unknown right now.

What is known however, is that Du-Sik heads around town taking pictures of the townsfolk and neighboring area. Only, he notices a man there taking pictures too. After saving him from certain doom, as he looked set to slip and fall down, Du-Sik learns that this is Sung-Hyun.

After checking out the view of Gongjin from high above, he invites Sung-Hyun into the restaurant for food. However, the pair disagree over the best tasting dishes.

Back in town, it turns out Yo Cho-Hui is going to be the new elementary school teacher. Now, given the closeness of everyone here, Yeong-Guk’s ex teaching his child seems like a recipe for disaster for Hwa-Jeong. Yeong-Guk even messages her too, although she doesn’t text back given it’s late at night.

The next day Hye-Jin heads in for her meeting at school but finds herself with a substitute assistant in Mi-Seon’s absence… Du-Sik. The pair do a good job teaching the little ones but soon the questions turn to Du-Sik and Hye-Jin’s relationship. Thankfully, the tension is thwarted by I-Jun, who does a good job saving the pair.

Tensions are high between Yeong-Suk and the two women too, as Hye-Jin comments how this is like a love triangle. Attention soon turns to Du-Sik and Hye-Jin’s relationship and, more specifically, how compatible they are together. Du-Sik admits that there’s more to life than a mathematical equation. Still, that doesn’t stop them from scribbling sums all over the table.

As the rain starts falling outside, Du-Sik takes the opportunity to take Hye-Jin outside by the hand. The pair play in the rain, pushing each other into the sea as they laugh and joke together. It’s a way of reinforcing that sometimes the spontaneous moments in life are the best.

And as Du-Sik reaches out and touches her head, Hye-Jin remembers a moment from her drunken night where she leaned forward and kissed him.

In the wake of this though, we cut to an epilogue where Chief Hong speaks to a therapist and admits that he’s still suffering from nightmares. And just like that, the scene cuts to a bloodied hand holding onto his shoulder.

The Episode Review

It’s clear that something traumatic happened to Du-Sik in the past but quite what that could be remains a mystery for now. One thing’s for sure though, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is shaping up to be one of the best weekend k-dramas of the year.

The balance between comedy and romance is so on-point and the different characters have enough depth and charisma to carry this show.

While the central plot point is still the will they/won’t they romance for Du-Sik and Hye-Jin, there’s equal emphasis on Yeong-Guk and his relationship too.

Likewise, the relations between the different residents across town works really well to highlight the diversity in Gongjin, which ultimately goes a long way to make this such a memorable series.