Twinkling Watermelon (2023) K Drama Episode 1

Episode 1 of Twinkling Watermelon starts with Eun-gyeol and his brother Eun-ho getting coffee for the two of them. Since Eun-ho is deaf, Eun-gyeol places the order for his brother and the two boys leave on their bikes a while later.

A flashback takes us to when the boys were younger and we see that alongside Eun-ho, their parents were both deaf as well. Eun-gyeol is the only hearing member of the family and the two brothers help their parents run a small restaurant.

Eun-gyeol acts as an interpreter for his parents when they want to communicate with people around them. When their vendor brings in leftover produce for the restaurant, Eun-gyeol helps his mother communicate with the man and warns him against trying to fool his family just because of their hearing disability.

That night, Eun-gyeol wakes up to the sound of snow and choirs singing and tells his mother it’s Christmas Eve. The family of four go out to play with snow when Eun-gyeol notices his brother in danger and uses a laser beam to draw his father’s attention. Eun-gyeol’s father manages to save Eun-ho and all four of them rest for a bit. Eun-gyeol asks his father a tricky question, wondering who the father would save when both his sons are in trouble.

Eun-gyeol’s father tells the family that when his wife and both his sons were in trouble, he would save Eun-gyeol because he would manage to get external help to save their entire family. Eun-gyeol is initially happy but then upset because of his father’s explanation.

Eun-gyeol and his family then move out of their trailer and rent a basement apartment because of their monetary constraints. Their new landlady is a mean woman who asks her son to befriend Eun-gyeol because he’s a smart kid. 

Initially, Eun-gyeol is not happy leaving his brother out but enjoys the attention he is getting from his ladlady’s son – Byung-ho. One day, Eun-gyeol is playing with Byung-ho at a gaming arcade. He decides to go back home after his father calls him home later that day. A few days go by and Eun-gyeol joins the same school as Byung-ho.

There, Byung-ho tries to bully Eun-gyeol into making him cheat in the exams so that he could get better grades. Eun-gyeol does not listen to Byung-ho and writes his own name on his paper. Byung-ho and his friends beat Eun-gyeol up and he is upset. On his way back home, Eun-gyeol sits by the forbidden Viva Music Instrument shop.

The owner of the shop, Grandpa Viva, invites Eun-gyeol in and offers him some hot chocolate. He plays some music in the meantime and notices how Eun-gyeol had a ear for music. Grandpa Viva offers some advice to console Eun-gyeol and asks him to stay away from friends that treat him badly. Grandpa Viva asks Eun-gyeol to come to his shop and offers to teach Eun-gyeol how to play the guitar for free.

Eun-gyeol starts playing the guitar and much to Grandpa Viva’s surprise, he learns how to play the instrument well in no time. He manages to scare Byung-ho off and continues to take regular lessons with Grandpa Viva. One day, Grandpa Viva poses a challenge to Eun-gyeol and asks him create a song out of a melody. In exchange, Grandpa Viva tells Eun-gyeol he would give him the electric guitar he had his eyes on.

That afternoon, Eun-gyeol goes back home and on his way back, he sees that Byung-ho was punished by his mother. Eun-gyeol gives his jacket to Byung-ho and goes back home. He learns that his parents were called for a meeting along with other shop owners in the vicinity. His prarents tell Eun-gyeol that he should stay home and take care of his brother who was down with fever.

Eun-gyeol checks up on Eun-ho once in a while to make sure he is sleep but then starts composing the song for his challenge. Byung-ho tries to ring the bell to return the jacket but Eun-gyeol who is wearing earphones is not able to hear the bell ring. Byung-ho opens the window beside the bed that Eun-ho was sleeping in and throws the jacket inside. He kicks a burning cigarette bud which accidentally lands inside Eun-gyeol’s house.

The curtains by the window catch fire but Eun-gyeol, who is unaware of the situation goes to the music shop to meet Grandpa Viva. He tries to knock on the door and ask Grandpa Viva to open the door but there is no answer.

At the same time, the fire fighters are called in to stop the fire from spreading as the basement had already caught on fire. Eun-gyeol’s parents come back and are shattered to see that both their kids were trapped in the house.

The firefighters bring Eun-ho out of the apartment and tell his father that there was no other child inside the house. Worried about Eun-gyeol, his father goes inside the apartment to look for his younger son despite the raging fire. Eun-gyeol comes back home and is worried. He runs to his mother and tells her that he’s okay, but his mother is upset with Eun-gyeol for leaving his brother unattended. 

Eun-gyeol’s father comes out of the house disappointed and shattered at first but is relieved to see that his younger son is fine. He is taken to the hospital along with Eun-ho. Despite knowing that her son Byung-ho was behind the fire, the landlady kicks Eun-gyeol’s family out of her apartment.

Eun-gyeol is guilty about the incident and thinks about the fact that him being obsessed with music is what caused the incident at his house. He recalls how his father had pledged to save him in time of crisis because he was the only speaking person in their family of four.

Before leaving town, Eun-gyeol goes to meet Grandpa Viva and learns that he had passed away on the night of the fire. He sobs on his way to the new apartment and pledges to act responsibly for the sake of his family. 

Years go by and Viva Music Instrument shop is closed down after Grandpa Viva’s house is taken over by a cello player – Choi Se-kyung’s mother. Meanwhile, Eun-ho grows up to be a taekwondo fighter. Eun-gyeol helps his brother train in order to focus on his game. He notices that Eun-ho is distracted by the female attention he receives online.

Eun-gyeol tells his brother that he needs to stop thinking about the girl he is dating and focus on his game. Eun-ho tells his brother that the girl he’s dating is a Cello player who attends the art school nearby. He also tells Eun-gyeol that his girlfriend had initially pretended to be deaf but then come clean about her lie. Eun-ho also adds that the girl is pretty, and that they exchanged cute notes and thus fell in love.

At the same time, we see that Choi Se-kyung is the girl Eun-ho was talking about. Se-kyung and her friends go to have some ice cream at a local shop where Ha Yi-chan, a his classmate, works as a part timer. Yi-chan has a crush on Se-kyung and gives her a lot of free ice-cream to charm her.

However, Yi-chan is chased by his grandmother who is trying to beat Yi-chan up for causing chaos in order to earn some money instead of going to school like a normal teenager.

Eun-gyeol and Eun-ho get home that evening and their mother asks the boys to put their father to bed after he has too much to drink. Before passing out, his father tells Eun-gyeol he’s very proud of his sons, especially Eun-gyeol who’s going to be a doctor. He tells his younger son that he’s highly respected among his friends for raising a diligent boy.

That night, Eun-gyeol tries to study but is burdened by his father’s comment. In order to blow some steam off, he picks up his guitar and puts on a face mask. 

The episode ends with Eun-gyeol playing the electric guitar at the side of the street as he recalls the lessons he got from Grandpa Viva.  

The Episode Review

From the first episode itself we can see that something about this show is suspicious. The makers have intentionally avoided telling us the real names of Eun-yeol’s parents because of the fantasy element that could unfold new characters from the past. The preview for the next episode shows that Yi-chan actually is Eun-gyeol’s father so we can be sure that Eun-gyeol’s father was not deaf by birth.

It is difficult to make any assumptions but from what we can see, Yi-chan has a crush on Choi Se-kyung but she seems to be connected to Grandpa Viva. With so many theories swimming around, hopefully this show gets good ratings as it looks like a promising fantasy romance drama!