A healing drama, quiet yet deeply resonant, has arrived to cool the midsummer heat. "For First Love," anticipated for bringing together actors Yeom Jeong-ah and Park Hae-joon, appears to be a work that transcends a simple love story to depict the restoration and healing of relationships. A sad yet beautiful story, set to moisten viewers' emotions with its lyrical atmosphere that harmonizes with the summer night, has begun. This drama is poised to make us reflect once more on the true meaning of love and the preciousness of family.
When the keyword "terminal illness" appeared in the drama's official introduction, many would have naturally predicted a tragedy for the main leads, Yeom Jeong-ah or Park Hae-joon. Granting a tragic fate to the central character is a long-standing formula in dramas. While such predictions can heighten initial engagement, "For First Love" refreshingly subverts these expectations, delivering a fresh shock.
The terminally ill patient at the heart of the story is none other than the protagonist Lee Ji-an's (played by Yeom Jeong-ah) only daughter, 'Lee Hyo-ri,' played by actress Choi Yoon-ji. The setup—a promising medical student diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor—foretells a different dimension of sadness and pain than if the protagonist were facing the ordeal herself. This hints that the drama will deeply explore the story of a woman confronting the cruelest fate imaginable: having to watch over her daughter's final days from a mother's perspective.
The mother, Lee Ji-an, is a character who has lived a tough life to raise her daughter alone. As a site manager who commands male colleagues at a rugged construction site, her life has been filled with sacrifice and devotion for Hyo-ri. She poured everything she had into the hope that her daughter would become a doctor and live a stable life. However, one day, her daughter suddenly submits a letter of withdrawal from medical school and leaves for a quiet country village. Ji-an initially dismisses it as a childish rebellion, only to soon face an unbearable truth.
Ji-an, who went to the university to pay the tuition her daughter had left behind, discovers the withdrawal and, engulfed in anger and a sense of betrayal, rushes to the village where her daughter is staying. There, the bolt-from-the-blue news she hears from her daughter's own lips—that she has a terminal brain tumor—causes her world to collapse. The drama begins by showing the mother and daughter finally facing each other in this most desperate moment, heralding their painful yet earnest journey of relationship recovery.
The drama's title, "Love Take Two" (첫, 사랑을 위하여), holds multiple meanings with a single comma. It likely doesn't just refer to a youthful, innocent "first love." For the mother, Lee Ji-an, her daughter Hyo-ri may be the "first love" to whom she first poured out her entire heart and who was her very reason for living. The title carries a dual meaning, encompassing both Ji-an's potential reunion with a lingering first love from her past and the process of the mother and daughter rediscovering their profound love for each other.
A fateful connection was waiting in the country village where the daughter fled. This is the character 'Ryu Jeong-seok,' played by Park Hae-joon. Coincidentally, he was Ji-an's senior in high school, and it is hinted that he may have been the object of her secret crush. The reunion of these two, who meet again after decades at their most difficult moment, adds another layer of emotion to the drama, creating a tender and poignant atmosphere.
The story deepens through a web of complex relationships. It reveals Ji-an's hidden past of overcoming prejudice and hardship as a single mother, and the strained relationship with her daughter Hyo-ri, who, consumed by her studies, never truly connected with her mother. Adding to this is the potential for a subtle romance to blossom between Ryu Jeong-seok's son, Ryu Bo-hyeon (played by Kim Min-kyu), and Hyo-ri, suggesting a story of love, wounds, and reconciliation that spans two generations.
Above all, the chemistry between the actors is highly anticipated. Yeom Jeong-ah, an actress you can trust to deliver, will solidly anchor the drama with her profound performance, navigating between a strong, resilient exterior and heart-wrenching maternal love. While the role of a terminally ill patient is undoubtedly a challenge for newcomer Choi Yoon-ji, she is expected to grow as an actress through a powerful synergy with the veteran Yeom Jeong-ah.
Notably, Yeom Jeong-ah is set to capture viewers' hearts with a character that is humane and warm, a 180-degree turn from the cold, ambition-driven character she plays in the concurrently airing drama "iShopping." Furthermore, attention is focused on what kind of touching chemistry Park Hae-joon—who has showcased a sincere and earnest charm in previous works—will create with Yeom Jeong-ah. The synergy between his pure acting and her poignant emotional portrayal is eagerly awaited.
In conclusion, "For First Love" will not remain a simple tearjerker that uses a terminal illness merely to evoke sadness. It is expected to be a healing drama that warmly depicts the restoration of a broken mother-daughter relationship and the rekindling of a forgotten first love, all set against a beautiful countryside backdrop where they meet and connect with various people. Produced as a 12-episode series and available on Wavve, it has made a smooth start with decent ratings from its first episode. It is hoped that this drama will leave a deep, lasting impression and warm comfort in the hearts of all its viewers.
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