“One More Time” (헤어진 다음날)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
September 12, 2019

Yoo Tan (played by L / Kim Myung-Soo)
Moon Da-In (played by Yoo So-He)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

I wanted to like this series, but I couldn’t find many redeeming qualities. The male protagonist was smoking hot, but awful to his girlfriend. The girlfriend was drop-dead gorgeous, but too much of a doormat.

“One More Time” was Kim Myung-Soo’s first lead role. Best known to K-Pop fans as L from the group Infinite, he certainly had the look of a singer-songwriter-guitarist down pat. With a better script and direction, he could’ve really done something with this part. But as it was, Tan was an unsympathetic character who was old enough to be responsible, but too immature to give up his rock ‘n roll lifestyle to pay off his considerable debts.

Yoo So-He played Da-In, his girlfriend of seven years (as well as his band’s keyboardist). A talented songwriter, she wants to share her music with Tan, but he is uninterested in hearing it. Yes, I get that he’s frustrated and angry that his group isn’t the success he thinks it should be. But treating his girlfriend as a nuisance isn’t going to solve any of his problems.

Despite his mood swings, she cleans his apartment, lays out medicine for him to take and makes homemade food to fill his fridge. He appreciates none of this and discards all her banchan. (Idiot.)

It’s not a spoiler to say that they break up early in the series, because the entire conceit is built around the day after their breakup. Speaking of which, it was one of the more cruel breakups, with Tan telling Da-In that he pretty much hates everything about her — even sleeping with her.

What happens next is basically “Groundhog’s Day” with a tragic twist. Every morning he wakes up is October 4, and he spends each day trying to rectify the mess he has made in his life.

There’s also a Grim Reaper who appears in the shape of an elementary school age girl. She’s actually at least 200 years old. Inexplicably, she still refers to Da-In as unni (older female). It didn’t make any sense. She wasn’t trying to pass herself off as human to people, who might question why a child was talking impolitely about a woman in her mid-20s.

For a better series that gives Kim a chance to really show off his acting range — and showcases empowered female characters — check out the superior K-Drama “Ms. Hammurabi.”

Airdates:

The series debuted on KBS2 on October 26, 2016. There were a total of eight half-hour episodes.

Spoiler Alert:

Remember how I told you that every day after their breakup is October 4? Every evening, Da-In dies, putting Tan in an endless cycle of despair, trying to figure out how to keep her alive.

Halfway through the series, viewers learn that Da-In had a brain tumor. She was expected to die as a teenager, but she outlived her parents, who tragically died in an accident while she was still in high school. After meeting Tan, she made a pact with the Grim Reaper that as long as she and Tan are in love, she will remain alive. During the early stages of their relationship, he showers her with attention and her tumor stops growing. This explains why she put up with some of his dismissive behavior. She loved him and perhaps thought that if she put up with his surliness, he would continue to love her back, too.

© 2019 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved