Wonderful Life
Synopsis:
Han Seung-wan (Kim Jae Won) is a student at the Flying Academy. His one dream in this world is to become a pilot. He leads a relatively carefree life and is in love with Lee Chae-young (Han Eun Jung), his high school sweetheart. Chae-young is in Singapore and is seeing Min Do-hyun (Lee Ji Hoon), the youngest son of a wealthy family. Seung-wan is not aware that Chae-young is seeing someone else and decides to fly to Singapore to surprise her on her birthday.
Jung Se-jin (Eugene) is on the same flight to Singapore, incidentally sitting next to Seung-wan. She has worked hard to save money for her trip, all to say farewell to her deceased "first love" who died, apparently trying to save a tourist in Singapore at Sentosa Island.
Seung-wan and Se-jin land in Singapore - both are excited. They bump into each other while trying to rush out of the airport. Seung-wan grumbles that he is hurt and Se-jin apologizes. He stands up to leave but not before accidentally stepping on her pocket-watch and breaking it. They argue and Seung-wan reasons to Se-jin that since she bumped into him first causing him to hurt himself, they were now even for. With that, he rushes off - inadvertently picking up her passport when he mistakes it for his own.
Outside the airport, Se-jin inspects her broken watch and in anger kicks a luggage trolley - which hurts Seung-wan! Se-jin tries to run away from Seung-wan by hiding in a taxi. She sees Seung-wan and gets out of the taxi - only to leave her belongings in the taxi. Seung-wan boards the same taxi taking her belongings with him!
Se-jin discovers that she has Seung-wan’s passport and an address in Singapore that he had written on a post-it when she goes to a police post to report her loss. She eventually makes her way to the address where Chae-young is staying. She arrives at Chae-young’s apartment only to discover that the elevator is out of order. Do-hyun helps her and carries an exhausted Se-jin up to Chae-young’s apartment, much to Chae-young chagrin. Chae-young is annoyed to learn that Seung-wan is in Singapore and deliberately leaves the apartment to avoid Seung-wan. She tells Se-jin to let herself out after she gets her passport back from Seung-wan. Se-jin realises that Chae-young is double-timing.
Seung-wan and Se-jin meet again at the police station when Seung-wan is arrested for attempting to break into Chae-young’s apartment wearing a Spiderman suit! Seung-wan forces Se-jin to accompany him to look for Chae-young when Se-jin blurts out those Chae-young is double-timing. They go around the tourist sites of Singapore “in search” of Chae-young to clarify the matter (of her double-timing)! Se-jin spots Chae-young walking intimately with Don-hyun at the Esplanade and turns Seung-wan’s attention away. They end up in a cable-car to Sentosa Island and Se-jin expresses her fear of the sea. Seung-wan laughs at her until he spies Chae-young and Do-hyun together in another carriage. Se-jin tries to comfort him.
Se-jin tells Seung-wan the story of her lost love and Seung-wan realises that he broke the pocket-watch that Chae-young’s first love had left her. Seung-wan takes her on a plane ride and gives her an opportunity to say good bye to her lost love in the air.
Seung-wan and Se-jin end up spending the day together comforting each other. They inadvertently spend the night together.
In the meantime, Don-hyun tells Chae-young he is not interested in a woman who double-times. If she had chosen to be with Seung-wan, he might have re-considered being with her. Chae-young is angry but tries to be nonchalant about the situation.
Back in Korea, Seung-wan discovers she is pregnant. She tries to tell Se-jin but he is too engrossed with getting back with Chae-young that she changes her mind. She leaves to have the baby alone. Before she leaves, she gives him a folded paper airplane with the words ‘Remember the name Han Shin-Bi”.
A year later....
A year later, Seung-wan is back with Chae-young - who is still scheming to be with Don-hyun. At Seung-wan’s father’s birthday celebrations II-jin (Se-jin’s older sister) appears with a baby and tells the story of how Seung-wan had gotten her sister pregnant and left her to give birth to the baby alone. She lies that her sister passed away giving birth to the baby on a cold winter’s day. Seung-wan denies that the child is his, even to the extent of saying that he had been with Se-jin in January and that if the baby was his, she should have been born in October - and not on a “cold winter’s night” as II-jin has claimed. He gets hit by his father for saying that. A DNA test subsequently confirms that the baby is his.
Se-jin is alive and well. On the advice of her priest, she had gone away for a short break. She comes home and sees her mother crying - Seung-wan’s father had sent a wreath of Se-jin’s mother to comfort her for her loss of her daughter, while promising to bring up Shin-bi. Jae-kyung thinks that Se-jin has died and is heartbroken. Se-jin goes to Seung-wan’s home to get Shin-bi back. The two families then decide that Seung-wan and Se-jin should get married. Both Seung-wan and Se-jin are against the idea but upon realizing that he cannot cope with the baby alone, Seung-wan tells Se-jin that he wants to marry her on the condition that the couple enter into a marriage contract with the following conditions: (1) that the duration of the marriage be five years, (2) their child will choose which parent she wishes to live with in the event of a custody battle, (3) each party is free to live his/her own life without the interference of the other, and (4) that they have separate rooms.
After the wedding, the couple adjust to life together with a baby. It is not easy for them as they try to juggle school, a new home, a baby and money problems. Se-jin realises that she has to give up her dreams of becoming a diplomat as she is unable to concentrate on her studies. Seung-wan continues to meet with Chae-young much to Se-jin’s chagrin. Don-hyun and Chang-myung move next door to the couple. Don-hyun, who is attracted to Se-jin, watches quietly and offers her a listening ear whenever she is upset with Seung-wan.
Seung-wan and Se-jin are unhappy together. Se-jin feels as if all her dreams have left her but she is willing to do anything for Shin-bi although she feels that Seung-wan is not living up to his responsibility. Seung-wan feels that having the baby has robbed him of his youth and opportunities but he realises that Se-jin is hurting as well. Seung-wan receives his enlistment notice and realises that he will have to leave Se-jin to look after the baby alone. To earn money for a special present for her, he works very hard at his father’s construction company and ends up with bruises and sores every night. Se-jin sees his bruises and assumes that he got into a fight for Chae-young and is disappointed. Further misunderstanding ensues when Seung-wan takes the money Se-jin’s father left her mother for Chang-myung’s mother’s operation. He assumes that his mother had given Se-jin the money when they got married. Se-jin discovers the money gone and assumes that Seung-wan had taken the money to buy Chae-young presents as she is leaving with Don-hyun for further studies.
Seung-wan feels bad when he learns the origin of the money but Se-jin does not give him a chance to explain himself. She later learns he has been enlisted and is angry with him for leaving. They part at the train station, she is still angry with him. She arrives home to see that he has sent flowers to her for her birthday and that he had included a trip to Sentosa for her. She later discovers the truth about the money as well and feels really remorseful for being angry at Seung-wan.
4 years later....
Shin-bi is now 5 years old. Seung-wan has been discharged from the army and is back at the Flying Academy. The young family has been receiving financial support from Seung-wan’s parents all this time. Seung-wan teaches Shin-bi to tell her grandfather that she loves him with little hand actions in the hope that his father will continue to finance them. Seung-wan’s plan fails when Shin-bi blurts out the terms of the marriage contract in front of the Han family.
Bum-soo is livid and chases the couple out of the house. He tells them that until they learn to be responsible, they will not be allowed to see Shin-bi. He will support Shin-bi but not Seung-wan and Se-jin. They will have to find a way out themselves.
With their electricity cut off, the couple think of ways to keep warm and spend a lot of time huddling together. They miss their daughter and in some way, they grow to like each other but each is afraid to express their true feelings.
Chae-young returns to Korea. Things have not gone well between her and Don-hyun. She realises that Don-hyun had offered to take her away with him only to keep her away from Seung-wan for the sake of Se-jin. When she vows to win back Seung-wan, Don-hyun is appalled and tells her that he will not sit about doing nothing if she tries to break up Seung-wan and Se-jin.
As Bum-soo is no longer supporting them financially, Se-jin has no choice but to look for work to pay the bills. She chances upon “KidsBear” - it is Don-hyun’s family enterprise and Chae-young is also working for him. Chae-young takes the chance to create a misunderstanding between Seung-wan and Se-jin by telling an already suspicious and jealous Seung-wan that it was Don-hyun that insisted on Se-jin applying for a job at the company. Seung-wan is upset when Se-jin is accepted for a job at KidsBear and more trouble ensues when he assumes that Do-hyun and Se-jin had a secret rendezvous while on a company assignment. Chae-young creates more misunderstanding when she filters this information to Seung-wan's family.
Shin-bi is teased at school for being the product of “playing with fire”. There is a scene where Shin-bi tells a little chick that she is just like the little chick, born without love.
The couple is constantly at each other’s throats and they live in misery. They have grown to love each other but they are not able to express their feelings as the struggles of daily life take a toil. The couple is brought closer together when Shin-bi is diagnosed with leukemia and in the end achieve an understanding and respect for each other. Shin-bi tells her parents that it is all right if they quarrel - it is not that they hate each other that they quarrel but that they love each other too much.
The story ends when the happy young family of 3 go on a trip to Singapore. Shin-bi realises that she was conceived in a moment of tenderness and perhaps love.
Characters:
Han Seung-wan is a student at the Flying Academy. He is the youngest son in the Han family. His elder brother and sister-in-law are doctors but they have been unable to have children. Seung-wan’s parents are pinning their hopes for grandchildren on Seung-wan. His carefree days are numbered when he finds himself the father of a baby girl, the result of a one-night stand in Singapore.
Jung Se-jin is an undergrad student who dreams of becoming a diplomat. She works hard to support herself. She never had a chance to say good bye to her childhood sweetheart who died while working in Singapore. So she works to save up money for a trip to Singapore. Her world is turned upside-down when she meets Seung-wan at the Singapore airport. They end up having a one-night stand and she finds herself pregnant when she returns to Korea. Her dreams for a normal life are dashed as she has to adapt her hopes and aspirations.
Min Do-hyun comes from a wealthy family. His half-siblings belittle him because he is the son of the third wife. His mother died when he was young and his eldest half-brother constantly reminds him of how his own mother had “abandoned” him. He is a lonely but kind soul. His circumstances have not made him bitter and he constantly tries to help Se-jin. He is in love with her but he is willing to sacrifice his own happiness to see her happy. He constantly encourages Se-jin and this gets Seung-wan jealous. Do-hyun finally helps Seung-wan understand his own feelings towards Se-jin.
Lee Chae-young is Seung-wan’s high school sweetheart. She is pretty and underneath her arrogance exterior, she is a lonely and lost soul. Her mother was a kept woman before marrying a wealthy Japanese industrialist. She was ostracized by her classmates for being poor and the child of a “prostitute” - all except for Seung-wan. For all of Seung-wan’s devotion to her, Chae-young does not know how to reciprocate and instead, strives to look for what she perceives is better. She realizes a little too late that Seung-wan is the only one who was truly devoted to her and tries to win him back despite the fact that he is married. She finally learns the meaning of love from Shin-bi.
Cast:
Kim Jae Won as Han Seung-wan
Eugene as Jung Se-jin
Lee Ji Hoon as Min Do-hyun
Han Eun Jung as Lee Chae-young
Joo Hyun as Han Bum-soo (Seung-wan's father)
Sun Woo Yong Nyeo as Yoon Tae-hee (Seung-wan's mother)
Kim Hye Ok as Pyo Jae-kyung (Se-jin's mother)
Choi Joon Yong as Han Seung-pil (Seung-wan's older brother)
Yoon Hyun Sook as Baek Hyun-joo (Seung-pil's wife)
Kim Hyo Jin as Jung Il-jin (Se-jin's older sister)
Kim Seung Min as So Chang-myung (Seung-wan & Do-hyun's flying academy classmate)
Jung Da Bin as Han Shin-bi (Seung-wan and Se-jin's daughter)
Review:
There was nothing wonderful about "Wonderful Life" but the drama grows on you. I felt that the storyline was too angst-filled. Perhaps that is the essence of life itself - you just have to face it whether you like it or not and make the best of the situations that befall us all day to day.
There is the usual Korean drama storyline in "Wonderful Life" - boy meets girl, boy likes another girl, boy and girl are forced together through circumstances, (aha - but there is a way out) the quintessential marriage contract, boy’s ex-girlfriend trying to break the couple up, another boy who likes girl but is too late to express his feelings for her, boy is jealous of other boy for liking girl but is too proud to express his feelings to girl, someone has leukemia... The pace of the drama could have been a bit faster though.
I would have loved Se-jin to have ended up with Do-hyun. I felt he was more worthy of her love than Seung-wan. He was willing to forfeit his own happiness to see that Se-jin’s marriage to Seung-wan worked out by taking on Chae-young. The fact that Chae-young changes from being selfish and scheming in the end is somewhat comforting. There is hope that both Do-hyun’s and Chae-young’s wounds have found a healing antidote.
The little girl who played Seung-wan’s and Se-jin’s daughter is awfully cute. There is a cute scene where she reveals to Do-hyun that her father had taught her all these actions - “I love you”, “I miss you” to find favour with her grandfather!
