Twinkling Watermelon
Twinkling Watermelon is a 2023 South Korean television series directed by Son Jong-hyun, and starring Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook, Seol In-ah, and Shin Eun-soo. It aired on tvN from September 25 to November 14, 2023, every Monday and Tuesday at 20:50 for 16 episodes. It is also available for streaming on Viu, Viki and Netflix in selected regions.
Synopsis
Twinkling Watermelon tells the story of a CODA boy with a natural talent for music, who fights with his father to pursue his dream of becoming a guitarist in a band. After the fight, he travels back in time to 1995. He joins a band with his childhood father and forms a band called Watermelon Sugar with the suspicious youths he meets there, and communicates with them through music.Plot
Ha Eun-Gyeol is the youngest son of a nuclear family, his elder brother and parents are deaf and mute. Eun-gyeol has passion and talent for music, which he develops further with a lonely old man who runs a guitar shop. Eun-gyeol secretly performs in street busking shows and becomes a part of a band.While performing on a stage show, Eun-gyeol is caught by his father Yi-chan who is disappointed to hear he dreams of a career in music. In an outburst of anger, Eun-gyeol tells him he's not their family interpreter and can not live only to satisfy his expectations. He decides to quit music after the altercation and attempts to sell his guitar at a mysterious shop and gets transported back in time to 1995.
He meets Yi-chan as a highschool student and is astonished to see he does not have speech or hearing impediments. He befriends him, joins his band and makes it his mission to ensure he does not get into an accident that caused him to lose his hearing. Yi-chan is pursuing music to impress Choi Se-Kyung, a popular cello player. He stumbles across Yoon Chung-Ah, who is extremely reserved.
Choi Se-Kyung's behavior changes almost overnight, being more outgoing and bubbly with Yi-chan and his friends. Eun-gyeol learns his mom Chung-Ah is mistreated by her stepmother and is prohibited from learning sign language. He convinces her father to let him teach her sign language. Eun-gyeol later learns Se-Kyung is actually Eun-yoo who also time travelled like him. Gradually, Eun-gyeol and Se-Kyung develop feelings for each other and so do Chung-Ah and Yi-Chan.
Eun-Gyeol thwarts multiple dangerous situations that risk Yi-chan's life. He also helps Chung-Ah's father bond with her better and expose the stepmother and her children for mistreating her. Despite all of Eun-Gyeol's efforts, Yi-chan gets severely wounded in a car accident while attempting to save Eun-Gyeol. He loses his hearing and is heartbroken but Eun-gyeol persuades him to never give up.
Shortly after, Eun-Gyeol is transported back to his present life and is initially disappointed that he couldn't save his father. But, he learns that the school band had not grown apart. Chung-Ah's dad had helped them financially and best of all, Yi-chan still pursues music, overcoming his disability. He also meets and reunites with Eun-yoo.
Cast
Main
- Ryeoun as Ha Eun-gyeol
- * Jung Hyeon-jun as young Ha Eun-gyeol
- Choi Hyun-wook as Ha Yi-chan
- * Choi Won-young as adult Ha Yi-chan
- Seol In-ah as Choi Se-kyung / On Eun-yoo
- * Lee So-yeon as adult Choi Se-kyung
- Shin Eun-soo as Yoon Chung-ah
- * Seo Young-hee as adult Yoon Chung-ah
Supporting
Band members
- Ahn Do-gyu as Oh Ma-joo
- * Kim Hyeong-beom as adult Oh Ma-joo
- Yoon Jae-chan as Kang Hyun-yul
- * Song Chang-eui as adult Kang Hyun-yul
- Lee Ha-min as Lee Si-guk
- * Ryu Soo-young as adult Lee Si-guk
- Lee Soo-chan as Noh Se-bum
- * Jin Tae-hyun as adult Noh Se-bum
Eun-gyeol's family
- Choi Won-young as Eun-gyeol's father
- Seo Young-hee as Eun-gyeol's mother
- Bong Jae-hyun as Eun-ho
Snail Boarding House
- Go Doo-shim as Go Yang-hee, Yi-chan's grandmother and the owner of boarding house.
- Lee Seok-hyung as Jung Bal-san, a college student at a boarding house run by Yi-chan's grandmother.
People around Eun-gyeol
- Chun Ho-jin as Choi Hyun / Grandpa Viva
- * Park Ho-san as younger Choi Hyun
- Jung Sang-hoon as master of the mysterious musical instrument store La Vida Music. Through the store, Eun-gyeol and Eun-yoo time travel to 1995. He keeps in touch with both time travelers through their dreams by calling them on phones, even broken ones.
- Woo Je-yeon as On Ji-hwan, a second-year student at Myeongsae University Medical School who serves as vocalist and guitarist for the band Golden Scalpel. He is Choi Se-gyeong's boyfriend and later her husband, and also Eun-yoo's father. However, their marriage falls apart because of their different approaches to parenting.
People of Jinsung Instruments
- Kim Tae-woo as Yoon Geon-hyung, Cheong-ah's father who is the chairman of Jinseong Musical Instruments. As a businessman, he frequently travels so he has no idea how abusive Cheong-ah's step mother is.
- Kim Joo-ryoung as Lim Ji-mi, Cheong-ah's live-in tutor and later stepmother who serves as chairwoman of Seowon Arts High School Foundation. She uses harsh methods to torture Cheong-ah, who will be the next chairwoman of Jinseong Group.
- Kwon Do-hyung as Yoon Joo-yeop, Lim Ji-mi's biological son and Cheong-ah's stepbrother.
- Lee Soo-min as Yoon Sang-ah, Lim Ji-mi's biological daughter and Cheong-ah's stepsister who is a student at Seowon Arts High School. She looks down on poor boys no matter how handsome they are.
Others
- Koo Jun-hoe as Goo Jun-hyung, the main vocalist of Spine 9 who senses hears Eun-gyeol's musical talent and attempts to recruit him into his band.
- Yeon Oh as Jeong Ji-oh, Spine 9 bassist.
- Han Min as Bae Soo-tak, Spine 9 drummer.
- Kim Jun-hyung as Yoon Dong-jin
- * Yoon Do-hyun as Yoon Dong-jin, Chuncheon National University legendary guitarist.
- Kim Ye-ji as Mira Lee
- Kim Mi-hwa as the Landlady
Special appearances
- Kim Hae-jun as Choi Jeon, the DJ of a tteokbokki restaurant.
- Park Han-sol as Eun-ho's girlfriend