The strange thing about life is that it carries on. The Seo family, grappling with grief after the death of their loved one and mother, Kim Mi Ran (Jang Hye Jin), find themselves at a strange crossroads.
Jun Kyung (Seo Hyun Jin) finds herself drawn towards her neighbor, the free-spirited musician, Do Hyun (Chang Ryul). Yet she questions whether she should even allow herself to feel this way. Is it fair? Does she even deserve to open herself up to someone new?
On the other hand, her father, Seo Jin Ho (Yoo Jae Myung), is weighed down by guilt as he goes ahead with a trip to Jeju Island that he had planned with his wife, Mi Ran. He tells himself he is only going because the tickets were already booked, but beneath that justification lies an unspoken struggle to move forward. It is during this journey that a cheerful guide, Jin Ja Young (Yoon Sea), slowly draws him out of his shell.
Meanwhile, Jun Seo (Lee Si Woo) remains adrift. Uncertain about what he wants from life, he continues to be influenced by his girlfriend. He falls back on his loyal best friend, Ji Hye On (TWICE’s Dahyun), but is oblivious to her feelings. His aimlessness stands in contrast to the quiet emotional shifts happening around him.
With everything that’s happened, here are four moments that capture how the Seo family navigates their way around love and loss.
Warning: spoilers from episodes 3 and 4 ahead!
Jun Kyung pulling away from Do Hyun
Jun Kyung finds herself drawn to her easygoing neighbor, the free-spirited musician Do Hyun. Even as she comes up with every possible reason why he is all wrong for her, the pull between them is undeniable. She tells herself to take things slowly, yet the connection deepens almost effortlessly. Do Hyun’s warmth, his lack of judgment, and his ability to simply let her be begin to soften the walls she has built around herself. At one point, she even asks him to move in temporarily, a quiet sign of how close she has allowed him to come.
As the loneliness that has long surrounded her begins to lift, unease sets in. Jun Kyung confides in a friend that everything feels too good to be true. She questions whether she deserves happiness so soon after her mother’s death and whether allowing herself to feel this way is a betrayal of her grief. Over time, she has conditioned herself to live with loneliness, believing it to be safer than the risk of loving someone again.
That fear surfaces when she opens up to Do Hyun about her past and her complicated relationship with her mother. When he reveals that he has a son, the moment unsettles her deeply. To Jun Kyung, it feels like confirmation that the relationship was never meant to last. She pulls away, convinced that heartbreak is inevitable.
It is only later, through a conversation with her friend’s husband, that she begins to see the truth. He gently points out that it is not Do Hyun she is running from but her own fear of vulnerability. In confronting this, Jun Kyung realizes that loving Do Hyun may well be worth the risk.
Ja Young and Jin Ho finding comfort in connection
Jin Ho forces himself to travel to Jeju alone, a trip that was meant to be a celebration of his 37th wedding anniversary with Mi Ran. Instead, every detail of the journey becomes a reminder of what he has lost—the hotel room meant for two, the places they were supposed to visit together, and the quiet absence that follows him everywhere.
Overwhelmed by grief, Jin Ho initially withdraws, choosing solitude over conversation. However, the tour guide, Ja Young, gently draws him out of his shell, encouraging him to step outside and engage with the world around him. She asks him to observe the people they meet, to imagine their stories, and to understand that everyone carries their own burdens. In her own way, she reminds him that life continues, and that perhaps he, too, deserves moments of lightness.
As they talk, Ja Young opens up about her own loss, about losing her husband and the years she spent trapped in grief, unable to live the life they had once dreamed of together. She speaks of the realization that life, fleeting as it is, must still be lived. That it is meant to be experienced, not endured.
Through her words, Jin Ho begins to confront his own sorrow and the guilt he carries—the feeling that he failed his wife by not doing enough, by not cherishing their time together fully. In a quiet, deeply emotional moment, he imagines her reassuring him, telling him to let go of the guilt and to continue living. It is a small but profound release, allowing him, at last, to consider a life that moves forward without forgetting what he has lost.
Jun Seo trying to save himself
Jun Seo’s way of coping is chaotic and self-destructive. He seeks comfort in his girlfriend, a rising performer, who remains largely unaware of the depth of his grief. She insists on him throwing her a birthday party at his home while his father is away. He is clearly uncomfortable but goes along with it, convincing himself that this is how he is meant to move on. At one point, he quietly puts away a family photograph, a small but telling act that reveals how much he is suppressing things. As the night unfolds, it becomes painfully clear that he does not belong in this space. What is meant to be a distraction only deepens his sense of loss.
The following day brings little relief. His academic work is rejected, and he is told bluntly that his writing lacks direction and that his family is wasting time on his education. As he struggles to process this, his girlfriend brushes off his concerns, far more invested in her own ambitions than in what he is going through. Her need to control things, even down to how he dresses, only highlights how far he has drifted from himself.
The person he turns toward during difficulty is Hye On, his childhood friend who offers him a sense of grounding. She misses his mother more than he does and patiently proof-reads his long winding assignments. Hye On simply shows up for him, but he takes her for granted.
However, these moments make it clear that the person Jun Seo needs to confront is himself. It is his own reluctance to face what he feels, which makes him waver more.
The Seo family starting on the road to healing
A poignant moment brings the Seo family together in a quiet, deeply moving way. Jun Kyung and her brother discover that the resting place they had chosen for their mother is no longer available. Unsure of what to do, they consider calling their father, who is still away. When they finally speak to him, however, he sounds calm and at ease, and neither of them finds the heart to burden him with the news. Instead, they tell him to enjoy his time away, with Jun Seo even apologizing for having earlier resented his father for going to Jeju.
When the three of them eventually sit down together, the conversation is gentle and unguarded. There is no anger or blame, only an unspoken understanding that each of them has been grieving in their own way. As they choose a new resting place for Mi Ran, surrounded by quiet and stillness, a sense of peace settles over them. In that moment, they come to accept that grief takes many forms and, despite their differences, they remain connected, learning, at last, how to move forward together.
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Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram