Recently, this drama has been all over the place, and I couldn’t resist watching one episode after another…
Title: ‘Encounter’ (Korean: ‘苦盡柑來遇見你’)
Starring: Lee Ji-eun, Park Bo-gum, Kim Sun-kyung, Ko Chang-seok, Lee Hye-ran, Oh Jung-se, Nam Ki-ae
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 16
Rating: 9.4 on Douban
Set in the 1960s on Jeju Island, a place filled with fireworks yet bound by tradition. The female lead, Soo-jin, lost her father at a young age, and her mother, a haenyeo (female diver), risks her life diving deep into the sea every day to make ends meet.
Due to her mother’s remarriage and inability to support her, Soo-jin is sent to live with her uncle, who treats her poorly, like an unwanted weed.
In Soo-jin’s bleak childhood, the male lead, Jin-hyuk, is like a warm ray of sunshine.
When her uncle refuses to give her fish to eat, Jin-hyuk always sneaks an extra piece for her; when Soo-jin is upset for not being chosen as a class leader, Jin-hyuk quietly sits with her in the yard; after her mother’s death, with no one to talk to, Jin-hyuk follows her with a lunchbox, gently reminding her that crying on an empty stomach will make her hungry.
However, challenges of fate come one after another. During high school, Soo-jin and Jin-hyuk’s relationship faces obstacles due to societal prejudices. They bravely choose to elope, only to be harshly punished by reality. Soo-jin is expelled from school for ‘losing her virtue,’ while Jin-hyuk is lightly reprimanded, highlighting the suffocating gender double standards that leave a deep scar on their love story.
After a failed elopement, the two endure hardships and return to Jeju Island to get married, hoping for a peaceful life, only to face challenges from the in-laws and financial struggles.
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