Once Upon a Small Town (K-drama), Season 1, Episode 2: After introducing us to the police officer as an ordinary civilian in the last episode, the show picks up from that point, further taking us deeper into people’s lives in the beautiful, picturesque Huidong. Life in this town is straightforward, and the people here are even simpler. It is not difficult to find the resemblance between these people’s personalities and people we know personally. And even though their heartwarming personalities can be overwhelming these people here live life to the fullest and believe in showing love unconditionally.
Want to know more about what transpired in the second episode of Once Upon a Small Town? Follow the article for a detailed look at the K-drama. Be warned, the article contains spoilers, please read at your discretion.
ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN (K-DRAMA), SEASON 1, EPISODE 2 RECAP:
During a routine announcement for the safety of the people, the town head mentions that Director Han’s grandson has arrived and will be taking over the hospital. He requests everyone to take special care of him, as a part of a welcoming gesture for him coming to the town.
On the other hand, we see the local officer recalling her ‘weird-meet’ with the snooty doctor while looking at a note penned by Han Ji-yul in an old book. The letter states that he wants to be her secret friend again upon his return. She says it is impossible because he doesn’t even remember her.
Moving ahead, Ji-yul starts a new day at his grandparent’s house. He has grown so used to life back in Seoul that simple things in this town make him feel strange. While running, everyone notices Ji-yul and starts a conversation, asking about his whereabouts. Not used to so many people around him because of his hectic-independent life back in the city, he gets overwhelmed with the constant curiosity that the people have for him.
On his way, he shortly encounters the women association leader and her two members fuming over something. Without giving him any context, they ask him if he is on their side or their opponents – Majeong, with whom they have an ongoing quarrel. However, they immediately conclude that he will always support them like his grandparents.
Upon reaching the house with a bunch of potatoes that a lady offered on his way, he sees a small child coming out of the house. When he learns that Seon Dong opened the door and let himself in to get his ball, he suggests that it is not polite to go inside someone’s house like that and that he should ring a bell instead.
When Ji-yul confronts Seon Dong, the local officer arrives at the scene. Seeing a familiar face by his side, the child starts crying out of fear of getting scolded. However, Ji-yul tries to explain that he is not scolding the kid. While comforting the child, the police officer suggests he should play in Director Han’s house once they return. The child passes a comment implying that Ji-yul has the skill to tell something noteworthy while sounding mean.
Later, Ji-yul takes a bicycle ride to his grandfather’s Hospital (Han Deok –jin Veterinary hospital.) When he enters, he notices he is the first to arrive. When the second doctor comes, she mentions that diligence doesn’t run in his family and that being punctual will eventually tire his coworkers. Agitated by the persistent call from Mr. Yang, the second doctor mentions the day’s first appointment. After bonding over a cup of instant coffee, they eventually start the day with Mr. Yang’s appointment for his Pig.
At the police station, the same officer gets nervous about Mr. Yang’s appointment as she has always accompanied him during the checkup. After a lot of thinking, she calls Mr. Yang and tells him that since Director Han’s grandson will be taking care of his pig this time, her presence is unnecessary. Noticing that she is all worked up, her coworkers ask her the reason for her restlessness. But she feels that she has made a mistake and leaves for Mr. Yang’s home.
On his way to his next consultation, Ji-yul focuses hard on multitasking riding the bicycle on a broken road, and listening to instructions given by his coworker from Seoul over the phone on vaccinating pigs. The thought of vaccinating the pigs for the first time makes him nervous since he only studied about them at his graduation. His friend assures him that Ji-yul already knows how to vaccinate animals.
Upon his arrival at the pig farm, Mr. Yang takes him to the unvaccinated pigs while making unnecessary small talk. When Ji-yul learns that a lot of piglets need to be vaccinated, he starts sweating. However, the officer arrives at the scene well-equipped to help him with the entire process. He is surprised by her presence and is soon formally introduced to her by Mr. Yang. He tells Ji-yul that officer Ahn is always assisting the doctor in charge of the vaccination process because it takes a whole day to finish the job. Calling her the go-to person for everything, Mr. Yang leaves the duo to get done with the tedious task.
Once inside the place surrounded by snorting little piglets, Ji-yul gets scared to try anything. However, officer Ahn encourages him by saying he is well-trained to give shots to these animals. Belittling her by calling her non-professional, he says he doesn’t need her to give him confidence and knows how to do his job quite well. As the two starts quarreling, Officer Ahn decides to help him fill up the needles for the shot and suggests he vaccinates the pigs. She explains it will save them time but ease the load to manage the piglets during the process.
While Ji-yul gets astonished by what they have achieved with the day’s job, officer Ahn stays her chirpy self after a long and exhausting day vaccinating the piglets. When he learns she is heading to the local café, Ji-yul insists she takes him. Following her through a steep forest route, both of them stop at a minivan that has been converted into a coffee cafe. While Ahn makes him an expresso, Ji-yul meets the same guy who fell into the puddle on the paddy field in the first episode.
Lee Sang-hyeon introduces himself as the leader of the young men’s association and the owner of the peach business, who also happens to own the coffee shop. Lee and Ahn discuss the thief who stole their birdhouse and had also been stealing money from people’s houses. Overhearing their conversation, Ji-yul insists on offering cash for the coffee, even though they don’t wish to take the money as the coffee van is meant for everyone who wants to enjoy peace.
Both Lee and Ahn notice that Ji-yul knows where to draw the line as he politely declines their offer for the town tour. Lee says that it seems like Ji-yul is not too fond of the country folks and won’t stick around for too long if he continues to be a jerk to people.
ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN (K-DRAMA), SEASON 1, EPISODE 2 ENDING, EXPLAINED:
Later in the hospital, Ji-yul wonders where the coffee beans came from, as he likes how it tastes. He inquires about Lee, to which his coworker tells him that he is a classmate of officer Ahn. When she mentions Ahn’s name, Ji-yul wants to know more about her. The assistant tells him that Ahn grew up in the same town, which is why she is attached to the people and always up on her toes to help them. When Ji-yul calls Ahn nosy, the assistant taunts him for being an uptight personality. She soon receives a phone call for the next patient and orders the doctor to quickly leave before the baby goat starts throwing a tantrum over colic.
In the next moment, we see officer Ahn questioning an old lady as she tries hard to recall and share with the officer whatever little she could figure out about the thief who stole her money. Suspecting there may be a kid involved in stealing money, Ahn looks around on the street, trying to connect the dots of the ongoing inquiry. After noting down the details, officer Ahn leaves, promising the lady that she will catch the thief very soon.
In the meantime, Seon Dong calls out Ahn Ja-young, as he thinks he saw the thief at Director Han’s house. When Ji-yul finds Ahn wandering at his place, he taunts her for setting a bad example for the kid earlier. However, she hushes him down and tells him about the situation.
Both tiptoe inside the house to check if the thief is still inside. As she finds the thief fiddling with the things for some cash, officer Ahn rushes after him. Eventually, after catching the culprit, she recognizes him as Ju-ho’s friend.
Then her partner takes him to the police station for interrogation, where officer Ahn lends out her hand to Ji-yul when he is about to get up. However, the adamant person that he is, he refuses her hand and tries to get up himself. The episode comes to an end as Officer Ahan catches him when he is about to fall down.
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ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN (SEASON 1), EPISODE 2 SHOW LINKS – IMDB, ROTTEN TOMATOES
ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN (SEASON 1), EPISODE 2 CAST – AHN JA-YEONG, CH YOUNG-WOO, BAEK SUNG-CHUL, JEONG SEOK-YOUNG
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