[Drama 2020] When My Love Blooms, 화양연화

[Sianna]

I love the first episode!   Especially the end scene when Jae-Hyun quietly walked behind Ji-so in the snow, and when they finally met, Ji-so teared up....the longing and the gaze between these two have me in tears too!!! 

 

I love the two main leads, their visuals and how they portrayed the love between adults...tense yet restrained.   Can't wait for episode 2! 

[luffie]

I love everything about ep 1 as well! I can’t wait for ep 2. 

[Helena]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1396729wpp/jeon-so-nee-cant-take-her-eyes-off-of-got7s-jinyoung-in-when-my-love-blooms

Jeon So Nee Can’t Take Her Eyes Off Of GOT7’s Jinyoung In “When My Love Blooms”

Apr 26, 2020

by U. Kim

 

GOT7’s Jinyoung and Jeon So Nee will start to get closer in tvN’s “When My Love Blooms”!

 

“When My Love Blooms” is about Han Jae Hyun and Yoon Ji Soo, who first get to know each other in college, then unexpectedly cross paths again many years later. GOT7’s Jinyoung and Jeon So Nee play the characters during their younger years in the 1990s, when Han Jae Hyun is a naive, idealistic student who believes passionately in justice and is heavily involved in student movements. Meanwhile, Yoon Ji Soo is a cheerful, innocent piano major from a privileged family who knows little about the hardships of life.

Spoiler

In the drama’s premiere, Han Jae Hyun (Yoo Ji Tae) and Yoon Ji Soo (Lee Bo Young) fatefully reunited in the present after many years apart . The drama flashed back to the special moment 26 years ago when they first met. Yoon Ji Soo fell in love with Han Jae Hyun at first sight, and she chased him everywhere, trying to find out his name. Though Han Jae Hyun tried to push her away, Yoon Ji Soo refused to give up.

 

The new stills show Han Jae Hyun and Yoon Ji Soo together in a small library. Yoon Ji Soo looks closely at Han Jae Hyun, who is asleep (see top image). It will be interesting to see how Han Jae Hyun begins to open his heart to Yoon Ji Soo, who only has eyes for him.
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

The youthful atmosphere of first love that’s created by the two actors gives the drama a special nostalgic feeling that viewers are sure to enjoy.

 

“When My Love Blooms” airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. KST.

 

Watch the drama’s premiere below if you haven’t yet!

 

WATCH NOW

 

Source (1)

[plappi]

 

[122am]

I feel like the child of LBY is fathered by the male lead. 

 

There is some resemblance between the child actor and the male lead. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, rita96 said:

How old is the kid? Also, then is Jae hyun's kid not his?

At the moment , I don't think Ji Soo's kid is Jae Hyun's . In today's episode there was a flashback to how she met her ex .The boys are in their early teens , I believe that they separated during or just shortly after their college days; close to 2 decades ago.  Maybe once we get the timeline of their breakup then we can guess better

 

I agree with you about Ji Soo  In fact the paths  they have both taken in life have led them to bad marriages, and neither seem very happy with where they are as well .Ji Soo was so bubbly and confident as a young girl. But now the weight of the world is on her shoulders. I felt for her having to deal with those rich socialite mums and for her son who's being bullied.   She is a divorcee who does not want the financial support of her ex, and yet is  clearly struggling to keep her son in that expensive boarding school.   In college , he was  the idealist with a strong moral compass wanting to fight for justice and people's rights  .  But now it's been implied that he is ambitious and has no qualms compromising on his ethics to get things done. For me it was clear , his marriage is very much one of convenience since he did not seem particularly upset with the wife's cheating photos. 

 

I wonder what happened along the way. Did Ji Soo leaving him change him forever?  ( based on the trailers , it seems that she left him)  The young Jae Hyun said Ji Soo came from a good background ( what with music classes etc) - was it in contrast to his? Did that become a stumbling block? So that made him realise without power and wealth , those ideals of his will come to nothing? 

 

Anyway , I like the OTP pairings for both the younger and older version. They fit the characters and the stations in life that they are at. The younger pair look great together and helps us set the background to their epic love story. But for sure there was this very strong chemistry and deep connection between Lee Bo Young and Yoo Ji Tae's pairing that you can't help but want them to reunite by the end of this.

 

----------------------

Anyway I checked the spoiler cuts for eps 2 just now and I will recap in abit

[rita96]

Guys I usually get to watch the episode the following day as the subs are uploaded very late- was wondering if you guys know any platform to get the subbed episode sooner?

[rocher22]

I like the first episode. 

JS changed a lot compared to the past.

But its understandable. Clearly, she has to deal with many problems alone.

I liked the last scene.

JS cried when she saw JH.

She is very lonely.

Scenes from the past are nostalgic and innocent. 

 

[jongski]

" There you are"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished episode one. Ah the romance.  That 'Endless Love'  oldschool Kdrama feels.

 

Not gonna lie,  I love the episode and I got a bit teary eyed at the end scene when they they suddenly recongized each other.  During the meeting with the school master involving Ji Soo's son and Jae Hyun son. He recognized her immediately with mannerism w of her hands when nervous. A habit since college.  I like the flashback with same  hair blowing except  the flashback was spring,  current is winter.

 

They met and fell in love in college. Ji Soo was the agressive one, the rich one (bourgeois is what he though of her), Jae Hyun was the smart student, studying law, involve in student prostest or rallies.   There will probably be a lot of flasback for this drama. until we  get the full story of what really happened to both them from college all the way to the present.

 

One thing I appreciate they  were not in high school when they first met but  they were in college already.  Most flashbacks for kdrama esp with male and female leads they always  know each other when they were children or they were in high school.

 

@triplem thanks for recaps. I also don't think  it's Jae Hyun's son.  I don't like  Ji'soo's ex husband though. The same way I feel about Jae Hyun's wife.  What happened to Ji Soo anyway? She was well off during college, the it seems she got married to  manwho's rich too. 

 

Just waiting for the sub of episode 2.

 

 

[Guest]

Skeleton recaps of eps 2

1. So they repeated that beautiful snowy scene...after getting a hold of their own emotions, they talk abit - she thanked him for not taking action on her son. She left shortly after ...but I think she realised that there was nowhere she could go and don't think she knew where to go as well. 

2. Some missing cut but she ended up following him and he led them to a nearby inn. They got two rooms next to each other. He held the handkerchief and as they both sat down in their rooms , they thought of the past...

3. Young Ji Soo and young Jae Hyun - so we get to see that hair flying scene again. She was handed the handkerchief back to him but he did want to take it. Lol, did he complain it was dirty?

4. We also find out that the tape that young Jae Hyun dropped ( omg...this so my time ....mix tapes and all ) has recordings of him playing the guitar and singing. Ji Soo was listening to it when he found her and took the tape back. ( he's got lovely voice)

Spoiler

 

5. Back to the present - in her room  in the inn, Ji Soo sings the song - she remembers it like it was yesterday. Next morning,  she hurt her hand - she had a splinter , he removed it for her...ahhh it was so romantic 

Spoiler

 

6. JS and JH talked for a bit more before parting ways as she thanked him and said sorry..he does not blame her son. I think he knows his son must have instigated it.

7. JH and his wife are not exactly on the best of terms as she did not agree that  they should just let Young Min ( JS's son ) off the hook. Meanwhile, JS had to see her ex ...think he overheard about YM's bullying issue ...we get a flashback to how they met. He was her lawyer when she went to jail in 2004 ( not sure what she was guilty of)

Spoiler

https://www.instagram.com/ferlidrieta2/?hl=en

However,  the ex still loves JS , he had their wedding photo on his office table. So not sure what went wrong with their marriage

8. Back to the past -JS  got the handkerchief washed and went to look for him. But can't find him. His friend volunteered to give it to her for him but she did want to . Later the guy approached her and they started talking a lot about him Jae Hyun etc...think this is the guy who owns the bar /shop that she goes to in the present timeline.

9. Young JS starts hanging out at his favorite bookstore ...they met once but he still try to ignore her...poor gal. But that's when she found this book of poems that she enjoyed reading and I think it spoke to her ( if I am not mistaken, she gave it to him later on as JH had it in his library in present time. On another occassion, she came to the bookshop again, and he was fast asleep there...she approached him and as he opened his eyes, a shelf with books fell and he protected her ( ...romantic scene alert )

Spoiler

 

10. In the present - JH sees the women protesters downstairs his office...I think he spots JS from afar. Meanwhile , JS accidentally saw an article about JH and how he was married  and is son in law to the Chairman of the company they were protesting against.

Spoiler

 

11. JH's wife ( really can't stand her) decides that she wants disciplinary action taken on Young Min. Ji Soo gets a call from school about it. JS calls YM wanting to find out why he did it in the first place, whether he was being bullied first. He did not want to tell her anything...poor boy - I saw pages in his books were torn.

12. JS has to go to the school to meet the principal and JH's wife. She asked the wife to please not take action. She really pleaded ....then I think the wife wanted her to kneel or something if she was that sincere. JS did and that's when JH came in time , told her to get up ( wife asked what was he doing) . He  called her name & pulled her up and that shocked his wife.

Great to see you here @jongski ...the last bit of eps 1 moved me too and sealed the deal for me.

@rita96 The only offficial subber I know is Viki and the other sites rip the subs from them. As Viki depends on volunteer subbers, it does take some time .

Hello @corey ...yay, good to see you watching this too

[jfritz09]

My expectations were high coming from the latest trailers, and the first episode delivered, and more!

What a beautiful episode! I especially love the intro scene where the young/present Ji Soo was playing the piano, and the last scene when Ji Soo and Jae Hyun finally met again. Both were so well-acted and shot; they were breathtaking.

What can I say about LBY? The Queen is back! She looks as lovely as ever, and her acting is what one would expect from an award-winning actress who has given us Mother, Whisper, I Hear Your Voice, to name a few.

And the young Ji Soo! So pretty and charming... Why couldn't I meet someone like her when I was in college?     I haven't heard of Jeon So Nee before this drama, but I will be looking out for her works from now on.

All in all, I think that LBY hasn't lost her knack for picking good scripts. Just look for a drama with LBY in it, and you are guaranteed to find a good drama!

 

[luffie]

@plappi is that for ep 3??? Does it usually get subbed? Thank you for the share!

[Guest]

You really see some well known exceptional actors at work here, the acting is superb.

I absolutely love LBY, she is such an amazing actress. She delivers in every role. Only actress I would watch in any role.

 

I liked the first episode, but it seems there is a lot of house cleaning to do. I'm glad they already met at the end of the first episode. Now it is just the question how their story continues. She is divorced, raising her son alone. He is just out if jail, also father and married. His wife is probably cheating on him though. So a lot of dirty stuff will heading their way. 

Don't know where they are heading next, but curious to find out in the second episode.

 

Jeon So-Nee is so beautiful aswell, her role as young Ji Soo was so pretty. Like she fighted for him. The dream for every guy.  

 

[thistle]

1 hour ago, rita96 said:

Guys I usually get to watch the episode the following day as the subs are uploaded very late- was wondering if you guys know any platform to get the subbed episode sooner?

 

I watch on "not legal" sites because I can't afford the pay sites.  The subs for episode one were slow and when they did come out they were very off-sync to the point that it was confusing so I had to search more than half a dozen sites to find something watchable and I waited a full day to find that.  This is unusual.  I have a feeling that this may be one of those shows that we will just have to wait a long times for subs.

[thistle]

21 minutes ago, corey said:

Although given my recent disappointments I dread the ending - anyone knows who the writer is and what sort of stories did she/he wrote? It may tell me a lot what to expect.

 

I loved the beginning of this drama but, like you, I am already dreading the ending so I looked on MyDramaList to see who the writer is:  Jun Hee Young.  But the only writing credit listed was for When My Love Blooms.  So is this a newbie writer?  If so, there's no way to predict what will happen.

 

21 minutes ago, corey said:

Also a question - who has any theories regarding the opening scene - where FL plays the piano and ML walks towards her - and the scene is looking like after an explosion? What does that mean / signify? Any guesses?

 

In the part of the scene where it is the younger couple, the scene seems to be on a grassy field.  But for the older couple, the scene seems to be on a paved macadam parking lot.  That simple difference seemed significant--like there was life and a chance for growth early on but now they are on hard unforgiving ground where nothing could grow.

 

I'm also considering what the meaning might be because the scenes of devastation reminded me of the scene during the demonstration when the leads met.  Probably the demonstration sets up the theme of rich against poor, and that is something that will be woven throughout this drama.

 

Usually I dislike chaebol stuff so this could make me grind my teeth.  But I love the leads, and I enjoy a melo so I'm looking forward to see how this drama plays out.

[a15t3]

This is really the first Yoo Ji Tae drama for me.  His image is similar to Ji Jin Hee, my fave actor.  I finish watching ep 1 and it is good so far.  Ep 2 is not subbed yet, so I have high hope that I will like this drama.  I am not so much of a fan for Lee Bo Young while I admire her acting in My Daughter Seo Yeoung.  She has this charm as a strong woman, I believe this drama will be a success, hopefully.  Somehow this genre has its particular viewers.  Can't wait for ep 2.

[WANGYEO]

The seasons of time period represent the feelings and emotions.

Spring - blooming and beautiful - falling for each other

Winter - cold and lonely - the longing for each other

 

[thistle]

18 minutes ago, corey said:

That is rather unusuall, is it not?  First script and already such well-known cast? Ok, we will see what happens. I will try not to like the drama too much, so as not to be too riled up

 

It does seem rare.  Perhaps the writer worked previously as a junior writer for someone better known or maybe this is just one of those one-in-a-lifetime dynamite scripts.  I checked other wiki sites but found nothing on this screenwriter except that she is female and South Korean.  After that, it's anyone's guess.

 

I will probably like the drama too much and get so upset that I have to stop watching until the finale.  Or I'll end up watching by turning the sound off and skipping scenes.  Bad me.  But I have a feeling that I will watch all of this drama since episode one was so good that it made me cry (that scene at the train station, oh my).

 

22 minutes ago, corey said:

Well, he is not a typical chaebol heir, is he? He married into a wealthy family

 

I'm not worried about the ML.  It's his in-laws and, in particular, the wife that I'm worried about.  She turned me right off with the few seconds she had on screen.  I have a feeling that her chaebol nonsense will make me go up in flames.

 

24 minutes ago, corey said:

As to the explosions, I also thought it may something to do with the student demonstrations, but it is not yet clear. But it has some symbolic meaning I think.

 

Agreed--definitely symbolic.  And probably rooted in the imagery of the demonstrations.

 

[celebrianna]

@thistle, I haven’t watched episode 1 yet since it wasn’t subbed when I checked last night. However, based on your comments and @triplem’s summary (thanks ) about what already took place, I already dislike JH’s wife. I can’t stand rich people bullying others. I agree that she and her family will probably be a menace in this drama. I understand your feelings well because that kind of chaebol “I can ruin your whole life” bullying really gets under my skin.

[chickfactor]

38 minutes ago, corey said:

That is rather unusuall, is it not?  First script and already such well-known cast? Ok, we will see what happens. I will try not to like the drama too much, so as not to be too riled up when the leads break up in the one but last / last episode*  for some stupid/no apparent * reason  and go their separate ways never communicating for two months /one year/three years* despite being madly in love and then the ML/FL*  suddenly realizing that he/she* cannot live with the other and reuniting.

 

 

Yeah, I really dislike that.

 

Maybe it helps that this separation *already* happened. They were madly in love in college, but circumstances caused them to become separated, and now they have reunited. Hopefully for good.

 

Or maybe they will artificially, randomly separate again causing even more grief to the viewers! 

 

I really loved the first two episodes. I mean, the outlines of the story are typical and corny on paper, but the actors and the setting is really bringing it to life. It's a good old-fashioned romance. Fabulous.

 

Just learned that the PD is the same PD of "Shall We Kiss First?" I thought that was a drama with moments of greatness, mostly provided by the fabulous lead actors, and infuriating in parts, due to the selfish a-hole behavior of some of the side characters, one of whom was played by Park Si-yeon. And here she is again, playing a beautiful, selfish a-hole. Heh.