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Main Characters
Yoon Hye-jin
Played by: Shin Min-a
The heroine, a talented and beautiful dentist from the city who impulsively starts a clinic in the seaside town of Gongjin.
- City Mouse: Hye-jin is a poised Seoulite who is out of place in the South Korean countryside. She doesn't carry cash and is helpless when the ATMs go down, is judged by the neighbourhood grannies for wearing a crop top and leggings while on a run, and initially alienates the townspeople with her perfectionism and preference for fancy things.
- The Fashionista: Hye-jin's outfits are always luxurious and well put together. When trying to plan an outfit for a former classmate's wedding, she orders dozens of packages in the weeks leading up to it.
- Hospital Hottie: Hye-jin is a dentist who is noted to be pretty by other characters.
"Chief" Hong Du-sik
Played by: Kim Seon-ho
The romantic lead, who dedicates his days to helping out the villagers of Gongjin instead of having a stable job or business of his own. He willingly left a high-powered life in Seoul to move back home for reasons unknown to most.
- Broken Hero: A cheerful and outgoing guy who listens to and helps others with their deepest fears and problems, but
keeps his own vulnerabilities and suffering to himself, locked away out of everyone's reach. - Dark and Troubled Past: Du-sik lost his parents at a very young age. Since then, his grandfather would take care of him until he too passed away due to a heart attack. Then there's also his Mysterious Past which is implied to be quite traumatic. As it turns out, he was an up-and-coming fund manager who gave investing advice to his company's security guard, Gi-hun, after a lot of pestering from the latter's side. Despite Du-sik's countless warnings to not be reckless while investing, Do-ha's father bet big...and proceeded to lose everything after a stock market crash. After learning of Gi-hun's suicide attempt, Du-sik and his senior Jeong-u were on their way to visit him, which led to the car accident that killed Jeong-u. While Du-sik survived the accident, the mental and emotional scars left by all of this broke him to the point that he even contemplated suicide, and would have done it if not for Gam-ri's unexpected text message. And his main reason for returning to Gongjin- while he didn't kill himself, he didn't know how to go on either, ultimately landing him back to his hometown.
- Driven to Suicide: At the end of episode 15, it is revealed that Du-sik nearly committed suicide after the accident when he found out that Jeong-u had died. What stopped him from actually going through with it was none other than a simple text message from Gam-ri.
- Elite School Means Elite Brain: Du-sik used to be the pride of his small village for getting into engineering school at SNU, Korea's most prestigious university. He's hyped up as very intelligent and talented, and everyone (including the heroine) is confused as to why he's content to be working menial jobs for minimum wage back home when he could be making big bucks in the city.
- Handy Man: Du-sik. He isn't officially employed but spends his day helping out the residents of Gongjin with various odd jobs, and the residents love him for it. He can auction off seafood, deliver packages, make a good coffee, sell real estate, and is certified in various forms of carpentry.
- Happiness in Minimum Wage: Despite being a talented engineering graduate from one of South Korea's top universities, Du-sik is content working menial minimum wage jobs around the village. Whenever the notion of getting paid more comes up he always rejects it.
- Mysterious Past: According to the villagers, nobody knows what Du-sik was up to in the five years after he graduated university. Initially, it is consistently implied to be incredibly traumatic and the reason he lives life the way he does in the countryside when he could be more successful if he wanted. In the penultimate episode, we learn that he was an up-and-coming fund manager who gave investing advice to his company's security guard, Gi-hun, who bet big...and proceeded to lose everything after a stock market crash. After learning of Gi-hun's suicide attempt, Du-sik and his senior Jeong-u went to visit him, and Jeong-u was killed in a car accident. Du-sik blames himself for everything.
- The One Who Made It Out: He was once the pride of the small town for going to engineering school at a prestigious university and then finding a good job in the city. But mysterious events caused him to move back to Gongjin.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Du-sik is affectionately called "Chief Hong" (Hong Banjang) by everyone in the village, including his girlfriend. Becomes a plot point, as Seong-hyun's AD Do-ha realized he'd never learned Du-sik's name, and once he does, realizes Du-sik is connected to his father's paraplegia and punches him.
- Recurring Dreams: Du-sik often suffers from nightmares related to his past.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Male example. Du-sik is generally dressed roughly and casually since he's pretty much the local handyman, but whenever he puts on a nice shirt and well-fitting pants Hye-jin reacts positively. In episode 13, Hye-jin's snobby friends write him off at first, but can't stop staring when he shows up in a golfing outfit. It's implied that he deliberately eschews fancy clothes because of his past trauma.
- Stepford Smiler: Du-sik hides a lot of pain and anguish behind his cheerful and friendly persona. It is only in episode 15 that this facade drops, and he finally breaks down in tears as he talks about his past to Hye-jin.
- Trauma Conga Line: First he loses his parents as a kid, then his grandfather in middle school. When he finally finds an older brother-like figure in Jeong-u, Du-sik even loses him to a horrific car accident. Said accident, and the events that preceded it, left him broken to the point that he tried to commit suicide (and would have actually gone through with it if not for Gam-ri's text). At the end of the series, he loses Gam-ri as well, though he is at least able to grieve properly this time around.
Ji Seong-hyun
Played by: Lee Sang-yi
A college friend of Hye-jin's, who has become a renowned television producer. He comes to Gongjin to film a variety show and reconnects with her in the process.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Seong-hyun is a famous production director, but he's very eccentric. He's clumsy, has No Sense of Direction, must be constantly fed, and tends to run after his whims. While part of his team Du-sik is surprised at his eccentricities.
- Nice Guy: Easily wins over the affection of the entire town, to the point that it makes Du-sik jealous. As noted below, even though Hye-jin ends up with Du-sik, he remains supportive of their relationship, even scolding Du-sik when he and Hye-jin have a momentary break rather than trying to win Hye-jin over.
- No Sense of Direction: Seong-hyun cannot understand directional instructions given to him and almost immediately wanders off in the opposite direction. Du-sik has to keep a close watch on him at all times.
- Oblivious to Love: He was unaware that his colleague Ji-won was in love with him until he almost loses her to another production team.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Like in their college years, Seung-hyun is too late to confess to Hye-jin. However, he takes it with grace and remains a good friend to both her and Du-sik.
- True Companions: With Du-sik. After Du-sik saves his life, the two become quick friends, bonding over their mutual love of food. Seong-hyun later saves Du-siks life in turn.
Gongjin
Adults
Pyo Mi-seon
Hye-jin's best friend, a dental hygienist.
- Best Friend: To Hye-jin. After Mi-seon's boyfriend cheats on her, she impulsively moves to Gongjin and Hye-jin welcomes her and gives her a job without any questions. The two remain sisterly all throughout the show.
- Shipper on Deck: Gleefully supports Hye-jin's budding flirtation with Du-sik.
Kim Gam-ri, Lee Mat-yim and Park Sook-ja
A trio of elderly women.
- Greek Chorus: The three of them often act in tandem and commentate on Du-sik's affairs, since he is close to all three.
- Parental Substitute: Gam-ri has been the main older figure in Du-sik's life since the passing of his grandfather.
- Passed in Their Sleep: The elderly Gam-ri peacefully dies in her sleep in the penultimate episode, and the finale opens with her funeral. Symbolically, it shows that her surrogate son/grandson Du-sik, who was haunted by his past throughout the show, is now in a better place emotionally and ready to accept her death.
Oh Cheon-jae
A café owner and former musician.
- Good Parents: Chun-jae's main priority is to be a good father to his daughter, especially as his wife died when she was young. He wants her to study, but doesn't discourage her dreams of working in entertainment, despite his own short career there, though that's aided by her desire to work behind the scenes. When he is offered another TV appearance in the finale, his first reaction is to see if Ju-ri thinks he's cool now.
- One-Hit Wonder: In-Universe, Chun-jae had one big hit in the '90s ("Exercising in the Moonlight") but was unable to follow up on it since his manager bailed with the money for the second album.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: In-Universe. Chun-jae was a One-Hit Wonder who's one hit has been mostly forgotten. He's mostly ok with it, but any time performing comes up, he's first in line. The epilogue implies he may be getting a second wind in entertainment as this, with another variety show wanting him to appear. He also has no qualms about his daughter wanting to enter the entertainment industry, but that may be as she wants to work behind the scenes, which is more stable.
Yeo Hwa-jeong
Hye-jin's no-nonsense landlady and a restaurant owner and zone chief. She is Young-guk's ex-wife.
- Only Sane Man: Whenever the villagers get too chaotic Hwa-jeong is usually the one to herd them back into order.
Chang Young-guk
Hwa-jeong's ex-husband, who works for the city.
- Butt-Monkey: Of the secondary villager cast he is the most likely to have comedic misfortunes heaped upon him.
- New Old Flame: He thinks this is happening when his first love Cho-hee moves back in town after his divorce. Unbeknownst to him she has never reciprocated his feelings and is in fact in love with his ex-wife.
Yoo Cho-hee
An old friend of Hwa-jeong and Young-guk. She's a teacher who has recently moved back to Gongjin.
- Gayngst: Cho-hui is into women and has feelings for Hwa-jeong. Her sexuality caused tension in her family in the past, with her brother threatening to put her in a mental institution for it.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Is a very traditionally feminine woman, and many comment on how pretty she is. She's also besotted with Hwa-jeong.
- Nice Girl: Though all the villagers are friendly, Cho-hee is singled out by the others as being a sweet and delicate flower. She is unfailing polite and kind to everyone, which suits her occupation (a teacher) but complicates the Love Triangle she is a part of.
Cho Nam-suk
Another local restaurant owner and unrepentant gossip.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Nam-suk lost her only daughter, Aram, to a terminal illness, and has been making donations in Aram's name ever-since.
- Parental Substitute: She's something of a maternal figure to Ju-r, since Nam-suk's daughter was implied to be around Ju-ri's age, and Ju-ri lost her mother young, so they often bond over mother/daughter things, such as clothes and boy bands.
- Stepford Smiler: She's hiding the pain of losing her daughter to sickness behind her overly bright and gossipy exterior.
Choi Geum-chul
A hardware store owner. He is married to Yun-gyeong and is an old friend of Du-sik's.
- Bumbling Dad: He's much more oblivious and less put-together than his wife, and is more cheerful and relaxed around their daughter.
- Innocently Insensitive: Is entirely unaware of social subtleties. When the entire town leaves Du-sik's birthday party early to give him and Hye-jin more time together, Geum-chul wants to stay and eat watermelon, and needs to be flat out told by his wife to "take a hint". He is also ignorant to his pregnant wife's needs, and is chewed out for it in Episode 13. He disappears just before she goes into labor to buy her her favorite fruit to make amends, and is delayed because of a typhoon. Nonetheless, he runs in the middle of a typhoon across the town to be with her.
Choi Eun-chul
Geum-chul's brother, a local cop.
- Endearingly Dorky: He's not as experienced at dating as Mi-seon is, and his foibles and socially awkward but upstanding nature quickly endear him to her.
- Fair Cop: He's an upstanding local policeman. Mi-seon is attracted to him from his first appointment at the clinic, and later comments that he looks much better in uniform.
Ham Yun-gyeong
She runs the local grocery store. She is married to Gum-cheol and for most of the show is pregnant with their second child.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She's normally a good-natured and friendly woman, but the stresses of running a business with a well-meaning but oblivious husband eventually get to her in Episode 13 — she snaps and cries.
Children
Oh Ju-ri
Cheon-jae's teenage daughter.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: She's Cheon-jae's standoffish and demanding teenager with an overinflated ego. However, the adults around her are understanding and she and her father grow closer over the course of the show.
- Fangirl: Teenager Ju-ri is a passionate fan of (fictional) K-pop group DOS, with her bias specifically being a member named June. She collects their merchandise, obsessively watches their performances, and starts respecting Hye-jin after the latter tells her she treated June at her clinic once.
Chang I-jun
Young-guk and Hwa-jeong's intelligent and precocious son.
- Adorably Precocious Child: I-jun, son to Hwa-jeong and Yeong-guk, is a sensitive, intelligent, and mature elementary school student, in contrast to his more childish best friend Bora. He endears adults with his precociousness and reacts to his bickering divorced parents with grace the entire show, until when they tell him they will likely get back together, and he breaks down. His parents tell him that it's okay for him to act his age sometimes.
Choi Bo-ra
Geum-chul and Yun-gyeong's cheerful and impulsive daughter.
- Cheerful Child: Elementary-aged Bo-ra is bright and happy in contrast to her buddy I-jun, who is more prone to be quiet.
Seoul
Hye-jin's parents
- Good Stepmother: Hye-jin's stepmother is a kind and supportive woman who breaks the tension between her and her father.
Wang Ji-won
A writer who frequently works alongside Seong-hyun.
- Hopeless Suitor: For much of the show, she was pining for Seong-hyun and he was either oblivious or in turn pining for Hye-jin. In the end he acknowledges her feelings and the two resume their working relationship.
