Cho Sam-Dal and Cho Yong-Pil are two romantic leads in Welcome to Samdal-ri; each in their thirties who reunite eight years after their breakup.
Welcome to Samdal-ri follows two former lovers who reunite in their hometown and tussle with the awkwardness of meeting each other again, years after they broke each other’s hearts unwillingly.
The tragedy
In 2008, Cho Yong-Pil’s mother died by drowning in the sea while working as a haenyo. His father, Bu Sang-Do, blamed Cho Sam-Dal’s mother for the death.
Go Mi-Ja was with Ok Mi-Ja during the dive that took the latter’s life. In fact, it was her insistence on diving that day of unpredictable weather that made Ok Mi-Ja join her eventually.
Go Mi-Ja was shattered that she couldn’t save her friend but Sang-Do developed deep resentment for her and her entire family.
Eight years ago
So when his son, who had always been joined at the hips with Cho Sam-Dal, became her lover, Sang-Do couldn’t bear the sight of it.
Unable to accept Sam-Dal or any member of Go Mi-Ja’s family, he told Sam-Dal that she should break up with his son.
She begged him not to make her do it, not to ask for their breakup, but his cold heart never gave out. Knowing this, Sam-Dal had no choice but to break up with Yong-Pil.
Yong-Pil tried talking her out of it but she left for Seoul, and he couldn’t immediately follow her because of her mother’s memorial rites, during which his father asked him to stop seeing her.
He reminded her of how he can never accept her or her family, for what they took from them, refusing to exercise rationality or empathy.
His outburst is overhead by Go Mi-Ja, who has a heartbreak and an Arrhythmia stroke as well. Yong-Pil thinks that perhaps everyone would be happy if he was the only one who suffered.
So he decided to break up with Cho Sam-Dal as well, as much as it hurt him and shattered him on the inside. However, he never figured that Sam-Dal would be suffering an equal amount as him.
Cho Sam-Dal returns
When she returned to Jeju after eight years, he couldn’t stay away from her and instinctively started accompanying her and tending to her needs like before.
Sang-Do, though, still resents her and her family. He still can’t bring himself to accept them and continues to lash out at his son for being drawn to her again.
When he learns that Yong-Pil consistently helps and looks after Go Mi-Ja and still loves Cho Sam-Dal, he gets only angrier, kicking Yong-Pil out.
Yong-Pil has had enough and he finally is honest about how he still loves Sam-Dal, who is similarly not over him yet. She loves him and wishes to lean on him freely again.
However, the years they spent apart and the heartbreaks of the past, not to mention Yong-Pil’s father and the village folk with their gossip, the two lovers have quite an array of obstacles to overcome.
Also Read: Does Cho Yong-Pil still love Cho Sam-Dal?