Cho Yong-Pil and Cho Sam-Dal are two estranged lovers of the past and the opposite leads in Welcome to Samdal-ri. Their reunion sparks rumors again and also the question — do they still like each other?
Once joined at the hip and now eight years apart, Cho Yong-Pil and Cho Sam-Dal have stumbled upon each other again.
Inadvertently, the two have fallen back to their old ways several times, before the awkwardness of the current context of their lives sets in and makes them jump.
Whereas Sam-Dal went to Seoul to conquer the world, Yong-Pil remained in Jeju, and the latest episode sheds light on the reason behind his continued stay in his hometown, which forces Sam-Dal to ask him why he did that.
The obvious tells
The moment Cho Yong-Pil finds out that Cho Sam-Dal has returned to Samdal-ri, he naturally begins to fall into his older routine of caring for her and looking after her.
They used to be best friends and then lovers, and then they broke up, which broke both their hearts.
Despite the awkwardness that each of their run-ins inspires, they can’t help but be drawn to each other.
Sam-Dal tries her hardest to keep the ruse, to keep lying to herself that she’s moved on, but all her expressions and unsaid words indicate something else.
Cho Yong-Pil tends to many of her needs and frequently runs into her. In the latest episode, the tension between them even leads to a kiss.
He brings her ointment for her injuries, accompanies her to Seoul to confront her accuser, and inspires her to find her old self again.
He does all that, and more because he can’t let her out of his mind or stop caring for her even now.
Sang-Do’s question
For eight years, Yong-Pil never moved on from Cho Sam-Dal, never getting into another relationship or getting out of Samdal-ri, not even going to Switzerland to pursue his dreams.
Since their childhood, another of their best friends, Bu Sang-Do, has also liked Cho Sam-Dal.
He could never tell her because of Yong-Pil but he has revealed it to him while drunk, more than a dozen times.
One day, Yong-Pil reveals to a sober Sang-Do that he’s been telling him he also likes Sam-Dal for years.
Shortly after that, Sang-Do asks if he can pursue his feelings for Sam-Dal now, and Yong-Pil tells him to do what his heart tells him.
However, Sang-Do can’t do that if Yong-Pil still likes her. So he asks him if he still has feelings for Sam-Dal.
Yong-Pil tells him that it’s not that he couldn’t get over Sam-Dal; he just chose not to.
Trading dreams for loved ones
For eight years after their breakup, Sam-Dal never, even once, returned to Jeju. She got herself occupied with her work and saw a lot of success.
However, in doing so, she failed to keep up with her parents properly.
In her absence, Cho Yong-Pil has been looking after her mother as a son and taking care of her.
She later learns that he gave up on his dreams to stay in Samdal-ri and take care of her mother.
She asks why he’s done that and why he keeps asking her how she is. She says it makes her waver and the two shortly kiss.
Apart from a verbal expression, it’s pretty much a given that Cho Yong-Pil still loves Cho Sam-Dal.
Also Read: The love triangle in Welcome to Samdal-ri explained