Synopsis

“Soundtrack #1” (“Soundtrack”) is a miniseries about two best friends, Han Seon Woo (Park Hyung Sik) and Lee Eun Soo (Han So Hee).  The two friends have known each other for nearly twenty years, and though they know each other better than anyone else, they have never dated because they were afraid of losing what they had.  Seon Woo is a photographer and Eun Soo is a lyricist.  When Eun Soo is tasked with writing the lyrics for a pop song about unrequited love, her mentor tells her that her lyrics fall flat because she has not experienced it firsthand.  When Eun Soo learns that Seon Woo has experienced it, she invites him to move in with her for two weeks to help her give her lyrics authenticity.  Eun Soo is very interested in “Jennifer,” the woman that Seon Woo supposedly longs for, unaware that she is actually Seon Woo’s “Jennifer.”  During their time of living together, Eun Soo accidentally discovers Seon Woo’s feelings for her.  But when Seon Woo attempts to confess his feelings, she interrupts him out of fear and reminds them of her never-ending friendship.  The true friend that he is, Seon Woo backs off, for it is Eun Soo’s happiness that matters the most to him.  Shortly thereafter, Seon Woo leaves overseas for a career changing opportunity to work with his mentor.   During their time apart, Eun Soo examines her own feelings and realizes that what she once mistook as mere friendship, was actually love.  When Seon Woo returns to Korea after a year, Eun Soo confesses her love and apologizes for failing to see his love sooner.  The two share a sweet kiss – the first and only kiss of the miniseries – and the K-drama ends with the two friends together and happily in love.    

Kang Woo Il

Kang Woo Il (Kim Joo Hun) plays multiple roles in “Soundtrack” – composer, Eun Soo’s mentor, and a potential love interest for Eun Soo.  His most important role, however, is that he sets the plot of “Soundtrack” in motion when Eun Soo meets with him to discuss her lyrics for K-pop artist Jay Jun’s (Seo In Guk) new single.  The song is about unrequited love, but Eun Soo’s lyrics fall flat.  “We have three minutes in a song to inspire people,” he tells Eun Soo.  Unfortunately, because Eun Soo has never experience unrequited love, her lyrics lack authenticity, and therefore, cannot inspire listeners.  Eun Soo desperately wants to write a good song, and she sees Seon Woo’s experience as a way for her to do so.

Seon Woo and Eun Soo

Seon Woo and Eun Soo care for and take care of each other.  Seon Woo scolds Eun Soo for not dressing warm enough in cold weather.  He places his own scarf around her neck.  He worries about her when she drinks alcohol, pulling her out of the way of an oncoming vehicle.  Seon Woo also knows Eun Soo’s habits.  He knows that her house is messy and that she falls asleep on her couch without washing her face.  He knows she gets a headache when she drinks grape wines.  He knows she dislikes mandarins.  And he knows that Eun Soo prefers to watch zombie movies over dramas and romcoms. 

For her part, nobody believes in Seon Woo as much as Eun Soo.  She gives him his first camera because she has faith in his potential.  When he enters a competition and receives second place, no one is as incensed as Eun Soo, who feels Seon Woo was robbed of first place.  And while Eun Soo is stunned to realize that Seon Woo has experienced unrequited love without her knowing, it is Eun Soo who tells Seon Woo that he needs to be honest with how he feels and to be honest with “Jennifer.”  That honesty, she tells him, will transfer into his somber photography, as well. 

Seon Woo and Eun Soo are so close, that they are able to slide into living together with relative ease.  They already share in many activities that couples traditionally do together.  They grocery shop, clean house, go on walks, fight and make up, and cook meals for each other. 

Unrequited Love

But Seon Woo’s love is unrequited love, or at least, Eun Soo is unaware of it and does not believe she shares in it.  The sad part about unrequited love, Seon Woo tells her, is “not being able to do anything about it. It’s my own heart. Yet I have no control over how I feel.”  Also, “when it’s one-sided, you have to swallow it and keep it in.”  Seon Woo is not able to do the things for “Jennifer” that he would like to do.  When Eun Soo asks Seon Woo why he cannot tell “Jennifer” that he likes her, he says that it is not that he “can’t,” but that he chooses not to.  The reason is that he is afraid of losing her.

4 years ago, Seon Woo tried to confess to Eun Soo, but she had just gotten out of a relationship with a guy who cheated on her.  Their mutual friends, Mari (Park Min Jung) and Gyeol Han (Park Hoon), suggested that Eun Soo not date scumbags like her ex, but rather, date a great guy like Seon Woo.  Eun Soo, caught off-guard, sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.  Finally, she told them that she could not ever date Seon Woo because she could never get over losing him if they broke up.  Out of solidarity, Seon Woo begrudgingly agrees with her, making it impossible for her to confess to her.    

But in the present, when Eun Soo discovers old photos of herself on Seon Woo’s laptop, she starts to see their relationship in a different light.  When she talks to Mari and Gyeol Han, they both encourage her, yet again, to date Seon Woo.  Eun Soo acknowledges how great Seon Woo is, but is pensive again.  She is afraid of hurting him. 

When Eun Soo asks Seon Woo when he realized his feelings for “Jennifer,” he eventually admits that it was 8 years ago.  We learn that it was 8 years ago that Seon Woo left for his military duty, which left Eun Soo sobbing alone.  At the time, Eun Soo justified her reaction to herself as the sadness of losing her friend for two years to military duty, but when Seon Woo leaves for overseas in the present, Eun Soo’s heart is filled with a tremendous void, and Eun Soo comes to understand what her feelings meant on that day 8 years ago – that she was in love with Seon Woo.

Eun Soo is able to be honest with Seon Woo when he returns to Korea for a brief stay.  She confesses that she felt that unrequited love was merely a cute little crush, but that she now understood that ache of not being able to be honest with the one you love.  The part that was the worst, however, was realizing how lonely Seon Woo must have been in his one-sided love for her for these last 8 years.  Just as Seon Woo only cared about making Eun Soo happy and comfortable around him, Eun Soo was pained to realize that her actions – both towards Seon Woo’s feelings and her own – caused Seon Woo to be lonely and sad.  She apologizes for realizing it all so late.

Compact But Meaningful

While “Soundtrack” is a miniseries with only four episodes, the team did an amazing job of filling it with memorable scenes.  One of my favorite scenes is when Seon Woo and Eun Soo fall asleep on the floor and Eun Soo ends up comfortably (and intimately) curled into Seon Woo.  In the morning, Seon Woo reaches out to touch Eun Soo’s sleeping face, but stops, murmuring to himself, “this is crazy.”  Eun Soo opens her eyes and the two friends gaze into one another’s eyes as the musical score fills the scene.  The moment is bittersweet, though, as Eun Soo is comfortable in their relationship as it is (or so she thinks).  Seon Woo, on the other hand, longs for what their relationship could be.  The moment is hilariously broken as Eun Soo quickly rolls away, suddenly uncomfortable with the intensity of the moment.  Over breakfast, the pair justify their actions as “survival instincts” – seeking out heat on a cold night – but the moment of physical intimacy is very sweet and their awkward reactions imply that there could be more to their relationship than just friendship.

One of the funniest scenes is when Eun Soo asks Seon Woo to teach her how to drive.  Eun Soo, happy as can be, tells Seon Woo that she feels so much more comfortable driving when he is there with her, a testament to just how much Seon Woo means to her and how much confidence he imbues in her.  Meanwhile, the scene cuts to Seon Woo who is grabbing his seatbelt tightly as cars fly around them honking and shouting out of their windows.  Seon Woo is clearly NOT comfortable in the situation, but is enduring For Eun Soo’s sake.  “Keep your eyes on the road,” he reminds her with panic in his voice, as she reaches to adjust the temperature.

But the scene that tugs at my heart is the aforementioned scene when Seon Woo leaves for his mandatory military enlistment.  Alone in the coffee shop where she works, Eun Soo covers her face and sits down sobbing.  As an American who has not experienced a draft during her lifetime, all of my friends and family who have served in the military have done so voluntarily.  And while all those who serve in the military are dearly loved and missed, I imagine the emotions felt at their departure are heightened when the soldier’s service is not voluntary.  (Author’s note: This scene hits a little different after December 13, 2022, when Kim Seok Jin – better known as Jin, eldest member of global K-pop sensation, BTS – left for his mandatory military enlistment.  ARMYs all around the world are feeling his loss and praying for his safe return.)  The scene cuts to Eun Soo in the present day, sobbing at Seon Woo’s departure once again, realizing for the first time, the extent of her feelings for her best friend.

Photography

I would be amiss to do a review of “Soundtrack” without mentioning the role of photography.  Seon Woo’s photography is representative of Seon Woo himself.  Seon Woo begins the series not being true to himself because of the secret he keeps from his best friend, and this is reflected in his photography.  Eun Soo says that Seon Woo’s photos are somber.  Seon Woo is unhappy with his photography and even postpones his upcoming show.  When his manager, Yoon Dong Hyeon (Yoon Byung Hee), asks Seon Woo why, Seon Woo simply states that he feels like an imposter.  Though it is never made clear if this is a new thought – brought on by Eun Soo’s recent comments about his photography being somber – or whether it is a thought that Seon Woo has been struggling with for a while, the feeling of being an imposter can also be applied to his role as Eun Soo’s best friend.  A man who loves her and wants to be in a romantic relationship with her, posing as merely her best friend.  When Dong Hyeon pushes him, he responds that he cannot go on like this.  Just as in his relationship with Eun Soo, he can no longer continue in this role.

In addition, when Eun Soo asks Seon Woo why he prefers shooting with film over digital, Seon Woo says he likes singularity.  Digital photography allows you to review the same image many times and to make different changes over time.  “But with film,” he states, “you only get one chance to capture the moment.”  (Author’s note: as a professional photographer, I can add that photography is the act of capturing emotion in a still image. A photographer may view the same image at different times and feel something different each time, affecting their edit.  Digital photography allows for fluidity, whereas film is permanent, capturing a single moment as it is perceived in that moment.)  Seon Woo’s preference for singularity is also representative of Seon Woo’s view of confessing his feelings to Eun Soo.  When his confession to Eun Soo is interrupted, the moment is forever lost, and he makes no further attempt to try again.

It is also through photography that Eun Soo learns that she is actually the “Jennifer” of Seon Woo’s unrequited love.  When Eun Soo asks Seon Woo if he still has the images that they had taken from their trip last year, Seon Woo blows her off and says that he will look, but that he deletes pictures right away to make space on his hard drive.  This is an interesting comment for a photographer who prefers to shoot with film, but it is especially telling when Eun Soo discovers the photos – along with a collection of old photos of herself – on Seon Woo’s laptop.  Many of the images are candid images, often taken without her knowledge, and date back to the beginning of their relationship.  It is Eun Soo’s search for last year’s images that leads her to the discovery of Seon Woo’s collection of old photos of Eun Soo, which sets up the second half of “Soundtrack.”   

Soundtrack

With a K-drama entitled “Soundtrack #1,” I really anticipated a fantastic OST (original soundtrack).  But while the music was nice, none of the songs stuck out to me as particularly phenomenal.  What did stick out to me, however, was the score.  The score acts as another character in the K-drama, imbuing scenes with reflection, cheekiness, lightheartedness, pensiveness, etc., leading the audience to feel the emotions that the main characters are feeling in that scene.  In addition, the use of silence is expertly used in “Soundtrack.”  Silence is used multiple times throughout the K-drama to strip the scene of any direction and leave the audience member a bit stunned and confused, exactly how Seon Woo and Eun Soo feel in those moments.   

Disney+

This was my first experience watching a K-drama on Disney+.  Overall, it was a lovely experience, no different than watching it on Viki or Netflix.  I will say that the default for the audio was dubbed English, so it took me a couple of minutes to scramble about and figure out how to switch the audio to Korean with English subtitles – the ONLY way to watch a K-drama, if you are learning Korean.  Aside from the first couple of minutes, the rest was the same as watching a K-drama on any other app. 

Final verdict: WATCH  

“Soundtrack #1” is a definite WATCH.  It is a miniseries with only four episodes, but the team did an amazing job of making those four episodes feel like a full-length K-drama series.  Nothing was included that was unnecessary for the Lead Couple’s storyline, yet there were still interesting supporting characters present who did a lovely job fleshing the story out.  “Soundtrack” felt very familiar.  It has a popular K-drama storyline of friends turned lovers and cohabitation, but does a lovely job focusing on the emotions and journey of the Lead Couple.  Since the Lead Couple have been friends for almost 20 years, “Soundtrack” has several flashbacks, but they are woven into the timeline well, without causing confusion.  And finally, “Soundtrack” is beautifully shot.  Set during a Korean winter, it contains falling snow, holiday lights, warm scarves, and conversations over a meal and a glass of wine.  All of these elements make “Soundtrack #1” the perfect K-drama to watch at Christmastime.

So there it is, our review of “Soundtrack #1.”  What did you think?!  Thank you for joining us on this journey. 

Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review, comment down below!!  We look forward to seeing you back again next week!

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