Twinking Watermelon Episode 1 premiered on September 25, 2023, on tvN network. The K-drama Twinking Watermelon or Sparkling Watermelon (반짝이는 워터멜론) is directed by Son Jong-hyun and written by Jin Soo-Wan. Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook, Seol In-ah and Shin Eun-soo will be appearing in the lead roles for the show. The show is expected to have a total of 16 episodes with a runtime of approximately 60 minutes each.

The story centres around a boy who is born and brought up by hearing-impaired parents. He is a model student by day and a gifted musician by night. However, one day he visits a mysterious musical instruments store and travels back in time to 1995. A 15.6 billion won production and supply agreement for the show was signed by production companies Pan Entertainment and Studio Dragon on September 5, 2023. The show takes over tvN’s Monday & Tuesday 8:50 time slot previously occupied by My Lovely Liar.

-Twinking Watermelon Episode 1 Recap Contains Spoilers-

The episode starts by introducing Ha Eun-gyeol and his brother Ha Eun-ho at a coffee shop. However, they took a lot of time to order the drinks which is when it was revealed that Eun-ho has hearing impairment. Right after in flashbacks we are taken back to their younger versions where their parents also have hearing impairment. They have a family-run restaurant and the Eun-gyeol often helps them out during holidays.

Soon after they shift to a new place and the landlord notices that Eun-gyeol is a very studious student. She asks her son to befriend him so that he can become better in his studies. However, he reveals that he is talking to Eun-gyeol so that he can help him cheat in the exams. When Eun-gyeol refuses to follow his orders, the landlord’s son starts to bully him relentlessly.

One day as he was returning home soaked wet, the owner of a guitar shop helped him out. Moreover, he also offers to teach him to play guitar. Eun-gyeol started to go to his shop regularly and take lessons from him. As time passed by he started to improve and surpassed every expectation. The shop owner gave him a challenge to create a guitar riff for a tune and if it sounds good, he will give Eun-gyeol the guitar that he wanted the most.

Eun-gyeol reaches home and starts to create a tune instantly. However, his brother was suffering from a cold so his parents asked to take care of him. The landlord’s son came by to talk to Eun-gyeol but since he could not reach him, he opened the window and threw the sweater inside. However, accidentally a cigarette butt also entered the room. Eun-gyeol leaves the house without informing his parents to meet with the shop owner and make him listen to the tune.

After a while, the house catches fire and the firefighters surround the house. Eun-gyeol’s parents reach on time and see that Eun-ho is saved but they fail to find Eun-gyeol. Thinking that he is still inside the house the father goes inside and Eun-gyeol arrives after a few minutes. However, the father is saved and taken to the hospital right after. The landlord finds out that her son caused the fire and decides to evict them from the house.

The entire family had to move from the house again. Eun-gyeol visits the guitar shop one last time and finds that the owner passed away. It is revealed that the shop owner actually took his own life the previous day. The scene switches to the present time where Eun-gyeol is helping his brother learn taekwondo.

In another scene, a cello player is seen going to an ice cream shop where the part-time worker instantly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Eun-gyeol is seen on the street wearing a face mask and playing the guitar for an elaborate audience. The episode ends on that note.

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Twinking Watermelon Episode 1 Review

The first episode of the series provides an extremely elaborate introduction to the background of the core characters. However, the pacing of the plot is too slow at times and refuses to move forward. Nevertheless, the plot is emotional and can really move the audience with some impactful scenes. It will be interesting to see how the story unfolds further.

Twinking Watermelon Episode 1 is now streaming on tvN. Did you watch the episode yet? Let us know in the comments below!

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