Our Story - Binjin

Chapter 55: Spring 2019

Author's Notes: Wishing everyone a good start to the weekend. We are approaching the CLOY period, where there will be lots to imagine and write. 😀 I probably have a couple more chapters before moving to CLOY filming period. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Spring 2019 will be special for Hyun Bin and Ye-Jin. Why? It was special because it was so normal.

Hyun Bin and Ye-Jin did not have any filming commitments during this period and enjoyed a relatively regular lifestyle. Ye-Jin mostly reviewed scripts, filmed commercial films and participated in events. Hyun Bin was focused with running VAST, fan-meetings and commercial films. They also caught up with family and friends.

Thankfully, the media seemed to have forgotten about them but they took care to avoid crowds. They mostly spent their evenings and off days at each other's apartments. They went for walks, watched movies, went for drives and did short holiday trips within Korea, everything regular people did, albeit during off-peak timings.

During this period, they learnt what it was like to be together, from a practical perspective. They were past the honeymoon stage of their relationship and were learning to adjust to each other in the mundane aspects of their lives.

Similar to the laundry incident in LA, they learnt each other's habits. They both liked to wash the dishes immediately after use, Hyun Bin always returned remote controls back to their rightful place, Ye-Jin had a habit of misplacing remote controls, Hyun Bin folded his T-shirts, Ye-Jin rolled them.

They subconsciously adjusted their behavior. Ye-Jin made extra effort to remember to put things back to their original place, Hyun Bin learnt the places Ye-Jin commonly leave things. Hyun Bin saw the benefits of rolling his T-shirts and changed his practice. They were slowly but surely integrating their lifestyles and habits. Chemistry had helped to start their relationship but its effort that will sustain the relationship.

It wasn't all leisure though, they also sorted out their work plans for the second half of the year and were pleasantly surprised how nice it was to have common schedules. 

Story 1: "Crash Landing on You" progress

As Writer Park promised, she shared the first draft of the drama, which was titled "Crash Landing on You" a month after their meeting. Hyun Bin and Ye-Jin immediately started pouring over the script. They intentionally read the scripts at their own place and agreed not to discuss their thoughts. They wanted to maintain their objectivity on the script.

Ye-Jin had earlier received an offer for a sequel, Pirates 2. She had been seriously considering the offer as Pirates was a project close to her heart. However, she quickly realized that the schedule would clash with Crash Landing on You. It would be impossible to do both projects. Given she would be giving up another project, Ye-Jin wanted to be doubly sure she was objective when deciding.

Ye-Jin fell in love with the character, Yoon Se-ri. Yoon Se-ri in many ways epitomized the true Son Eon-Jin. She was honest, sometimes too direct but principled and sincere. She could be misunderstood as spoilt and demanding due to her privileged background but she was just driven and used to getting things done quickly. She had a wacky sense of humor and was self deprecating.

The script itself was intriguing. Ye-Jin now understood what Writer Park meant when she spoke about how important it was for the actors to make the plot realistic. Take Yoon Se-ri as an example, the character was surreal to a certain extend. She was an heiress who had serious family issues growing up but beat the odds to build her own business empire. She's shrewd, intimidating but yet lovable and innocent. She could relate to business men, date celebrities and yet also engage North Korean soldiers and aunties. This character clearly did not exist in the real world. However, this multi-facet character would give the actress a free reign to interpret the character and engage the audience. The likability and relatability of the character was limited only by the actress herself. However, this comes with its own risk. If the actress could not successfully bring out the character, it will mean almost certain failure for the drama. And it was not just Yoon Se-ri, it applies to every character in this drama. In Ye-Jin's opinion, the drama would either do very well or flop depending on whether the cast could find that chemistry.