Amandeep Kaur, New Delhi

The crutch of young adulthood is beautifully portrayed in this Korean drama through five university girls. It aired on JTBC from July 22, 2016, to 27 August 2017. The girls lived together at a shared house named ‘Belle Epoque’. Yoo Eun-jae, Jung Ye-eun, Kang Yi-na, Yoon Jin-myung, and Song Ji-won are the five girls with unlike personalities and different backgrounds but handle many problems, challenges, conflicts and manage to get along. This drama is very unique and realistic, as it presents issues that we all are facing in our life.

Cast

· Han Ye-ri as Yoon Jin-myung

· Ryu Hwa-young as Kang Yi-na

· Park Eun-bin as Song Ji-won

· Han Seung-yeon as Jung Ye-eun

· Park Hye-su as Yoo Eun-jae

· Yoon Park as Park Jae-wan

· Choi Deok-moon as Oh Jong-gyu

· Ji Il-joo as Go Doo-young

· Shin Hyun-soo as Yoon Jong-yeol

· Son Seung-won as Im Sung-min

Plot

The name of the drama ‘Hello My Twenties’ (청춘시대), also known as Age of Youth, itself defines what the drama is all about. The story revolves around five girls who are in their twenties and the drama begins with the arrival of Yoo Eun-jae to the city. She came from the village for her higher studies but initially, she struggles to adjust to the environment of the city. She doesn’t like the behavior of the other girls and a boy disturbs her in college but after some time they became fond of each other and fell in love. With the flow of time, she manages and collaborates with the other girls. Her character is shy and timid, she feels guilty over supposedly killing her father but in some situations, she also shows a lot of bravery; she saved Jung Ye-eun, and facess the investigation behind her father’s death.

Yoon Jin-myung is older than the other girls and struggles with her life to maintain the balance between her financial and educational needs. She doesn’t socialize much with the other girls but she cares for them. Her brother has been in a coma for years and she consistently fights in life to save her brother by working part-time along with her studies. At her part-time, a boy liked her; if you watch this drama then you will be able to enjoy their sweet and salty love story. Kang Yi-na is sometimes jealous of Jin-myung as she believes in working hard and doesn’t want to rely on others, while Kang Yi-na thinks the opposite of this, she likes expensive things and wants to live a luxurious life but not by working hard. She is bold and beautiful and different from the other four girls. She has many secrets which she hides from others and multiple boyfriends whom she uses to earn money. I like the relationship between Jung Ye-eun and Yi-na; their funny conflicts are amazing but as the show moves forward, they become closer.

Jung Ye-eun is a charming, and youthful girl, full of love for herself and her boyfriend but unfortunately, she does not get the same love. Her cruel boyfriend even kidnapped her and kept her hostage in his apartment but the unity of the girls saved her. The girls always get together when there is a problem and, that is the thing I liked the most about this drama. Watch this drama to learn how Ye-eun’s life changes after the kidnapping incident. She is close to Song Ji-won, who is my favorite character. She dreams to become a journalist. She is bubbly, sparkling, cheerful, and bold; a lot of the humoristic scenes in the drama around her character, the one always craving a romantic life. She is close to her friend Im Sung-min as they hang out a lot together. I wished for them to fall in love because they looked beautiful together.

This drama is not only about romance, it is full of comedy, trauma, and ups and downs of young age. It has suspense and shows the struggles around future uncertainty. I love the bond between the girls because it portrays how strangers became so fond of each other until the very end. The cast plays their roles beautifully, each character is uniquely presented so that viewers can feel connected with the whole cast. I recommend watching this drama because you will get to know the sixth mysterious person who live with girls.

Have you seen this K-drama? What are your thoughts, tell us in the comment.