Kdrama 2020

Forest (Kdrama Review & Summary)

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• Genre: Romance, Medical, Paramedic/Rescue Worker, Forest Bathing, Psychological Issues
• Release Date: 29 January 2020
• Origin: South Korea
• Kdrama: 32 Episodes (30+mins each)

Cast

• Park Hae Jin as Kang San Hyuk
• Jo Bo Ah as Jung Young Jae
• Jung Yeon Joo as Oh Bo Mi (Special Judicial Police Offier)
• Noh Kwang Shik as Choi Chang (Rescue Team Leader)
• Jung Soo Kyo as Han Ji Yong  (Director Han)
• Ahn Sang Woo as Dr Park
• Go Soo Hee as Nurse Kim
• ParkJi Ill as Young Jae’s father
• Ryu Seong Soo as Bong Dae Yong

Quick Precis

Two lost souls find solace in the forest.  There is nothing like a good forest bathing!  LOL

Episode 1 & 2

The drama started with Kang San Hyuk from the  Rescue Team rescuing Jung Young Jae from a forest inferno.  The trees started to fall down as burning embers around San Hyuk and Young Jae.

San Hyuk removed the harness from himself and put it on Young Jae so she can be hoisted up into the waiting helicopter.

San Hyuk knelt down feeling hopeless while saying “What have I done to the forest?”.  Young Jae screaming at him not to give up.

The next scene then jumped into the hospital where Jung Young Jae was a surgeon.  She was good at her job, most of the time, and has a lovely boyfriend.

Next was in Manila, Philippines, where Director Kang San Hyuk was having a meeting with some French people about a merger and acquisition.  While the meeting was ongoing and seemed to be leaning towards Kang San Hyuk’s way, he suddenly had an episode.  He started hallucinating that this hand had turned into a burning glowing ember.  He ended up writhing on the floor in pain much to the consternation of those in the meeting.

Then the scene jumped to the hospital in South Korea where Young Jae worked.  She had just finished another surgery and was gasping for coffee.  She was just waiting for her Americano when someone had beaten her to it.

Someone took her coffee.  It was Kang San Hyuk.  He said that he needed the coffee but he did not have any money.

She was still arguing with him when some medical staff came to usher Kang San Hyuk to another room in a very respectful and conciliatory manner as if dealing with a child.

Young Jae thought that he had a mental illness.

Anyway, Kang San Hyuk had another episode with his hand and was put through a battery of tests including x-rays and MRI but there was nothing physically wrong that can be found on him.  He was healthy except for his phantom pain.

His doctor/psychiatrist said that perhaps there was a memory-related from the past.

Duh!  Strange to say this when the doctor already knew that Kang San Hyuk has no memory at all of his life before he was 10 years old.  Why do you think is that?!!!

The doctor started to put him under hypnosis but as soon as Kang San Hyuk saw fire coming at him, he got up and went.

And on his way out of the hospital in his suit, looking dapper and gorgeous, his newly bought coffee was snatched by Young Jae.

He was surprised and told her that he was very handsome and her approach to getting his attention had been done before.

He did not remember her or the coffee incident.  So he snatched back his coffee from her.  They were fighting over the hot coffee.

Young Jae ended up burning her thumb and was in pain.

San Hyuk felt nauseated because her finger went to his coffee.

Young Jae was so affronted by his abhorrence so she purposely dipped her thumb again into his coffee cup.

Seriously this was so stupid.  She was a surgeon and her tools are her hands.  Why would she do that willingly to her finger/s?!!!

Anyway, Young Jae was called in because there was an emergency. A father had tried to drown himself and his son.  This particular scenario has a very dark effect on Young Jae.  This seemed to have happened to her when she was young or something – a family suicide.

Young Jae managed to patch up the father and his son.  But when the father woke up, he was raging.  He got up and removed all the attachment from the machine and went to his comatose son.

He started kissing his son in the forehead asking him for forgiveness then he proceeded to strangle the boy saying that it was the best thing he can do for him.

The man was so strong that he threw off both Young Jae and the nurse several times as they tried to stop him.

Young Jae used the defibrillator on the man which made him finally stopped but collapsed on the floor.

Young Jae was called by the board and would have been allowed to continue on her job, as the police had closed the case, had she not been too hard on herself and confessed that she used excessive force and was sorry about it and that it was a mistake. She also admitted to taking calming drugs habitually.

She was fired.

She went to her boyfriend’s flat hoping for some consolation but when she got there he was welcoming another woman.

She was one hopeless sadness.  She went home to her father (adoptive father?!!!) and told that her life had gone wrong.  She was a disgrace to her mother, who after undergoing breast cancer surgery went back immediately to work to support Young Jae to get her medical degree.

Her father said that her mother died feeling happy that she has a very special daughter.

Anyway, Young Jae was not jobless but she was transferred to work in Miryeong, which is the back of beyond.

It so happened that Director Kang had been investigating and researching Miryeong Forest as his competitor, the Taeseong Group, was in a process of acquiring the forest/land via the Naeseung Development to turn it into a resort.

Director Kang knew it would be profitable so he was in it for ROI.

Loving this drama.  Love the leads.

Episode 3- 4

Miryeong Hospital is really the back of beyond with roads so uneven that the car/taxi taking Young Jae to her new place of work just dumped her in the middle of nowhere.

She was literally left in the forested mountain with no one in sight.  She was a bit daunted at first of being completely alone in the forest but the sight of the sun shining between the leaves of trees gave her peaceful joy.

She stood there drinking in the beauty of nature.  But suddenly out of nowhere, Kang San Hyuk was looking at her from the other side.

He took pity on her and drove her the rest of the way to the hospital.  He asked her who she killed at the city hospital that she was transferred to the forest?

When she got to the hospital, it was even worse than she had expected.  Her consulting area was still covered in very dusty sheets.

Nurse Kim remarked that it might not be even worth removing the covers because Young Jae would soon leave like the others before her.

The other doctor in the hospital was Dr Park, who had the same view.  Young Jae would leave in no time.

Dr Park had so much time in his hand that he had devoted most of it to his artistic hobbies which can be seen in his own office.

Apparently, no one really visits the hospital anymore because patients found it sadly lacking in everything.  Not even a television to while away the time while waiting for appointments.

She was later picked up by a man in a yellow sports car.  He was Choi Chang.  He was tasked to take her to her new residence.  He gave her his business card and told her to call him anytime if she happens to encounter any problem. It turned out, Choi Chang works for 911 Rescue Team.

Her new house was not too far from the forest and during the night, she could hear every little sound that animals outside her house were making.

The next day Young Jae called her city contacts to ask for a new hospital assignment.

Meanwhile, San Hyuk visited the forest again and noticed that there are some restricted areas not allowed for anyone to go to.

But that did not deter him trespassing.  He researched and investigated his surroundings for his feasibility report and noticed many things including how near the Rescue Team Head Quarter to the mountain and how the forest was not viable to turn into a ski resort, etc.

He was still taking photographs when Officer Oh Bo Min told him to cease and desist as he was trespassing.

Officer Oh said that she was the Special Judicial Police Officer of Live Green Finance Team, representative of Miryeong Environment.  She was a ‘by the book’ officer.

She told him that he was there illegally and she had to fine him 200,000 won as a violation of Environmental Practice Article 57 part 5 (???)

Unfortunately, when she was doing her legal stuff documentation, her pen did not work.  She tried to borrow a pen from San Hyuk but he dismissively walked away.

He had not gone too far when he imagined a red balloon flying in the sky.  All of a sudden he saw his right hand burst into flame.  He was having another attack and this time, it looked more serious.

Officer Oh had to take him to Miryeong Hospital.

It was not easy to treat him as he became violent when Nurse Kim or Dr Park tried to touch him.  They called Young Jae who was just wheeling her suitcase out ready to leave the hospital forever.

She saw Sun Hyuk and went to him.

Sun Hyuk seemed to favour her because he threw himself at her like a scared little boy, frightened and shaking.

He was complaining of his burning hand.

She finally calmed him down after injecting him with drugs.

She was wary when she found out that she was going to do the night shift alone.

Sun Hyuk was not well enough to be discharged.  The drugs were still very much in his system.  He had developed anxiety.

He would not let Young Jae to leave him, not even for a toilet break.  He had to hold on her arm or sleeve to be able to settle and calm himself.

He started seeing ghosts everywhere which started to spook Young Jae as well.

When he told her many short ghost stories including a mother who killed her baby and when he said that could see the dead child being held by the killer mother behind Young Jae, she was so frightened she flew into his waiting arms and stayed there for a while while he hugged her tightly.  So cute!!! Love it.

Young Jae had to spend the rest of the night sitting next to Sun Hyuk, who kept hold on to the sleeve of her trench coat.  He was not letting her go.

He left the hospital the next day when he was all flushed out of the drug.  He saw Young Jae, with her suitcase, along the way and offered to take her to the city.

They got talking about how to change other’s perceptions of oneself.  Sun Hyuk was all for putting yourself in the faces of people.  Make yourself trend and everyone will be talking about you in a positive way if you do it right.

Somehow, this changed Young Jae mind from leaving. She said that she does not really care what others thought of her.  It was more important to know her self worth so she was staying to fight the good fight.

It looked like Sun Hyuk had already started fighting the good fight on behalf of Young Jae.  He overheard a conversation from the nurses when he was seeing his doctor a few days ago that Young Jae was summarily fired despite saving the life of the son of the suicidal maniac of a father.  A television station got hold of the story of Young Jae.

At the company, Sun Hyuk was taken to task by the CEO much to the glee of Director Han.  The CEO had previously told Director Kang to take a break but instead, it seemed he had taken their company into a bit of a bind when it was found out that Director Kang had been bribing people who work for Taeseung Group.

The CEO told him that he will be assigning Sun Hyuk to the Philippines for six months and to get help for his phantom pain which made Director Han smirked even more.

Sun Hyuk though won’t go down without a fight.  He gave a completed deed sale document of Naeseung Corporation to the CEO and asked that he be given the Miryeong Forest project.  He said that the Rescue Unit HQ was very near the forest that every time one of the rescue helicopter flies, it would disturb the peace in the resort.  So he said that he will make the Rescue Unit to relocate somewhere else.

And to this, it seemed was to join to Rescue Unit.

Young Jae had slowly gotten used to the peace and quiet of Miryeong.  She was happily cycling when she stopped off by the lake.  She was sitting near the water when she saw a rescue helicopter almost on top of her.

Suddenly someone said, “Move out of the water, you dead worm.”  And then she was taken into his arms to protect her.

She realised it was the gorgeous Sun Hyuk in his Rescue Team uniform.  Ahhh

He adores her already by episode 4.