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[K-drama Treasure Hunt] Sitting on swings together

Welcome to the K-drama treasure hunt, where we all go looking for K-drama treasure in the form of tiny drama details that we know and love. Sometimes these details take the shape of well-worn tropes (oppa Band-Aiding) or storytelling devices (Top Secret Deadly Allergy), but other times it’s just details we know we’ve seen in other dramas, but need help putting all the clues together.

Each week we’ll put you on the hunt for a piece of K-drama treasure, and you can report your findings in the comments.

There’s no umpire in this game, so if you find the detail we’re looking for, drop the drama title (or even better, drama title + episode number) in the comments, and we’ll all take your word for it. Or, we’ll go binge watch just to see it play out.

And remember, we’re here to map our way to the treasures not to the plot twists! We know how exciting it can be to have all the hard-earned details stashed in your head, but let’s try to keep the spoilers out of the comments.


This week’s treasure:

Sitting on swings together at the park

 
Your mission:

There’s nothing wrong with heading to the nearest park to sit on the swings, but it’s even better with a buddy. This week we’re looking for all the scenes you can find where characters come together (usually to have a deep conversation) on a set of swings. (Actual swinging may or may not be involved.)

 
Reference drama:

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (Episode 13)


 
Have an idea for the next treasure hunt? Email your topic to hello @ dramabeans.com!

 
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Extraordinary You (Episode 15): My favorite tsundere Baek Kyung (Lee Jae-wook) and Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon) sitting on the swings together and reminiscing about their childhood in the Shadow. https://youtu.be/zn5PeBCb0VI&t=56

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These treasure hunts are so weird 😂 They are either in every kdrama ever or so specific that I might have only seen them once.

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Is it even a kdrama if they don't sit on swings (or some other playground equipment)?

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Right??

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That's what I was thinking. There are many scenes involving swings in Dramaland.

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Wedding Impossible When the ML asked her to not marry his brother.

Business Proposal He kissed her 🥰

Lovely Runner I think there was one but I don't remember in which timeline...

The Matchmakers Jung-Woo and Bachelor 12 😂 It wasn't a conversation, he was teaching him how to do it

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The Lovely Runner scene that I remember is a drunk Sun-jae sitting on the swings outside Sol's old house after her family moved with In-hyuk running to fetch him in Episode 8.

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I thought they had one together in highschool. But I'm not sure 😅

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I just watched one last night in episode 8 (lol iirc) in JTBC’s FAMILY BY CHOICE.
Our sweet basketball playing sibling Hae-joon is all messed up (should I go to the US and play basketball or go to college close to home?) He cuts out from home and meets up with a basketball buddy on swings to talk things out.
(My personal opinion: Hae-joon please stay home with Noodle dad lol).

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One example that comes to mind right away is the drama I Miss You/Missing You (2012) and that's only because I started re-watching it about a month or so ago. I've put it on pause at the moment and am not sure if I'll finish it.

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It feels like every rom-com with a "childhood first love" trope has the playground scene as justification or validation of their adult romance. I often tune out these scenes. Destiny is not ostriching one's social state in the playground sand waiting for a second chance 10, 20 or 30 years later. LND really harped on this.

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So many scenes flashed my mind without recollecting the titles. But two are standing strong, one more clearer than the other.

Korean rom-com queen Park Min-young has many swing scenes under her portfolio. But, I recall Her Private Life's the best. I am not sure if the scene was shared with Ahn Bo-hyun or Kim Jae-wook. I'm leaning towards the former.

The second one - the very one I remembered first - is Go Back Couple. And it is a very long read.

It was between Jang Na-ra and Jang Ki-yong. The conversation gave closure to Jang Ki-yong's first love that was unrequited. Thanks to JNR's second shot at her youth, she got to relive being his first love. To her credit, it wasn't intentional on JNR's part. This time, Jang Na-ra helped to close that chapter in Jang Ki-yong's life which enabled him to now have a lovely son of his own. What especially made this memorable was the fact that Jang Ki-yong didn't have a memorable swing experience. Something about his birth mom leaving him at the swing playground and gone for good. So being at the swing reminds him of being alone. Somehow though, they had their conversation at a playground - with a swing. At the end of the conversation - where JNR told in very clear terms how personal it is to her to know that she is someone's first love, that it is a fact she'll cherish, and that she'll remember this aspect of your life with good fate, but she won't be accepting his hand. As if it wasn't already a beautiful way to not break JKY's already lonely fear deep within, she requested that he leave the playground first so he isn't reminded of how his mom left him. That was an emotional height Go Back Couple pulled. It was so endearing to see play out.

And, thanks to that conversation, when the characters returned to the present, we are shown that besides the billionaire tag JKY's character had at the present introduction to his character in episode 1, he now has an adorable son of his own. He opened his heart to love - with another person. When both crossed paths some scenes later, neither acknowledged the other. But, we could see the joy on Nara's face to learn that he is living life and that he made a family.

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Just Between Lovers

Temperature of Love

Once Again

Thirty-nine

Encounter

True Beauty

Love Next Door

Bubblegum

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

Crash Course In Love

Frankly Speaking

The Judge from Hell

Just a few dramas I think I recall. 😅😂

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dang girl. I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast!!!

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🤣🤣🤣 Trust me I must have seen at least double, if not more which I don't recall.

If it makes you feel any better, I too oftentimes don’t recall what I ate for breakfast much to the exasperation of my doctor. 😅😳

Drama memory is just random like that. 🤷‍♀️

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My Sweet Mobster's iconic playground scene! (where ML unleashes his inner child with manic energy - due to a certain soju kryptonite)

FL & ML sit at the swings - she recalls her childhood with her favorite Hyun-woo oppa -- stands on the swings and proudly shows the ML how to swing standing up (*this is a spoiler free description, there's more to it)

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Love Next Door - betweend friends (at the time)
Our Beloved Summer - between friends
Love of Nirvana (cdrama) this is better since its a big enough swing that fits both the ML and FL. I think it was ep 38 and an earlier episode.

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I enjoy playground scenes, they never seem tropey. I wish I could remember more specific ones but I swear I've watched some really good ones in my day. For example, I enjoyed the playground scene in Seoul Busters. It wasn't on the swings but it was on playground equipment. I think the coolest playgrounds I've seen are in Japan. They are like theme parks and makes me wish I were a kid again.

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Radiant Office (a few episodes). Just Howon the temp worker and Woojin the manager sitting on the swings and slide talking about work, blind dates and life.

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