Brewing Love: Episodes 1-2

by Unit

Welcome to the world of alcohol featuring the reluctant partnership of an hyperactive beer saleswoman and a hypersensitive brew master. Sprinkle in empathic moments, quirky side characters and corporate bosses struggling for a taste of the capitalism pie, and we’ve got ourselves a flavorful brew ready for consumption.

 
EPISODES 1-2

Raise your glasses, people, as we welcome our show’s heroine, CHAE YONG-JOO (Kim Se-jung), onstage. Yong-joo is head of sales at the Busan branch of Jisang Liquor, and she’s poured her blood, sweat, and tears into making their beer a bestseller in the Busan markets. Yong-joo is passionate about her job, and everyone likes and respects her — except some wholesalers who collect goods on credit and refuse to settle their tab after making sales. But “Dog Yong-joo” — as she’s not-so-fondly called by the greedy wholesalers — is a former special forces soldier, and she will collect her tab any which way. Cue: action sequences and stunts that have me blurring the lines between Brewing Love and The Uncanny Counter. Lol.

We come to learn that Yong-joo was raised by her grandmother after her parents’ death, and she became a soldier straight from high school to earn money. Now I look forward to exploring her pipeline from soldier to beer saleswoman. What prompted the industry switch? The allure of a higher paycheck? Or perhaps, the flexibility to spend more time with — and look after — her ailing grandmother?

Next up, we’re introduced to our hero, YOON MIN-JOO (Lee Jong-won). A brew master extraordinaire, Min-joo runs a small-town brewery that produces the non-mass-produced but iconic “In My Name” (aka Naro) beer, which sends everyone who tastes it to a whole new world without the magic carpet. Since dramaland loves to hang little quirks around its male leads like a badge of honor, Min-joo is also an empath, and his super sensitive soul puts him on the outs with his stoic ex-military dad — who treats his hypersensitivity like it’s a disease, and makes him feel self conscious for being different. Tsk.

Min-joo draws a clear line to prevent people from getting too close to him — but it’s not a case of being the typical prickly male lead. He just doesn’t want to get sucked into other people’s emotions and feelings. Min-joo would live in solitude with his cat and his clumsiness if he could, but one does not simply run a farm and a brewery all by himself. His employees are zany and sometimes a little too loud, but he’s already used to their antics (just like they’re used to his), and they have a good working relationship.

Unlike two parallel lines, our hero and heroine must cross paths for this show to advance its plot. Thus, the chairman of Jisang Liquor comes across the life-changing Naro beer experience, and calls for a board meeting immediately. His order is simple: scout the maker of Naro beer or acquire his brewery or kidnap him. Just do whatever it takes to bring the brew master over to Jisang to develop a new beer for us. Aye, aye, captain!

Unfortunately, Jisang Liquor cannot afford to take on this ambitious new venture without making some sacrifices. As such, the company decides to get rid of their Busan branch and lay off the staff. Nooo! Naturally, Yong-joo is disappointed to learn of this development. She did not bust her ass for years to take their beer from zero market share to the #2 spot in Busan all for an old guy in a suit to shut down her branch just like that. Hello, HQ, it is not over until it is over! – Chae Yong-joo, 2024.

Min-joo heads to Busan to rescue his younger half-brother from his very boring birthday party, and the duo visit the amusement park for some fun. A giant teddy bear (one of the prizes at a shooting game) catches Kid Bro’s eyes, and you’ll just know that their rigid “you must act like a man” dad is behind the poor boy’s hesitation to admit that he wants the bear. Min-joo assures Kid Bro that it’s okay for boys to like teddy bears, and Kid Bro cheers up. But winning the bear requires 700 points at the game, and it doesn’t look like Min-joo is a good marksman.

Enter: former soldier Yong-joo, who’s also currently fuelled by the raging emotions accompanying the news of her branch’s disbandment. Despite her neutral expression as she works her way up to the 700 points, Min-joo senses her despair, and he pulls her away to tell her that she’s not fine. But a blank-faced Yong-joo is like… what are you talking about? Min-joo catches himself and apologizes for butting in, before leaving with Kid Bro and the teddy bear. Yay! And of course, Kid Bro is enamored by the “Sniper lady.”

At home, Yong-joo wonders how Min-joo could tell that something was bothering her, and for a brief moment, she thinks he’s psychic. Don’t worry, he gets that a lot. Heh. But ultimately, she brushes off the encounter as one of those random things. On the other hand, Min-joo is surprised by his out-of-character behavior in approaching Yong-joo when he usually turns a blind eye to other people’s feelings. Welcome to dramaland, buddy.

Yong-joo wakes up to the semi-good news that the Busan branch has a fighting chance if she joins the marketing team at HQ and recruits the brew master of Naro beer. Yong-joo accepts the offer to save her branch from extinction, but the marketing team isn’t doing her a favor because they also need her — and her doggedness — to win Min-joo over. You see, since the chairman’s order, the directors of the marketing and planning teams have been locked in a race to be the team that brings Min-joo to Jisang Liquor. But the planning team is currently in the lead, thanks to their ace manager, BANG AH-REUM (Shin Do-hyun).

Ah-reum is no ordinary manager. She’s also the proud owner of a building in a highbrow area, two cars, two convenience stores and lots of assets in cash. Cha-ching! Ah-reum is living the dream life, but her life’s goal is simple: to level all the way up in order to meet a man who’s equally on a high level, get married, and retire after the wedding. The motivation behind all her hard work and efforts sounds a little head-scratching to me, but who am I to judge? You do you, sis! To fulfil her goal, Ah-reum signs up for matchmaking, and she needs just one thing from her prospective groom: perfection.

Enter: our darling supporting male lead, OH CHAN-HWI (Baek Sung-chul). Now, Chan-hwi may not be Ah-reum’s description of “perfection” or a “high-level” prospective suitor, but he’s a sweet guy who runs a toast truck. He also works part-time for Min-joo after falling in love with Naro beer and signing himself up to work in the brewery. Ah-reum and Chan-hwi meet when she visits the brewery, and while she finds him a little extra, she’s not all that put off by him — although her enthusiasm fizzles out like bubbles on beer when she learns that the guy rizzing her up is not the brew master she came to meet. Lol. (By the way, Chan-hwi and Yong-joo have a friendly noona-dongsaeng relationship, since everyone knows everyone in dramaland.)

Ah-reum eventually meets with Min-joo, but he politely turns down a collaboration offer with Jisang. He’d like to brew his beer within the boundaries of his brewery, hence it’s impossible to meet the mass production expectations of a big liquor company. Yong-joo is also in town on behalf of the marketing team, and she’s pleasantly surprised to see that the guy from the amusement park is THE highly sought after brew master. But Min-joo assumes she orchestrated the amusement park showdown in order to win him over, and he turns her down a little more firmly than he did with Ah-reum.

A shoeless Yong-joo hurries after Min-joo, proposal in hand, and he senses her desperation despite the professional smile plastered on her face. Mr. Empath is overwhelmed by the intensity of Yong-joo’s emotions, and once again, he acts out of character by forcing her feet into slippers and telling her that she’s not okay. Min-joo realizes he needs to stay away from Yong-joo to preserve his own emotional health, but according to dramaland rules, this is totally mission impossible.

When the planning and marketing team reps run into each other, Ah-reum suggests that they both persuade their respective directors to wrap up the ego battle since Min-joo doesn’t want to sign a contract with Jisang. But giving up doesn’t exist in Yong-joo’s lexicon. Matter of fact, the more she’s discouraged, the more fired up she is to succeed. Hwaiting!

Coincidentally, the village is in its busiest season and Yong-joo volunteers her services since they’re short-handed on manpower to harvest hops, brew beer, and prepare for the village festival. The village cash cow aka Mr. Brew Master prohibits Yong-joo from returning to town, but Yong-joo wins over the materialistic village head with healthcare supplements. *Open sesame* As for Min-joo’s employees, Yong-joo plays the “ahjummas cannot ignore a hungry person” card, and before you know it, they’re lovingly feeding her rice balls and tearing up at her sad life story. Looooool.

Long story short, Yong-joo is granted safe passage to Min-joo’s farm, and she succeeds — for the second time this week — in dragging the exasperated brew master out of a self-imposed isolation in his man cave. Muahahaha. In case Min-joo doesn’t know it already, he ain’t seen the last of Yong-joo yet, and I cannot wait for their push and pull game to begin!

Yong-joo and Min-joo are as opposites as they come, but this makes them good for each other in more ways than a polar attraction romance. Yong-joo’s selflessness when it comes to her team and everyone around her is no doubt a noble thing. But Min-joo is the one person who feels the pain behind her brave front, and maybe if he repeats his “you are not okay” mantra to her overtime, she’ll stop repressing her feelings, learn to put herself first — and for the love of good health, visit the hospital to treat that bruise she sustained at the greedy wholesaler’s warehouse!

As for Min-joo, being around Yong-joo’s hyper-energetic self works to literally pull him out of reclusive shell. And though an empath cannot not empathize, this way, he can slowly learn to distance his emotions from that of others and stop slamming people with his invisible block button. Lol. I came into Brewing Love for a rom-com, and while it’s not bad to get some healing alongside, I hope the rom and com shines through and doesn’t get overshadowed by the melo themes in the plot.

 
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