During an episode of the 2022 fun variety show In The Soop, South Korean star Choi Woo-shik had embarrassedly confessed to his close friends, Park Seo-joon, Park Hyung-sik and Kim Taehyung, that he was always nervous about his acting in emotional scenes. He was never quite sure about whether he could really portray the raw vulnerability that an emotionally-charged scene required.

He doesn’t have to worry. The actor, who is returning to the K-drama scene with Melo Movie, had portrayed one of the most nuanced characters in recent K-drama times, with Our Beloved Summer, which released in 2021, a show that starred Kim Da-mi. Amidst the sweet, saccharine spate of shows that released that year and following on the heels of the successful Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Our Beloved Summer showed the bittersweet journey of two lovers finding their way back to each other. On the surface the story is simple: Choi Woong (Woo-shik) and Kook Yoon-seo (Da-mi) are sparring schoolmates, who fall in love while shooting a documentary that goes viral. There is something endearing and real about both the leads; their warmth reflects in each word and banter. Yet, both have unresolved internal conflicts and Yoon-seo’s issues gradually build to a boil. Nevertheless, for the next few years, their entire relationship is filled with sweet moments, but also fights, which slowly pave the way for the final break-up for the relationship.