Hwang In-youp and Lee Hye-ri's 'Dream to You' debuts with 2.7% viewership rating

ENA's new Monday-Tuesday drama 'Dream to You,' starring Hwang In-youp and Lee Hye-ri, saw a disappointing start with a viewership rating in the 2% range.

'Dream to You,' which aired its first episode on the 13th, recorded a 2.7% viewership rating (Nielsen Korea) based on nationwide paid households. This figure is 3.2 percentage points lower than the 5.9% viewership rating of the previous series 'Doctor on the Edge' finale, and it marks the lowest premiere performance among ENA's Monday-Tuesday dramas aired this year.

The series is an emotional romance depicting the reunion of Woo Su-bin (Hwang In-youp), a genius film director who has achieved his dreams, and Joo I-jae (Lee Hye-ri), a reporter struggling to make a living who lost her dreams to reality, as they become entangled again after 15 years.

The first episode interlaced the past and present of the two characters, showing that behind the success of film director Woo, who simultaneously won both Best New Director and Best Picture awards, the longing for his first love, I-jae, still remains.

During their school years, Woo, who was contemplating his career path under the expectations of his doctor family, discovered his own dream through I-jae, who dreamed of becoming a film director; the two became each other's first love and the driving force behind their dreams. However, due to an unexpected separation, their relationship was severed, and 15 years later, the two, living completely different lives, face each other again.

Currently, I-jae lives as a reporter traveling across the country to make a living, even taking on the burden of her mother's shop lease deposit. Comparing herself to the highly successful Woo, she tried hard to keep her distance, and when he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?", she even lied, saying, "I have a husband and a child," to hide her feelings.

However, Woo immediately recognized her lie and revealed his unchanging feelings by saying, "You don't. Do you have time?" I-jae, recalling the past when she could not keep her promise before leaving for the United States, coldly drew a line, saying, "Let's not run into each other from now on."

Nevertheless, Woo proposed, "I want to make this into a movie. It doesn't have an ending. Let's complete it together," while handing her the unfinished scenario 'Gyeongseong Love Song' that the two had been creating together in the past. However, I-jae left the spot after spilling coffee on the scenario, and the memory of the rainy day 15 years ago that drove the two apart was summoned again, revealing the emotional rift.

At the end of the broadcast, I-jae's story was revealed, showing how she had visited the front of Woo's house for several days back then to meet him but ultimately failed to do so. She maximized the emotional impact of the first episode by venting her resentment, saying, "You shouldn't show up with such an indifferent face. You should have just remained a first love. It's not regret, Woo. You are my regret. Go back to that day. See how I felt."

While the first episode put traditional melodrama tropes—the reunion of first loves, misunderstandings, and unfinished dreams—at the forefront, the viewership rating did not meet expectations. However, as the work begins to fully unravel the past narratives of the two protagonists and the truth behind their separation, the possibility of a rebound remains depending on future developments.

Hwang and Lee both delivered steady, nuanced performances, portraying a successful film director and a reporter exhausted by reality, respectively. In particular, the confrontation between the two facing their past wounds in the heavy rain at the end of the first episode raised anticipation for the next episode by leaving viewers curious about the truth behind their separation and the process of their relationship recovery.