"Work Later, Drink Now" Korean drama, episode one recap

 

 Air Dates: October 22nd until December 10, 2021 Friday nights at 10:00 pm on tVN.

Main Cast: The three main female leads are 29 in age and have been close friends since college. The top two are roommates and it's hard to explain fully how much they love to drink, every episode should revolve around that pastime. Just five regular characters but there are some guest stars in every episode.

Lee Sun-Bin as An So-Hee.... She works as a variety show writer and is the most 'mature' of the trio but can also be the most frightening. Like her two close friends enjoys her Soju lukewarm instead of ice cold.

 Han Sun-Hwa as Han Ji-Yeon.... What an attractive woman she is and in this show is so vain about her looks. Ji-Yeon works as a yoga instructor and is a bit of an airhead, she can hold her liquor better than her two mates as she seldom has hangovers.

Jung Eun-Ji as Kang Ji-Gu.... The quietest of the three yet also the most eerie. Ji-Gu never smiles and her 'job' is creating Origami on her YouTube channel, don't know how she makes any money off it and that could be why she lives in a small attic apartment.

 Choi Si-Won as Kang Buk-Hu.... Is a TV producer who works with So-Hee and the two are always at odds with each other. Think he may become their fourth drinking teammate.

Kim Jung-Min as Hwang.... Owner, cook and bartender of the House of Five Blessings where the women often go to get a bit tipsy as only he can put up with their shenanigans.

 Guest star for this episode.

Kim Ji-Suk as Kim Hak-Soo.... In this first episode he had a blind date with each of the three gals, all were failures and can't believe how much he drank....

 Don't know if I would call this a diamond in the rough but what a gem I stumbled across. Have viewed four episodes and while it won't be my top drama of the year it's certainly been the most enjoyable and fun show for 2021. Would like to have four recaps for today but there probably will be only two because of the huge backlog of posts I need to write up but do plan on recapping the entire series. What also makes this drama a treat is that I've never seen any of the three female leads in a show and they're all so likable in different ways so will check out some older series they've been in. Hope to have a regular post for Han Sun-Hwa who truly is a bit stunning.

 The next three episodes feature the trio usually drinking and eating together, not in this first show as we met the three one at a time. It's Christmas Eve and in an odd occurrence all have a blind date with the man above who is Hak-Soo. His friend Lee set up the dates and wonder if he knew what the women were like, if he did it could have been an act of revenge on Hak-Soo. There was a bit of narration over these dates and they went back to back to back, don't know how Hak-Soo could drink so much Soju! First up for him was the above woman Ji-Gu who is kind of funny in an eerie way. Her 'job' is teaching Origami on her YT channel and can someone make money off that? Ji-Gu is also very stoic and never smiles though it appeared she did briefly in the third show. Like her mates Ji-Gu is so, so passionate about her drinking and can consume so much Soju without appearing that tipsy.

 On all three blind dates Hak-Soo was wondering to himself did he make a mistake by agreeing to meet these women, in short the answer is yes! But at least the gals are a blast to be with though in Ji-Gu's case it's a subtle kind of fun as she quickly noticed Hak-Soo was wishing he was anywhere else but there and started making fun of him which flew over his head. One thing was telling Hak-Soo if he let their shared glass of Soju touch the table he would be forced to go out on another date with Ji-Gu, needless to say the glass never touched the table even after twenty shots! This is where we learned all of the women enjoy their Soju lukewarm instead of chilled which was another thing Hak-Soo shook his head at. But have to give him credit as he did keep up with Ji-Gu in drinking the Soju which isn't easy to do, when he returned from the men's room she was gone but at the next table was a different woman, blind date #2?

 Yes it was and this time Hak-Soo thought he hit the jackpot as his date was ultra attractive. Her name is Ji-Yeon and her being attractive is an understatement! She's a yoga instructor and we found out that being a stockbroker is Hak-Soo's profession, after this night he could be a professional Soju drinker! The two did hit it off so well but the problem was Ji-Yeon is a bit of an airhead, she can ramble on about the most inane subject which would bore most men but not Hak-Soo. Like Ji-Gu she likes her Soju lukewarm, unknown to Hak-Soo she's best friends with her and also his next blind date.

 Also like Ji-Gu Ji-Yeon can really put back the Soju and once again Hak-Soo had a difficult time keeping up. No wonder as he had already split ten bottles of it with Ji-Gu so by the time this date finished it's a shock he wasn't crawling on the floor. However Ji-Yeon was on the floor though not from being too drunk, she can get carried away with her conversations and ended up tipping over her chair. Have to note she's also extremely vain about her beauty. After all that Soju once again Hak-Soo needed to make a trip to the men's room, upon is return Ji-Yeon was gone but in her place was blind date #3. Still think his friend Lee set these dates up as sort of a revenge towards Hak-Soo, you can see above that he's introducing himself to So-Hee.

 Of course that's her above and all three friends are so different yet in a way so alike. So-Hee is a writer for a variety show and was still working on a script when Hak-Soo introduced himself, So-Hee is so much more serious than his first two dates which actually pleased him. At first that is but So-Hee just couldn't put her work aside though she often had one hand free for Soju! Hak-Soo did help her out a bit with the script and seemed she was the woman he was attracted to the most of the trio. However the mood swings So-Hee has are quite dramatic, one second she's swearing her head off at an assistant on her phone, the next she's as sweet as fine wine towards Hak-Soo. But like the first two blind dates this one started out well but came crashing down quickly, so after sharing close to thirty bottles of lukewarm Soju Hak-Soo made his exit and we may never see him again.

 Episodes are around 27 minutes in length and by this time we've just about hit the end. Those blind dates took place on Christmas Eve, the final minute it was X-Mas day and the trio are back at their favorite watering hole Home of Five Blessings celebrating the holiday, those dates took place there too. The next few episodes the weather looks so much nicer so think this was a 'flashback episode' to let us learn more about the three main characters individually. That wraps this recap up and the next post is for the second episode, may not seem so reading this but what a fun show this is.