A high schooler who grew up in a deaf family discovers a love for music.  And although he dreams of playing the guitar in a band some day, he feels guilty to his family, who can never hear or understand his passion.  So, by day, he is the model student who studies and acts as interpreter for his family members whenever the need arises.  But by night he secretly practices and pursues his love of music.  When a strange music store appears in front of him, he wanders in.  But when he leaves, he suddenly finds himself in the year 1995.  The first person he meets is his future father, who not only can hear but is looking for a guitarist for his high school band.  And when he finds out that the person his dad has a crush on is not his future mother, he decides to stay, join the band, and somehow make sure his dad and mom end up together.  

Seol In Ah as Choi Se Kyeong/ On Eun Yu

Choi Se Kyeong is the girl Yi Chan has a crush on.  It is her challenge that makes Yi Chan start the band in the first place.  But when she secretly leaves to study in the US, Yi Chan’s heart is broken.  So he is especially thrilled when she shows up again in time for the competition.  But we soon learn that this new, recently arrived Se Kyeong is actually Se Kyeong’s daughter, On Eun Yu who also travelled from 2023, like Eun Gyeol.  But Eun Yu and Eun Gyeol end up at odds when Eun Yu decides to make Yi Chan fall in love with her, thinking he is her mother’s long lost first love.  And although she is sure her mother loved Yi Chan, she finds herself much more drawn to Eun Gyeol, without knowing she and Eun Gyeol are both from the present.  Eventually, Eun Yu realizes she is wrong about her mom and Yi Chan and begins helping Eun Gyeol make sure his parents end up together, so Eun Gyeol can be born.  

When On Eun Yu first shows up in the past, her plan is the exact opposite of Eun Gyeol. While Eun Gyeol is desperate to make sure his parents end up together, so that he will still exist, Eun Yu intends to “commit suicide” by making sure her mom ends up with her long lost first love, who she thinks is Yi Chan, so that she will never be born.  But her plan is foiled when she discovers that actually her dad is her mom’s first love after all.  Eun Yu’s life in the present is full of pressure from her mom and her parent’s divorce.  But her time in 1995 gives her a fresh perspective on the value of life and love.  And getting back to present day Eun Gyeol becomes a priority.  Seol In Ah is a cute actress who has played an interesting range of characters lately.  I thought she handled the role of Eun Yu well and her role brought modern day problems into the idyllic past in an interesting way.  

Shin Eun Soo as Yoon Cheong Ah

Yoon Cheong Ah is a deaf girl who goes to school with Yi Chan.  She is raised by an abusive step mother who refuses to allow her to use sign language or communicate with anyone at all.  Cheong Ah falls in love with Yi Chan from afar, but he is too busy chasing Se Kyeong to even notice her.  When Eun Gyeol shows up, he exposes Cheong Ah’s step mom’s actions, becomes Cheong Ah’s sign language tutor, and vows to help her win Yi Chan’s heart.

 ♥ Parent Child Relationships

One of the major themes in this drama is parent child relationships and the impact they can have on our lives.  Whether in 1995 or 2023, Yi Chan and Eun Gyeol have a warm, loving relationship that is touching to watch.  Likewise, we see the foundations of that positive relationship in the interactions between Yi Chan and his grandmother.  In contrast, Se Kyeong’s constant need to prove her own worth through her daughter’s success drives Eun Yu to the brink of disaster, leaving her with serious mental health issues.  And, of course, the pain suffered by Cheong Ah because of an abusive step mom and a dad who is too busy running a business to pay attention to his own daughter, have left obvious scars on the her life.  This a wonderful reminder that as parents, our actions matter in the lives of our children, and as children, the scars we carry from our parents can be healed.  

 ♥ Issues for the Deaf

This drama did a nice job of bringing up some of the problems faced by those who are deaf without making it the obvious focus of the story.  This is not a drama about being deaf, per se, but it introduces the struggles deaf people and those who love them often encounter in day to day life.  From the constant need of an interpreter for both emergencies and daily encounters to the barrier some face if they’ve never learned sign language, we get a chance to see the world through the eyes of the deaf and the impression is interesting and will stay with me.

Eun Ho

I know that Eun Ho doesn’t really fit into the time travel aspect of this story, but I really enjoyed the little bit of his character that we got to meet.  He is great example of a young deaf person who is living his life to fullest and not ever letting his lack of hearing take away from his opportunities.  From school, to sports, to love, Eun Ho embraces it all with an admirable enthusiasm.  So, I wish there had been a way to somehow see more of him, whether as himself in the present, or some other figure in the past.  And I’m curious about whether he actually meets and develops a crush on Eun Yu in this new version of the present.

Choi Se Kyeong’s Story

While Eun Yu is one of the main stars of this drama, I felt like her story with her mom spends most of the time on the back burner.  And in the end, it just kind of dissolves without any real resolution.  With all of the other side stories they spent time on, it seems like they could have devoted a bit more time to showing how the Se Kyeong of the past becomes the unhappy Se Kyeong of the present, and how Eun Yu’s trip to the past might have impacted all of that.  

“Twinkling Watermelon” doesn’t have the strongest ending.  Nor does it gives us all the happy ever afters we may have wanted, which I actually kind of liked.  But at least for our leads there is some closure and plenty of happy feelings. Even after all his efforts, Eun Gyeol does not manage to stop his dad’s accident or keep him from losing his hearing.  But Yi Chan promises that he will overcome this.  We see Cheong Ah’s step mom and step siblings get kicked out of the house.  And all of those loose ends get tied up for Eun Gyeol just in time for him and Eun Ju to go back to his own time, and leave their parents to determine the rest of their destines on their own.  As Eun Gyeol leaves the music store in 2023 he gets a parting shot of Viva in the store, proving he is behind all of this.  Back in the present, things have changed radically.  While Yi Chan and Cheong Ah did get married, they now live with Cheong Ah’s father in their family mansion and Yi Chan runs her father’s company, Jinsung Instruments.  At a company function, Eun Gyeol finds out the Watermelon Sugar members are all still friends and that Eun Gyeol’s band SPINE9 has become famous.  And as his father gives a speech from the stage about how he went to college and graduated with Cheong Ah, Eun Ju comes into the auditorium and then runs away.  Eun Gyeol chases after her and couple share a kiss.  I do have to agree with many fans who complain that the ending felt very rushed and there are many questions that are left unanswered, especially dealing with what people remember of the past, how Yi Chan and Cheong Ah actually end up together, and what happens to Se Kyeong and Eun Ju in the present.  But the endings we do get are satisfying and warm.