A traumatic experience can scar someone for life. If it happens in your childhood, your way of seeing the world changes forever. Losing your loved one can be hard to cope with, but living with the guilt of being a reason for someone’s death can be extremely painful. In the 2017 South Korean television series, Rain or Shine (Just Between Lovers), Ha Moon Soo, and Lee Kang Doo have been living a hard life since they survived a disastrous accident and have not had a single peaceful day since then.
‘Rain Or Shine’ Plot Summary – The Controversial Construction Project
The Cheongyu construction company is building a Biotown, but the entire project has reason to attract much controversy. The land where the construction is going to happen has been a part of a brutal accident in which many people died and got injured. The land space previously had a building called Space S Mall, built by the Cheongyu construction company itself. The mall had suddenly collapsed, taking many lives due to the tragic incident.
Ha Moon Soo, who makes building models, is hired by Seo Joo Won, an Architect at Cheongyu Constructions. Moon Soo is one of the victims of the Space S Mall accident. Her younger sister died in that accident, and she, herself, barely survived. She still gets nightmares from the day of the accident. She accepts the project as a challenge to herself. Lee Kang Doo is a wage worker, and while in need of a job, he gets one as a guard at Cheongyu’s new construction site. He is also a survivor of the accident. Lee Kang Doo lost his father, who was a construction worker, in that accident. He has been living a hard life since then.
Seo Joo Won, who is the lead architect for Cheongyu’s ongoing project, is also an indirect victim of the accident. His father, who was the lead architect of Space S Mall, committed suicide after the calamity. Ju Won is making sure that no such disaster happens again. Later, he makes Moon Soo and Kang Doo in charge of the memorial park for the people who lost their lives in the disaster.
Connection Between Moon Soo and Kang Doo
Moon Soo and Kang Doo meet on the construction site, and he recognizes her to be the girl he saw in the past. When the mall collapsed, Kang Doo was eating ice cream in a shop, and Moon Soo was applying lipstick while using the shop window as a mirror. After the collapse, both of them were stuck under the debris. While screaming for help, they found each other alive. Kang Doo had a rod inside his leg and couldn’t move well. When they find a way to go out, Kang Doo lets Moon Soo go first, but he couldn’t go out because the rest of the debris falls down and blocks his way.
Moon Soo has had selective memory loss and does not remember Kang Doo or what happened after the collapse. Despite everything, they fall in love with each other. Both have the same traumatic past, which brings them closer, as only they can understand what it felt to be on the edge of death and come back from the same.
‘Rain Or Shine’ Ending, Explained
After losing everything in the accident, Kang Doo lived on debt taken from loan sharks. His sister is going to be a doctor now, while he is still paying off debt by doing different jobs. The lady who gave him the loan years ago is now his best friend, the grandma who has no family alive. She treats patients illegally, most of whom are workers like Kang Doo. After Grandma dies from a brain tumor, Kang Doo inherits everything that she has left behind for him. She had told him to pay off his debt, and he does so. He and his sister are now free from loan sharks and can live decently, courtesy of all the wealth they’ve gained suddenly.
Moon Soo remembers how Kang Doo had helped her escape the collapsed building. She feels guilty for leaving him behind and blames herself for his current physical and mental condition. While Kang Doo tries to reassure her, she is not ready to accept that everything is not her fault. On the other hand, Kang Doo’s sister Jae-Young’s senior doctor tells her that her brother might be sick, so she runs some tests on him which show that his liver is about to fail and he can die anytime if he does not get a suitable donor. Moon Soo still has no idea about this but finds out when Kang Doo faints at her doorstep. Fortunately, Kang Doo finds a donor and survives. They complete the memorial park project together and let go of all the past memories that haunted them. They find true peace in their lives by finding each other.
Rain Or Shine (Also known as Just Between Lovers) is a 2017 Romantic Drama South Korean Series directed by Jin Won Kim. It is streaming on Netflix.
