Choi Dae-Hyun (Ji Chang-Wook) walks despondently through a residential back alley after getting dumped by a girl. Sitting nearby are three high school girls, including Jung Saet-Byul (Kim You-Jung). She thinks Choi Dae-Hyun is cute and asks him to buy them a pack of cigarettes. Instead of getting cigarettes, they girls receive a lesson from Choi Dae-Hyun. He thinks the girls are just a bunch of knuckleheads, but Jung Sae-Byul is now even more smitten with him and kisses him.
3 years later, Choi Dae-Hyun manages his family owned convenience store. Although, high school girls like to come in and take pictures with him, the store doesn't make a lot of money. Choi Dae-Hyun has also decided to put up a "part-timer worker needed" sign, due to the heavy hours he has been working. Sometime during the night, Jung Saet-Byulwalks into the store. She is now an adult and applies for the part-time job.
Han Tae-Sang (Song Seung-Heon) is a former gangster, but now a successful business man. He has a cold-blooded decisiveness and incredible drive. This helped him to attain his current status, as he started with nothing. He then meets a younger woman named Seo Mi-Do (Shin Se-Kyung). Her personality reminds him of himself when he was that age. Han Tae-Sang begins to feel love for the first time in his life.
.....
Tae-Sang works for a powerful loan shark (Lee Sung-Min). One day, he goes with his men to a small bookstore in a poor area to collect on a debt. They enter the bookstore and threaten the bookstore owner (Kang Shin-Il).
Around this time, the bookstore owner's daughter Mi-Do (Shin Se-Kyung) goes to the public welfare office to get free rice. A TV reporter is there and asks Mi-Do for an interview. Mi-Do becomes extremely embarrassed and hides her face with the rice bag. Even though she tells the reporter no, the TV reporter repeatedly asks her for an interview. Mi-Do then becomes angry and pushes the TV reporter. She leaves without the rice bag. While leaving the area, somebody shouts at her "hey rude student!" When she turns around, a young man named Jae-Hee (Yeon Woo-Jin) gives her the rice bag and leaves.
When Mi-Do gets back to her father's bookstore, she finds a bunch of men in the store. The men soon leave. Mi-Do asks her father about the men, but he doesn't tell her anything.
The next day, Tae-Sang learns that the bookstore owner left a last will and disappeared. Tae-Sang yells at his men to find the bookstore owner. Tae-Sang's men eventually finds the man and takes him back to the bookstore. Meanwhile, Mi-Do is at a private institute and looks at her report card. She lets out a huge smile. Mi-Do got the top score in her class. Mi-Do then receives a phone call from her mother and learns that her father has disappeared.
When Mi-Do arrives back at the bookstore, she sees her mother and father harassed by a bunch of men. Mi-Do quickly gets into a physical struggle with the men. During the struggle, she shows no fear of the men. Tae-Sang then arrives at the bookstore and watches Mi-Do fight with his men. Suddenly, Tae-Sang thinks of himself when he was about Mi-Do's age. Around that time, his mother had an affair. She also owed money to the loan shark that Tae-Sang now works for. At that time, the loan shark and his men came and beat Tae-Sang over his mother's debt. That moment completely changed Tae-Sang's life. He went from a smart kid with good grades to an enforcer for a gangster.
Tae-Sang then sees Mi-Do's report card in her bag. He then stands in front of her and stops the fight. Mi-Do promises to pay back the loan by 3 PM on Saturday. Tae-Sang agrees and leaves with his men. The loan shark then learns of Tae-Sang's actions and thinks he has now become soft. The loan shark has now lost all faith in Tae-Sang.
A few hours after the 3 PM deadline, Mi-Do appears at Tae-Sang's office. Mi-Do, trying to stay as calm as possible, offers to sell herself to Tae-Sung to pay off her father's debt. Tae-Sang accepts her offer and takes her to a hotel room. Mi-Do, trying to stay as calm as possible to hide her fear, listens to Tae-Sang in the hotel room. Tae-Sang tells her to payback the principle without the interest.
Later, Tae-Sang, the loan shark boss' girlfriend Sung-Joo (Chae Jung-An) and Tae-Sang's men gather for a birthday party for their loan shark boss. During the party, the loan shark begins to bad mouth Tae-Sang's mother. Tae-Sang becomes furious and tells his boss that he quits and leaves. The next day, one of Tae-Sang's men goes to the bookstore and gives Mi-Do a bank bank. He tells her that Tae-Sang will pay for her school tuition fees. Mi-Do goes to see Tae-Sang and asks him why he is helping her. Tae-Sang tells her that if someone helped him at her age, his life would be different.
Meanwhile, the loan shark boss sends several men to kill Tae-Sang. Right before the attack, Tae-Sung receives a phone call from the boss' girlfriend tipping him off that he is about to be killed. Tae-Sang is able to get away from harm and goes to see his boss. When he finds his boss they get into a heated argument. The boss' men then brings in Mi-Do. Tae-Sang tells her to run, but the door is closed. When they try to leave, the boss stabs Tae-Sang in the back. Tae-Sang still manages to let Mi-Do escape before collapsing.
Title: 동백꽃 필 무렵 / When the Camellia Blooms Genre: Romance, Comedy, Thriller Episodes: 40 (32+8) + 4 Special Broadcast network: KBS2 Broadcast period: 2019-Sep-18 to 2019-Nov-21 Air time: Wednesday & Thursday 22:00 (2 episodes back-to-back)
Synopsis
This drama tells the story of Dong Baek (Gong Hyo Jin), owner of a bar named Camellia, whose life changes after she encounters three men including a good man, a bad man and a cheap man.
Cast
Main Cast
Gong Hyo Jin as Dong Baek Kang Ha Neul as Hwang Yong Sik Kim Ji Suk as Kang Jong Ryul Ji Yi Soo as Jessica / Park Sang Mi Oh Jung Se as Noh Kyu Tae Yum Hye Ran as Hong Ja Young Son Dam Bi as Hyang Mi / Choi Go Eun Kim Kang Hoon as Pil Goo – Jung Ga Ram as Pil Goo (teen) Go Doo Shim as Kwak Duk Soon Jun Bae Soo as Byun Bae Soo
