tvN's "Back to Work Tomorrow" [tvN]
tvN's "Back to Work Tomorrow" [tvN]

tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama series "Back to Work Tomorrow," starring Seo In-guk and Park Ji-hyun in a workplace romance rooted in everyday relatability, has settled comfortably into its weeknight slot and is keeping viewers hooked.

Episode 3, which aired Monday, drew an average household rating of 4.9 percent and a peak of 5.9 percent in the Greater Seoul area, and an average of 4.5 percent and a peak of 5.5 percent nationwide — topping all cable and general programming channels in its time slot. Among tvN's key demographic of men and women aged 20 to 49, the episode also ranked first across all channels, including terrestrial broadcasters.

That episode traced a shift in the dynamic between Kang Si-woo (played by Seo In-guk) and Cha Ji-yoon (played by Park Ji-hyun) as the two grew closer within their task force team.

With the Sphere Ice refrigerator project ramping up ahead of its launch, Kang Si-woo made a strong impression on Cha Ji-yoon by enthusiastically incorporating her "ice spike" idea into the work.

Cha Ji-yoon, however, was distracted by complicated feelings over Jo Ga-eul (played by Choi Gyeong-hun) and made a mistake on the job. Kang Si-woo responded coolly: "One mistake is enough. Repeated mistakes are a reflection of your ability." Later, a visit to the company infirmary brought some comic relief when Cha Ji-yoon was "diagnosed" with "boss sickness" — a Korean pun on the word for lovesickness.

The next morning, Cha Ji-yoon arrived at the office before anyone else and threw herself back into the project. She pitched her own solution to the development team — "You handle the wind; I'll take care of the sunlight" — and Kang Si-woo added the technical refinements needed to finally crack the formula for a transparent sphere of ice.

After work, the two discovered by chance that they live in the same neighborhood and ended up grocery shopping together, sharing time outside the office for the first time. When Cha Ji-yoon said she thought he must have been very lonely, Kang Si-woo replied, "Thank you" — his first glimpse of vulnerability — as the two grew closer by sharing a slice of each other's everyday lives.

Cha Ji-yoon then went to see Jo Ga-eul perform and, overcome by memories of their time together, broke down in tears. After the show, Jo Ga-eul told her, "Let's start over. Let's get married" — but Cha Ji-yoon, accompanied by the narration "Goodbye, my first love," quietly said farewell to a relationship in which the two had always been looking in different directions.

The story of Jo Ga-eul and Cha Ji-yoon — two people who loved each other but could never align on the timing of marriage — resonated with viewers by capturing the anxieties about love and commitment that many women in their late 20s and early 30s face.

Back home at the same moment, Kang Si-woo was erasing a whiteboard note that read "Recruit Senior Cha Ji-yoon" when he noticed a phrase left behind: "Cha Ji-yoon makes me smile." He stood there staring at it for a long moment. The next morning, he ran into a puffy-eyed Cha Ji-yoon in the elevator on the way to work and asked, "Are you seeing someone again?"

When she replied, "It's the final, final, final, final breakup," he shot back, "Then you'll be free this weekend?" — signaling the start of a full-blown romance between the two.

Episode 4 of "Back to Work Tomorrow" airs Tuesday at 8:50 p.m. and is also available on Amazon Prime Video.


balme@heraldcorp.com