Hometown Cha Cha Cha (tvN 2021) is a sweet, gentle romcom told over 24 hours of television. Like all the better K-dramas it takes its time to establish characters and tell their story without overstaying its welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-a) is a dentist in Seoul. When she refuses to recommend unnecessary expensive treatments to her patients she is fired. In a thoroughly low place, she decides to spend a few hours in Gongjin, a seaside town her family used to visit when she was young.

A series of mishaps conspire to keep her in this small town for the day and night. And also to repeatedly put her in contact with Hong Du-sik (Kim Seon-ho, who was also in Start-Up). A jack-of-all-trades, he is affectionately called Chief Hong by the town’s residents. When a couple of residents casually mention that Gongjin doesn’t have a dentist, the seed of an idea is planted. It’s about time for Hye-jin to start her own practice, and it need only be for a year or so, until she can move back to Seoul.

They’re both attractive, capable, single and in their mid-30s so it’s fairly clear where this is heading. But at first they don’t make an obvious pairing. Hye-jin is very much used to the big city and to earning good money. She likes designer clothes and handbags. She goes jogging in clothes that embarrass the older residents. She’s not diplomatic when she doesn’t get big-city service at the local cafes. Chief Hong is so determinedly uninterested in money that he insists on being paid minimum wage for every service he performs, from shopwork to fishing to real estate. He’s a good cook, a good friend, and shows up for every town event.

After her lack of diplomacy gets her off to a bad start, Gongjin seems to have written off the new dentist. Which is extra bad luck as by this point her close friend Pyo Mi-seon (Gong Min-jeung, from Marry My Husband) has joined her practice as its dental hygienist/receptionist. She needs to win over the residents one by one. Which of course she does as she is basically good hearted and kind.

I like the anti-capitalist message here, the emphasis on only having enough money to support a good, decent life, and prioritising everything else first. But this is undermined somewhat by the grating product placement. Most K-dramas have product placement. I’m used to the camera lingering an oddly long time on the logo for Subway or a designer handbag. But in this show there are mini adverts like in a podcast. One character will offer another a candy and they will discuss how great it is. A new car’s stats are listed while the camera pans around it. It definitely didn’t blend in.

I also like the small town characters. There’s a real sense of community but they’re also individuals with interesting stories. The regulars include a divorced couple, a single mother, a failed musician and three grandmothers. They run the local shops and cafes, clean fish on the quayside and teach primary school. There’s a minor character who’s gay – it isn’t revealed until late on so I won’t say more. But it’s handled like it isn’t a big deal and I appreciate that.

There’s small town politics, gossip and drama. There’s a couple of crime-related subplots. And there’s briefly another man competing for Hye-jin’s interest. But for the most part this is a straightforward sweet romcom about people who are old enough to have complex pasts that they only gradually reveal.