Wavve's high-teen romance 'Summer Vacation' premieres on October 26, starring B1A4's Jinyoung and Jo Yi-hyun as two eighteen-year-olds whose summer in a quiet countryside village turns from first love into a tense love triangle. The series will stream exclusively on Wavve and also air on the Lifetime channel, according to Korean outlet MHN Sports.
The drama follows Kim Ha-yeon, an ordinary eighteen-year-old high school student who travels to the unfamiliar rural village of Upo-ri for the summer and meets Jo Yu-gyeom, the heir of a prominent local family. What begins as a bright summer romance soon grows more complicated, and the story blends the sweetness of first love with the mystery surrounding the village and the people in it.
Two teasers released ahead of the premiere show both sides of that story. The first teaser leans into classic first-love romance, with the two leads meeting in Upo-ri, running toward each other, embracing, jumping into the sea, and holding hands through a shining summer. The second teaser changes the mood completely when a third person enters the picture, turning the romance into a tense triangle in which warnings are issued, feelings are confronted, and nobody is willing to step aside.
Jinyoung plays Jo Yu-gyeom, the son of Upo-ri's landowner and the heir of a traditional family. He is handsome and a gifted swimmer, but his life has been shaped by old-fashioned rules and routine, leaving him bored and restless until he meets Ha-yeon and experiences emotional change for the first time. Jo Yi-hyun plays Kim Ha-yeon, a student worn down by her family's indifference and distance from her friends, who dreams of a dramatic fate like a film heroine and arrives in Upo-ri when her father is posted there.
The supporting cast sharpens the triangle. Hong Ye-ji plays Seong Sae-ryeong, Yu-gyeom's girlfriend, whose arrival in the second teaser flips the atmosphere and puts her directly at odds with Ha-yeon. Ryu Hae-joon plays Kim Jung-yeon, Ha-yeon's older brother, an outwardly composed university student who carries intensity and pain beneath his calm surface. Veteran actor Park Geun-hyung also appears in the supporting lineup, according to Dramabeans' coverage of the series.
The series is directed by Song Ji-won, known for JTBC's 'Sweet Munchies,' from a script by Han Ga-ram, who wrote ENA's 'Dear Hyeri' and JTBC's 'I'll Find You on a Beautiful Day.' Its main poster was unveiled on September 28, presenting close-up images of the two leads against a refreshing green backdrop, with phrases introducing an ordinary summer at eighteen and a story too mysterious to believe, according to Outlook India's report on the poster.
The pairing itself is part of the appeal. Jo Yi-hyun first gained global attention through Netflix's 'All of Us Are Dead' and has since built her career through 'School 2021' and the recent 'Head Over Heels,' moving from breakout supporting player to romance lead. Jinyoung, meanwhile, is known for 'Moonlight Drawn by Clouds' and 'Police University' as well as Netflix's 'Sweet Home' seasons two and three, giving the series two leads who each bring an established audience from very different corners of Korean drama. Their characters' contrast drives the story: a girl who wants her life to change, and a boy whose life has never been allowed to.
The second teaser also sets up the ending the audience is meant to wonder about. Rather than retreating when events pile up around her, Ha-yeon steps forward to protect Yu-gyeom, holding on to the belief that he will do the same for her. That determination is the series' other hook alongside its sunlit village setting: MHN Sports describes the drama as pairing a refreshing summer countryside backdrop with relationship conflict that is hard to predict, mixing the innocence of eighteen-year-old first love with a colder, tenser turn.
With the premiere a day away, the open question is how the triangle resolves and what secrets Upo-ri still holds. Viewers will find out from October 26, when 'Summer Vacation' becomes available on Wavve.
