Next we meet a lapsed veterinarian
- now a scooter delivery girl named Jeon Seol
(Su Jeong Im) who is called to deliver the
mysterious typewriter in its mailing box to
the mansion of Se Joo, and she is thrilled to
learn who lives inside the place for he's a
writer she has been obsessed with for several
years. She had actually met him years earlier,
before he was famous, and had been kind to
him, a struggling writer.
Se Joo doesn't trust strangers and
when Jeon Seol comes to his place to deliver
the package neither does he remember her, or
want to trust her, telling her to leave it by
the gated front door to his mansion. She
insists she has to deliver it in person
because that's what the instructions say, but
he refuses to open the gated door.
Then, magically, a friendly shaggy
dog accomplishes the impossible for her,
getting the gate to open, and leading her up
to Se Joo's front door. When Se Joo opens it
the dog runs inside and Jeon Seol is finally
able to meet Se Joo, only he is very rude to
her, making her his anti-fan instead of his
fan. Later we discover that the ghost who was
in the typewriter had moved from the
typewriter to possessing that shaggy dog! He
wants to get into that mansion to meet Se Joo,
too!
When the two men (or one man, and
one ghost) meet and get to know each other it's
often hilarious, but sometimes dark and
troubling as well. The ghost seems to have few
memories of his past life, he doesn't remember
how he died, and he hopes Se Joo can help him
remember. In turn, Se Joo, struggling with
writer's block, begins to depend more and more
on the writing skills of this real
ghostwriter, who starts typing up a story
based on Korean political torment in the
1930's. The characters in the story are very
much like Se Joo and Jin Oh. Could he actually
be starting to remember past events in their
previous lives, and were the two men
personally connected, but with different
names? Se Joo keeps seeing visions in his
dreams of 1930's Korea - and then begins to
doubt they are only dreams.
The ghost also develops a huge crush
on Jeon Seol, although she can't see him (at
first), which surprisingly makes Se Joo more
and more jealous of him, and makes him aware
that he might just be falling in love with
this perky delivery girl who keeps popping
back into his life. Jin Oh relishes popping
back into that shaggy dog so he can get more
hugs from Jeon Seol! Clever dog ghost!
How to make Jill go "Awwwwwww!" :)
As time goes on it becomes obvious
that this drama has elements of reincarnation
to it, where the three main characters Se Joo
the writer, Jeon Seol the delivery girl now
anti-fan, and the ghost Jin Oh, had all been
friends together during the 1930's when Japan
controlled Korea. Se Joo had been named Seo Hwi Young,
Jeon Seol was named Ryu Soo Hyun, and Jin Oh
was Shin Yool.
It was a time of national rebellion
and struggle, and the three friends were
involved in a secret organization to rout the
Japanese from their land. Each friend in some
capacity worked at a popular nightclub called
Carpe Diem, but had secret meetings with
others where they planned to overthrow the
Japanese. (The puppet Korean president of the
time, at the beck and call of Japan, was
actually the father of Korea's recent female
president who was impeached and removed from
office).
Jeon Seol passes herself off as a
boy in public but the two men know the truth;
she is taught how to shoot and becomes an
expert marksman (or is that excellent
marks-woman?). It's a skill that she seems to
have talent for even in her modern day
reincarnation. (In fact in the very last
episode she cutely says 'thank you' to the
guys for allowing her to become an expert
sniper and for some reason that line made me
burst out laughing).
They all wait for the day when their
overthrow of the oppressed government will
take place, in a surprise move against the
occupying Japanese forces. Jeon Seol at
night takes off her tomboy clothes and dresses
femininely and sings on stage at Carpe Diem to
help everyone relieve tension. (I loved
watching Su singing in these scenes!).
In the modern time line, we continue
to
follow our writer Se Joo who is working
closely now with the ghost Jin Oh on his new
novel based on 1930's Korean freedom fighters.
Words come fast and furious when they realize
that Se Joo's dreams are actual memories that
are slowly resurfacing. Se Joo still has
problems trusting people, stemming from his
broken family where his mentally disturbed
step-brother Baek Tae Min (Kwak Si Yang) had
stolen his first novel and passed it off as
his own and it had become a wild success. Se
Joo had never said anything in an attempt to
keep the peace in his fractured family. This
creepy brother also tries to befriend Jeon
Seol out of jealousy, when he sees Se Joo
falling in love with her. When Tae Min's
feelings for her are not reciprocated he plans
revenge on them both. (This character also
ends up a betrayer in the 1930's as well).
Chicago Typewriter Features
Some Of The Best KDrama Kisses Ever
In the past timeline we follow Se
Joo's previous reincarnation as Seo Hwi Young,
where he also happened to be a writer, but an
unsuccessful one, bound by the rigid rules of
the time he lived in, rather than the success
he has experienced in the freedom of the
present day. In the 1930's he had two people
in his small circle who had brought him
laughter and inspiration on a daily basis;
will this situation be replicated in the
modern day? When will Jeon Seol see Jin Oh?
And which man was Jeon Seol really in love
with in the past as Ryu Soo Hyun, and which
man (or ghost) will she truly fall in love
with in the present day? What will ultimately
happen to our gentlemanly ghost? How come he
wasn't reincarnated but his two friends were?
Could one of them have been responsible for
the death of the others? Will their rebellion
against the Japanese in the 1930's be
successful, or will the Japanese win the day
and end up tearing our three friends apart
permanently?
Chicago Typewriter has lots
of fun side characters as well as the main
characters but I'll let you discover their
delights by yourself. This is definitely one
of the top five Korean dramas for 2017 and
it's not to be missed. It's just about
perfect. Enjoy!
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CHICAGO TYPEWRITER PHOTO
GALLERY
Yet another Korean actor who deserves to be
first male lead!
