‘Drinking Solo’ K-Drama: Major Boost In Viewership Ratings After ‘Love Pentagon’ Revealed With Highest Ratings For Ha Suk Jin And Park Ha Sun First Kiss [Spoilers]

At this moment, the Total Variety Network (tvN) is enjoying a lot of success with their currently-airing K-dramas for the Autumn and Autumn-Winter swing seasons. The Korean pay channel network recently finished airing The Good Wife, Let’s Fight Ghost, and The Good Wife, all bringing in either high or consistent viewership depending on what kind of seasonal K-drama it was. Right now, the one tvN K-drama getting plenty of attention is The K2. After airing six episodes, the political melodrama starring Ji Chang Wook and Song Yoon Ah is just a little under breaking the double-digit viewership ceiling, an accomplishment only one tvN K-drama has done this year, Another Oh Hae Young.

Even though The K2 is flooding the K-drama news feed, there is another tvN series that is doing very well right now, Drinking Solo. Also known as Let’s Drink, the K-drama starring Ha Suk Jin and Park Ha Sun has held strong with high viewership too. Not only that, it is gaining a lot of attention for certain details such as its similarities to Let’s Eat and Let’s Eat 2 and Min Jin Woong’s character’s impressions of Hallyu stars.

Now Drinking Solo is suddenly enjoying a major spike in viewership over the past three episodes. It is quite possible such ratings were achieved now that the love lines are progressing the plot which came full circle by the end of the 12th episode with Ha Suk Jin and Park Ha Sun’s first kiss.

https://youtu.be/bLl9EelRcoU

The plot progression for Drinking Solo transitioning to a concentration of love lines technically started at the end of episode nine. [WARNING: Spoilers Ahead! Skip To Second-To-Last Paragraph To Avoid!] Jin Jung Suk (Ha Suk Jin) drinks a little too much to the point he violates his drinking rule of never going above the legal blood alcohol limit. Clearly drunk, he confronts Park Ha Na (Park Ha Sun) and drunkenly confesses he likes her. In the next episode, Jung Suk tries his hardest to convince Ha Na that he like “high-quality women” to the point he purposely claims such in front of Ha Na whenever he can. Ha Na, on the other hand, can’t figure out if Jung Suk likes her or not. Ultimately, Park Ha Na comes to the conclusion Jin Jung Suk was drunk and did not know what he was saying.

The kicker is that Jin Jung Suk really likes Park Ha Na and that his attempts to convince her he likes “high-quality women” were his way pathetic way of trying to convince himself he does not like Ha Na. Ultimately, Jung Suk gives into his feelings and pursues Ha Na, but he still wants to put on his show of being “high-class” in the process. The situation differs this time around however as Park Ha Na is being the “cold one” while Jin Jung Suk relentlessly pursues her, trying to comfort her and show her he truly cares.

If things between Jin Jung Suk and Park Ha Na couldn’t get anymore tough, it is actually part of a “Love Pentagram” which was thoroughly detailed in the 12th episode. In the particular scene captured above, there is a love line from Park Ha Na extended to the four students in which the characters are named after the actors themselves. Gong Myung likes Ha Na and in return, Ha Na considers dating Gong Myung because he is so good to her. However, Jung Chae Yeon (Chaeyeon of I.O.I. and DIA) likes Gong Myung after spending time with him as his studying mentor. Finally, Kim Ki Bum (Key of SM Entertainment boy group Shinee) likes Chae Yeon despite pretending to think she is “Top Despicable.”

To be frank, it makes sense to push love lines now since there are only four episodes left until Drinking Solo concludes, but the fact there is a “Love Pentagram” will make it far more interesting. As a matter of fact, the 12th episode did not only just establish the complex love line but showed major progression.

For starters, Jung Chae Yeon confessed to Kim Ki Bum that he is a very warm-hearted and a good person. Unfortunately, she is so drunk, she thinks she is talking to the boy she likes, Gong Myung. As we go into the upcoming episodes, it will be interesting to see how Ki Bum and Chae Yeon will move forward when this fact comes to light. On a side note, it is by happenstance the actor and actress Kim Ki Bum and Jung Chae Young have a major love line because they are K-pop idols.

The most popular moment of the last two to three episodes was near the end of episode 12. Park Ha Na learns the reason why Jin Jung Suk is the way he is. Apparently, he was just as hopeful and friendly as Ha Na in his younger years, and he was screwed over by his mentor. A similar situation was about to happen to Ha Na, but Jung Suk stopped it from happening. Realizing the facts, Ha Na confronts Jung Suk and all the emotions they had bottled in come rushing out as they share their first kiss. This relationship will surely get some attention especially when Gong Myung, the student who likes Park Ha Na, finds out about it. It should also be noted that Gong Myung is Jin Jung Suk’s younger brother and they do not get along.

Apparently, that first kiss was very popular in the Seoul National Capital Area according to AGB Nielsen Korea viewership ratings. It registered a 5.323 percent. The nation only achieved a 4.211 percent viewership rating, but it was at least a huge jump from the previous episode.

Drinking Solo, also known as Let’s Drink, airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 11 p.m. KST on tvN. For those who do not have access to Korean channels, it can be viewed for free, with ads, exclusively on DramaFever with the latest two episodes exclusive to premium members for one week.

[Featured Image by Total Variety Network (tvN)]