Still 17

That house with a big tree in its yard is not just a house. Living there, three people, who are somehow connected to a big incident in the past, are trying to heal and find themselves again. Through love and friendship, the house not only gives warmth to its residents, but also to our hearts.

ACT I

Hook: Ep.1

Young Woo-jin was drawing a girl who piqued his curiosity, and he planned to give it to her so he could befriend her. The girl's name was Seo-ri, a violinist, whom he mistakenly called Soo-mi.

Set-up: Ep.1-4

Woo-jin and Seo-ri coincidentally met on the bus. Seo-ri asked him for directions to the art hall. To give her a drawing that he had made, Woo-jin told her to remain on the bus and get off at the next stop instead, as Soo-mi suddenly encountered them. Flustered, he jumped off the bus. When he tried to catch the bus to give Seo-ri’s charm back that came off of her backpack, a multi-vehicle accident happened in front of his eyes. Soo-mi, whom he thought was Seo-ri, was announced as a deceased victim, while the real Seo-ri was in a coma.

Thirteen years later, Seo-ri wakes from a coma. Except for Hyung-tae, her old friend, who is volunteering overseas, and a mysterious man who pays for her care at the hospital, no one ever visited her. After doing rehabilitation, she goes back to her childhood home, where she lived with her uncle and aunt, to find out that the house has been bought by Woo-jin’s parents. Not recognizing each other, Woo-jin, who just came back from a long break, asks her to leave. Being alone and exhausted, she remembers her violin that is kept in a secret room and decides to go back there to take it.

Inciting Event: Ep.4

While carrying her violin, Seo-ri leaves the house, as some people come to look around the house and plan to replace it with a seven-story building.

Build-up: Ep.4-8

Chan, Woo-jin’s nephew, begs his uncle to let Seo-ri stay at their house until she finds her uncle and buys the house. With a heavy heart, Woo-jin tells the realtor that the house won't be available for a month.

Both Seo-ri and Woo-jin are struggling to navigate this new situation in life. Seo-ri, who still feels like she's seventeen, needs to find a job to repair her violin, but she's not qualified to be a violin teacher, nor too old to work at a restaurant; while Woo-jin is still not used to how busy his house is. An incident triggers Woo-jin's post-traumatic stress, and he decides to stay at his office until Seo-ri moves out of the house.

First Plot Point: Ep.8

Feeling guilty, Seo-ri plans to move out of the house. But before she can do it, Woo-jin, who has reflected on his actions, finally returns home.

ACT II

Reaction: Ep.9-10

Now they're living together, Seo-ri and Woo-jin become friends. Seo-ri also has some part-time jobs—peeling onions and folding socks—that don't require experience. One day, she replaces Jennifer, a maid in Woo-jin's house, to work as a cleaner in an apartment that is owned by Hyung-tae, but she doesn't recognize his photo. Meanwhile, Chan is catching feelings for Seo-ri.

First Pinch Point: Ep.10

Woo-jin sees Seo-ri looking at the moon with her rabbit hold, which triggers a flashback of young Seo-ri and a bus accident.

Realization: Ep.11-17

Scared that his memories will come back, Woo-jin tries to avoid Seo-ri, who is now working at his company, but he realizes that he can't block her out and wants to break out of the trauma he has. He even assures his boss, who is also his friend, that he's not going anywhere anymore. While something is changing between Woo-jin and Seo-ri, Chan plans to confess to Seo-ri after he gets first place in the rowing competition. Meanwhile, the sale of the house is getting close, but Seo-ri hasn't found her uncle or a room to rent yet.

Midpoint: Ep.17

With his father's approval, Woo-jin is not selling the house and will stay in Korea permanently.

Action: Ep.18-20

While Woo-jin’s feelings toward Seo-ri are more transparent now, Seo-ri, whose violin is fixed, is getting confused by her old conductor's offer to play together in the music festival that the company is working on right now. Scared that her hands hurt, she realizes that she wants to try it and decides to accept the offer.

Second Pinch Point: Ep.20

While shouting to warn Seo-ri from getting hit by water, a flashback of him doing the exact thing to young Seo-ri comes again, which makes Woo-jin drop from a panic attack.

Renewed Push: Ep.21-26

Woo-jin asks Seo-ri to withdraw from the music festival, which makes her mad. After realizing that she isn't having fun anymore and playing it for the wrong reasons, she decides to quit the music festival, but in return, she takes part in playing an instrument to replace a percussionist, who is sick. After the music festival ends, Woo-jin and Seo-ri confess that they like each other.

Chan finally wins first place in the rowing competition and asks Seo-ri to go out with him, which ends up at the hospital, where they meet Hyung-tae. Through the nurse, he also finds out that Woo-jin and Seo-ri are dating.

ACT III

Third Plot Point: Ep.26

Through Hyung-tae’s colleague, Seo-ri finds out that Soo-mi died in the bus accident, and Woo-jin finally knows that the girl from his past was Seo-ri.

Recovery: Ep.27-28

Although Seo-ri is still alive, Woo-jin feels the same guilt for causing her to lose thirteen years of her life and decides to disappear again. Meanwhile, through a drawing of her that she found in the storage room, Seo-ri finally knows that Woo-jin was the boy on the bus. At the same time, it reveals that a husband of Woo-jin's maid, Jennifer, was another deceased victim in the same bus accident.

Climax Begins: Ep.28

Woo-jin, who has figured out what is right, suddenly appears on the crossing bridge, where Seo-ri is on there too, and says that he can't leave her.

Confrontation: Ep.29-31

It turns out that it wasn't Woo-jin who noticed her first, but Seo-ri. She tells him how she knew him and why she approached him on the bus—to give him a charm that was copied from her own. She also assures him that it wasn't his fault she stayed on the bus and had a bus accident.

Chan finally confesses to Seo-ri and asks her to keep liking his uncle. A truck driver, who caused the bus accident and paid for Seo-ri's care at the hospital, comes to apologize and turns himself in to the police. Seo-ri's aunt also comes to apologize and tells her that her uncle died from liver disease.

On the other side, Seo-ri is confused by an offer to study music in Berlin.

Climactic Moment: Ep.32

Seo-ri decides to decline the offer and wants to become a music therapist instead while being surrounded by people she loves.

Resolution: Ep.32

Chan comes back to his home and goes to college, instead of joining the professional team; Jennifer quits her job as a maid and opens a restaurant; Woo-jin continues working as a designer; and Seo-ri gets into college while still working. Both Woo-jin and Seo-ri are a married couple now.

Final Thoughts:

WHAT A JOURNEEEEEY!!!

First of all, can we take a moment to appreciate whoever casted Yang Se-jong, Ahn Hyo-seop, and Lee Do-hyun to be in one frame? Knowing how big their names are now, it seems hard to see them reunite again.

Growth is a main theme that this drama tried to portray, while the story itself is centered in a house and a relationship between two main characters. The characters are playing a big role in moving the story, as every action and decision is influenced by the bus accident and how it has affected their life, not only for the main male and female characters, but also for side characters as well. The character developments aren't earned easily, but through trial and error, which makes them into three-dimensional characters. It makes them human. We can see how each character grows and learns something through the process, and as a result, they are able to heal from any ghosts in the past.

Seo-ri, whose character we are looking forward to the most, is a thirty-year-old woman who is trying to figure out how to be an adult. Despite being clueless, she has this optimistic trait, which makes her not afraid to make choices, move on, and learn from them. She's doing it over and over until she knows exactly what she needs. A scene where she got an offer to play violin with her old conductor in the music festival, for example. Despite being doubtful of her skill, she still tried it, and when she knew that she was being used for ticket sales, she didn't quit straight away, but kept going and learned a lesson by herself. I liked how the writer used her hands' condition to let her know whether her decision was right or not.

On the other hand, Woo-jin is more reserved and aloof. Not because he was born like that, but the trauma that he has to deal with makes him tend to run from problems. I liked the idea of how he and Seo-ri are stuck together at the age of seventeen for thirteen years. Small details like his habit of measuring furniture and wearing earbuds show us how much he has changed. It got me teary-eyed when he finally acted as his old self in front of his sister without realizing it.

Jennifer was my favorite character. Her appearance is so comical yet warm and mysterious. At first, I didn't think the mysterious yellow shoes girl needed to appear to hint at Jennifer's past, but as the truth was revealed, all of it made sense—she wasn't just a supporting character. My favorite scene was when she and Woo-jin were talking in the garden, which became counseling sessions and healed each other through the process. One of Jennifer's words that I liked,

“Time will pass on its own. If you avoid it even before it does, the really important things will get swept away with time. By the time you regret it, it would've been too late.” 

She reminded me of Mary Poppins and Nanny McPhee, minus the umbrella.

One person, who wasn't directly involved in the bus accident but was affected by it, is Chan. Just thinking of his uncle disappearing makes him scared to death. Parallel to the theme, he also has a lesson to learn: to grow up at his own pace. His character is important to show us a contrast between the real seventeen-year-old kid and the grown-up people who are mentally seventeen. Sometimes he's more mature than these two. I was so heartbroken when he had to let go of his love for Seo-ri, but he dealt with it very well despite his young age.

As a viewer, Still 17 gives me all of the comfort that I could ask for in a drama, but as a writer, I know how complex yet well-written the story is, and I learn a lot from it. I can talk about this drama forever, but to avoid this article becoming too long, these words from Hee-soo are perfect to tie up all of the messages that this drama wanted to tell, which I think everyone can relate to,

“I may not know a lot of things, but I’m sure no thirty-year-old lives their life thinking that they're an adult.”

And whoever feels left behind right now, Seo-ri's understanding that age is just a number, and for achieving her dream, she doesn't want to worry about her age, may help you.