"Will you get engaged to me?"
tvN's weekend drama series "Spellbound" set a new ratings high Sunday, depicting the deepening romance between Cheon Yeo-ri (played by Park Eun-bin) and Ma Gang-uk (played by Yang Se-jong) as the two characters confirmed their feelings and became a real couple.
According to Nielsen Korea, Episode 8, which aired Sunday, recorded a nationwide average viewership rating of 6.2 percent and a peak of 6.5 percent, while the Greater Seoul area logged an average of 6.2 percent and a peak of 6.7 percent — new highs in both markets. The show has now topped the same time slot among cable and general programming channels for eight consecutive weeks.
The series also ranked first in the same time slot among cable and general programming channels in the 20-to-49 demographic, both nationwide and in the Greater Seoul area.
Sunday's episode closed with a kiss between Cheon Yeo-ri and Ma Gang-uk, signaling the start of the two leads' romance in earnest.
After Cheon Yeo-ri's cousin Cheon Ha-ri (played by Jo Hye-ju) tailed her and sparked yet another scandal, Yeo-ri's grandmother Baek Gyeong-ja (played by Ye Su-jeong) urged the couple to hold an engagement ceremony as soon as possible.
Reluctantly, Cheon Yeo-ri broached the subject with Ma Gang-uk, carefully suggesting they might need to go through with an engagement ceremony. Contrary to her expectation that he would find a formal engagement burdensome, Ma Gang-uk welcomed the idea wholeheartedly, saying, "My feelings for you are sincere."
Amid preparations for the engagement, Ma Gang-uk devised a plan to propose to Cheon Yeo-ri properly. His carefully arranged event went awry, however, when he pulled out a container of acupressure needles instead of a ring box.
On the day of the engagement ceremony, Cheon Yeo-ri grew anxious when Ma Gang-uk suddenly became unreachable. Kang Min-hwan (played by Ong Seong-wu) showed up at the venue and taunted her, bringing up the day she had been jilted and suggesting Ma Gang-uk would also fail to appear, just like her former fiancé.
Cheon Yeo-ri brushed Kang Min-hwan aside and went looking for Ma Gang-uk, shedding tears of relief when he arrived at the venue. Emboldened by his promise never to leave her side, she held out a ring and asked, "Will you get engaged to me?" Ma Gang-uk answered with a tender kiss.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the person who donated a heart to Ma Gang-uk was Kang Ji-hwan (played by Kim Min-cheol) — Kang Min-hwan's younger brother and Cheon Yeo-ri's friend. Details of the boat accident that upended Cheon Yeo-ri's life are also slowly coming to light, drawing attention to the secrets behind the incident.
balme@heraldcorp.com
