Monday, June 20, 2011

Romance Town: A Maid's Story Of Striking Rich

Who still works as a maid, serving rich families when they have won 10 million won in a lottery? That’s the main question behind the plot of Romance Town, a drama centering on the lives of five maids working for families in a rich neighbourhood. The main protagonist is Sungeum, a young maid who was hired to look after a baby after the family had just fired their previous maid. Hardworking and earnest, she decided to follow the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, both whom were also maids.

One day she came across an older woman peeping into her employer’s postbox. Curious, she went to have a word with the older lady and found out the she was the previous maid. It seems that she was waiting for letters addressed to her from the eldest son of the household who was studying abroad. The older woman asked Sungeum for a favour since she might not be able to come often and read the letters, and that she do it instead in her place and reply to the sender.

A few years passed and soon it was time for the eldest son, Kang Geonu to return home. Upon his return, nobody could recognize him as he had lost a huge amount of weight and looks more dashing than ever. Upset that his former maid was fired, he decided to act according to his emotions at the moment and fired Sungeum on the spot, declaring that he would track his former maid, whatever it takes.

Devastated, Sungeum walks around town aimlessly in a dazed state. She returns to rest at the room where the five maids congregate and they sympathize with her state, though winning the lottery draw seems important too as they are glued to the television screen. Usually the five share equally to buy a ticket, but the day before Sungeum decided to buy one more for her ownself in tribute to her mother. Though the ticket that all maids shared to buy didn’t hit the jackpot, Sungeum’s own ticket did.

She became a millionaire overnight but she did not want anyone to find out, the least being her gambler father. She sells her winning ticket to a neighbour who runs a shady money-lending business and keeps her secret to herself. When her father tracks her down, she had no choice but to resume working at the same house, but as the family is in a dire need of a helper, they hired her back on the spot.

Out on an errand to choose a dress for the mistress of the house at a departmental store, Sungeum had to wait for a while for it to arrive. With time on her hands, she went for a makeover. When she was done, a salesgirl urged her to try on a new dress. Dressed up and all dolled-up, she stared at her new self in the mirror. Someone happened to walk past her looking at her reflection, and he was none other than Geonu, the man who hates having her in his house.

Sungeum was unrecognizable and he felt as if she was another person altogether. He asked her out for lunch and fell in love with her. After their brief encounter, Sungeum feels awkward at home facing him, while he dreams and fantasises about ‘Yun Sia’, her alter-ego.

Will Sungeum tell him the truth that ‘Yun Sia’ is none other than herself, his maid? Find out by watching Romance Town on KBS World, ASTRO Channel 391 every Wednesday and Thursday at 9 pm.

The author dreams of striking a lottery one fine day so she can realize her dream of zipping around town in a fancy car with the rooftop down!

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