K-Drama Rewind, Rain or Shine: Lee Jun-ho and Won Jin-ah shine in brutal tale of silent grief and survivors guilt

Trauma doesn’t heal with a band-aid. The bleeding doesn’t stop—not right away. Sometimes, you have to rip it off, let the wounds gush freely, and begin the messy business of cleaning them out. If you’re lucky, what’s left is a scar—a tender one that twinges when you least expect it.

That’s the idea behind Rain or Shine, starring Lee Jun-ho and Won Jin-ah. A story entrenched in guilt and the aftermath of one life-changing incident, the show holds up a mirror of what grief can look like—repulsive, disturbing and sickening— and yet, you can’t look away. There’s nothing romantic and poetic about loss, as the storytelling shows. It isn’t loud, blaring and melodramatic either, which compounds the uneasiness tenfold. The themes are so heavy and yet silent, that it takes time to watch the show. Pace it out, if you will.

Rain or Shine revolves around revolves around Jun-ho’s Gang Doo and Moon-soo, who are the survivors in a building collapse that occurred 10 years ago. 48 people were killed and several others killed. It’s the kind of tragedy that headlines briefly, then fades from public memory—a familiar disaster in a world all too used to them. But Rain or Shine narrows in on the aftermath, showing how even a ‘small’ incident reverberates for years in the lives of those left behind.

Gang Doo still has injuries and remembers each and every vivid detail of the collapse, while Moon-soo has blocked out the memories owing to her guilt, and the numbing loss of her younger sister. She needs to take care of her mother, who is still waist-deep in grief. Gang Goo and Moon-soo cross paths as they begin work on a construction project, and a love story slowly begins to form between them. The exhaustion of years spent carrying guilt softens, just slightly, when they’re around each other.

Yet, trauma has this vicious way of rearing its ugly head, especially for Moon-soo, as she starts remembering more details from the incident, which is deeply tied to Gang Doo. In one of the most painful episodes of the series, she tries to leave his house quickly after an uneasy discovery, and he, confused, tries to hold her back. It’s possibly one of Jun-ho’s best performances, as his expression ranges from confusion to fear. “You’re being strange. Please don’t go,” he says, before confessing his love to her immediately. 

The love confession is uttered quietly, without any background music at all—almost making you squirm in the seat. You want to look away; this seems too private. This feeling increases exponentially in another scene, where he later begs her to open the door.  Nevertheless, the two characters do heal as gingerly as people can with such wounds and the show, does end on a quiet, reflective note. 

Storytelling and visceral themes aside, it’s the acting that just makes this show so incredibly piercing. While Jun-ho is brilliant as he plays a man trying to cobble a life together, Won Jin-ah brings a new perspective to grief with her silence. Her acting is almost like a silent internal scream throughout, it somehow still rings in your eyes.

Rain or Shine is absolutely worth the watch—just make sure you’re ready to carry its emotional weight.