Hwang In-youp Leads First Rom-Com 'Dream to You' as Premiere Draws 2.7% Rating

Hwang In-youp's first romantic comedy as a leading man is off to a slow start in the ratings. The premiere of ENA's Monday-Tuesday drama "Dream to You" drew a 2.7% nationwide rating on July 13, the lowest opener for any ENA Monday-Tuesday drama aired this year.

In the series, Hwang In-youp plays Woo Su-bin, a genius film director whose polished public image sits alongside a long-held devotion to his first love. The opening episode moves between the two sides of that character, from award-stage confidence to quiet romantic memory.

The premiere opens with Woo Su-bin accepting a prize at a film festival. He turns the spotlight to Ju I-jae, played by Hyeri, the first love who once inspired him to chase filmmaking. Looking directly into the camera, he says he has kept his promise and announces his return to South Korea. It is the moment the story restarts a timeline that stalled years earlier.

The rom-com beats arrive once Woo Su-bin and Ju I-jae meet again after 15 years. He greets her with an easy smile as she tries to hide under a desk to avoid him. When she reacts coldly, he tells her he missed her without hesitation. Even her sharp remarks land as flirtation in his hands, giving the reunion a light, playful charge.

The episode also lingers on the weight behind that lightness. Flashbacks trace how a young Woo Su-bin, drifting without a dream of his own, fell for Ju I-jae as he watched her chase her own ambition to become a director. In the present, when she describes their shared past as a "regret," his composure cracks. The premiere closes on him standing alone in the rain, an image built to make viewers curious about how the two will move forward.

Episode 2 of "Dream to You" airs on July 14 at 10 p.m. KST.