Backstreet Rookie

Everything worth knowing, before the opening credits.

CompletedCONVENIENCE STORE ROM-COM PICK

Backstreet Rookie

편의점 샛별이 (Pyeonuijeom Saetbyeol-i) · 2020 · South Korea

WriterSon Geun-joo

DirectorLee Myung-woo

Episodes16 eps · ~65 min each

Where to Watch⚠️ Not currently available to US viewers

⏱️

Binge Time17h 20m

AiredJun 19 – Aug 8, 2020

GenreComedy · Romance · Drama

Content RatingTV-14

iQiyi

Convenience StoreRom-ComLove TriangleSlice of Life

Everything worth knowing, distilled into one box.

The convenience-store regulars and the people circling Dae-hyun and Saet-byul.

Ji Chang-wook

Choi Dae-hyun

Lead

Kim Yoo-jung

Jung Saet-byul

Lead

Do Sang-woo

Jo Seung-joon

Supporting

Han Seon-hwa

Yoo Yeon-joo

Supporting

Ahn Sol-bin

Jung Eun-byul

Supporting

Kim Min-gue

Kang Ji-wook

Supporting

Lee Byung-joon

Choi Yong-pil

Supporting

Kim Sun-young

Gong Boon-hee

Supporting

Woo Hyeon

Kwon Eui-choo

Supporting

Lee Yoon-hee

Cha Kye-buk

Supporting

Kyeon Mi-ri

Kim Hye-ja

Supporting

Seo Ye-hwa

Hwang Geum-bi

Supporting

Just enough to stay oriented, episode by episode.

EP 01

The Schoolgirl and the Clerk

Jun 19, 2020

The series opens on a night three years back: Dae-hyun, freshly dumped and drunk, runs into schoolgirl Saet-byul, who asks him to buy her cigarettes. He buys sweets instead and tells her to quit, and she answers with a kiss. Fast-forward and he is a local celebrity at his parents’ convenience store, short on sleep and customers, so he hires a part-timer. Saet-byul walks in, the store fills up on her first night, and then the cash goes missing and he suspects her. The real culprit turns out to be his own mother.

EP 02

Cigarettes for a Minor

Jun 20, 2020

Dae-hyun tries to scold Saet-byul for partying outside the store, but her friends talk him into drinking and he passes out. In his sleep he calls her Yeon-joo, and Saet-byul answers with a punch. A police officer then accuses him of selling cigarettes to a minor, which sends him digging through hours of security footage. Saet-byul tracks down the student who bought them and finds the date that proves Dae-hyun asked for ID, and she is made an official part-timer.

EP 03

Jealousy at the Counter

Jun 26, 2020

Saet-byul spends the episode circling Dae-hyun with make-up and horoscope-driven flirting, and he reads every signal as trouble. Dal-sik catches her thrashing a pair of shoplifters and decides to keep it to himself. Away from the counter, she visits her father’s grave with her sister Eun-byul, while Dae-hyun frets over Yeon-joo’s closeness to a colleague. The night ends in a restaurant bathroom where Saet-byul accidentally rescues Yeon-joo from bullies, and all three discover how they are connected.

EP 04

The Bathroom Misunderstanding

Jun 27, 2020

Dae-hyun misreads the bathroom scene and scolds Saet-byul for fighting with Yeon-joo, which sends her off to drink. She runs into the celebrity Ji-wook, the old friend she calls Puppy, and he turns up as the face of the company’s new campaign. After a clash at the team dinner, Dae-hyun is ready to fire her, until the three boys she beat up return with apology letters and the truth. He bails her out at the police station, tears up the part-timer sign and gives her a piggyback ride, just as Yeon-joo walks in.

EP 05

A Piggyback Ride

Jul 3, 2020

Yeon-joo takes the piggyback ride calmly at first, even inviting Saet-byul to their dinner. Then the company interview happens: Dae-hyun feeds her answers while the whole Choi family looks on, and the staged photo of him carrying her is headed for the company website. Meanwhile Eun-byul advances in an idol audition while working for the shady bullies, and Saet-byul’s old pain over the sisters’ past surfaces. The episode closes with Dae-hyun watching another man carry Yeon-joo, and Saet-byul struck from behind with a block of wood.

EP 06

Retaliation and Appendicitis

Jul 4, 2020

Saet-byul turns out to be doubled over with appendicitis, and Dae-hyun shows the police the store footage of the masked kids while she goes into surgery. Yeon-joo ignores his messages, and when he finally learns that the piggyback photo is the cause, he plans to let Saet-byul down gently. A hospital mishap changes his mind. Dae-hyun’s mother offers to wash Saet-byul’s hair, which nearly makes her cry. Yeon-joo asks her to step away and Ji-wook arrives, then Saet-byul rescues Eun-byul from the bullies and announces she is quitting the store.

EP 07

Scammed and Quitting

Jul 10, 2020

Saet-byul pushes Dae-hyun out of her room and then learns that she and Eun-byul were scammed out of their rented home. With her savings gone, she takes delivery jobs, sneaks into the store to find her notebook, and leaves Dae-hyun convinced the place is haunted. She leaves Geum-bi’s house after her father calls her a bad influence, and Eun-byul vanishes with her money and a note. Dae-hyun, meanwhile, sits alone at the musical he bought two tickets for, while Yeon-joo attends the same show with Seung-joon.

EP 08

A Night at the Choi House

Jul 11, 2020

Saet-byul spends the night at Dae-hyun’s family home and wakes up recovered enough to chase Eun-byul’s whereabouts and the swindling real estate agent. Dae-hyun joins the search and even calls on his father’s friends, but the agent slips away through a grate. Yeon-joo, shaken by the musical night, ends up kissing Seung-joon. When Saet-byul learns Yeon-joo went to the show with him, she confronts her and tells her what Dae-hyun is worth. The episode ends with Yeon-joo at the Choi front door facing Saet-byul.

EP 09

The Houseguest

Jul 17, 2020

Dinner at the Chois’ goes wrong when Yeon-joo leaves early, and her mother Hye-ja starts working on the relationship from every side, including a polite word with Boon-hee and a driving test for Dae-hyun’s father. A man claims he got sick from an expired sausage and demands money, so Saet-byul sends Dal-sik in disguise to threaten the price down. Dae-hyun, determined to stay honest, forces an inspection and Saet-byul loses her other job. Yeon-joo then ends the relationship over one last dinner.

EP 10

Yeon-joo Walks Away

Jul 18, 2020

Yeon-joo’s breakup leaves Dae-hyun in a slump, and Saet-byul watches over him from a distance while Ji-wook sees how she really feels and walks away. Dae-hyun learns that Hye-ja is a major GS25 shareholder, and sees his own father working as her driver. Boon-hee makes Hye-ja sign her insurance policy, then tells her to stop meddling, and calls herself Saet-byul’s guardian. Saet-byul finds Eun-byul’s audition and leaves her to it, then tracks Dae-hyun to the beach, brings him home, and ends the night in his drunken grip.

EP 11

A Confession to a Sleeping Man

Jul 24, 2020

Dae-hyun wakes to Saet-byul’s handwriting on his mirror, and a day of renewed work follows. She tidies the neglected store and he promotes her to manager, while she asks him whether Yeon-joo was why they broke up. Dal-sik and Geum-bi meet in person for the first time as online friends, hold up matching roses, and realize who the other is. Ji-wook picks the store for his promotional event, and in a private moment he tells Dae-hyun he likes Saet-byul. The two men stare each other down.

EP 12

Ji-wook’s Easy Confession

Jul 25, 2020

The ad shoot at the store turns the place upside down: fans flood in for Ji-wook, Dae-hyun overdoes the make-up, and Saet-byul teases him about wrinkles. When Dae-hyun is shut out of the shoot, she encourages him to stand his ground. Eun-byul’s showcase goes viral, but the bullies come back for their share, and photos of her with Ji-wook give them leverage. Dae-hyun builds Saet-byul a study desk in the back room, and Yeon-joo learns what he gave up for her years ago.

EP 13

Jealousy and a Fight

Jul 31, 2020

Yeon-joo’s hug leaves Dae-hyun uneasy, and Saet-byul walks off hurt. The bullies beat her up and threaten to leak the photos of Eun-byul, so Dae-hyun patches her up while she cries in his arms. As the photos spread online, Saet-byul takes the ringleader’s phone, hands it to the reporter and tells the truth. Dae-hyun meets the Chairman, accepts a head office role, and Ji-wook says goodbye. The episode ends with Dae-hyun arriving at the store with a bouquet of roses.

EP 14

Flowers for the GED

Aug 1, 2020

Yeon-joo sees Dae-hyun give Saet-byul red tulips and decides to fight for him by turning to her mother. Dae-hyun, who thinks the tulips just mean the Netherlands, starts a new head office job and promptly hurts his wrist. Boon-hee’s old friend Jang-mi returns to repay a debt, the two women realize who Yong-pil’s wife is, and Hye-ja cancels Boon-hee’s insurance contract. Dae-hyun collapses from overwork and lands in hospital while Saet-byul sits her GED exam, and later he takes her to the roof to tell her how he feels.

EP 15

Answer After the Exam

Aug 7, 2020

Saet-byul asks for time and promises her answer after the GED results, and Dae-hyun says he will wait. Jang-mi tries to meet Boon-hee before leaving for China, and the old love triangle comes out. The police catch the real estate swindler, so Saet-byul gets her deposit back, and Dal-sik and Geum-bi make things official. A letter Jang-mi wrote decades ago finally changes hands, Yeon-joo keeps trying to win Boon-hee over, and Saet-byul quietly packs her things while the store prepares to be taken over by the company.

EP 16

The Greenhouse and the Store

Aug 8, 2020

Dae-hyun wakes to find Saet-byul’s room empty and a note asking for some space. She has gone to work on a farm, which turns out to belong to Dal-sik’s family, and he drives out to tell her this is only the beginning. Yeon-joo finally lets go, Boon-hee and Hye-ja finally talk, and Dae-hyun tells his parents what he wants from life. Saet-byul learns she passed her GED and slips back for her certificate. For how the series closes, see the Ending Explained section below.

Full spoilers — what happened, and why it hits the way it does.

Dae-hyun finds Saet-byul, and says it is the start TheReviewGeek’s recap of the finale (August 8, 2020) opens with Dae-hyun waking up to find Saet-byul gone. She has left a letter saying she is giving everyone some space, and a small gift. He heads straight to the police station to try to track her down and gets nowhere. The help comes by accident: Dal-sik takes Geum-bi to meet his father, whose farm turns out to be huge, and Saet-byul is working there. MEAWW’s review adds that she wanted to be far from convenience stores and picked something she had always loved, flowers. Dal-sik calls Dae-hyun, who rushes over and tells her this is not the end for them but the beginning.

Dae-hyun’s mother, and Yeon-joo’s exit The obstacle in this stretch is not the villain but Dae-hyun’s mother. Boon-hee had pushed him toward Yeon-joo, and Saet-byul had left partly because of how she heard Boon-hee talk. Dae-hyun tells his parents the truth, says that money and fame are not what he wants, and hands in his resignation. TheReviewGeek says he also turns Yeon-joo down one more time, and she decides to give up and go back to the US as a marketing expert. MEAWW says Boon-hee learns from Yeon-joo’s mother that Yeon-joo had hidden and lied about a lot, while Dae-hyun gave up his job without being aware of any of it. That is when Boon-hee comes round.

Back to the convenience store Saet-byul gets a message that she has passed her GED, but the certificate is at Dae-hyun’s house. She sneaks over at night, finds Boon-hee and Yong-pil there, and hears that Dae-hyun has quit his consulting job. Boon-hee hugs her and apologises for the earlier misunderstanding. She hurries to the convenience store, where a notice for part-time help is on the door. MEAWW notes the only criterion on it was that the applicant be Jung Saet-byul. TheReviewGeek says a sleep-deprived Dae-hyun thinks she is a hallucination until he takes hold of her cheeks, and the two hug as he admits his feelings.

No kiss, and a wink to the camera TheReviewGeek writes that the two almost kiss and then turn and block the camera, a fourth-wall joke, and notes the leads do not actually kiss. The reviewer wondered if that was a result of earlier controversy around the drama; that is the reviewer’s guess, not something the sources confirm. Geum-bi and Dal-sik decide to write a new webtoon called Backstreet Rookie, and highlights of the couple play over the montage. Boon-hee wins an award at work and Yong-pil arrives with flowers. The leads bow to the camera and the shot turns to show the cast and crew.

Where the sources agree, and what they leave out The two sources describe the same outcome: Dae-hyun leaves consulting, goes back to the store, and Saet-byul chooses him. They differ slightly on the order. TheReviewGeek has her accept the farm job and then come back for her certificate, while MEAWW says she picks the store over the orchard because she had said her dream was to manage one. Eun-byul is described only as a footnote by TheReviewGeek, and neither article gives a final word on Ji-wook or Seung-joon, so we will not invent one. TheReviewGeek’s verdict is that the show wraps everything in a neat bow, though it found the writing uneven and the love triangle too long.