Ever since March 16, every Friday at 11:11 p.m., a love story of four beautiful women and four unique men blossoms on Channel A. Starting off as eight nervous strangers sharing the common ‘Signal House,’ the members exchange signals of love and growing emotions, revitalizing the audience’s romantic passions.
The rules of this Korean variety show “Heart Signal” are simple but strict: first, every midnight, each member must anonymously send a text to the person they are most fond of. Second, while the program continues, a direct confession of love is forbidden. Although these rules are succinct, they come to play a big role in encouraging the members to express their love instead of explicitly stating it. As a result, the audience is invited to notice even the tiniest of tingling emotions throughout the season.
Invited to live in the same house under the same rules, the eight lovers come from various backgrounds and are distinctly attractive in their own ways. Oh Young-Joo, a businesswoman in the marketing field, is not only good at working, but also skilled at cooking, dancing, and most importantly, listening to others. If Oh’s charm is her maturity, Lim Hyun-Joo fires in the heart of the male audience with her innate cuteness. With her white porcelain skin and lovely smile, Lim starts off her journey in the Signal House by receiving all the male messages the first night. In contrast to Oh and Lim’s alluring personalities, Song Da-Eun appeals with her undeniably beautiful looks. Tall, slim, big-eyed, high-nosed, and simply perfect, Song’s goddess-like vibes call out to the male members of the Signal House without any speech. Lastly, Kim Jang-Mi decorates the Korean Signal House with a scent of New York City. As an international curator for trendy fashion, she quickly charms the four men despite the fact that she arrived late to the program from NYC. These four women with their own unique charms attract not just the men in the Signal House, but also the audience, regardless of gender.
In addition to the charming female members, four male members appeal to the audience just as well with their distinct colors. Kim Do-Gyun is the head doctor of a famous oriental medical clinic in Seoul, which reflects on his calm and decisive personality. Jung Jae-Ho, a young CEO of a start-up IT company, is an undefeatable extrovert. His enthusiastic character echoes through the Signal House every night. Lee Gyu-Bin, a student at Seoul National University, charms the female audience with his innocent laughter and gentle manners. At first, his young age seems concerning, but it soon goes on to become a cute advantage for him. Lastly, Kim Hyun-Woo mysteriously joins the Signal House late at night without anyone knowing. Majoring in music but currently working as the head chef for a unique Japanese restaurant, Kim leads a life directed by his many passions and interests. His dating life reflects his free spirit and subconsciously attracts the audience to fall for his endlessly hidden charms.
These eight members of the Signal House continue their journey every week throughout fourteen episodes, keeping the curious audience on their toes. The members’ mixed emotions and twists and turns of love keep the audience evermore engaged in such virtual love. Season two of “Heart Signal” successfully gave life to countless many viewers of this program. How will these lovebirds react to upcoming ventures in the Signal House? There is no way to find out but to wait for 11:11 p.m. next Friday.