If you’ve ever sat through the soul-crushing tension of a Kim Soo-hyun drama, you know the music isn't just background noise. It’s a literal lifeline. The One Ordinary Day EP—the official soundtrack for the 2021 legal thriller—didn't just pad out the scenes of Kim Hyun-soo rotting in a jail cell. It defined them.
Honestly? Most people forget about OSTs a week after the finale airs. They're usually just generic ballads designed to make you cry during a rainy breakup scene. But this collection is different. It’s cold. It’s metallic. It feels like the grey walls of a detention center.
The Sound of Despair in One Ordinary Day EP
When the show first dropped on Coupang Play, everyone was talking about the acting. And yeah, Kim Soo-hyun’s "ugly crying" is legendary for a reason. But if you strip away the visuals and just listen to the One Ordinary Day EP, you realize the music was doing half the heavy lifting.
The lead track, "Ice Cream" by Kim Sung-kyu, is a weird one. You’d think with a name like that it’d be sweet, right? Wrong. It’s haunting. It captures that specific feeling of watching your life melt away before you can even process what’s happening. It’s about the fragility of innocence.
Then you’ve got "Blood" by lIlBOI. That track is pure adrenaline and anxiety. It perfectly mimics the heartbeat of a kid who just realized he’s the prime suspect in a brutal murder case. The production is sparse. It’s jagged. It doesn’t give you a moment to breathe.
Why the Instrumental Tracks Matter More Than You Think
Usually, I skip the "Score" or "Instrumental" versions of an album. They feel like filler. But with the One Ordinary Day EP, the instrumentals are where the actual storytelling happens.
Composer Mowg is a genius. If you’ve seen I Saw the Devil or The Last Stand, you know his style. He doesn't do "pretty." He does "visceral." The score pieces in this EP use low-frequency hums and discordant strings that make your skin crawl.
It’s not just music. It’s psychological warfare.
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One track might start with a simple piano melody that sounds almost hopeful, only to have a distorted bass line crawl in and ruin everything. It mirrors the plot perfectly. One minute Hyun-soo is a college kid trying to go to a party; the next, he’s being strip-searched in a cold room.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Soundtrack
A lot of casual fans think the One Ordinary Day EP is just a collection of sad songs. That’s a massive oversimplification.
If you look at the structure of the tracks, they follow the stages of a legal collapse. You have the initial shock, the frantic desperation, the crushing weight of the system, and finally, a sort of numb acceptance.
- Shock: The erratic beats in the early tracks.
- Weight: The heavy, droning synths that dominate the middle of the album.
- Acceptance: The hollow, echoing melodies that close it out.
It’s an audio map of a person losing their soul.
Comparing the EP to the Original BBC "Criminal Justice"
People love to compare One Ordinary Day to the British original or the American remake, The Night Of. While the stories are nearly identical, the "vibe" is worlds apart.
The UK version felt gritty and grounded. The US version felt like a noir film. The Korean version, and specifically its OST, feels like a fever dream. The One Ordinary Day EP leans heavily into the "One" part of the title—emphasizing that this could happen to literally anyone on any given Tuesday.
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The music is more modern and "pop-adjacent" than the Western scores, yet it feels somehow more isolating. It uses K-pop sensibilities—sharp production and high-quality vocals—but twists them into something dark.
The Hidden MVP: "Pray"
We have to talk about "Pray" by Han Seung-yoon. This is the track that usually plays when things are at their absolute worst.
It’s a plea.
The vocals are strained, almost reaching a breaking point. It’s the sound of someone realizing that the truth doesn't actually matter in a courtroom. Only the evidence does. When you listen to this track on a good pair of headphones, you can hear the breathiness in the recording. It’s intimate. It’s uncomfortable. It makes you feel like you’re sitting in that cell right next to him.
How to Actually Experience the One Ordinary Day EP
If you’re just shuffling this on Spotify while you do dishes, you’re doing it wrong. This isn't background music for chores.
To really get what the producers were going for, you need to listen to it in order. Don't skip.
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The transition from the vocal tracks to the atmospheric score pieces is intentional. It’s meant to transition you from the "human" side of the story to the "mechanical" side of the law.
- Start with "Ice Cream." Let the melancholy set in.
- Move to "Blood." Feel the panic.
- Finish with the Mowg scores. Let the realization sink in that sometimes, there is no happy ending.
The Cultural Impact of the OST
In the landscape of 2021-2022 K-Dramas, One Ordinary Day stood out because it was so relentlessly bleak. Most dramas offer a "healing" element. This one offered a mirror.
The One Ordinary Day EP followed suit. It didn't try to give the audience a catchy hook to hum at work. It tried to make the audience feel the claustrophobia of the prison system.
Interestingly, the EP performed quite well on digital charts despite the show being on a smaller streaming platform. It proved that K-Drama fans are hungry for something more than just romantic ballads. They want "mood" music. They want "vibe" music.
Why the Physical Version is a Collector's Item
For the hardcore fans, the physical release of the soundtrack was a big deal. It wasn't just a CD. It was an extension of the show's aesthetic.
The photography used in the booklet, the choice of colors—it all leaned into that "cold blue" color palette that defined the cinematography. Holding it feels heavy. It feels like a piece of the show you can actually touch.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Listeners
If you’ve been sleeping on this EP, or if you only watched the show once and moved on, it’s time to revisit the soundscape.
- Audit your playlist: If your "moody" playlist is just Western lo-fi, swap in some of the Mowg score tracks. They provide a much deeper, more complex texture for focus or reflection.
- Watch the "Making Of" clips: There are behind-the-scenes snippets of the recording sessions for "Ice Cream" and "Blood." Seeing the artists try to channel the desperation of the characters adds a whole new layer to the listening experience.
- Analyze the Lyrics: If you don't speak Korean, look up the translated lyrics for "Pray." The metaphors about shadows and light aren't just fluff; they directly reference specific plot points and the shifting power dynamics between Hyun-soo and the lawyer Shin Joong-han.
The One Ordinary Day EP remains a masterclass in how to build a sonic world that matches a visual one. It’s uncomfortable, it’s dark, and it’s hauntingly beautiful. It reminds us that "ordinary" is a fragile concept that can be shattered in a single night.
To get the most out of your re-listen, pay attention to the silence between the notes. In this EP, the silence is just as loud as the music. It represents the gaps in the legal system—the places where people like Hyun-soo fall through.
Go back and listen to the full album from start to finish without distractions. Focus on the shift in tempo between the first and last tracks. Observe how the production becomes more "distorted" as the album progresses, mirroring the protagonist's descent into the harsh reality of prison life. This intentional sonic degradation is a hallmark of high-tier production that most listeners miss on the first pass.