Midnight Poppy Land is a romance Webtoon original by Lilydusk that returned for Season 2 on May 21. Season 1 attracted an army of fans who were fascinated by the blossoming love between two people from completely different worlds. With millions of dedicated subscribers, the series is ranked among the top five romances on the entire platform.
To prepare for Midnight Poppy Land's highly-anticipated second season, here's a full refresher on the key events from Season 1.
Poppy Wilkes is a short and quirky 20-year-old who works as a book editor assistant at Giant Goldfish Publishing. The series begins with a visit to her hometown, where she discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her. While she's leaving on a scooter, she gets into an accident where her research papers are scattered and she discovers a missing shoe. Tora, who's in the mafia, spots her at the scene and falsely suspects she's connected to them as well. This is where Midnight Poppy Land takes off, as he decides to investigate her back in the city.
This sudden twist of fate brings Poppy and Tora together, and it quickly becomes evident that she is just an average girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As they spend more time together, Tora tries to hide his secret life from Poppy for as long as possible. He is actually a notorious bodyguard for the Balthumans and is known as the "legendary tiger of Ares Street," where their mafia enterprise resides. He was raised and trained by Vincent Balthuman, the mafia clan's leader, under extreme and inhumane circumstances that turned him into the ideal weapon for their organization.
Given the dark underground world Tora belongs to, he doesn't believe love is obtainable for someone like him. Poppy's gentle and bright personality makes him more reluctant to stay in her life, believing that his life would taint and ruin the innocence of Poppy's own. Despite his attempts at distancing, their lives become more entangled than ever before when Quincey Balthuman, the son of Vincent who Tora works for, chooses Poppy as the new editor for his books.
While Poppy suspects Tora's involvement in a dangerous business, she finally confirms that Tora and Quincey are part of the mafia when she looks up her boss's full name online. Quincey was born into two powerful mafia clans, both from his paternal and maternal sides, but he assures her that his status can protect them all from clan affairs. Poppy quickly accepts this, seeing them for who they are despite the stigma around mafia members. Midnight Poppy Land Season 1 ends with a joint birthday party for Poppy and Tora at an elaborate and exclusive nightclub, where they kiss before Poppy reflects on what love means as she looks forward to her new life in the big city.
All 58 episodes of Season 1 can be read on Webtoon along with its Season 2 premiere, with new episodes of Midnight Poppy Land releasing every week on Saturdays.