Warning: This might contain spoilers. If you don’t like spoilers and want to watch this drama, then don’t read. I myself am the type who does not mind spoilers. Someone can tell me about a story and if I want to watch it myself then I will still watch it. I try not to let others’ judgment affect me. I’ll have my own. I think it’s kinda similar to when I heard something about someone from others. I’ve just got to know it myself. Maybe because I want people to know me by themselves instead of judging me from what they heard from others. Well, I know it’s kinda different, but anyway, I’ve gone astray. Sorry.
So, life. It’s a Korean drama that currently ended. The reason I watched it is, of course, none other than my man, the most gorgeous person ever existing on earth: Lee Dong Wook. Who else? What else? :p The 16-episode drama itself actually aired since July 23, 2018. But at that time I was still traveling. I was in Prague at that time, and there was no way I could watch because it was available only in South Korea ☹ It began airing on Netflix on August 2, 2018. But still, even on that day, I was still traveling. I was still in Barcelona, Spain. At some points, I felt terrible because I could not watch it when it first aired. What kind of fan I was not to watch his latest drama premiere? Sigh. Hence, as soon as I got back from my UK-Europ trip to Tucson, I rushed to catch up-and expectedly, I fell in love.
I knew I might be biased in saying all of this considering how much I love Lee Dong Wook, but I seriously love the drama. It’s not a typical romance; well, it ain’t a romance at the very first place. It didn’t even have a kissing scene. Not any, for which I am glad. LoL Well, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like kissing scenes or such. Though yes, sometimes it upsets me to see Lee Dong Wook kissing another girl (i.e. in the drama. Oh my, how possessive, me!) but I’m sure Lee Dong Wook is professional enough to do any required scenes. He’s a hard worker and a pro actor at that. But so, yeah, I’m glad that he didn’t have to kiss anyone in this particular drama. Besides, kissing scenes are sometimes overrated and overexploited. Sometimes they are just excessive; i.e. they didn’t really contribute to the story timeline, which is why it doesn’t really thrill me to see a drama with way too many kissing scenes. I think the fewer the kisses are the better, it makes it more meaningful. (Besides, they can kiss all they want on the scenes that are not displayed, right? Dramas should focus on the stories. Oh my, drama script-writers, producers, etc. you guys better not listen to me, otherwise those kissing-scene lovers will hate me.
Anyway, back to Life. The stories revolve around the hospital along with doctors, nurses, director, president, etc. It’s like the life in the hospital beyond the my-job-is-just-to-treat-and-save-patients things. It’s something political regarding the policies that can affect their future too. And above all, we can know that doctors, too, have another life-personal life. They are just human beings like others. Not sure if I like this drama for this reason. But it looks like Japanese dramas that I love watching, in which something “ordinary”, something that we might often overlook, is presented in “extraordinary” ways.
I love Lee Dong Wook’s character here. He’s just an “ordinary doctor”. No extraordinary position, no extraordinary achievements, no extraordinary skills. The only thing extraordinary is him himself, his characters which everyone in any other profession might be able to relate, and of course his exceptionally good looks, which is not his fault, right?
This is how I can relate to his character. You know, sometimes you see something is not right. You want to change it but you don’t really have the power or the position to do so. You want to help change it but at the same time you also love staying in the shadow. You want to be safe too. You’re kinda scared too. You’re upset and sometimes you get even more upset with yourself for being so cowardly. You hope, somehow, you can help change the situation to be better by “supporting” or “persuading” those who you believe have more power and competence to do something. You don’t want to take credits for what you did but when things go wrong, you don’t want others to take the blame, either. And as the time goes by, you get more courage to join “the stage” more openly. You know you ain’t no hero but you’re happy that at least you contribute something to make a better change. That’s how the character that My Lee Dong Wook played in this drama was, in my perspectives.
And of course I love Lee Dong Wook’s acting here. Some might think there’s nothing special to it. It’s just an ordinary character anyway. Well, for me, sometimes it’s more difficult to play an ordinary character. It might be easier to act out extraordinary characters, someone with mystical power, someone with magical skills, someone with incredible supremacy, etc., well, you know, those characters that aren’t real and presented only for the sake of fictions. It might not be that difficult because all you need to do is just do what you don’t usually find in real life. When you get to play an ordinary character, it’s hard, because somehow you’ve got to make this ordinary character look extraordinary. Well, I know I’m biased. I might be just making excuses and defending my Dong Wook even when he doesn’t need it. But seriously, he is so gorgeous playing the character T_T
Besides, his role also made him a big brother and a good friend. In the drama, he’s got a disabled younger brother. He was also a doctor. And they have a doctor friend, a good and pretty girl, with which this younger brother fell in love. Well, I said it was not a romance, this is just a “spice”. And by the way, the character he played was Ye Jin-Woo, and his younger brother was Ye Seon-Woo, I guess I’ll call them by these names hereafter. Hence, Ye Seon-Woo liked Lee No-Eul (the doctor girl, the friend close to both). Ye Jin-Woo knew this but he didn’t want to interfere. He loved his brother but he also cared for his friend. He understood supposed she didn’t like his brother considering that she might have to suffer if dealing with a disabled person. She was very kind as a friend for sure.
Ye Seon-Woo was also sick but she didn’t tell Ye Jin-Woo since he didn’t want to worry him. This is the part where I came to dislike Lee Ne-Eul actually. Long story short, Lee Ne-Eul accidentally found out about Ye Seon-Woo’s disease. Then she got drunk and blabbed about it. (I don’t like blabbermouths, that’s why!) Worse is because of her drunkenness, the antagonist, against whom My Ye Jin-Woo was fighting for “justice”, got to know this info. He told Ye Jin-Woo about it though not directly. It made Ye Jin-Woo wonder if his brother was sick or if his “enemy” was just babbling. However, can you imagine that? To know something about someone you cared about and loved from someone else? Can you imagine the pain of not knowing or of becoming the last person to know about your brother’s sickness when everyone has known it? I don’t know how Ye Jin-Woo really felt but I imagine if it were me, I would feel really terrible. I’d feel guilty. And we all know how terrible guilt can make us feel…
Long story short, there was also this reported girl that Ye Jin-Woo was interested in. Again, this is not a romantic drama. It’s just a “spice”; it’s not the main focus, but since this is my writing, I choose to highlight this because it relates to the character that My Dong Wook was playing. And sadly, it seems that Ye Jin-Woo felt guilty about this. He wanted to be happy himself too of course. But he also resented the fact that his brother’s feeling was not returned by their doctor-girl friend, though he didn’t blame the girl either. He felt like it didn’t feel right that he got to feel all that, loving someone, being loved by someone, etc. when his brother was in pain, when his brother couldn’t get the same. At the same, however, he didn’t want to see his brother as less because he knew he was not less that a non-disabled person. He knew his brother worked hard. And maybe harder than anyone else. It’s really complicated. It’s like you wish things were different. You didn’t know what to do; you couldn’t blame anyone to make you feel better. You were just feeling hopeless yet you didn’t want to lose hope. As you can see, in short, he cared for his brother so much. And you know I’ve always wanted a big brother, right? So seeing Lee Dong Wook as a very good big brother really makes me love him more, more, and even much more. (I know he’s also a very good brother in his real life. He’s got a little sister. And if I’m not mistaken, he worked hard as a model and an actor so his sister can go to school. He cares so much for his family. Man, he is almost not real).
So, that’s it. Usually I would look forward to Monday and Tuesday so I can watch him in the drama. Now that the drama has ended, all I can do is looking forward to his next projects. (I sent him a postcard, by the way :D). I hope he will always be happy. And who knows he’ll read this, who knows someone who knows him will read this and tell him about what I wrote, please tell him that I’m so grateful for his existence. I hope he isn’t burdened by the love from his fans. Believe me, sometimes it’s overwhelming even for us. But it’s in a good way so please don’t worry.
And anyway, here is the last soundtrack of the drama that I fall in love with. It’s really powerful and touching especially since it’s played with the scenes that showed how the two Ye-brothers loved and cared for each other. It’s even made me cry even though I didn’t know what the lyrics meant at that time. However, the music, the notes, and the way the singer sang it was really beautiful – and sad. It feels something like you’ve give your all; you’ve tried everything, and you don’t know what else to do. You’re scared but somehow still hope that it’s going to be okay even though you know it’s not. Somehow you wish that someone would tell you that it’s alright… (sorry, somehow the embedded YouTube video got removed).
PS: I get to love Lee Kyu-hyung too, the actor who played Ye Seon-Woo. They really looked alike I wish they were real brothers 🙂
PPS: I heard that some fans of the antagonist in this drama bashed my Dong Wook, saying he lacked expressions and such. Deuh. This is what I have got to say: I don’t need recognition from others to love my man. Your hatred is insignificant. And can’t you look that they were doing okay and even friendly with each other, why you, a mere fan of another actor, should bash him? Well, I’m sorry if my man outshines yours. He’s gorgeous, but it’s not his fault. And as much as I want to bash you, I’m sure Lee Dong Wook won’t like it. My man is a good and peaceful man and so I have to be a peaceful fan myself. Adios.
