Childhood Romance: Sealed With a Kiss

By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
February 26, 2019

Whenever a new K-Drama premieres, I always make a promise that I will wait until it has run its course, so that I can bingewatch it over the course of a few days. And then I break my promise, because … impatient!

So while I wait for new episodes of shows like “Romance is a Bonus Book” and “Crowned Clown” to become available, do you know what I do? I revisit older dramas because … bingewatch!

I am a complete sucker for dramas that stress the importance of childhood relationships — the kind that last from adolescence through adulthood. And K-Dramas are chock full of them.

One of my favorites is “Fight For My Way,” starring Park Seo-Joon and Kim Ji-Won. Park portrays Dong-Man, who once was Korea’s biggest hope to win a gold medal in taekwondo at the Olympics. When a rich rival offers him money to throw a match, Dong-Man faces a moral dilemma: Accept the money and pay for his disabled sister’s surgery. Or, stick to his guns and continue to aim for international championships. Kim plays his childhood best friend, Ae-Ra. She doesn’t realize it, but she has always had a bit of a crush on him and watches from the sidelines as his emotions are jerked around by the most beautiful girl on campus. But she’s no better at picking partners. Her choice was a young college boy, who uses her for what little money she earns and cheats on her. But, he’s handsome, and Ae-Ra places too much value on a pretty face. SPOILER ALERT: It isn’t until much later that she realizes that Dong-Man is ridiculously handsome and is someone who she is comfortable with, because of the history they have together. Though it seems like a no brainer for best friends to date, there’s also the fear that if they break up, they not only lose a partner, but also a close friend. Do you think Dong-Man and Ae-Ra should risk it all?

Before I go on, I’d like to take a moment to, er, appreciate Lee Jong-Suk’s hair. It had a life of its own in the early episodes of “Pinocchio.” This series was my palate cleanser after watching Park Shin-Hye basically relegated to the “girlfriend” role in “Memories of the Alhambra.” Here, Park and Lee play In-Ha and Ha-Myung, respectively. They were raised by her grandfather, who believed that Ha-Myung was his long-deceased elder son, Dal-Po. (It’s complicated.) Having recently been orphaned and needing shelter and a family, Ha-Myung lets the old man believe he is Dal-Po. While Ha-Myung is super smart, he has to pretend to be stupid, because Dal-Po wasn’t very bright and he wants to play his role as truthfully as he can. Ha-Myung harbors a crush on In-Ha, who is the most popular girl in school. She views him as an annoying family member. And herein lies a bit of ick factor.  No, they’re not biologically related. But for all intents and purposes, they were raised together as siblings. SPOILER ALERT: A good chunk of the plot was driven by the fact that they couldn’t be together, because of this familial tie. In some ways, I wish the showrunners had given viewers a different ending — one that didn’t promise romance for this couple, but kept them in each other’s lives as best friends and … family. What do you think? Would you have been unhappy if they hadn’t coupled up?

If you’ve got the urge to binge and want to give these two dramas a try, why now do it for free, right? “Fight For My Way” and “Pinocchio” are both airing for free on KOCOWA. Do you agree that the childhood relationships make the storylines that much more interesting? What are some of your favorite K-Dramas, where friendships are the underlying basis for romance?