Love within the Huge Metropolis: Episodes 1-2 (First Impressions)
by solstices
Poignant and genuine, this queer coming-of-age story follows the journey of a homosexual man via slice-of-life vignettes as he navigates via the love and lack of rising up. It’s sincere, it’s hilarious, and above all, it’s so devastatingly evocative.
Editor’s be aware: That is a gap evaluation solely. For a spot to talk about all the drama, go to the Drama Hangout.
EPISODES 1-2
Proper off the bat, our drama wastes no time establishing its offbeat tone. Our protagonist GO YEONG (Nam Yoon-soo) wakes up all cozy in mattress the morning after, sweetly snuggling as much as his boyfriend and wheedling for an additional spherical — besides the door opens and his boyfriend’s ex waltzes in like they’re nonetheless courting. Seems Dishonest Boyfriend hasn’t damaged up together with his ex, he’s nonetheless breaking up with him. Like, it’s a course of. Pfft.
There goes one week of courting, and Yeong will get lectured for being late to his part-time modeling gig. However there’s a meet-cute in retailer for him: the photographer KIM NAM-GYU (Kwon Hyuk) has a stiffly well mannered demeanor and is specific about each tiniest element, a lot to the amusement of the free-spirited Yeong. Then they run into one another at a homosexual membership that night time, and a tipsy Yeong dives proper in for a kiss.
Alas, they’re briefly interrupted (extra on this later), and by the point Yeong turns again, Nam-gyu has left. Fortunately for him, Nam-gyu takes the initiative to ask him out once more, and when Yeong apologizes for the sudden kiss, Nam-gyu shyly admits that he favored it. The prim and correct Nam-gyu might seem to be an AI bot with the best way he continuously speaks in formal language with fancy vocabulary, however beneath his awkwardness lies a honest coronary heart.
Rigorously driving at a snail’s tempo the entire manner, Nam-gyu takes Yeong to his favourite spot — one which overlooks the town skyline. As they gaze out on the night time lights, Nam-gyu tells Yeong that he has a transparent and brilliant soul. He can see all of it via his viewfinder. Leaning in, the 2 share light, romantic kisses, like the beginning of one thing heartfelt and treasured.
Earlier than we progress any additional with the loveline, let’s rewind again to the aforementioned interruption. Our lovebirds’ kiss was witnessed by CHOI MI-AE (Lee Soo-kyung), who attends the identical school as Yeong and guarantees to maintain his secret. Mi-ae is a whirlwind and a half, dwelling her life boldly with reckless abandon, and in her wake follows numerous rumors. Particularly, that she sleeps round and is determined to get into males’s pants.
Unable to tolerate the snide gossip, Yeong flares up at his school buddies, which inevitably will get him outcast. With that, each Mi-ae and Yeong wind up forging an unlikely friendship over their loner standing. They click on immediately, venting about terrible exes and laughing over what they search for in a person (dimension, lol), and Yeong finally ends up transferring into Mi-ae’s condo.
I actually like how the drama dealt with Mi-ae’s character right here, as a result of it doesn’t make an ethical judgment and even take an ethical stance on her promiscuity. Simply because it doesn’t condemn her for it, it additionally doesn’t attempt to justify or vindicate her conduct — that’s simply who Mi-ae is, and that’s that. It’s a lot the identical for Yeong, too. There’s nothing mistaken or proper about their sexualities; they’re merely two individuals, dwelling their lives in their very own manner.
Circling again to our main man and his new beau, there’s hassle in paradise. Nam-gyu could also be earnest and open, planning dates for Yeong with all his coronary heart, however when he buys 24k gold couple rings, it’s clear he’s transferring a bit too quick. His tastes differ far an excessive amount of from Yeong and his associates, too. Ultimately, Yeong coldly breaks up with Nam-gyu, citing their incompatibility and Nam-gyu’s lack of effort in compromising. Yeong feels stifled when he’s with him.
Totally heartbroken, the spurned Nam-gyu takes to texting Yeong snippets of lovelorn literature. He guarantees to alter for Yeong’s sake, then goes the additional mile to provide Yeong tupperwares of home made meals, ready outside within the freezing chilly for hours as a result of he doesn’t know Yeong’s actual tackle. Nam-gyu’s meticulous sincerity now feels just like the clingy obsession of a jilted lover, and Yeong harshly brushes Nam-gyu off. They’re over, and he’s not taking him again.
In any case, Yeong has extra urgent issues to cope with — a scream from the bathroom preludes the reveal that Mi-ae’s pregnant. With no cash and no concept who the daddy is between the 2 guys she’s been weighing her choices between, Yeong steps as much as the plate. Not solely does he accompany Mi-ae to the clinic, however he additionally pays for her abortion and helps her via the aftermath.
Yeong and Mi-ae’s solidarity shines not simply of their staunch loyalty to one another, but additionally in how related they’re. Adrift and floundering their manner via the alienation of not fairly becoming in anyplace, the pair commiserate over the struggles of girls and homosexual males, each marginalized by a patriarchal and heteronormative society. However via all of it, not less than they’ve one another to depend on.
That’s why, when time inevitably passes and Mi-ae will get a job, the following loneliness is that a lot tougher to bear. Within the quiet nights with nobody to speak to, Yeong writes his novel, ready for Mi-ae to come back house. However when she returns, it’s in her workplace boyfriend’s automobile. LEE JOON-HO (Kim Tae-jung) is standard marriage materials, and Mi-ae acts like a very totally different individual in entrance of him, as if wanting to depart her previous behind her.
The rumors catch as much as her, although. Joon-ho will get the totally mistaken concept when he hears of Mi-ae having a long-term boyfriend that she lived with via school, and in a panicked try and defend herself, she finally ends up outing Yeong. Again at house, a contrite Mi-ae confesses to Yeong, and he’s understandably upset. He can’t belief that Joon-ho received’t go round blabbing. For each of them, it’s a matter of self-preservation — Yeong can’t danger his security in a homophobic society, whereas Mi-ae’s terrified to lose the steadiness she lastly has an opportunity at.
Their argument escalates, and Yeong leaves house, consuming himself right into a stupor. With nobody else to contact, Yeong finally ends up calling Nam-gyu, who speeds for the primary time as he drives again to their skyline spot. There, Yeong apologizes for being a coward. “I needed to be cherished by you, however I didn’t have the braveness to just accept your love,” Yeong admits. Wishing that Nam-gyu will meet a great one that can really love him, Yeong elements methods with him after a grateful hug.
Ten months later, Yeong finishes his novel, and it wins a brand new writers’ contest. He calls Mi-ae to share the excellent news, since his story resembles their experiences, and the nostalgic familiarity has Mi-ae tearing up. Aww. She has excellent news of her personal, too; she’s getting married to Joon-ho.
Earlier than Yeong can rejoice, although, he’s hit with a tragedy. Nam-gyu has handed away from a automobile accident, through which he was dashing. Oh god. The implication of it hits Yeong arduous, and within the funeral corridor, Yeong scrolls via all of the unanswered messages from Nam-gyu. All alongside, Yeong’s thought that Nam-gyu was achingly gradual, whereas he’d been impatiently quick — however the reverse is true, for Yeong has by no means centered his life round a relationship earlier than. Now, he’s realizing far too late that Nam-gyu was somebody he might have shared an extended and heat future with — however now, that future is not any extra.
Time flows by but once more, and Yeong helps Mi-ae pack to maneuver out of her condo. She tells him he can take over her lease, then asks him to sing a congratulatory music at her wedding ceremony. Along with his closest buddy’s romantic union so imminent, Yeong has a realization — he’s at all times considered eternal love as a silly want, at the same time as he couldn’t assist however yearn for it. However now, he’s not so positive that it’s silly in any case.
On the wedding ceremony, Yeong’s nerves get the higher of him and ship him manner off key, so Mi-ae winds up grabbing the mic, hee. As they sing their hearts out — punctuated by the hilarity of them belting a love music collectively whereas the groom stands off to the facet — it looks like each a fruits and a bookend of their friendship.
Afterwards, Yeong returns to an empty condo, all traces of Mi-ae’s colourful individuality cleared away. With that, the episodes shut with Yeong reflecting on the ephemerality of gorgeous moments — the fleeting transience of the occasions he’d thought would final perpetually.
Oof, I’m nonetheless blinking again tears. The narration ties all of it along with a thread of introspective melancholy, and it really works so effectively with the drama’s pacing. It actually looks like we’ve stepped into a number of pages of their lives — each the characters and the world they inhabit really feel deeply genuine. It isn’t sanitized, but it surely isn’t sensationalized, both. It’s a candid, unembellished portrayal of what it means to be a queer youth in a conservative society, and its unfettered honesty speaks to the center.
For that, I’ve to take a second to understand Nam Yoon-soo’s efficiency, and his braveness in taking this position. He imbues a lot pathos into Yeong, taking part in him with a uncooked sincerity that grounds his struggles and his fears in feelings which might be deeply relatable. With all of the adversity that this drama endured — from the disdain its forged suffered, to getting its teaser taken down as a consequence of conservative protests — I’m so heartened that it efficiently made it to the display, marking a significant step ahead in South Korean queer narratives. These are the voices which have been silenced, and that need to be heard too.
Subsequent to the eye that its film counterpart acquired, the drama model actually holds its personal after which some. Masterfully weaving collectively the juxtaposition of Yeong’s and Mi-ae’s trajectories, the drama by no means as soon as hammers the purpose house. As a substitute, it simply turns the pages of its story, permitting its viewers to attract their very own connections within the areas of all that’s left unsaid. I notably favored the best way Yeong and Nam-gyu’s first assembly subtly parallels their relationship — Yeong was at all times preoccupied by different worries, and by the point he lastly turned again to face Nam-gyu, it was far too late.
At its core, this story isn’t nearly romantic love, but additionally the platonic love that raises us up in our darkest occasions. There’s Yeong and Mi-ae, after which there’s Yeong and his circle of homosexual associates, too. Although life might finally lead them in several instructions, what issues is that they have been there for each other when it mattered. Finally, this story is about how love, in all its types, struggles to remain afloat amidst the tumultuous waves of a sprawling metropolis. Love within the Huge Metropolis is a heartbreakingly lovely present to date, and I’m undoubtedly watching to the tip with a field of tissues by my facet.
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