Lee Dong Sik does have a type
Hello! I am here to once again harass this tag with my opinions.
I love this complicated character. I just want him to heal and live a happy life. I have so many feelings about him and because of him.
This post is another section of the essay (I have previously mentioned) where I lost all interest in being formal in the slightest. So, this doesn't read as a serious analysis of Dong Sik's character, more of a shit post. But nevertheless, it's written with good intentions and genuine interest. Again, this is an excerpt from a bigger piece, so it feels unfinished that will be the reason.
[Please note that Dong Sik and queer-coding are very intricate topics, I am not able to explore them fully with just this post. also: I use the word queer as an umbrella term when discussing the character's sexuality. It is not meant as an offensive term.]
~ Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, I hope you enjoy this absolute mess
[Previously discussing Joo Won's queer coding] 1 2
Dong Sik on the other hand… There isn’t a big romantically coded scene for him, definitely not along the same lines as Joo Won's scene in the rain. We gain knowledge of Dong Sik’s thoughts and feelings for Joo Won through his facial expressions and actions. We get to see it more often because - despite his tendency to mask his emotions behind the veil of other people's assumptions - he is a lot more forthcoming with his feelings. By nature, Dong Sik is an affectionate person with a lot of love to give. Within the show, he is the main character used as a vassal for the creators to explore the Ancient Greeks’ philosophy of the seven kinds of love. Here’s a quick breakdown of the love in Dong Sik’s life:
Eros: Han Joo Won
Philia: his friendship circle: Ji-Hwa, Jung-Je, Ji-Hoon, Jae-Yi, etc
Storge: his sister, his mother, Kang Min-Jung
Agape: music, food, nature
Ludus: Han Joo Won, Lee Sang-Yeob
Pragma: what his relationship with Han Joo Won was blossoming into
Philautia: he struggles with this one but we get glimpses of it throughout
(information source: https://www.wellandgood.com/greek-words-for-love/)
Dong Sik is a bit of a tease, in the sense that he enjoys teasing people, and Joo Won is the perfect person for him to do that. I believe he was attracted to Joo Won from the moment he met him- no, from the moment he heard his voice.
That shot though, jfc. It is very common within visual media to use the suspenseful storytelling tactic of “look! The two main characters have met and this is important- pay attention to this”. The story will stop in its tracks because the two main characters or the two love interests have met for the first time. Their interaction and the importance of this first meeting will be displayed by the characters either:
Stopping what they were doing
Becoming awestruck
The camera lingering on their reaction
Beyond Evil uses all three of these common visual storytelling tactics to tell the audience that this moment is important.
And… Okay… I know everyone stops what they are doing to pay attention to Joo Won’s arrival, as it’s a great way of other-ing him from the first episode… But if we look at it from the perspective of the character, Dong Sik is so affected when he sees Joo Won for the first time that he stops writing his police report. We had just seen how driven and motivated Dong Sik can be, he was going to write up that report and no one could stop him, not even the threat of physical violence could stop him. The fact that Joo Won does cause him to stop could be interpreted as a (very) loose play on the trope of Distracted by Sexy or Love at First Sight. Either way, no one could stop him apart from Joo Won. Through the visual language, this seems to be the creator's way of informing the audience of Joo Won’s immediate effect on Dong Sik’s life.
This sequence also plays on the (debatably) romantic trope of Stalker’s Meet Cute and Weaponized Meet Cute: “When one party has arranged the "chance" encounter for the purpose of romance, it's a Stalker's Meet Cute. (This is very common.) When it's for dark nefarious purposes (i.e., not romance; usually a crime of some sort), it's Weaponized Meet Cute.” tvtropes.org, Meet Cute. Joo Won has been "investigating" stalking Dong Sik for the purposes of his investigation. He takes photographs of Dong Sik at his workplace and when he is with his friends. Then purposely gets himself transferred to the same substation to get closer to him. Which signifies from the outset that the nature of their relationship is far from normal.
But it is how Dong Sik reacts to the new Inspector that is very interesting...
During my first watch-through of the show, I missed Dong Sik’s quick off-the-cuff remark of “he’s not my type” when speaking about seeing Joo Won for the first time. Which… okay, firstly, no one asked him. It is the first thing Dong Sik has to say about Joo Won. Also, this kind of language screams romantic undertones. To have a “type” is a phrase often used (in western parts of the world, at least) when describing a person you fancy, i.e find attractive. It’s an odd thing to say and it could just be a funky translation. But Dong Sik decides to tell his best friends that the “handsome” (as other male characters had already noted), successful, fashionable and so painfully metropolitan new (boy toy) Inspector is not his type… Which begs us to question: why did they use this kind of language? If the creators wanted us to know that Dong Sik and Joo Won weren’t going to get along because they were judging each other, another perfectly non-romantic way of telling us would be for Dong Sik to say: He’s just another Seoul detective. This could then start a quick back-and-forth. Someone could say: But you were a Seoul detective. Causing Dong Sik to give us a reply along the lines: You know I was never like them. (or something better than that) If the conversation had been structure in this way, the creators would be conveying that there is a distinction between the city police and the police in this small town. Also, it would give us the insight that Dong Sik never felt like he fit in in Seoul and that he has a close connection to his hometown. [not confirmed as true] Instead, we get “he’s not my type”. I believe this is the first time we see Dong Sik’s character being queer-coded.
“Queer coding is the subtextual coding of a character in media as queer. Though such a character's sexual identity may not be explicitly confirmed within their respective work, a character might be coded as queer through the use of traits and stereotypes recognisable to the audience.” Wikipedia.org, Queer Coding.
This framing, as well as other pieces of information about his character, supports the queer coding theory.
Firstly, let’s take the context into account: Dong Sik is a man in his early forties who has experienced deep trauma. He lives alone, is not married, is not divorced, has male and female platonic friendships and at no point in the show is the history of his love-life explicitly confirmed. The only time in the show that Dong Sik himself talks about anything closely relating to his romantic life - or having a “type” - is when talking about Han Joo Won and talking to Lee Sang Yeob. Any other time Dong Sik’s sexuality or love life is brought up is by other characters, predominately by Joo Won.
Joo Won isn’t Dong Sik’s type. And perhaps not. Having worked (and lived) in Seoul for many years, Dong Sik has probably met many rich, good-looking, privileged, up-themselves Seoul boys. So, he would know.
So, if Joo Won isn’t Dong Sik’s type, who is? Do we get examples?
Yes but very subtly via the process of elimination. Throughout the show, Dong Sik only flirts with men. So that and other factors (which we will discuss later) rule out women as romantic love interests. He only flirts with men. Sometimes he does this because of genuine attraction or because he’s trying to unnerve them. He uses his ambiguous sexuality as a way to make other men uncomfortable when in a sparring match of intellect. The people he flirts with when trying to unnerve are:
Lee Chang Jin
Lim Gyu Seok
Kang Do Soo (very minorly: the good looks comment in episode 4)
Park Jung Je (very very minorly: although, they have a very complicated/ queer coded relationship) These men often bristle or become uncomfortable when Dong Sik uses this tactic.
Do they have anything in common that could help us decipher if he has a type? Well, not really. They are of all different ages, stature, occupation, personality, looks, statuses, and financial backgrounds. They’re different. The only commonality they share is that at some point, they were getting in Dong Sik’s way. So, he used this proven tactic to deflect their gaze, so he can continue on undetected.
(what a whore)
There are two other people that Dong Sik flirts with aggressively, either because one) distracts them from the truth and two) because he seems to enjoy it:
Lee Sang Yeob
Han Joo Won
What is interesting about these two characters is that they don’t react the same way the other men do. So, how do they react?
Lee Sang Yeob shows quiet patience and (not unkind) indifference like he is used to it. In the situation they were in, he doesn’t let us know if he likes or dislikes it- there’s just silence. Which, within South Korean media, speaks volumes.
In South Korean media (like the majority of the world), when the male lead’s sexuality is questioned, it is common (and expected) for them to show disgust or make it into a joke, or both (Vincenzo has two very long scenes where Vincenzo has a paddy about having to pretend to date a man is a great example). Queerness is not treated seriously in the majority of the media. It is shown as something uncomfortable; to be mocked, or as a hurdle in the male lead’s journey. As a whole, it is not something that is explored with sensitivity or sincerity. (there are obviously exceptions to this "rule". I'm speaking in more generalised tones.)
So, to have two male characters in a car together, and to have one ask the other if they are on a date and the reaction is silence, shows us how Beyond Evil approaches queerness in a very different way from the majority.
Dong Sik’s flirtations with Han Joo Won are a little more complicated. At first, Han Joo Won doesn’t seem to understand flirting, full stop. All signs of attraction and affection from anyone make him uncomfortable. But as time passes, he starts to accept it and then even starts to return the attention. Out of all of Dong Sik’s interactions with the people he flirts with, Joo Won is the only one to genuinely flirt back. Not only does he flirt back but he enjoys it, as does Dong Sik.
Other than this, do Lee Sang Yeob and Han Joo Won have anything else in common? Yes.
They are both (at one point in time) Dong Sik’s police partner.
They are the same age and thirteen years younger than Dong Sik.
They went to KNPU and were in the same year.
They are attractive, successful, from wealthy families, ambitious, stubborn, intelligent, naive; metropolitan (working/living in Seoul), and both are passionate and impulsive: going headfirst into danger. They both act like a “prince” and are “burdens”.
Later, they both cause Dong Sik unbearable amounts of heartache.
The most important comparison is that Dong Sik cares about both of them deeply. So, there are two characters Dong Sik flirts with for the sake of flirting. They have similarities that go beyond age, race and gender. Through the process of elimination, we can say with a level of certainty that Dong Sik (on a basic level) does have a “type”.
According to him, Joo Won isn’t it. Personally, I believe that Joo Won was Dong Sik’s “type” the entire time. But because Joo Won is (in the beginning) a stereotype, Dong Sik is put off by his prickish facade. Also, Han Joo Won reminds Dong Sik of Sang Yeob from the get-go, and he doesn’t want to go down that route because it’s a deep trauma for him that he’s not over.
So, when Dong Sik says something so romantically coded as “he’s not my type”, it shines as false in the most wonderful way.
[Dong Sik interacting with three younger men. credit: 1, 3]
Dong Sik is... so into Joo Won. As Dong Sik gets to know Joo Won, he becomes interested in this difficult man. Within the context of the thriller-mystery narrative, he decides to use Han Joo Won so he can bring the serial killer to justice. But over time, he starts to genuinely care for him. Which wasn’t the original plan. One could justify this by suggesting that it just proves that Dong Sik is a protector by nature; he cares for those younger than him, and he fears losing people so much that he’ll even care for the little annoying prick that is Han Joo Won. This is true but the thing about Dong Sik is that if he doesn’t want someone in his life, he doesn’t include them, or he waits patiently until he can move on. Joo Won is not one of those people, which is proven by how he displays his feelings throughout the first act. Dong Sik proceeds to provoke, get up in Joo Won’s personal space, tease, flirt with him, actively pull him into his life, actively try to get to know him, and actively care for him, whilst trying to save that boy (toy) from himself and anyone else who may hurt him… And it only intensifies in the second act. He seeks him out and always has a (literal) open door for Joo Won to walk through because, despite the fact that Joo Won can be difficult, Dong Sik enjoys him and wants him in his life.
The fact that Dong Sik enjoys Joo Won’s personality is shown throughout the first act. Contrary to the fact that Joo Won gives Dong Sik many different reasons for him to run away screaming “red flag”, he does the complete opposite.
A brief list of just a few examples of Dong Sik enjoying Joo Won:
Episode 1: when he offers Joo Won a handshake and is rejected, calls him a "prince" (or something similar)
Episode 1: smiling when Joo Won is talking about his views on friendship, then proceeds to tease Jo-Won.
Episode 2: when Joo Won has the same thought as him (going to the shop in the rain scene), Dong Sik watches Joo Won walk away and smiles after Joo Won gazes back at him.
Episode 2: getting in Joo Won’s personal space (and making eye contact) to ask why Joo Won is “so interested” in him.
Episode 2&3: the entire interrogation scenes: yes, he's annoyed by Joo Won but come on, he's also having so much fun.
Episode 3: After Jung-Je has told Dong Sik that Joo Won knows that he’s put the case files back, Dong Sik is very non-plus about it until Jung-Je tells him that Joo Won laughed “like a madman”. Jung-Je is disturbed by the whole thing, which is a very normal reaction. How does Dong Sik react? He becomes excited, smiles, and then laughs, agreeing to stay at work (despite being traumatised by recent events).
(this look screams: I've got you all figured out.... and in retrospect, I'm like: Oh honey, oh no no no no, JW's better and worse than you think) And so on, and so on...
Dong Sik was attracted to Joo Won from the moment he met him and could see through his pretty rich boy bullshit super quickly. We get to see Dong Sik's good nature and attraction to Joo Won, even from the first episode. There are so many examples (here's one) At the beginning of the series, Joo Won is purposely unlikeable. He doesn’t want to make friends because he’s never had a friend that wanted just him before; they’ve always wanted something else from him. Joo Won doesn’t trust people and doesn’t pick up on the majority of social cues, especially ones of genuine kindness - his lack of experiences and insecurities make him believe that people are being conceited, and by extension trying to control him. Joo Won doesn’t seem to believe that anyone could love or like him for him just being himself. So, he isn’t himself as a way to stop getting hurt. (Dong Sik really doesn’t let him continue that charade)
Dong Sik’s first act of showing… let’s call it a kindness (if we’re being optimistic) to Joo Won on a personal level is in Episode 1. It is so subtle that it went over my head on my first casual viewing. Dong Sik singles Joo Won out (obviously, Joo Won is the newbie of the substation) and tries to show him that his insecurity of “people only want me because of who my dad is” is not true for Dong Sik; and by extension, Manyang. He does this by not taking Joo Won’s shit, physically touching him, and by actively poking fun at Joo Won’s dad. By saying, “I don’t give a fuck who your dad is or where you come from” in the subtext, he’s trying to tell Joo Won that he’s different (Manyang is different). He’s not going to suck up to him, he’s not going to ask for favours, he just doesn’t care for any of that because he’s not like that. Manyang isn’t like that. From the get-go, Dong Sik is telling Joo Won and the audience that if at any point Dong Sik is kind to Joo Won, it is because it is genuine. And not for any other conceited reason.
(That is not to say that Dong Sik is always kind… ooooh no, for a lot of the beginning, he isn’t.)
Joo Won found it amusing though…
Despite all of this, despite every reason there is for the two of them to not get on (for Dong Sik to absolutely despise Joo Won), they don't. Far from it. I like to describe their chemistry are magnets and like all magnets, they want to attract. So without rhyme or reason, without their control or common sense, they turn and yield, and allow themselves to attract. [Before I beat the horse dead, here is a link to the rest of this thought process, including some sexy screenshots]
[ I am losing steam here and getting distracted. So, I'll include a brief summary before I go. ]
A brief overview of Dong Sik's interactions with five younger men + one male of the same age:
Lee Sang Yeob: flirts with him, finds him annoying (affectionately), cares a lot for him, gives him heart eyes, nearly (does kill?) kills someone because they murdered him- Touch: his stomach to try to save his life Oh Ji Hoon: teases him, has a laugh with him, protects him and tries to be an older brother/mentor. He sees himself in the younger man- treats him like a much younger brother- Touch: doesn’t, idk... maybe a brief touch to the shoulder (?) Club man: Is aggressive with him because of the fucked-up shit the guy is doing. But still has a ~certain~ energy with him. Touch: pins him against a wall. Lim Gyu Seok: finds him very annoying, doesn’t like him much but does have odd energy around him- similar to the energy he has with Han Joo Won. Touch: gets in his personal space and puts his lanyard around him in a very ~certain~ way, holds onto his shoulder- the same he does with HJW. Han Joo Won: flirts with him, bullies him, protects him- he’s in love with him, let’s not pretend. Touch: all the fucking time mate, loves it. Can only think of two times he stops Joo Won from touching him.
Bonus: Park Jung Je: Jung Je grabs Dong Sik’s arm once and it makes Dong Sik super angry. He yanks his arm out of the other’s grip. An odd reaction considering they’re best friends. Dong Sik treats Joo Won differently only because Joo Won encourages him. It's this battle of ego and wit. They're both trying to be right, (both being dramatic), trying to impress and wanting to impress, wanting to be seen They enjoy being around the other; not being able to stop themselves from caring, flirting, battling, repressing, restraining, fighting, protecting... attracting.
Han Joo Won is very annoying. But Dong Sik likes him so much, he's just his type.
---
Dong Sik's queer coding is not shown through grand gestures or grand romantically-coded scenes. He isn't overly flamboyant or "camp". He only flirts with men and does have a type. There is so much more that could be said about Dong Sik's queer coding. For one, we could talk about the religious symbolism throughout the show and Dong Sik is his most "religious" when he's falling in love with Joo Won. Please remember that this is from a larger piece that focused on the first half of the show, which is why the second act isn't explored.
There is sooo much to say about him. I feel like this overly long post is only scratching the surface and is probably unnecessarily long-winded. But alas, it is how I have chosen to approach it. Thanks for sticking around this long. Ta ta!