#lee yumin

[loonat-son-ic]

Necessary Dating Education, S1E1 (2019)/Cheer Up, S1E10 (2022)

[mirambles]

Love All Play - Yuk Junghwan

I started Love All Play because I’m biased towards sports based dramas and movies. So I will watch irrespective of the cast. The leads I have seen in some dramas before , I knew their performance would be good if the script was good - but the one actor and character that has surprised me is Kim Moo Joon’s Yuk JungHwan.

Let me clarify upfront, Yuk JungHwan is a snob and arrogant most times and I get why folks find him a spoilt brat and an a**hole. But what I don’t know yet is, if this behaviour of his is a defence mechanism to not let people know of his inner turmoil & vulnerability .

Yuk JungHwan clearly knows how good he is and I agree that he is a bit of an ass to his teammates and coaches, behaving like one prima donna. But at the same time he is also protective of his teammates - like the time he was not afraid to confront the national team coach for penalising his doubles partner, or being most empathetic to SeonSoo when he loses his first coach. He says to SeonSoo ‘His (coach) faith in your abilities is yours to keep forever’ - that’s all that SeonSoo needed to boost his falling confidence in that moment. Or when he doesn’t think twice to rush to get cake for SeonSoo’s bday and give him a piggyback ride to fulfill his wish. You see glimpses of his personality where he genuinely cares for his teammates.

His anger and hatred towards Taeyang is therefore not understandable, he seems a reasonable fellow but clearly one can get blind-sided if the person you loved has been hurt and your relationship borne the brunt of the incident. So the ability to self reflect, dissect logically goes out of the window and you only want someone to blame your misery on and Taeyang is an easy target for him. I hope the rest half of the drama will throw some insight into his attitude towards Taeyang and allow him redemption; he is not an evil person, he is just caught up in his own misery - and yes that’s not excuse to be a dick to Taeyang or others, but we have seen far worse leads being redeemed or hailed , so JungHwan’s redemption will come and is much needed.

But here are the things I do love about him and this is all credit to Kim Moo Joon’s cute face, his natural comic timing and his straight faced ability to deliver sarcastic retorts.

I do love guys who are sarcastic with sharp comebacks and I enjoy seeing JungHwan in this element. Also at the same time he gets flustered easily , gets a taste of his own medicine a lot from TaeJun (cue Boys be Ambitious 😂) and Yumin (subtle threats to tame his arrogant behaviour even for now if it is just where it concerns her dad).

The way he fell when carrying the cake after taking a diss at Taejun and Taeyang for walking slow and both giving him back in same vein, instead of showing concern, is exactly how he needed to be dealt with and I loved, loved Kim Moo Joon’s priceless expression during those 2 whole minutes :)

He is definitely attracted to Yumin , but is unable to let go of his first love, which he should by now; honestly if she has ghosted you for 3 years and then drops a random message like nothing happened, isn’t that a clue to move on? I’m invested in his and Yumin’s relationship because she is confident where he stands in her life, it’s him being all flustered and awkward at the same time trying to act über cool, which is most amusing to watch right now.

But most of all I love his and TaeJun’s rivalry on court and off court. TaeJun leaves no stone unturned to piss off JungHwan, JungHwan also does despicable things (taking TaeJun’s racket was wrong on so many levels) in his hate to Taeyang and TaeJun. But TaeJun is neither in awe of him nor fears him like other teammates and doesn’t hesitate to show him the mirror. This is the kind of teammate and friend (which am hoping will happen in future) is what JungHwan needs right now. TaeJun is more sorted emotionally than JungHwan and JungHwan needs to mature emotionally. I enjoy their sparring battles and childish banters , but I’m waiting for them to turn buddies, if not best friends; then at least crackling teammates on court. I hope to see them have healthy respect for each other by the end of the drama and yes for JungHwan to find his happy ending with Yumin.

Gif credits to @seawherethesunsets and @junghaesin