Who is your hero? #discovermyhero #discoverkorea
The past year+ has ben one I am sure no one will ever forget. I know there are a lot of people I could thank personally for keeping me happy, healthy, and sane. Everyone has someone in their life who helped them through this pandemic. And not only do we want to hear your stories but so does The Korea Tourism Organization who is offering some amazing prizes for sharing who your hero is! 이거 봐! (eego bwa- look at this)
Now how exactly do you enter? ! 쉬워요! (shiwohyo – it’s easy!) Anyone can participate by posting an Instagram post, detailing your story and tagging your hero. Use the hashtags #DiscoverMyHero and #DiscoverKorea
You have until August 6th to enter! Good luck everyone. Can’t wait to see who your hero’s are!!
Our New Ko-Fi Goal…
I am sure if you follow Korean From Context on Ko-Fi the first two goals were small. It was the steppingstone into the world of Ko-Fi and to be totally honest I didn’t think I would reach that first goal, but then to reach the SECOND goal?!? I was so shocked by this but since it was able to be reached, I decided to make the next goal Korean From Context’s biggest one yet.
$2,500! Yes, I’m serious. How did I go from $100 to $2500? And why are commissions not open yet? All of the questions will be answered in this post!
To start off the money will not be going all to one thing. It will be split to several main things.
- A new phone. This will help me create nicer, more HQ content for TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram.
- A new camera and/or lenses. I have been looking at new lenses, praying that concerts will be coming back soon so that I can go and start shooting again. I also would like a new camera to possibly start vlogging when I do go on the biggest trip of my life to South Korea.
- Trip to Korea. Since we are looking at having to be in a two-week quarantine for the foreseeable future, I would simply need enough to cover those two weeks of mandatory hotel stay.
Commissions are coming back. Don’t you worry. However, we want to focus on finishing Seoul Searching. And with that we will be taking the next two weeks to be focusing on that. We are almost all finished. Crazy! Sad, but exciting. We have so many new books coming soon to Korean From Context. Some a little more Mature. (hehehe)
2020 has been a year…now on to 2021!
I don’t know how to process the year we just had. I’m assuming a lot of people are in that same boat. I had no clue what to expect out of this year when it started, like any year before it. I looked ahead to a bright future and a small growth of our website. But also, I expected the worst and in the beginning of the year, I actually had intended to shut the site down. I tend to be a very pessimistic person.
Then the world went absolutely crazy. And while the world, outside, had been somewhat of a cluster f*ck, being in quarantine was probably the best thing to happen to this site. Mainly because I was able to focus a lot more of my time on the site and it’s growth. And grow it did.
When I entered quarantine, I had a lot of time to sit on my phone during the breaks from me doing my real job’s work. And instead of being productive, like a lot of people, I got addicted to TikTok. I had never planned to post anything, just enjoy the cute animals, food, k-pop, k-drama, and funny videos. Someone had said something about making a video of Bright from 2gether and I said that I used to edit videos so I could try. I made it but found the easiest way to post it was to TikTok. That was my first ever video. It got like 20 views and I was happy. And once again, I never intended to post anything else.
But then I saw a few TikTok’s about weddings, and I decided to post some pictures of my k-drama wedding photos. I left it there, went on with the rest of my day. That night, I went to watch some more funny videos when suddenly I had 99+ notifications and I was hella confused. I saw my wedding photo TikTok had over forty thousand views and thousands of likes!
Now in TikTok numbers that isn’t a lot, but to someone who only had 15 followers at the time, I was in shock! I got so excited and decided I would make another video. The next video is what changed the course of my website and my life forever.
One of my best friends had talked me into posting TikTok’s because she thought I would be good at it. I wasn’t so sure about that. After a failed attempt at YouTube, I wasn’t sold on putting myself out there like that again. She had told me to post my story about being hit on by a kpop idol. I felt I had told it so many times and no one cared, or even read my whole blog post about it. She said, “Yeah, but that’s not TikTok.”
I looked to find a fun way to tell the story, and the Put A Finger Down Challenge seemed like the funniest way to do it. I filmed it, sent it to her to see what she thought, she approved and so I posted it. Within minutes I was getting flooded with likes, comments, and follows. I couldn’t keep up. I had hit over eight hundred THOUSAND views! And my followers grew to almost four thousand!
I couldn’t believe it! I was so happy. And I am still insanely grateful for that!
And then Instagram launched REELZ (their version of TikTok). At first, I had decided REELZ weren’t my thing, since I had TikTok. But then I was in an Insta rut and said, ‘eff it just post a TikTok as a REELZ’.
Again, I didn’t know how to react when I woke up the next day to over several hundred new followers, thousands of likes and comments. I get more likes and views on my TikTok reposts to REELZ, than the videos posted on TikTok. I am now at almost four thousand followers on Instagram.
My next big accomplishment goal for the website was to finally start selling scenarios through Ko-fi to build my following on the site. I honestly am still figuring Ko-fi out but I think it will help me grow! At the beginning of December, I put up a small number of open slots, not believing I would even sell one. Sold all five with several of the customers wanting part two’s!!! We have more scenarios open for sale now, if you’re interested in purchasing your own.
I didn’t think 2020 could do more for Korean From Context. We had grown so much, and I was so shocked and thankful. I thought to make another fun TikTok that would now promote Korean From Context and our book Seoul Searching in a fun way. The video blew up! People shockingly believed I had seduced a Korean Drama actor. Me? Laughable. But once again there was a large influx of people to our TikTok page, surpassing ten thousand followers! Which means I can apply to the Creator Fund. I have heard nightmare stories about how it screws over smaller creators, so I won’t be joining just yet, but looking forward to the furture.
And through the growth, people have DM’ed me telling me that they have binge read Seoul Searching and they are desperate for new chapters. These DM’s included one special woman in particular. She reached out saying she loved my book and followed up with asking if she could narrate Seoul Searching! Obviously I said yes so that is in the works!
2020 was a crazy year for so many reasons. But I am happy to enter 2021 and here are some of Korean From Context’s New Year’s Resolutions:
- Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we will be making our trip to Korea this year. This is our passion but our day jobs only allow two weeks off a year. And since Korea is hella strict on quarantine, our entire trip would be quarantine. The Resolution? I will continue working to get miles for us to travel and possibly even stay in Korea free of charge!
- I would love for our Instagram to reach 10,000 followers and our TikTok to reach 100,000.
- Finish Seoul Searching, finish editing it all, and release a limited edition book version! You read that right! A real book!
- Sell even more scenarios to give people their one-of-a-kind k-drama experience!
- Start the new books I have plotted, and get you guys ready to learn even more Korean!
- And lastly, make Korean From Context the best it’s ever been!
I want to thank you all for making 2020 not a total suckfest and keeping me sane during the insane time we are living through. I hope 2021 can be a time for everyone to grow, heal, and hopefully prosper! I wish you all happiness and I wish for all of you to follow your dreams, your heart, and do what makes you happiest. I love you all and thank you so much for coming on this journey with me and the others of Korean From Context!
Wish You : 나의 마음속 너의 멜로디 Epi 3&4 review
We are back with more Wish You content! We know you’re as excited as we are that there are new episodes! While these episodes didn’t have a LOT in them, they were very ‘filler-esque’, they did set up the story to grow into the romance we expect to blossom and that is all we can hope for. The music still slaps and we are literally itching for the 인수/상이duet!
On to the recap!
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT! If you don’t want to know before you watch then pause on reading, watch, and then come back to us so we can have a full-on discussion.
3화: These episodes are so fast that before anything really happens, they’re over. Like we said, these episodes were very much filler episodes. They gave us a brief glimpse into what will start to take place in the future. We see that 상이 is hard-working, but kind of a pushover. And that 인수might not be ready to handle the way they are going to have him work.
At the beginning, 인수 seems excited to be possibly be joining an agency. 상이 is excited to have the man of his dreams in the same company.
Too bad he wakes up late the first day 인수 is supposed to be in the recording studio. He rushes to the office to be somewhat jokingly scolded by the head of the company and then makes his way to his desk, where not the sus woman is but one of the other team managers throws him busy work after busy work. He tries to speak up for himself, but inevitably cowers and does as she instructs.
Meanwhile, 인수 is in the recording studio with sus woman and as she fawns over him with the musical producer, 인수looks exhausted from repeating the work over and over again. He asks to take a break and leaves the studio, leaving sus girl and the music producer to talk. Once again, she gives major sus vibes but then also throws curveballs of kindness so we are still unsure of where we land with her.
상이 finally gets the chance to go to the studio and see his man and legit runs to the studio. The joy on his face as he ran made us as happy.
The episode ends with him getting to the studio and nervously adjusting his clothing and scared to open the door, but 인수sees him and simply says “혹시…” (hokshi- perhaps) as a broad smile grows on his face like he remembers seeing 상이 performing previously.
OUR FAV SCENE: We can’t actually choose one since not much happened. We enjoyed seeing인수singing but this episode honestly didn’t have enough for us to love. Crazy we know.
Our cutest scene: 상이 running to his man, who isn’t his man.
Our least fav scene: That one team leader, not the one we are still unsure about, but the one who was ordering 상이 to do all the busy work when he should’ve been at the studio.
4화: Weirdly the “혹시…” never gets continued and it cuts to 인수 and his busking buddy are sat across from상이 and sus woman ready to discuss the terms of the contract.
Sus lady starts spouting out the rules if he chooses to join with the company. Rules like, he is not allowed social media, if he does have any he has to turn it over to them to maintain. He has to live in their dorms, the company gets 70% of all his profits and he must follow whatever direction the company wants him to.
While 인수’s busking buddy seems baffled by the terms, 인수isn’t as surprised and chooses to make a deal. He will let them have his social media accounts, he doesn’t care about the profits they take or the money he makes, all he asks is that he gets to stay where he currently lives and that his social media remains private until he debuts.
Sus and 상이 are rather surprised by his minor changes to the contract and Sus asks why the privacy. 인수 simply states that he wants to show someone. We were a bit confused by the phrasing, but what we think is that he wants to prove to someone he made it.
Sus gets suspicious about who that person is and after assigning 상이to live with 인수 she asks for him to meet her privately. She once again makes a pass at him and then says she is joking, we have a feeling not a single pass has been a joke, and then tells 상이she wants him to watch 인수 like a hawk.
상이 doesn’t give her a real answer but in a way answers her by choosing to go and live with 인수. The episode ends on cliffhanger that made out pulse races and our eyes bulge out of our heads. 인수 answers his front door shirtless, slightly wet, and with a smile that could not make our panties drop but simply melt away.
And no dang preview for next week!!! *UGH*
OUR FAV SCENE: Shirtless In Soo…DUH! And did we peep a tattoo?!?! *Swoon*
Our cutest scene: When the sus woman tells 상이 that he will be moving in with 인수. His face lights up with shock, fear, and joy. As did ours.
Our least fav scene: We don’t have one. This was the set up for all things to come.
If you want to watch the show yourself and see everything we talked about and more, the show is airing on Viki. Check it out. So far we have not been disappointed and neither will you. If you want to chat about the show feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt). We would love to hear if you’ve started the show and what you think!
Wish You : 나의 마음속 너의 멜로디 Epi: 1&2 Review
Magical. Amazing. Mind Blowing. Cinematic masterpiece. These words can’t describe how simply magnificent the first two episodes of this drama are! Not exaggerating. Within the first few minutes of the first episode we were so beyond sold we were ready to sell our souls for more episodes. Wish You we wish you were longer than 8 episodes that are only 10-15 minutes long. *sobbing uncontrollably*
Now onto the show!
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT! If you don’t want to know before you watch then pause on reading, watch, and then come back to us so we can have a full-on discussion.
1화 (huwa-chapter/episode): Well as you read in our intro, the first minutes sold us on the entire series.
Aerial shots of a night in Seoul, with a tranquil score playing behind it, set the tone. A young man is strolling down the street, music pumping in his headphones, when he reaches the corner to see another young man busking with a friend filming his performance.
The first man we see stops, his eyes seem surprised to see this performer, and suddenly the score music mingles with the busker and it builds into this gorgeous symphony.
Now you may say we are being dramatic. Go watch. We promise it’s exactly as we described.
We finally meet the characters when the one who stopped to listen to the busker, (our boy Waffles…IYKYK) is sat on a bus that pulls up to a stop where said busker and the busker’s friend are stood to get on the bus. When Waffles sees the man who had caught his attention previously, he is in shock to run into him a second time.
The busker friend hops on the bus and then opens one of the windows to talk to handsome performer. And this is when Waffles pulls the most savagely swift move of unplugging his headphones so he can listen to the young men talk.
We find out the busker’s name is 인수 (In Soo), which is actually the actors real name as well. We wonder if they did this on purpose or not. Anyway, 인수and his buddy are talking, with Waffles in between them, about the latest video upload of 인수’s performance. Waffles is so cutely starstruck that made us giggle at how adorable and nervous he looked.
Waffles ends up going to an office 회식 (hwaeshik- this is an event that companies do a lot of nights after work. Everyone goes out to eat and drink together) where he steps out for a bit to continue watching his boy 인수’s YouTube videos. One of the other employees finds him outside, and we finally hear his name, 상이(Sang Yi), which is kinda like his real name as well, watching the videos and asks who the man in the video is.
He tells her about 인수 and she agrees that he is very talented. She then proceeds to hit on 상이 which were like, “excuse me beesh! NO!” but he seemed totally unphased by her hitting on him and she simply changes the subject.
Suddenly the whole team comes out of the bar ready to go to their next stop and as they are walking you will never guess who they run into! Oh…you can guess? Well sheesh way to spoil it. 인수! And here is where the woman redeems herself and tells 상이 to go and follow 인수 so he can get a selfie and autograph and maybe even his phone number, and that she will make up an excuse for him leaving. BRAVA!
상이 runs to find where 인수 and his buddy ran off to. And he does! The two young men are at a bar drinking together and 상이walks in ready to talk to the man he clearly has a major fanboy crush on.
And when we finally think these two will utter any sort of words to each other, or at least 상이 will say something to 인수, all he does is embarrass himself and…BOOM! EPISODE 끝 (kkut – end)
OUR FAV SCENE: That intro to kick off the show really did send us. Like we said, it was so beautiful and simple and just amazing that it had us sold without either actor speaking a word.
Our cutest scene: The bus scene was a fan fav. The way 상이unplugged his headphones so he could hear the convo was really savage. But the reason we think it is the cutest is because of 상이’s facial expressions. He looked like a little puppy who was just begging to be noticed.
Our least fav scene: The end. Only because it meant the episode was over.
2 화 : We start this episode where the first ended. 상이 chickening out and instead of telling 인수 that he is a fan, he ends up just making up an excuse to why he was there, at their table. UGH! He could hit on Sammie irl (not that she knew it) but he can’t speak to 인수! Well maybe…hmmm. Now we have even more questions. Lol.
Any way he runs away like a scared little boy, pissed at himself. Almost as pissed as we were for him leaving. He goes to find his 회식 group again but instead only runs into the young woman who had hit on him, then told him to chase the cutie singer. She is all alone, and she tells him everyone left already.
She asks if he was able to talk to 인수 and is instantly disheartened by the look of disappointment on his face.
When they part ways she hops in a cab and makes a sus phone call, at least it looked sus. There were no subtitles when we watched this episode and couldn’t understand that scene very well.
It cuts back to who we want to see, which is our boy 상이 lying in bed. We think he is asleep until he throws his hand in the air and starts reenacting what he should’ve said to 인수. It was actually super cute, and let’s be real who doesn’t think about what they could’ve said in a situation instead of what they did?
He gets so frustrated with himself that he can’t sleep and so he gets up to reveal he has a whole small makeshift music studio in his tiny apartment. He plops down in his chair to start listening to 인수once again and suddenly he is mixing his own musical talents with 인수’s. And dear god what a panty dropper. He not only plays the piano to create more depth to the song, he HARMONIZES with 인수! Our hearts ripped out of our chests and started vibin’ with the beauty of both the talent and the men.
But of course the beauty gets cut short by a loud banging on his door by his neighbor who is complaining of 상이 playing piano and singing so late at night. RUDE, because honestly the vocals and music would be a gorgeous lullaby and she should feel blessed to have such a neighbor. But we digress.
The next morning, he goes to work where the company is in a meeting to find new talent and their boss is getting more and more frustrated with the people she is hearing. The girl who seems to be on 상이’s side asks him to pull up 인수’s videos and the boss is impressed with the talent.
The boss agrees that he is a good find, and she wants him to sign with the agency. The hidden joy on 상이’s face is so charming we are just waiting for his ship to sail! He grabs coffee with the girl and they go for a walk to talk about 인수.
Speaking of 인수, he is at the café that his busker buddy works at and as they are talking a young girl tries to get his phone number, but busker buddy tells her that 인수is his boyfriend and she runs away embarrassed. Which made us giggle a bit. As the girl leaves, two men appear and busker friend whispers nervously “surprise!”
We noticed the one guy was in the scene when the company was looking for talent so I am assuming they are managers trying to get 인수 to join the company.
While this is all happening, 상이 is still with sus but not sus girl. We are still undecided about her. She makes a dating joke, and then says something about proposing but then spins it to she wants him to work on the 인수 project. We don’t know how to feel about her. We want to like her, but then she does some sketch shiz we don’t like. We will see how it ends up.
The episode ends with 상이 performing with some other musicians on the street and, we are sure you already guessed what happens but we’re gonna tell you anyway, 인수 shows up to listen. As he listens a smile grows on his face and 상이 clearly falls even harder for the man.
끝. End episode. And no preview for next week!
OUR FAV SCENE: 상이 adding his own little mix to 인수’s performance. The singing was just amazing. We seriously can’t wait for them to actually start working together.
Our cutest scene: Might actually have to say that same scene but the seconds beforehand where 상이 is running through what he really wanted to say to 인수.
Our least fav scene: Once again, the end because it meant that there was no more to watch. And this time there really wasn’t because no more episodes have come out yet.
If you want to watch the show yourself and see everything we talked about and more, the show is airing on Viki. Check it out. So far we have not been disappointed and neither will you. If you want to chat about the show feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt). We would love to hear if you’ve started the show and what you think!
KOREAN BL DRAMA ALERT…again! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO US!
If you follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, you know what we are about to say! WAFFLES (Lee Sang of IMFACT) IS IN A K-DRAMA! Not only is it a K-drama, it’s a Boys Love K-drama. And he is starring alongside another K-pop idol we adore, In Soo of MYNAME! OH LAWD HAVE MERCY ON OUR HEARTS!!!
The new drama is called WISH YOU: 나의 마음속 너의 멜로디(nahwi maoomsuk nohwimalohdee- melody in my heart) with a plot centered around two young men who love music. One, Yoon Sang Yi, played by Waffles, is a pianist working for a massive agency. He oversees finding new talent when he stumbles upon a young man who uploads all of his performances on YouTube.
In Soo has a dream to make it big in the music world. All day and all night he works toward that goal. One day a young man comes to him telling In Soo he would be perfect for the rookie project an agency is holding. That man is Sang Yi, who has become quite the fanboy of In Soo.
Their two lives get thrown together when they end up living and working together in the company’s residences. Not only does a musical bond and friendship blossom, but something much more.
Oh man, are your hearts racing as much as our are?! This is premiering in TWO DAYS (12/04/2020) and will be available on VIKI. Are you planning on watching? If you want to chat about the show feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt).
K.B.R: Chateau Labiotte Wine Lipstick
Now if you’re an EXO-L this lipstick name is probably very familiar to you. If you’re unfamiliar with this reference, look up EXO’s song “Lotto” and you will understand as this lipstick brand was sung about in the song’s chorus.
“Lipstick Chateau 와인빛 Color – whainbic – wine)
And once girls heard a lipstick these boys seemed to fancy, it flew off the shelves. And we will admit, we were those people who did go out and buy a few of these. While we no longer speak to the people we purchased these lipsticks with, (toxic k-pop fans can ruin a friendship) we have to say the color we kept is still one of our favorite bright shades that we use whenever trying to film TikToks.
The packaging alone is enough to make one want to buy it. The wine bottle really is totally adorable. But we were really pleasantly surprised at how good the lipstick was. It is creamy smooth on the lips, even keeping them moisturized. It does come off on cups so not wear resistant like a lot of people want, but it does leave a tint on the lips so that even after it might have rubbed off your lips still maintain color. And said tint easily washes off with any make-up remover, soap, water, whatever it is you use to get your lipstick off.
We seriously love the brand and the colors they have to offer. You can get them on several sites including YesStyle and The Beauty Spy and their prices range between $14 – $21 depending on the set or style. If you have one and/or purchase one please share a pic and tag us on Insta (@koreanfromcontext), Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt) or TikTok (@koreanfromcontext) and tell us your opinion on the product. Did you love it? Hate it? Indifferent? We want to know!
Teuida is the BEST app to learn Korean!
We are a website dedicated to teaching you how to learn Korean. And while our website offers some amazing ways, like Seoul Searching (a k-drama like romance story), we also know that people need more than one way to learn. Having options is necessary. We have already made a list of some of our favorite sites and apps that have been very helpful in our learning adventure. But this past week we found one that has surpassed all the previous. (This is our opinion remember, so if it doesn’t work for you, we totally understand it might not be the best in your eyes.)
Welcome to Teuida.
One night, while doing the usual social media scroll, an ad popped up on our Instagram feed. While usually we would scroll past or watch the ad for a few seconds and then scroll, we were intrigued by the question being asked.
“What’s the point of learning a new language if you can’t speak it?”
Well color us intrigued by such a tagline. We sat back and continued to watch the ad. Oh let’s add the fact they had Nancy of Momoland trying to hold a conversation with someone (you) who couldn’t hold said conversation with her. It grabbed our attention and suddenly we were in the app store and watching the little square downloading onto our homepage.
In the first five minutes of launching the app we were blown away. That’s not an exaggeration. We couldn’t understand how this concept had not been produced before and we are glad we now know it now exists. Let us explain:
This app has levels. In the levels are the different lessons. The best part? This is all audio/visual! Which is, in our opinion, the best way to learn. A person will pop up, explain a phrase, and ask you to repeat after them. Using your microphone, they test your pronunciation. And it’s a rather good judgement on the pronunciation. (We can admit we’ve gotten some B’s and had to retake lessons once or twice. Even a C on one we really struggled with.)
But that’s not even the best part of the app. At the end of every lesson is a POV scenario where you speak to whatever person it is in that scenario. Meeting Nancy from Momoland, going out to eat with a boy you have a crush on, interviewing someone for a job, learning what your friends like and dislike, so on and so forth. It puts you in real world scenarios from the comfort of your own home! These levels carry over the lessons learned into other lessons and levels to keep your mind fresh.
And these levels are being updated weekly and there are more coming! Seriously this app is one of the best we have found in a long time.
Here is where we mention that yes, some of it is free. But to get the full capacity of education you will need to purchase a subscription. They have three options. One month ($9.99), three months ($20.99), and one year ($59.99). The prices are rather reasonable for what they’re offering, but to be honest they actually run sales fairly often to help out us broke beeshs who want to learn but can’t throw down all that money. With that being said, we reached out to Teuida to tell them how much we loved their app and they offered us a coupon code to share with ya’ll! If you use the coupon CONTXT you will get 10% off your purchase! So that $59.99 price tag gets cut down to $54.99! Not bad for a year’s worth of comfortable and extremely useful learning.
Check out Teuida and get immersed in the culture from the comfort of your bed (Since we can’t travel to Korea just yet).
미스터 하트7 & 8 (THE END)
And just like that, we’ve reached the final two episodes of this adorable BL drama. Can you believe it? We can’t. And what a dramatic last two episodes! Full of everything we could ask for and more! We were on the edge our seats the entire two installments! We will say one thing for sure, W-story can compact a BL romance into 8 episodes and still make it pack a punch. Now onto the show!
WARNING: THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS YET, DO NOT READ FURTHER!
7화 – We start off this episode with 상하 getting back to his room after his little meeting with the gangsters to find a brand new pair of running shoes. He goes to 진원’s room and jumps right into the bed with him. Yes, we giggled and did a little happy dance at how comfortable the two had become with each other. But then we see what exactly transpired between 상하 and those nasty men.
상하 is forced to race the whole entire marathon. And in fact win. If he wins, his debt will be paid off, and the gangsters are done with him. Which means he has to let the man he loves lose the race that means a lot to him.
As he snuggles 진원 closer, you can see he is unsure of what he wants to do. Meanwhile, 진원 is totally oblivious to all of the inner turmoil, and is loving being the little spoon with the most adorably serene happy face.
Now we cut to race day. They begin the race and quite funnily the gangsters are there to cheer on 상하 with signs saying he needs to repay his debt. Not sure if it was meant to be funny, but the two underlings to the big bad wolf are comedic.
As they run, a nice little montage of 상하 and 진원’s moments together plays, leading up to a day dream 상하 has of 진원 winning the race and them celebrating together. But we are forced back to reality to see that 상하 doesn’t stop running when he is supposed to, indicating to us that he intends to finish the race just like the gangsters want.
More flashbacks occur showing how torn 상하 is about what he needs/wants to do. They are nearing the finish line, 상하 and 진원 are neck and neck, but 상하 pulls ahead and wins, paying off his debt, but losing the man he loves.
Once again, the gangsters had us laughing at how excited they were for him to win. Screaming and cheering, and even lifting the big boss in the air! It was a light moment for a rather heart-breaking scene.
The episode ends with them collapsing after the run and 진원 looks to 상하 with confusion and worry, not hurt or betrayal which left us hopeful for their relationship. And of course that’s where the episode ended. They weren’t about to let us have closure yet. *shakes fists violently at W-story*
OUR FAV SCENE: 상하 climbing into bed with 진원, 상하 not only cuddling, but SPOONING him and 진원 having the goofiest smile that made us squeal with delight.
Our cutest scene: 상하 has a daydream while running that after 진원wins the marathon and he asks for payment of a kiss. 진원 refuses, but then 상하 fakes his injury and ends up getting the kiss anyway. ADORBS!
Our least fav scene: The gangster scenes. Like, we get that these dudes are douchebags, but their method to have 상하 get them the money their owed seemed way too convoluted for our liking.
8화- Every scene of this episode was a pure masterpiece. Yes, we said it. And we mean it. Our boy 상하 pays off his debt to those dirty gangsters. And once again, the goons made us smile as they cheered him on for finally paying their boss. Wishing him well by saying they hope to never see him again.
진원 goes to 상하’s room to talk, but when he enters the code in the keypad it doesn’t open. Thinking he typed it incorrectly he tries again, only to still be locked out. Meaning 상하 changed his door code. 진원 paces in front of the room, waiting for 상하 to come back from wherever he is, or come out of the room.
That’s when we see that 상하 is on a bus going who knows where. At first, we were furious. How dare he leave! But we see he goes to the water, where him and 진원 practiced and as he sits reflecting on what happened he asks is they’re really over. Meanwhile, 진원 is at the spot they had their first heart to heart and responds who is 상하 to end things the way he did.
After screaming his frustrations into the sea, 상하 goes back to school to resume his normal life. Delivering milk early in the morning, like always. That is until he gets to his relaxing spot to see 진원 waiting for him. We screamed, jumped, cried, and all around cheered… and then 진원 decks 상하.
We were pissed. And 상하 asked the question we were thinking. Did he punch him for winning the marathon? And that’s when 진원 delivers what our hearts needed. He frustratingly responds asking if 상하 really thinks he would be that sore of a loser that he couldn’t congratulate him for winning? Surprising us happily he then yells if that is why 상하 changed the code to his room.
We really don’t want to spoil this scene for you guys, because it honestly was so good and heartwarming that you’ll need to watch yourself. We will spoil the fact that we get some really adorable kisses.
The story wraps up with them meeting each other for a first date and how their love will, hopefully, last forever.
OUR FAV SCENE: WE GOT TWO KISSES! And while they were still tame, they were so much more than Where Your Eyes Linger. We loved them. They were sweet and we felt the comfort they finally had being together.
Our cutest scene: When they start walking for their date and 진원 grabs 상하’s hand and then he wraps his arm around to pull 상하 even closer. OOF!
Our least fav scene: THE END. Only because it was just that. The end. We wanted so much more. We wanted to see their first date, their tenth date and the date where 진원 proposes to 상하. Yeah, we planned that all in our head for their happily ever after.
This show, once again, made us thankful that W-story exists and is putting BL content out in Korea. While we love our Thai BL, they pump out the most, their storylines can lack a lot. Their can be massive wholes leaving one confused, and we just accept that as how they operate, and we don’t second guess it anymore. But now that we have a company creating Korean Drama BL’s we get our fill of a solid story line, learning Korean, and seeing cute and handsome men fall in love. 감사합니다 W-story.
If you want to watch the show yourself and see everything we talked about and more, the show is airing on Viki. Check it out. If you want to chat about the show feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt) or even TikTok (@koreanfromcontext). We would love to hear if you’re watching this show!
미스터 하트 EPI 4,5,&6
The fact this show is only airing one more Friday hurts us! It’s so cute, but also so dramatic, and we live for these kinds of web series. Honestly, we beg W-Story to follow the 10-episode rule of most web dramas. 제발 (jaebal-please)! Also we realize we had been spelling 상하’s name incorrectly in the last review…but when we watched we swore his name tag read 상히, but after watching the episodes again and watching these new episodes we heard it was actually 상하.
WARNING: THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS YET, DO NOT READ FURTHER!
4화 – They pick up right where we left off last week. The adorable profession of ‘like’ and 상하 laying his cute little lips on 진원’s. Of course, 진원 is taken aback by this but lets it slide. However, anytime he sees 상하 he avoids him. 상하 while bothered, doesn’t try to stop 진원 from running away and, at least to us, that has 진원 come running back.
He asks how 상하 got so good at his running times, and instead of simply explaining, 상하 decides to show 진원. It cutely ties in why the milk plays a part in their relationship. 상하 had been delivering milk to make ends meet after his mother died. His father was never in the picture and so he had to get a loan from some bad people to pay off his mother’s debts and continue going to school. He tells진원 that he was the one who saved him from killing himself and thanks him.
진원 sees more of 상하 and realizes that he is a good guy and finally accepts 상하 as his pacemaker, which sends 상하 into a fit of joy. It was the cutest damn thing after seeing the poor little boy cry.
OUR FAV SCENE: Getting to see the kiss again at the beginning really just made the butterflies in our stomach flutter all over again. The nice little lip smack sound at the end just does it for us.
Our cutest scene: At the end after 상하 pours his heart out to 진원, and 진원 tells 상하 that he should be the pacemaker. 상하 legit jumps into진원’s arms and it sent us! That boy bounced so high and wrapped his entire body around 진원. It seriously was the absolute cutest thing.
Our least fav scene: This series really hasn’t had a single bad part yet. We reached the last time to find one thing that bothered us but, it really wasn’t something we didn’t like.
5화 – In this episode we meet the 깡패 (ggangpae- gangster) 상하 owes money. They threaten to take him somewhere to work to pay off what he has left, and that if he doesn’t comply, they will forcibly take him to this ‘work’.
He of course ignores the calls and text messages and goes on an overnight training trip with 진원 and his coach and this girl who is a friend. Yes, just a friend. Unlike Where Your Eyes Linger, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of romantic thing here. If anything she notices the change in 진원 and can tell it’s from him hanging around with 상하.
진원 even starts taking care of 상하 by applying the nipple band-aid things for the distance running. They do their test run of the big marathon and hit the showers. Were we expecting some kind of little act of romance in this scene? Yes. Did we get it? Nope. But we did get 진원 yelling at 상하 to get into the cold pool instead of the hot pool in the sauna and they had a cute little splash sesh. So we’ll take it.
OUR FAV SCENE: This episode fed us so many adorable scenes. But when they are asleep in the backseat during the car ride to their training site and 상하 slides his hand into 진원’s hand who then grabs it a continues sleeping comfortably is probably our absolute fav scene. First, its adorable. Secondly, we are hand people, and both those men have gorgeous hands.
Our cutest scene: Once again, so many, but since we force ourselves to pick one, 진원 getting his revenge on the spilt milk from the previous episode. It shows how their friendship has grown, and how 진원 is opening up to 상하.
Our least fav scene: Can’t say we’re a fan of the whole gangster plot for our boy 상하. It’s one of those overused narratives that we wish they could show the struggle of lower-lower middle class in another way. Like 상하 delivers milk, goes to school, and helps 진원 train, why not throw in he has another job that causes him to lack sleep some days and makes him miss a training session. Would of been happier with that. (Once again this is us reaching for something not to like)
6화 – While we have loved every episode of this drama so far, this episode is by far our favorite. A lot happened that we desperately wanted. Remember how only a few sentences ago we had said we were bummed nothing happened in the shower/spa scene. Well we did get some cute/sexy action in the beginning of this episode and the best part was when 진원 yells at 상하 for making every interaction either sad or erotic. 상하 once again brings up the fact that he likes 진원 and what we loved was the fact 진원 wasn’t phased by it. In a negative way that is. We know his heart definitely fluttered a bit.
Once again they share a conversation over cartons of milk and 진원 asks what 상하 wants from him. He believes everyone likes him in order to get something. However, 상하 once again explains that he likes 진원 because he gave him a second chance at life.
진원 being a good person finds a way to give the money 상하 needs to pay off the bad guys, and make it look like it was simply the work of the school. Unfortunately, 상하 can tell what was happening and refuses the money. 진원 gets pissed about it and they get into a fight that ends with 상하 running off because the gangster finds him and chases him down.
Oddly no one questions this as they legit watch some tubby man chase 상하. But anyway, the young girl who is the personal trainer and clearly best friend of 진원 calls him out on not knowing how to handle his crush. And this mother trucker doesn’t deny he has a crush! Which made us so happy. Honestly, we love how this drama has normalized the relationship and how people around them treat them like the normal human beings they are. We are living for it. And we love this girl for telling 진원 how it is and how he messed up, even when he was trying to be a good guy to the one he cares about.
상하 gets caught by the gross gangster and is brought to the head honcho of the gang where he proceeds to beat the absolute shiz out of 상하. He then finds the contract for the money that 진원 to pay and that’s when the episode of course ends! W-story really knows how to leave us on a cliffhanger!
OUR FAV SCENE: The bonding in the cold pool in the spa. These last few episodes have really brought a nice friendship leading to romance growth. We really feel like we are on a journey to find happiness and love with 상하 and 진원.
Our cutest scene: We love this whole relationship that revolves around them drinking ‘힘내 우유’ (himane ooyou – strength milk) together. It’s seriously just the freakin cutest. It actually makes us want some milk.
Our least fav scene: Reaching for the second time this review, we still are not a fan of the gangster plot. Not a fan of the fact 상하 got his ass kicked at the end of the episode. He’s such a cute little baby, who deserves the love of someone he has looked up to for years.
If you want to watch the show yourself and see everything we talked about and more, the show is airing on Viki. Check it out. If you want to chat about the show feel free to reach out to us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt) or even TikTok (@koreanfromcontext). We would love to hear if you’re watching this show!