너의 시선이 머무는 곳에 Episode 1-2 Review
너의 시선이 머무는 곳에 epi 1-2 review
We’ve been dying for this show to come out ever since @blworld1 on Instagram shared it on their story. A Korean BL drama?!?! Like HELLLLOOOOO, we knew we were ready for our two worlds to collide. And now it is finally here so we are going to give our thoughts every week about the two episodes airing that week.
We couldn’t even wait until it was fully subtitled that’s how excited we were! We also found this was a great way for us to practice the skills we learn and try and teach here on the site. We re-watched with subtitles a little while later to confirm what we believed to be said and we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to grasp close to 75-80% of the show. Now let’s get into the good stuff.
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): 안 좋은 버릇 (an jueun boreut – bad habits)
The first episode had similarities to most shows. Characters were introduced, their roles to the story identified, and what we need to know for us to proceed with the rest of the show was learned. We understood from the trailers that the relationship between 한 내 주 (they call him Han TAE Joo in the romanization but his name tag read내 주) is a wealthy heir to a large company while 강 국 (Kang Gook) is his not so well off bodyguard. What we didn’t know from the trailer was that 내 주 is supposed to keep his identity unknown to the world and 강 국 is there to protect not only the secret but also 내 주.
That doesn’t go so well as in the first two minutes of the show 내 주 get’s into a fight because he keeps stealing this other dude’s girlfriends and then brags to the bully that he is the son of the president of the super big company. To be fair, if three of your girlfriends are seeking comfort somewhere else…take a look at yourself bruh.
As the episode proceeds, we find that 내 주’s father is, to put it bluntly, a dick. Like all rich parents in K-dramas are. He takes out his anger on 강 국 instead of his own son, hinting about ‘a habit’ his son has. Now this bit confused us. What habit is he talking about? Fighting? Girls? Or, does his father assume and/or know his son is gay?
To us 내 주 doesn’t seem to know he’s gay, or at least plays a very naive boy who is unsure where his feelings lie. Like he calls 강 국 “자기야” (jagiya- honey/darling). 강 국 on the other hand seems to wear his sexually frustrated feelings on his sleeve however much he tries to push his feelings aside.
For real if 강 국looked at us the way he looks at 내 주, nsfw things would have already been happening. It is evident from the second he comes on the screen that his feelings for 내 주 are not simply bodyguard and friend.
As 강 국 gives 내 주 first aid in their shared apartment (the rich father put them in a small, ‘average’ liveable space to keep up the mediocre appearance to the rest of the world) they start to rough house making quips and jokes about each other and their fighting techniques. And then that sexual tension that 강 국 so easily portrays comes to hit us head on when 내 주 plays with his earlobe. Rendering 강 국 useless and also hella turned on.
At the end of the episode, the bully who clearly has girl issues comes to apologize and 내 주 chooses to befriend the kid joking it will make it easier to not steal his girlfriends. But then he goes to grab the boys earlobe and 강 국 is not having it.
OUR FAV SCENE: When they go to grab a bite to eat and the woman who owns the shop asked if 강 국 is the attacker and 내 주 is the defense. (Essentially seme/uke top/bottom) Basically this woman is us in 20-30 years and that’s why we loved this scene.
Our cutest scene: When 강 국is taking care of 내 주 and내 주 gets all adorable saying he doesn’t want to go to England (which his father threatened him with) and starts rubbing himself on 강 국 like a little puppy. The actor does give us puppy dog vibes to begin with, so this just solidified his little doggy look.
Our least fav scene: We know this sounds messed up, but any scene with the girl, who we can tell is going to be the strain in the boys’ relationship, is just not for us. She just rubs us the wrong way. I mean she walks into her first scene a legit sneezes loudly not covering her mouth or anything. We outright cringed. Like hello, pandemic? And for real…it’s just basic manners and hygiene. #sorrynotsorry
2 화 : 동등한 관계 (dungdoonghan gwangae – equal partnership/relationship)
Now here is where the story starts to get interesting. And by interesting we do mean the plot thickens, but we also mean the tension builds even more between 강 국 and 내 주. After the incident with 내 주 grabbing the bully’s ear and 강 국 not having it, our two lead boys decide to have a sparring match to prove who really is the better fighter. And now all the fun juicy stuff our ‘hard stan’ BL hearts love takes front stage. 강 국 takes off his shirt to reveal a very sexy back (yeah no abs, we were a crushed but don’t worry we’re on the mend) and 내 주 even compliments his handsome frame. Who wouldn’t?! Boy has a nice backside.
We come to find our that내 주 gave that annoying girl, who honestly we don’t even know if we got her name or not…we don’t care, 강 국’s real phone number! UGH! The nerve of him. 강 국 is not impressed and doesn’t get why 내 주 had to step in and make that move for him. As they begin to spar, (this is where our hearts started to mend) we were trying to hold back our squeals at their heavy breathing, groans, and moans. It was a struggle. And not to mention they seemed to actually have some solid moves.
강 국’s phone keeps blowing up, (GIRL can you get the freakin picture?! He isn’t interested) and while distracted내 주 starts touching 강 국’s bare chest. *Cue the hallelujah chorus on this one* But to cover up the fact he was most likely enjoying the touch, 강 국 puts the hand in a back bend that ends up injuring our rich boy lead’s wrist.
Oh what a shame. NOT! Now our lovely 내 주 needs help doing the most basic of things. “Like what?” you maybe asking yourself. Oh…ya know…cooking…cleaning…showering.
Our bodies hit the floor, our souls were sent to outer space, and then the episode ended, our souls sky rocket back into our bodies, which sat up from the floor and proceed to punch our TV screens for doing us dirty like that.
OUR FAV SCENE: The sparring scene. Do we really need to explain ourselves? Pretty sure we did above.
Our cutest scene: The shower scene. It isn’t a sexual scene at all, like one might think from us freaking out over it. The way 강 국 takes care of 내 주 is sweet. The way he tenderly moves the shampooed hair from 내 주’s ears and softly scrubs at the boys scalp… let’s say our hearts pitter pattered. It was such a soft and gentle moment.
Our least favorite scene: Once again, any scene with this girl just…ugh. Her mother, who is our spirit animal, says to not interfere with the boys relationship. SHE CAN TELL THEY HAVE A RELATIONSHIP, and yet her daughter is like, “nah, they aren’t like that. I’m gonna pursue this dude who gave me a fake number, totally on accident, because he def likes me.” Beesh BYE!
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!
SOCIAL DISTANCING CONCERT! KCON-TACT 2020 SUMMER
With every concert for the foreseeable future getting postponed or even cancelled, a lot of fans are feeling the NCD (No Concert Depression) sinking in. And when K-con announced its cancellation of the NYC event, all hope was lost our in eyes here at Korean From Context. Not only just for seeing an unforgettable concert, but seeing our concert buddies, shopping the cool booths, and enjoying k-town with friends who are new to the NYC scene.
But KCON wouldn’t let a cancellation and social distancing stop them from providing fans some sort of concert experience. Pulling inspiration from groups like BTS, NCT, and others, who have been having viral concerts or even just all day binge-thons of their previously filmed tours, KCON came up with a way to take that idea and turn it into something more interactive.
KCON-TACT 2020 SUMMER is going to be a 7-day 24 hour event. Not only will they be streaming past KCON concerts, they will also be sharing new live performances from some of our favorite artists (TBA), behind the scenes videos, meet and greet sessions, influencer led panels, and so much more!
And what makes this event more worthwhile is the fact that a portion of the proceeds will be going to UNESCO’s Learning Never Stops campaign which is helping students around the world continue their education during these COVID times.
Mark your calendars for June 20-26th and get ready to scream “LET’S KCON” from the comfort of your own home.
Our Current 10 K-pop Songs
K-pop is part of our every day lives. Whether we are listening to it, tweeting about it, spending all our money on it, and when coronavirus isn’t a thing, going to concerts for it. Any way you look at it, K-pop is essential. Since we’ve been spending a lot of time in front of our computers lately working on our Sims K-drama, STAY WITH ME (나랑 같이있어), we’ve been realizing we need music to keep us vibin’ with what we are working on. Just like with any project we work on really. Music helps us get the creative juices flowing. And since the website was created to share our love of all things Korean (and lately we have been focusing on other things like BL dramas…which #sorrynotsorry) we thought we would share our current most listened to K-pop songs. Not all of these are new, or the groups most recent songs, but these are the songs that currently keep us in the zone. And these songs are subject to change as new music is constantly coming out and making us feel some type of way.
10. HOTSHOT – Jelly
When we went to grab the link for this song, we saw it came out in 2017! And we remember like it came out yesterday. Even so, this song’s melody is catchy and will make you scream, “Baby please don’t go” at the top of your lungs. The music video is also very enjoyable. *cough* shirtless Ho Jung and Timoteo rolling his hips *cough* “뜨겁게 번져가고/ 숨이 점점 가빠지면/ 돌이킬 수 없는 Paradise – tteugeopge beonjyeogago/sumi jeomjeom gappajimyeon/dorigil su eomneun Paradise – It spreads hotly/My breath gradually catches/This irrevocable, paradise
9. THE BOYZ -Salty
Salty. One of our favorite words for god knows how long. Sammie professes the song was named for her. However, the lyrics hold a lot more sexuality than the song title leads one to believe. “몇 번이고 원할 게- myeoch(but the ch kinda sounds more like a t) boneego wonhal gae – I’m wanting it again, several times…”
8. WINNER – Ah Yeah
As our fav editor Aleda said, “Cutest break up song ever.” She isn’t lying. Most breakup songs are sad, or angry. This one is the song version of the girl/boy shrugging emoji. “네가 알던 착한 바본 여기 없어 – nega aldeon chakhan babon yeogi eopseo – The nice fool you once knew is no longer here”
7. CLC – HOBGOBLIN
This is the only girl group(GG) we stan. Religiously. Sure, we listen to a GG song here and there, but CLC constantly comes out with hard bops for strong independent women who don’t need no man. This is the song that got us hooked on them. Sorn quickly became our fav and we came to find out she’s Thai…maybe she’s what kicked off our Thai obsession. Like look at this hot girl confidence. “너도 날 원하잖아 – neodo nal wonhajanha- You want me too”
6. MCND – ICE AGE
The beginning of this song always gets us ready for it to go in. It starts with a Castle J making a simple statement and then it grows into a chant with a hard backbeat. This is one of those songs that’s makes you want to punch the air and run up the Philadelphia Museum of Arts stairs. (Yes that’s a very old reference. WE’RE OLD!) “우린 앗 차가워!/Come into ice age – urin at chagawo! -we are cold/ come into ice age”
5. VeriVery- Lay Back
This song is sexy. That’s just facts. The sensual breathy voices that build into the deliciously erotic whispered “Lay Back” to start the chorus make that sexy vibe hit a peak. And their dancing really kicks it up a notch. “겁내지 말고 please take off/Go love 더 보여 줘 봐 – geopnaeji malgo please take off/Go Love deo boyeo jwo bwa – Don’t be afraid please take off/Go love, show me more)
4. JINU – 또또또 (Feat.MINO)
From the group that brought you the upbeat song about break ups, comes solo artist Jinu and his upbeat song about desperately trying to get this chick to simply text him. Yes, Jinu of WINNER produced a solo song that is literally a poor boy who wants someone to notice him and respond to his texts. But in a cheerful way. “ㅎㅎ은 너무 꼰대 같은 느낌이고/ㅋ은 가벼워 보여 결국 ㅎㅎ/으로 급히 보냈는데 오타 (Oh no)/뭐 해? 바쁘구나 – hieut hieuteun neomu kkondae gateun neukkimigo/kieukeun gabyeowo boyeo gyeolguk hieut hieut/euro geubhi bonaetneunde ota (Oh no)/mwo hae? Bappeuguna -“haha” seems too old/“ha” keeps too light so in the end I said “haha”/But I sent a typo (oh no)/What’re you doing? I guess you’re busy”
3. IMFACT – Tension Up!
If you’re looking for a song to get amped by, this is that song. We use this in every single work out mix we make. It has a great build and the chorus just gets you jumping and dancing and moving in general. It’s also a solid party track to get wasted, dance, and sing drunkenly to (If you are over the age of 21 in the US or are legally allowed to drink where you live. Please drink responsibly.) “뭐든 뭔들 눈치 보는 사치- mwodeun mwondeul nunchi boneun sachi – whatever happens being cautious is a waste.”
2. 1Team – Make This
After seeing this song performed live, we have a whole new appreciation for it. The beat? Sick. The dancing? Solid. The vocals? Unparalleled. Song in total? Sexy AF. “수천 번씩 또 되감아/Drama 같은 느끼한 건 아냐 /어설피 널 쳐다보는 시선 yo I just – Sucheon beonssik tto doegama/ drama gateun neukkihan geon anya/ eoseolpi neol chyeodaboneun siseon yo I just – I rewind it a thousand times and it didn’t feel like a drama. I’m just looking at you.”
1. ATEEZ – WONDERLAND
This song goes HARD. The whole damn song. The beat is like a militaristic uprising and we are ready to march behind ATEEZ into any battle. The dance break with Mingi in the forefront…don’t even get us started. “터져버려도/상관없어 난/지금 이곳은/끝의 시작 – teojyeobeoryeodo/ sanggwaneopseo nan/ jigeum igoseun/ kkeute shijak – even if I explode/ I don’t care/ this place right here/ is the beginning of the end”
So there you have it. Our top 10 current playlist. If you want to know more about any of these songs or the bands themselves feel free to reach out to us on insatagram (@koreanfromcontext) or twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt)
Our Top 10 K-Dramas
This Tuesday’s list is brought to you buy our love of what helped create this website. K-DRAMAS! Hopefully all you BL-er’s aren’t disappointed, we promise to have more BL goodness in the future so please look forward to it. But back to the list that is this list. During this stay-at-home, don’t leave EVER, quarantine, you may be wondering, “What can I binge today?” Solid question. And in a large, very general way, we will respond, “K-dramas DUH.”
But there are wayyyyy too many K-drama’s out there and if you’re new to the scene, you might feel that the sheer amount of decisions can be discouraging you from even starting. Well fear not! We are here to provide our top 10 k-dramas. Think of it as the entry into finding what you like, and from here you can venture out into the vast k-drama world and not feel so frustrated.
10. Healer (힐러)
Coming in at #10 is a show that has everything someone could want from a show. Hilarity, action, murder, mystery, and romance. Oh, it also has Ji Chang Wook. So that’s a thing. He is a super-secret ‘deliveryman’ who gets paid bookoo bucks to make special deliveries to people. He is known as ‘Healer’. He doesn’t know what he’s delivering but, he knows that it most likely isn’t the most legit business dealings. People begin hunting him down as he’s been delivering very important blackmail information. His badass self goes undercover as a nerdy, socially awkward journalist and meets a woman who is determined to make name for herself in the world of news. They team up to find out who Healer is, obviously he knows who he is, and suddenly a dark underbelly is uncovered that threatens to tear apart corrupt businessmen and politicians alike. This really is a drama to get you into all sorts of dramas.
9. Save Me (구해줘)
If romance isn’t your thing…then why the hell are you getting into k-dramas? WE KID! WE KID! But also, think about it. Almost every k-drama has some sort of love plot line. No matter how big or small. But this drama has probably the SMALLEST amount of romance. This drama is dark AF and revolves around a religious cult that takes a small farming town by storm. Brain washing citizens into believing in some higher being that will bring them enlightenment. But only if they buy what the cult is producing and work for no pay because it’s what the higher person says is a good thing to do. A girl moves into town with her family and her brother is instantly the boy bullies choose to make miserable. She is not about to let it slide and while trying to fight them off meets a group of four best friends, two of which form a crush on her. But while trying to save the brother from the bullies, the brother chooses to end his life. Fraught with grief the father tries to find solace and ends up finding it in the cult. Crazy shiz goes down for the rest of the show and you will never be bored. We were on the edge of our seats every episode.
8. My Love From Another Star (별에서 온 그대)
We always have to put what started it all on our lists. And this drama is just that. This drama started off strong, got a little boring in the middle, and had a stellar finish. It’s about an alien- hold up, hold up, let us finish. It’s about an alien, who had been stuck on Earth for hundreds of years, unable to get home, when an obnoxious, and very annoying k-drama actress moves in next door to him in his luxury apartment building. Since he is an alien he has super sonic hearing (obviously) and can hear through the walls as she constantly complains and just all around of her jackassery which pushes him to a breaking point. But then weirdly they form a friendship, which inevitably grows into love, and well you’ll have to watch the show to see how everything transpires.
7. Circle (써클: 이어진 두 세계)
Another drama where romance was not the focus and also our introduction to actor Yeo Jin Goo and the acting abilities of Gikwang of Highlight. Two men who inspired characters in our K-drama book Seoul Searching. This is a sci-fi drama that takes place in two different time periods but focuses on the same people throughout. One world is the one we all know as present day while the other is this bizarre future where everyone is implanted with this weird chip that erases bits of your memory. Not that people realize that’s what they paid for. And throughout you are unsure of who exactly the story is following. It is full of suspense, mystery, and aliens. The plot is so out of the ordinary we were sucked in by the first episode and couldn’t escape. You will never see major plot twists coming, and you will most likely scream at the end, but that’s life my dudes.
6. Tempted (The Great Seducer) (위대한 유혹자)
If we are being 100% honest, this show is not the best show there is out there. BUT we will say Woo Do Hwan, the inspiration for Hwan Soo in Seoul Searching, is the sexy lead of this show who was the reason we watched until the bitter end. He is a bad boy, with major daddy issues, and two friends, who are not the greatest of people. In fact, his best girl friend is the absolute worst and loves to destroy people’s lives since her mom destroyed hers. This show is straight drama. ALL DRAMA. ALL. THE. TIME. Just when you think something good is happening, a car hits a bish, parents have affairs, and people come to kill your love. But we have to say Woo Do Hwan’s sensually deep, slow, voice makes everything ok. The lead girl is played by Joy, of k-pop girl group Red Velvet. We aren’t the biggest fans of her acting, but we have to say we saw major improvements in this drama from previous ones. This is a drama for people who who love to say “I am not someone who likes drama in my life. I like to be drama free.” Because we know you’re lying through your teeth, so grab some popcorn and much to your hearts content.
5. Extraordinary You (어쩌다 발견한 하루)
This drama was one that took us totally by surprise. We tend to avoid high school dramas. They are sometimes too dramatic, cliché, and don’t target at people our age. Hence why we don’t watch them. But when we saw Rowoon from SF9 and one of our newest k-drama actor obsessions, Lee Jae Wook, were the male leads, we threw our previous conceptions aside and watched a high school drama. But this truly wasn’t like any other high school drama we had ever seen. In fact, the reason we love it so much is because it thrives off making fun of high school plot lines while also creating a totally insane, romantic, heart wrenching, funny, and life altering show that had us praying for the next episode to come out. Lucky for you guys it’s binge-able. All shows on this list, minus one, are completed so during this quarantine you can go ham and binge to your hearts content. This story focuses around a girl who seemingly looks to have a good life. She’s pretty, her family has money, she is well liked in school, but she does have a heart condition that causes some minor issues here or there. Suddenly she starts to notice odd things happen around her. Time passes but she doesn’t remember what happened, her friends constantly repeat themselves but don’t realize it, she thinks her heart is causing issues in her life. FUN FACT: It’s not her heart. She is a character in a 만화! Once finding out she is determined to change her plot line, but it comes with some costs. Find out when you watch. You won’t be disappointed. (PS we told our friend at Forbes about this article and she binged the whole show and wrote and article about it. #justsaying)
4. Love Alarm (좋아하면 울리는)
And now for the only show that has yet to be completed. And with this whole coronavirus craziness we don’t know when it actually will. This drama is when Netflix tried to make k-dramas like all other shows in the world and create multiple seasons out of a show that could’ve easily been one. We’ve noticed, for now at least, they’ve realized the error in their ways and have been providing a normal season length. Anywho, this six episode ‘season’ revolves around a girl, fairly normal school life, but an ugly step sister (actually her cousin) and an evil step mother (her aunt) who are making her pay for the debt of her dead parents. Trust us, the shiz is messed up and her aunt is a piece of crap, but that isn’t the main focus of the show. The main focus is the fact a new app comes on the market that shows you if someone within 10 meters of you is in love with you. ‘JoAlarm’ aka Love Alarm. She refuses to download it and it catches the attention of the sexy new boy in school. He chases her, and falls in love. Too bad his best friend has been in love with her for ages. Oh well the Love Alarm sounds off when the Love Alarm sounds off.
3. Crash Landing On You (사랑의 불시착)
A show that we have been able to convince even non interested parties in is Crash Landing On You. Yep. People who didn’t want to even start k-dramas have binged and fell in love with Captain Ri and his band of merry men as they navigate the worlds of North and South Korea. This drama is in the top three for so many reasons. The love story is one for the flipping ages, the friendships that are created between all the characters sends us, and well the plot line is refreshing, fun, filled with love and action and tear jerking scenes that everyone can love this drama. A well-known CEO decides to be the test subject of a new paragliding suit. Too bad a freak storm sends her whirling around and landing in a tree stuck until someone can find her. Luckily someone does. A North Korean soldier. She landed in North Korea! Trying to escape proves fruitless and the soldier does what he can to help her escape not only to keep her safe, but to keep him and his team out of fire for failing to do their jobs. But since North Korea doesn’t come to play, other officers start to get involved and things start to take a turn for the worst. Corruption, murder, and the CEO and soldiers past all come to light and well…we really don’t want to spoil this story for you guys. Just trust us, this is one that you will not soon forget.
2. Reply 1988 (응답하라 1988)
The first drama we got Sammie’s mother to watch is this beautiful masterpiece of a semi-historical drama. When you think historical you think anything before the 1900’s so let’s call this a throwback masterpiece. A story of four neighborhood friends growing up in half block radius, whose parents are just as close, and how they navigate life in South Korea during the late 80’s and early 90’s. While the teenagers were filled with comedy, love and heartbreak, the parents were really an amazing plot line as well that left Sammie’s mom sobbing, both laughing and heartfelt, along with us. We also learned some crazy laws like, did you know that people with the same last names couldn’t marry? We sure as heck didn’t.
We couldn’t find a trailer but we decided to share one of the funny scenes that legit had us rolling at how embarrassing it was.
1. W: Two Worlds (더블유)
If you follow us on Instagram (@koreanfromcontext) or Twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt) we have mentioned our love for this show. Not even just this show but a very specific episode. If you remember, wow, you’ve been here awhile! Thanks for staying with us! This show wasn’t initially a favorite of ours. In fact, we didn’t watch it when it came out because we, don’t come for us yet, didn’t find Lee Jong Suk all that attractive. We have since taken that back and are very loyal to our boy. We aren’t even sure why we chose to finally watch but now it’s here at the number one spot so clearly it was good. We have a love for 만화 , obviously since two of the titles here revolve around the concept as well as our last list was all about BL 만화. This story is even crazier than Extraordinary You. What if you liked a story so much, but didn’t like the plot so you got sucked into the story so you could change it? And then the lead of the story falls in love with you, and the story begins to change, and characters begin to disappear and people in the story and outside are trying to kill you both? And then you have to constantly change the story so that it can fix itself and your 만화 love ends up in the real world? Yeah, this drama is all of that and a bag of chips and we can re-watch until the cows come home. (We mean that literally we live in farm country lol) Also the orchestral scores are so epic. OST solid but the ORCHESTRAL SCORES ARE THE MOST AMAZING!
So what do you think? Have you watched any of these dramas? Are you going to? What are some of your favorite dramas? We want to know!
