BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.” – An Ancient Chinese Belief
A captivating and soft meandering love story between two very unorthodox individuals. Honestly, I did not think this story was going to work or move me very much, but I totally got into it and found it charming and very relatable. It is a story about Song Shi On (Chu Young Woo), a university student majoring in contemporary dancing. He is obsessed with it and practices it constantly. His life to some degree is a Sad Sack story but in reality, he is very good.
One day on the bus as he is listening to some enlightenment advise, he hears that if you hold your pinky up, the first person you see with a pinky up is your love. And that a red string will bind the two of you together that cannot be broken. As he lifts his pinky, he happens to glance across the bus and by chance (or maybe destiny) this handsome man is sitting with his pinky up. Shi On looks at him and wonders. Unbeknownst to him, the individual is Jin Hong Seok (Hyung Hoon Won), who is a loan shark collector.
While he is trying to get out of this line of work, his boss Cha Soo Ryeon (Soo Ryun Lee), keeps trying to pull him back in. The major reason of course is because she is attracted to him. He has one last job to collect a debt which happens to be Song Shi On’s debt to them. (The debt is because of a parting gift for his mother). But there is something about Shi On that draws Hong Seok to him. Hong Seok is normally a cold, closed-off individual but seems to be touched by the plight of Shi On.
Normally, they do not grant extensions, but he is granting him a month’s extension so Shi On can win the first place and therefore be in a position to pay back the money. In order to protect his investment (since Hong Seok guarantees the loan), he stays with him and eventually lives with him. Slowly more than a business arrangement occurs, and their connections begin to develop into strong feelings for each other with neither wanting to outwardly express them. It is clear, however, that Hong Seok is enamored by him. To ensure that he will not injure himself on the broken dance bar, Hong Seok fixes it with the red string which Shi On begins to piece together as he remembers he is the one on the bus and he is his love. There is an adorable scene in this series in which Hong Seok pretends to be Shi On for a photo shoot. While initially stiff, he draws on his own skills as a loan shark and his caring for Shi On to make it work. It turns out that he is quite good at modeling and enjoys it immensely (and he is very, very handsome as well. Oh my).
This I must admit is a very tender story and of course the premise is a bit of a stretch, but it works. This is not a long series (only 8 episodes of about 15 minutes each). They develop just enough of the characters to make them believable and poured enough of themselves into their roles to make the characters come alive. I do not know much about contemporary dancing, but the dancing is spot on and felt genuine as if it really was telling a story. Hong Seok, as a relinquished pianist brought a nice compliment to the story, almost like a Yin and Yang puzzle. They fit so well together and complimented each other and were able to draw each other closer.
Shi On’s dance number was labeled ‘he makes me dance’, all because of his connection and love for Hong Seok. In the end, as Hong Seok was preparing to leave permanently for Vietnam, he hears the dedication from Shi On on the radio about how people who are meant to be are connected by the red thread between their fingers; that cannot be untied or tied to someone else. In that moment of clarity (and perhaps because it touches her soul if but for just a moment), Cha Soo Ryeon lets him go. Both Shi On and Hong Seok are indeed tied to each other by that red string.
There is nothing terribly deep about this series nor is there great character development. But none is needed. To some degree, this story is magical because of the binding of the red string to the little fingers. I am a doubter of all kinds of religions and mysticism, but I do not always dismiss and sometimes believe in the magic of fate and the wisdom of destiny. These two were meant to be together when they connected on the bus. You do not need more than that to complete the story. I simply enjoyed it from that perspective.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? This was relatively easy for me to decide. It is Chu Young Woo as Song Shi On. He brought an incredible charm to the role. He brought simplicity to a whole new level that worked for him. His life seemed filled with disappointment and strong abandonment issues (especially by his mother). Yet, he never gave into them and somehow and in some way always believed he could do it. He brought strong commitment ethics to what he was doing and was determined to work for what he got. How could you not be attracted to him for that reason alone? In addition to his natural beauty (oh by the way, he is very handsome), he had a boy next door charm to him that he never realized he had. He had no idea how truly mesmerizing he is not only his dance was, but his sheer will power to succeed. I can imagine that his dance moves had to be demanding and seemed intense (and in downright frigid conditions). He consistently was himself and was determined to never let his emotional issues cloud what needed to be done. For him, there were only two things that mattered in life. Dance and Hong Seok. Chu Young Woo brought this character to life not only though his dancing but through his sheer persona of who this character was. He brought this character to life where we cared about him, wanted him to succeed, and cheered for the magic of the red string. Kudos!
This is a great series that had more to it than what the detractors state about it. I deeply appreciated the intensity that they had to develop these roles in such a short period of time. I believed them. More importantly, I actually cared for them. That is good acting and good screenplay and good directing.
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