BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“They say repeated coincidences are destiny.” – Quote from Blossom Campus
I loved this series! It is funny, cute, creative, and has a warmth about it that is rare especially for a South Korean BL series. Plus, I found the acting surprisingly and sublimely effective. Perhaps because of the quirky, if not weird, ambience about this series. Somehow, it all worked! And I also reached an epiphany. I got a better understanding of the cultural nuances of Korean society based on its language.
In essence, we know very little about these two main characters. And how their story is developed is with obtuseness. Kim Min Jae (Son Byeong Hoon) is a transfer student into the Applied Music Department and is seeking its location. Min Jae is a handsome but a bit reserved young man with a compulsive need to make money and be successful. He does not seem to have many friends, which feels counterintuitive as his personality is outwardly friendly.
Accidently, he runs into Yoon Chan (Choi Dong Ho) for directions who is a complete enigmatic figure and is a Taekwondo student. Tall, very handsome but with a quirky and odd personality. He has a difficult time making friends and maintaining friends as his personality is, simply put, offbeat. For some strange reason, he fixates on Min Jae and quite literally ‘forces’ him to be his friend. Perhaps that is too strong of a term to use as Min Jae is fascinated with him and soon finds that he is becoming attracted to him.
Meanwhile, Yoon Chan is also struggling in dealing with his stronger by the day emotions he feels towards Min Jae. You have two lonely mavericks and to a degree misunderstood young men who found each other, perhaps by destiny, who now seem on a road to becoming partners.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This whole series is filled with singular and peculiar individuals. Perhaps that is what absorbed me into this series. One of the more unusual ones was Min Jae’s professor (Jo Yoo Seok). Being the cynic that I am, my initial reaction was he might have been stalking Min Jae, since he gives off the impression of having an unusual attachment to him. How wrong I was! He was as presented. A warm, sensitive, caring, and kind individual who seemed or perhaps sensed something more was going on with Min Jae on a deeper level than in most of his other students. I could not shake the feeling that somehow, he knew more about Min Jae’s past and what was likely the source of his internal strife. Thus, he only wanted to help. The exchanges between him and Min Jae are some of the finest discourses between an older person and a younger one I have ever heard. And at one point, it was Min Jae that was comforting the professor in his choice long ago in who he fell in love with. It was a most memorable and misty-eyed exchange, and I deeply appreciated its impact. Later, the professor becomes instrumental in helping Yoon Chan clearly see his relationship with Min Jae as he also acted as his mentor as well. It was so highly unusual yet refreshingly different advice-giving, and so wonderfully done. Never once sounding preaching but imparted with sincerity and in a tone much like a father would give his son. This series is worth watching simply for these exchanges. Kudos for including them in and making them feel so genuine, real, and astonishingly honest. There is just some fine, down-to-earth acting on Jo Yoo Seok’s part. He was the idealized version of what a classical college professor ought to be.
Added to the mix of odd characters is a young rather attractive freshman music student named Jung Woo Hyuk (Kim Yong Sol). What is incongruous about him is that while ‘19’, looks and acts considerably older. So much so, even Min Jae remarked to the professor about that uniqueness. It becomes apparent except to Min Jae of course, that he is enamored with Min Jae. Yoon Chan knows it and a streak of jealousy arises between the two of them. It is like two high school boys fighting for the attention of Min Jae. But it is obvious and apparent that Min Jae only has eyes for Yoon Chan.
This series is so cliché yet there is a quirky intensity to it that makes it so quintessential. The dialogue between the two is simply one of the best between two budding lovers. And we get to see how painful love genuinely is for both. While both want it, they are frightened of its prospects because they are terrified of losing it once gained. We only realize its depth at the end, however, without grasping or knowing the causes of its hold on them. For them, they are now going to enter a new phase of living together.
Here is where I had an epiphany. Min Jae went from informal to formal language and back in confessing his love to Yoon Chan which made it all the more powerful to Yoon Chan. Being a Westerner, that concept and the value behind all that is lost on me since we do almost everything so informally. In addition, Yoon Chan is a bit rough around the edges and is not quite as fluent in conveying his meaning in the formal tone. Yet that becomes his selling point to Min Jae. You know he is real, genuine, and honest. So, when Yoon Chan summarizes what they are going through, it is from the heart. “I am also someone closer to misfortune than luck. Shall the two of us who are unlucky try making happiness instead of luck?”, says Yoon Chan. How beautiful and poetic is that, coming from someone who is just learning to love as well.
There is something so special about this series. The two actors made it so. They have such great screen chemistry together and their kissing scenes, for Korean, was natural, and so sensual. I happen to watch the making of this series and what surprised me was the kissing was only going to be the usual ‘pecks’ but as they got into the scenes, the kissing became organic and real. They became their characters and it most assuredly showed. These two had such a connection between them for generally being novices in acting. They were unafraid to become the essences of Yoon Chan and Min Jae. Kudos. Kudos for risk taking and really showing us the characters and not being afraid to be natural!
Of course there are flaws with this series. (I know, I know, there are no other students on campus). But who cares? I am also not sure about the cliffhanging ending; it too was bizarre, as this entire series. None of that diminishes from the powerful performances that were given, from the outstanding screenplay, and for the creation of the oddity of the characters portrayed. This gem will be on my Top Ten list for 2024.
I would highly recommend that you give this quirky rather short BL a look. Open your mind to its extraordinary characters and ignore the obvious flaws. These guys are simply pure joy to watch!
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