BLISS RATING: ★★★+
“You don’t seem to understand. Sometimes, rather than being alone, it is better to suffer together. Especially when you are in love.” – Quote from The Story of Bi Hyeong
This is such a cute, entertaining series which is hard to dislike. While it is pleasant, it ought to be more than that. Forlornly, it just is not. My issue and problem with these series is that nothing new is introduced. The characters are endlessly boring and stereotypical. Just once, I just wish something fresh, creative, or original would happen with these stories. While the mythos did make an attempt to change it up a bit by creating a conflict between ‘goblins’ and ‘foxes’, I honestly did not know what the conflict was in the first place and why it needed to continue to the present day. So, the tension-factor was missing.
Wanna-be actor Guem Bok (Lee Cha Min) leaves his rural home where his grandfather lives and comes to Seoul to make it big in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, he was scammed from his rent money and by accident, after being forced to spend the night alone on the streets, is discovered by the goblin king, Bi Hyeong (Hwang Jae Wook), in a rather unorthodox fashion. He has mistaken Guem Bok for his previous Master and kissed him and now a bond between the two was formed. Gil Dal (Kang Chan Woo), the bodyguard to Bi Hyeong, invites Guem Bok to live with them. Indeed, it is established that Guem Bok was his former Master in a previous life.
Guem Bok, thinking he needs to improve his appearance to stand a better chance of becoming successful as an actor, sees a plastic surgeon who happens to be a nine-tailed fox named Dr. Ji Gwi (Nam Taek Jun). Ji Gwi is a bit of a playboy and while making an attempt to seduce Guem Bok, discovers he is living with a former past love of his. Gil Dal and he, once deeply enamored, had a stormy and tempestuous relationship and subsequent ugly break-up. It is obvious that with their reintroduction, a sexual tension between the two has begun again. Guen Bok is not remotely interested in Ji Gwi. His interest is with Bi Hyeong.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? To be fair, these roles are difficult to play as they are ‘hypothesis’ fantasy roles. One must project what an entity would be like in human form and in this case, a modern human, without becoming too esoteric. Who I think does this rather effectively is Nam Taek Jun as Ji Gwi. Not only is he inordinately handsome, but he is mesmerizingly so, and along with his laid-back approach to his character was just so appealing. He came across as ‘foxy’ in every sense of that word, as it is defined. One could always sense his deep love for Gil Dal and how he felt betrayed and hurt when he was not believed by him. Given the vagueness of the set of circumstances, Nam Taek Jun did such a believable job as a character that I felt wistful for him for being projected to be more wolf than human. His whole characterization of Ji Gwi is so convincing that I believed that if there was a reincarnated wolf from the past that would come back to the present trying to be a human, he would look and act just like Ji Gwi. That is some fine acting when one can project imagery like that. Kudos for making this character feel so genuine in a lot of different ways. He had and showed the qualities of both entities.
Perhaps it was just me, but I got lost in the story. I know nothing about goblin/fox folklore and so my references to any connecting points between them were nil. I am just not familiar with the myths. The story seemed purposefully confusing especially after Guen Bok was supposed to have ‘forgotten’ his connections with all of them. Production seemed to have gone out of its way to make the flow of the story obtuse.
The chemistry between Lee Cha Min as Guem Bok and Hwang Jae Wook as Bi Hyeong is not exactly the most fervent. Here again as is typical with South Korean BLs as of late, there is no real effort to make the relationship an intense one. Lots of innuendo is implied about the past with them but only meager efforts to solidify a connection in the present. A lot of their current effort was used for negative bantering about. Sure, the two did ‘kiss’ but it was plainly half-hearted and lame. Remember, these guys supposedly have a ‘history’; in addition, they have just reinvigorated their relationship, which I am assuming would heightened the sexual tension of two men, especially young ones. Yet, ‘kiss’ like they are being watched on a school playground. Looking awkward and poisonous. Both continue to act like pre-pubescent schoolboys, teasing each other in infantile ways even when alone. I shall never understand the overuse of that concept in BLs except that it does seem to please the general audience, perhaps? Apparently, the general audience does not comprehend this does not represent real social interactions among couples, most especially in the gay community.
I thought the relationship between Nam Taek Jun as Ji Gwi and Kang Chan Woo as Gil Dal was projected stronger and more genuine. They were more adult in their approaches to one another and displayed sincerity in what they were saying and doing. These two made a way more likeable couple and certainly a more believable one. However, there is no real passion noted or observed in either couple. So typical of these BLs as of late. These are really BL-lite stories.
The series is minimally fun and entertaining. I doubt it will be remembered for more than a short period of time. It does not go deep and is weirdly confusing when it does not have to be. Suddenly, they introduce CEO Cheoyong without a word of explanation as to who or what he is. I am guessing that is for setting up for a Season 2.
Overall, this is simply another ‘canned’ BL no different than the last standard trite one I saw. Now, if I can just remember the name of that one.
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