telavender

Based on the character description which was revealed before the drama started, Hooyoung's mom is a calculative perfectionist who loathes any failure but she did experience a major one nonetheless ㅡ her failed relationship with Hooyoung's father. I'm guessing the divorce ultimately made her decide to move to the US since her description says the word "divorce" always followed her and Hooyoung around. She had Hooyoung's life planned all along and she simply didn't want him to end up like her so it seems like your reason #1 is plausible in this case. To her, Hongju is someone who she didn't foresee coming into her son's puberty phase, and even 10 years later, she still sees Hongju as a potential second failure in her family's life. I guess all we need is Hooyoung (or someone rational from the cast) letting his mom understand that whatever crisis happened to his parents in the past won't necessarily happen to him and Hongju in the future and that it's just her projecting her bad experiences onto her son.

Trends are meant to change over time, especially in this volatile entertainment industry. Whoever you consider as "someone more trendy, with more buzz, and hot topics" at the moment may not hold the same upward level of fame anymore in the next 5 years or so. Likewise, you can't exactly tell if Sohyun will remain as "inferior" as you perceive in your books or actually manage to attain another heyday in the future. One thing's for sure, this persevering sunbae is here for the long run and will continue to show up on your screen AND deliver whether you like it or not.

Noooo, he's not. He just got cast in a new drama. If not next year, it'll probably take a few more years before he decides to enlist.

Other than a variety show, a short MC stint, and special appearances in two films, he didn't accept any full-length project in 2023 because he quietly continued his university studies. He mentioned in "Bros on Foot" last year that he's in his 3rd year of college.