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Absolute Cinema, I Need to Sit With This One For A While
This is one of those series where, once the final episode ends, you sit there with the credits playing, staring at the screen and thinking about how meaningful the story was. I felt so much throughout this series that I'm genuinely struggling to put everything I saw, felt, and experienced into words.
If I could insert that "Absolute Cinema" meme here, I absolutely would. If MDL allowed GIFs or stickers in reviews, I'd have used it without hesitation. Honestly, if I didn't feel the need to write a long-ass review this drama deserves, I would've just left that sticker and called it a day. LOL.
I've been waiting for this series to finish airing because the teacher-student premise immediately caught my attention. Now, I KNOW how that sounds, but finding a controversial premise interesting doesn't mean I condone it in real life. I wanted to see how the story would handle such a complicated dynamic.
Most of my 9–10-rated BLs lean towards the darker, more depressing, and often doomed side of storytelling. I don't know why I'm so drawn to these stories when I don't even like sad endings. I think it's because I appreciate when a story acknowledges the consequences of its characters' actions instead of conveniently giving everyone a happy ending. Sometimes, a bittersweet conclusion feels more appropriate than one that exists solely to satisfy the audience.
I wanted Han Gi U and Lee Hyeon Jae to be happy, especially after everything they endured, but I understood why the ending unfolded the way it did. As painful as it was, it felt logical and realistic. Of course, I like to imagine they eventually met again years later, when their circumstances had changed, and perhaps found their way back to each other. I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY. But sometimes, all we're left with are the possibilities we create ourselves.
{Acting, Story, Cinematography, and Music}
The acting was one of the biggest reasons I became so emotionally invested. Every episode flew by, and I eventually dreaded the end because I wasn't ready to leave these characters behind. The desperation, anxiety, hopelessness, and emotional exhaustion were conveyed so convincingly that I felt immersed in their world.
The entire cast did a wonderful job, from the leads to the supporting characters. Their performances helped me understand why these characters were hurting, what they were trying to escape, and why they sometimes made decisions that only worsened their situations.
I especially appreciated the darkness woven throughout the story. Almost every student was struggling with something serious, whether it was substance abuse, family dysfunction, or physical and emotional abuse. Obviously, not every high school student experiences these things, but I appreciated how the series acknowledged that young people can suffer in ways the adults around them fail to notice.
These characters are still growing up, learning to understand themselves, manage their emotions, and navigate relationships while dealing with problems even adults would struggle with. They're bound to make mistakes, act impulsively, and misinterpret others' intentions. That doesn't excuse their decisions, but it helps explain them. They weren't simply good or bad people; they were flawed individuals reacting to difficult circumstances.
The cinematography and music complemented everything beautifully, reinforcing the loneliness and melancholy throughout the series. The darker moments felt haunting, and the music heightened their emotional impact without making anything feel forced.
Cinematography and music? 10/10. Absolutely beautiful.
{Han Gi U}
Han Gi U is repeatedly described as a dull person, and I think that says something about how he moves through life. He seems emotionally restrained, as though he's learned to suppress his feelings and endure things rather than confront what he truly wants.
Beneath that seemingly emotionless exterior, however, I think he's deeply caring. The way he involves himself in his students' lives suggests that he genuinely wants to help others, perhaps because he recognizes parts of himself in them, or perhaps simply because he's kind.
His relationship with his alcoholic mother adds another layer to his character. He also married young, and by the time we see his marriage, both he and his wife seem emotionally disconnected. They appear to maintain the relationship partly to reassure his mother that he's living the life she's always expected him to live.
To her, a stable job, a respectable position, a wife, and eventually children seem to represent success. Anything outside those expectations risks being interpreted as failure.
I wonder how much of Gi U's life has been shaped by that pressure. Has he spent so much time fulfilling other people's expectations that he's lost sight of his own desires? Perhaps his mother also uses alcohol to escape a reality that doesn't match what she imagined, just as Gi U seems to avoid confronting what he truly wants.
What makes him compelling is that he can recognize other people's suffering while struggling to understand his own emotional needs. He's capable of showing kindness, but that doesn't necessarily mean he understands what that kindness means or what it might eventually become.
{Lee Hyeon Jae}
Hyeon Jae seems to have grown up without the emotional security a child should receive from their parents. His father, a powerful chairman, appears to have subjected him to years of physical and psychological abuse. Money and privilege can't protect him from the person who should protect him most.
We also know very little about his mother. She's in the hospital, but we don't know exactly what happened to her. I wish the series had explored her circumstances further.
Before meeting Gi U, Hyeon Jae seems to engage in destructive behavior to cope with his circumstances, escape reality, or regain some control over a life in which he feels powerless. But after meeting Gi U, his behavior takes on another dimension. Suddenly, there's someone whose attention matters to him, someone who notices him instead of simply dismissing him.
For someone deprived of affection, even a small act of kindness can mean everything. When you're not accustomed to being cared for, it can become difficult to distinguish between compassion and the kind of love you've always wanted.
I think Hyeon Jae desperately wants to feel loved, and Gi U becomes the person through whom he begins to experience that possibility. That doesn't make his feelings any less real, but it makes them complicated. There's a difference between loving someone for who they are and becoming attached to what they represent in a life where you've rarely experienced genuine care.
He's not simply a student developing feelings for his teacher. He's a young person trying to understand affection and love while carrying emotional wounds that have never properly healed.
{Kim Jeong Ha and Park Seong Won}
I would've loved to see more of these two. Jeong Ha wants to become an athlete, but his arm injury threatens that future. On top of that, he's struggling to pay his grandmother's hospital bills.
I understand why he becomes desperate to make money quickly. When you feel like you have no other options, it's easy to convince yourself that questionable decisions are justified if they mean protecting someone you love. Unfortunately, his so-called part-time jobs involve dangerous activities like beating people up, dealing drugs, and stealing. His circumstances explain his desperation, but they don't erase the consequences.
Seong Won knows what Jeong Ha is doing and tries to stop him, even if he can't prevent him from continuing. There's something heartbreaking about watching someone recognize that a person they care about is making destructive decisions and still being unable to reach them.
Jeong Ha's relationship with his grandmother seems to drive many of his choices. Perhaps she's one of the only family members he has left, and the thought of losing her pushes him further into desperation.
Their storyline reinforces the series' exploration of young people carrying burdens they're not equipped to handle. Sometimes, the people making the worst decisions aren't the ones who care the least; they're the ones who feel they have the fewest options.
So, did Lee Hyeon Jae read too much into Han Gi U's kindness, or did Han Gi U underestimate what his kindness meant to Lee Hyeon Jae?
THIS is one of the questions I kept coming back to, and I don't think there's a simple answer.
Initially, I believe Gi U genuinely wanted to help Hyeon Jae as he did his other students. His concern didn't necessarily begin with romantic intentions. He saw a struggling student and wanted to help him.
But as their relationship developed, things became increasingly complicated. Hyeon Jae began attaching a deeper meaning to Gi U's kindness, perhaps because he was experiencing a kind of care that had been missing from his life. Meanwhile, I think Gi U gradually became more emotionally involved himself, even if he struggled to recognize or accept those feelings.
Perhaps Hyeon Jae interpreted certain gestures as something more because he desperately wanted them to mean something more. Or perhaps Gi U underestimated how intimate his kindness could feel to someone who had rarely experienced it. Maybe, eventually, even Gi U struggled to distinguish between the two.
For Hyeon Jae, Gi U's attention represented affection, safety, and the possibility of finally being loved. For Gi U, it might have begun as a genuine desire to help a vulnerable student before developing into feelings he hadn't anticipated.
And this is where the teacher-student dynamic matters most.
I can understand how these feelings developed without believing that acting on them was appropriate. Gi U was the adult, the teacher, and the person with greater responsibility. Hyeon Jae was a vulnerable high school student already struggling with abuse and neglect. Their feelings couldn't erase that power imbalance.
I think Gi U understood, at least to some extent, that their relationship was entering dangerous territory. He sometimes seemed to hesitate or suppress his feelings, as though he knew there was a line he shouldn't cross. But recognizing a boundary and consistently respecting it are two different things.
His internal conflict makes him a more complex character, but it doesn't erase his responsibility. He can be caring and genuinely concerned about Hyeon Jae while still crossing boundaries that should have remained in place.
That's what makes their relationship so difficult to process. I wasn't simply watching two people develop feelings for each other. I was watching two people with very different emotional needs become entangled in a relationship neither seemed fully equipped to navigate, while one had a responsibility to recognize the danger of that dynamic.
I don't think their connection was meaningless, nor should Hyeon Jae's feelings be dismissed as a misunderstanding. But genuine feelings don't automatically make a relationship healthy or appropriate. Sometimes, the problem isn't simply what people feel, but what they choose to do with those feelings and the consequences of their actions.
The series left me thinking about the difference between being someone's source of comfort and being capable of loving them in a healthy way. Did Gi U understand the role he occupied in Hyeon Jae's life? Could Hyeon Jae separate his feelings for Gi U from his desperate need to be loved by someone who finally seemed to care?
I appreciate that the series leaves room for interpretation. Their relationship was complicated and emotionally charged, far too nuanced to be reduced to whether one person simply misunderstood the other.
{Final Thoughts}
Even after writing all this, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I loved the atmosphere, emotional depth, performances, and the way everything came together. The supporting characters also contributed to the larger themes of the story.
I wish we'd gotten more time with the side couple and more answers about Hyeon Jae's mother and Jeong Ha's parents. These details could've added even more depth to their circumstances.
And, of course, I still want a second season or some kind of continuation. Not necessarily because the original ending needed to change, but because I'm not ready to let these characters go. I want to see what their lives look like beyond the story we were given, even if things don't unfold the way I hope.
Ultimately, this drama reminded me why I love stories that make me FEEL something. Not everything has to be comfortable, not every character has to be likable, and not every ending has to leave me happy. Sometimes, I just want a story that gives me something to think about long after the screen goes dark.
I'm so glad I waited for the full release. I went in intrigued by the premise and came out emotionally attached to the characters, questioning their choices, and desperately wishing there were more episodes waiting for me.
I NEED MORE. PLEASE.
Overall: 9.5/10
10000000% recommend if you're interested in darker, emotionally heavy stories that leave you with a lot to unpack. Just be aware of the controversial teacher-student dynamic going in, because this is definitely not a lighthearted, fluffy BL. We need more dramas willing to tell complicated stories and trust their audience to sit with the discomfort rather than hand them all the answers.
If I could insert that "Absolute Cinema" meme here, I absolutely would. If MDL allowed GIFs or stickers in reviews, I'd have used it without hesitation. Honestly, if I didn't feel the need to write a long-ass review this drama deserves, I would've just left that sticker and called it a day. LOL.
I've been waiting for this series to finish airing because the teacher-student premise immediately caught my attention. Now, I KNOW how that sounds, but finding a controversial premise interesting doesn't mean I condone it in real life. I wanted to see how the story would handle such a complicated dynamic.
Most of my 9–10-rated BLs lean towards the darker, more depressing, and often doomed side of storytelling. I don't know why I'm so drawn to these stories when I don't even like sad endings. I think it's because I appreciate when a story acknowledges the consequences of its characters' actions instead of conveniently giving everyone a happy ending. Sometimes, a bittersweet conclusion feels more appropriate than one that exists solely to satisfy the audience.
I wanted Han Gi U and Lee Hyeon Jae to be happy, especially after everything they endured, but I understood why the ending unfolded the way it did. As painful as it was, it felt logical and realistic. Of course, I like to imagine they eventually met again years later, when their circumstances had changed, and perhaps found their way back to each other. I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY. But sometimes, all we're left with are the possibilities we create ourselves.
{Acting, Story, Cinematography, and Music}
The acting was one of the biggest reasons I became so emotionally invested. Every episode flew by, and I eventually dreaded the end because I wasn't ready to leave these characters behind. The desperation, anxiety, hopelessness, and emotional exhaustion were conveyed so convincingly that I felt immersed in their world.
The entire cast did a wonderful job, from the leads to the supporting characters. Their performances helped me understand why these characters were hurting, what they were trying to escape, and why they sometimes made decisions that only worsened their situations.
I especially appreciated the darkness woven throughout the story. Almost every student was struggling with something serious, whether it was substance abuse, family dysfunction, or physical and emotional abuse. Obviously, not every high school student experiences these things, but I appreciated how the series acknowledged that young people can suffer in ways the adults around them fail to notice.
These characters are still growing up, learning to understand themselves, manage their emotions, and navigate relationships while dealing with problems even adults would struggle with. They're bound to make mistakes, act impulsively, and misinterpret others' intentions. That doesn't excuse their decisions, but it helps explain them. They weren't simply good or bad people; they were flawed individuals reacting to difficult circumstances.
The cinematography and music complemented everything beautifully, reinforcing the loneliness and melancholy throughout the series. The darker moments felt haunting, and the music heightened their emotional impact without making anything feel forced.
Cinematography and music? 10/10. Absolutely beautiful.
{Han Gi U}
Han Gi U is repeatedly described as a dull person, and I think that says something about how he moves through life. He seems emotionally restrained, as though he's learned to suppress his feelings and endure things rather than confront what he truly wants.
Beneath that seemingly emotionless exterior, however, I think he's deeply caring. The way he involves himself in his students' lives suggests that he genuinely wants to help others, perhaps because he recognizes parts of himself in them, or perhaps simply because he's kind.
His relationship with his alcoholic mother adds another layer to his character. He also married young, and by the time we see his marriage, both he and his wife seem emotionally disconnected. They appear to maintain the relationship partly to reassure his mother that he's living the life she's always expected him to live.
To her, a stable job, a respectable position, a wife, and eventually children seem to represent success. Anything outside those expectations risks being interpreted as failure.
I wonder how much of Gi U's life has been shaped by that pressure. Has he spent so much time fulfilling other people's expectations that he's lost sight of his own desires? Perhaps his mother also uses alcohol to escape a reality that doesn't match what she imagined, just as Gi U seems to avoid confronting what he truly wants.
What makes him compelling is that he can recognize other people's suffering while struggling to understand his own emotional needs. He's capable of showing kindness, but that doesn't necessarily mean he understands what that kindness means or what it might eventually become.
{Lee Hyeon Jae}
Hyeon Jae seems to have grown up without the emotional security a child should receive from their parents. His father, a powerful chairman, appears to have subjected him to years of physical and psychological abuse. Money and privilege can't protect him from the person who should protect him most.
We also know very little about his mother. She's in the hospital, but we don't know exactly what happened to her. I wish the series had explored her circumstances further.
Before meeting Gi U, Hyeon Jae seems to engage in destructive behavior to cope with his circumstances, escape reality, or regain some control over a life in which he feels powerless. But after meeting Gi U, his behavior takes on another dimension. Suddenly, there's someone whose attention matters to him, someone who notices him instead of simply dismissing him.
For someone deprived of affection, even a small act of kindness can mean everything. When you're not accustomed to being cared for, it can become difficult to distinguish between compassion and the kind of love you've always wanted.
I think Hyeon Jae desperately wants to feel loved, and Gi U becomes the person through whom he begins to experience that possibility. That doesn't make his feelings any less real, but it makes them complicated. There's a difference between loving someone for who they are and becoming attached to what they represent in a life where you've rarely experienced genuine care.
He's not simply a student developing feelings for his teacher. He's a young person trying to understand affection and love while carrying emotional wounds that have never properly healed.
{Kim Jeong Ha and Park Seong Won}
I would've loved to see more of these two. Jeong Ha wants to become an athlete, but his arm injury threatens that future. On top of that, he's struggling to pay his grandmother's hospital bills.
I understand why he becomes desperate to make money quickly. When you feel like you have no other options, it's easy to convince yourself that questionable decisions are justified if they mean protecting someone you love. Unfortunately, his so-called part-time jobs involve dangerous activities like beating people up, dealing drugs, and stealing. His circumstances explain his desperation, but they don't erase the consequences.
Seong Won knows what Jeong Ha is doing and tries to stop him, even if he can't prevent him from continuing. There's something heartbreaking about watching someone recognize that a person they care about is making destructive decisions and still being unable to reach them.
Jeong Ha's relationship with his grandmother seems to drive many of his choices. Perhaps she's one of the only family members he has left, and the thought of losing her pushes him further into desperation.
Their storyline reinforces the series' exploration of young people carrying burdens they're not equipped to handle. Sometimes, the people making the worst decisions aren't the ones who care the least; they're the ones who feel they have the fewest options.
So, did Lee Hyeon Jae read too much into Han Gi U's kindness, or did Han Gi U underestimate what his kindness meant to Lee Hyeon Jae?
THIS is one of the questions I kept coming back to, and I don't think there's a simple answer.
Initially, I believe Gi U genuinely wanted to help Hyeon Jae as he did his other students. His concern didn't necessarily begin with romantic intentions. He saw a struggling student and wanted to help him.
But as their relationship developed, things became increasingly complicated. Hyeon Jae began attaching a deeper meaning to Gi U's kindness, perhaps because he was experiencing a kind of care that had been missing from his life. Meanwhile, I think Gi U gradually became more emotionally involved himself, even if he struggled to recognize or accept those feelings.
Perhaps Hyeon Jae interpreted certain gestures as something more because he desperately wanted them to mean something more. Or perhaps Gi U underestimated how intimate his kindness could feel to someone who had rarely experienced it. Maybe, eventually, even Gi U struggled to distinguish between the two.
For Hyeon Jae, Gi U's attention represented affection, safety, and the possibility of finally being loved. For Gi U, it might have begun as a genuine desire to help a vulnerable student before developing into feelings he hadn't anticipated.
And this is where the teacher-student dynamic matters most.
I can understand how these feelings developed without believing that acting on them was appropriate. Gi U was the adult, the teacher, and the person with greater responsibility. Hyeon Jae was a vulnerable high school student already struggling with abuse and neglect. Their feelings couldn't erase that power imbalance.
I think Gi U understood, at least to some extent, that their relationship was entering dangerous territory. He sometimes seemed to hesitate or suppress his feelings, as though he knew there was a line he shouldn't cross. But recognizing a boundary and consistently respecting it are two different things.
His internal conflict makes him a more complex character, but it doesn't erase his responsibility. He can be caring and genuinely concerned about Hyeon Jae while still crossing boundaries that should have remained in place.
That's what makes their relationship so difficult to process. I wasn't simply watching two people develop feelings for each other. I was watching two people with very different emotional needs become entangled in a relationship neither seemed fully equipped to navigate, while one had a responsibility to recognize the danger of that dynamic.
I don't think their connection was meaningless, nor should Hyeon Jae's feelings be dismissed as a misunderstanding. But genuine feelings don't automatically make a relationship healthy or appropriate. Sometimes, the problem isn't simply what people feel, but what they choose to do with those feelings and the consequences of their actions.
The series left me thinking about the difference between being someone's source of comfort and being capable of loving them in a healthy way. Did Gi U understand the role he occupied in Hyeon Jae's life? Could Hyeon Jae separate his feelings for Gi U from his desperate need to be loved by someone who finally seemed to care?
I appreciate that the series leaves room for interpretation. Their relationship was complicated and emotionally charged, far too nuanced to be reduced to whether one person simply misunderstood the other.
{Final Thoughts}
Even after writing all this, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I loved the atmosphere, emotional depth, performances, and the way everything came together. The supporting characters also contributed to the larger themes of the story.
I wish we'd gotten more time with the side couple and more answers about Hyeon Jae's mother and Jeong Ha's parents. These details could've added even more depth to their circumstances.
And, of course, I still want a second season or some kind of continuation. Not necessarily because the original ending needed to change, but because I'm not ready to let these characters go. I want to see what their lives look like beyond the story we were given, even if things don't unfold the way I hope.
Ultimately, this drama reminded me why I love stories that make me FEEL something. Not everything has to be comfortable, not every character has to be likable, and not every ending has to leave me happy. Sometimes, I just want a story that gives me something to think about long after the screen goes dark.
I'm so glad I waited for the full release. I went in intrigued by the premise and came out emotionally attached to the characters, questioning their choices, and desperately wishing there were more episodes waiting for me.
I NEED MORE. PLEASE.
Overall: 9.5/10
10000000% recommend if you're interested in darker, emotionally heavy stories that leave you with a lot to unpack. Just be aware of the controversial teacher-student dynamic going in, because this is definitely not a lighthearted, fluffy BL. We need more dramas willing to tell complicated stories and trust their audience to sit with the discomfort rather than hand them all the answers.
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