A Shoulder to Cry On Korean BL Drama Review

Drama : A Shoulder to Cry On (소년을 위로해줘)

Director: Song Soo-lim

Writers: Song Soo-lim and Kang Jae-hyun

Adapted from the Manhwa "A Shoulder to cry on" (소년을 위로해줘) by Dong Mul

Trigger Warning: The show talks about depression, trauma and mental health awareness. This show contains scenes, situations, descriptions and graphic visuals of injuries and self-harm that could be traumatic and disturbing to many. Please read this review and watch it only if your heart and mind can take it. 

Cast:- Kim Jae-han, Shin Ye-chan, Shin Si-ye, Jeong Ho-gyun, Kim Dong-won, Oh Joo-seok and others.

(*This review may contain spoilers. If you have already watched the show, please continue reading. If you haven’t watched the show yet, you can still continue reading or you can come back to the review later.)

About the show:-

 Two students, Lee Da-yeol and Cho Tae-hyun, get their live tangled up together after a tiny misunderstanding blows up leading to many chaotic situations.

Let’s start from the beginning.

The boys:

Lee Da-yeol is an archery student who is awarded a scholarship at school for his outstanding performance in the sport. Despite being exceptional in the field of sports, Da-yeol hasn’t had much popularity in school and has led most of his time at school lying low. His passion for archery is sky high, but his determination to make friends is nowhere close to the passion within. Due to his excellent performance in archery since his childhood days, people around him have always had high expectations from him and that put a lot of pressure on him leading to him being extremely critical of himself, his performances and even his way of life. After all this time, is archery what makes him truly happy or is he living someone else's dream?

Cho Tae-hyun, the class head and one of the most popular boys at school always enjoyed the privileges at school and because of his popularity and charming personality, the entire school always sides with him. Tae-hyun is liked by everyone and with each passing day he always manages to make everyone fall in love with him. But he has a past and that past has an affect on his present. His childhood traumas are coming to haunt his adult life. Is he ready to heal himself, let go of the bad memories and move on with his life? Can he find the one reason/thing that can calm the storm in his heart and put an ease to his distressed mind?

The story:

One afternoon, feeling exhausted at archery practice, Da-yeol decides to visit the school’s infirmary and take a nap. Little does he know that his life is about to take a complete turn. 

The day Da-yeol visits the infirmary, Tae-hyun and his friend are also present there. A simple accident causes a misunderstanding between them and the nurse. She thinks that Da-yeol is fooling around with Tae-hyun in the nurse’s office. Tae-hyun doesn’t correct the misunderstanding and decides to proceed with the prank and this lands Da-yeol in massive trouble with archery and his scholarship. Da-yeol is tired of the rumours, getting picked on by Tae-hyun and his friends, of losing his focus at his game. On the other hand, Tae-hyun considers all of this a silly prank and doesn’t repent for his behaviour and actions and continues to chase around Da-yeol trying to make the latter’s school life difficult. 

As the two spend more time with each other, the pranks and the picking on fades and Da-yeol and Tae-hyun grow fond of each other. The friendship grows stronger but Da-yeol starts to realise that his feelings for Tae-hyun may not just be constricted to friendship after all. His attraction for Tae-hyun frightens him. He is scared that Tae-hyun’s feelings may not be mutual. Can Da-yeol suppress his growing feelings towards Tae-hyun and continue being just friends with him or is he willing to risk his cherished friendship with him by confessing his love? 

What I loved about the show:-

1) Opposites attract : The show depicts how two individuals, completely opposite to each other, end up crossing paths and somehow grow fond of each other and eventually fall in love. 

Da-yeol, an archery student, is shy and reserved. His only focus/interest is his game.

Tae-hyun, head of the class, is outgoing and full of pranks. He is popular all over school for his charm.

These two opposites find solace in each other. 

What starts as a misunderstanding and a bickering, leads to them befriending each other and ultimately finding comfort in each other’s presence and falling in love. 

2) Friendship is the foundation to any relationship: 

Friendship is a strong relationship and an emotion, in my opinion. Many a times, friends turn into the loveliest companions. When you befriend someone, you offer to accept them as they are and the same goes the other way around. Even with families, pets or any animal, partners, soul mates – every relationship will blossom beautifully when there is strong friendship. 

Da-yeol and Tae-hyun do not start off as friends. They are strangers in the beginning and then turn into opponents/rivals. When they confine their relationship to being just rivals, they are always at each other’s throats. This takes them nowhere but creates a dislike for each other. But when they befriend one another, they find how similar their journeys are, how in sync they are and how much they love each other’s company. Their friendship is what makes them curious about each other and it brings them closer to finding love in each other.

3) Trauma : Tragic incidents/experiences as children, difficult childhoods or upbringing in unsafe environments usually causes them to grow into adults with mental health concerns. As the kids grow older, they start to have visions from their childhood and the trauma causes struggles in their adulthood. They have struggles controlling emotions, anger issues, depression, anxiety/panic attacks, self-harm and other difficulties, which if not addressed sooner may cause more harm to the said individuals. 

Tae-hyun’s childhood trauma catches up to him in adult life and that brings along a whole lot of struggles like crying, self-inflicted wounds and scars. But the most important struggle is withdrawing from friendships or relationships or pushing away the people around him (especially those who love him) when fear creeps in. He fails to acknowledge the wants and needs because reality seems too good to be true. This is what Tae-hyun experiences when Da-yeol confesses to him. He thinks anybody who comes close to him gets taken away from him. He pushes Da-yeol away with the fear that he might lose him forever if they get too close or if he gives in to their mutual interest in each other. But Da-yeol’s persistence and him holding onto hope, Tae-hyun’s longing for Da-yeol and his realisation that with healing he can have what he loves without the fear of losing and So-yeong’s intervention helps Tae-hyun get Da-yeol back in his life. Tae-hyun decides to heal himself and eventually with Da-yeol by his side, he starts to love himself, love people around him and love his life as well. 

If we heal the wounds and scars of our past, we get the opportunity to mend our broken present and have a chance at a healthy, nourishing and a blossoming future. 

4) Meeting expectations and satisfying people : While trying to satisfy the people around you, you forget that this life is also about you. You lose yourself while trying to live someone else’s dream. It’s never too late to retrace your path or find a new path and understand what exactly your dream is. What is it that you want to do with your life, how you want your life to look like and also with whom? You get one life; you lead it on your own terms. Some people get to live their dream lives from the get go while others find their dreams and accomplish them a little later in life. This doesn’t mean the latter is late in life. We are not competing with each other. This is not a race. We all live our own lives. Everything happens at the right time for everyone. The only difference is that the right time is different for every individual.

Da-yeol has always put his entire focus on archery. So much so that he has no other interests and no friends. His life is all about the game and in his journey to satisfy his coach, his father and his juniors, he forgets to focus on himself and his interests. With self-realisation along with Tae-hyun’s help, Da-yeol finds other interests and recognises that with archery he is restricting his options. He realises that life may have more to offer to him. He thus begins a journey of self-discovery and soon finds everything that interests/fascinates him – be it people or a career.

The Characters, the Actors, the Director and the Writer:

Da-yeol and Tae-hyun are the best examples of perfectly imperfect individuals. They have flaws, scars and weaknesses. But they choose to address those flaws, acknowledge and accept them and find ways to heal themselves and their wounds so that they get a chance at a better and a more meaningful life. 

Jae-hyun and Ye-chan are perfect for the roles of Da-yeol and Tae-hyun. They bring in the freshness and the raw youthful charm that the characters need. Their harmony and rapport as the Hyung and Maknae of their group (Omega X) is what helped with the chemistry in the show. Together, they made the show one of the best BL/drama productions of 2023. 

The supporting characters are written really well and the actors who played them have done a beautiful job in bringing the show and the story together.

Screenwriters Song Soo-lim and Kang Jae-hyun have done a wonderful job in the adaptation of the Manhwa and brought their own unique touch to the show. The show is such an important creation for the young audience to understand the difficulties of life but to also have the faith, patience and perseverance to fight those difficulties and emerge victorious. The show teaches you to work on yourself, to heal and to push to be better for yourself and for those around you (who wish for your wellbeing). The Writers have managed to award the viewers with a chance to change their perspective at life and to be more present for themselves, to dream and to live a life full of prospects and positivity.

Director Song Soo-lim makes us proud by creating something unique and challenging and delivering what she knows is best for the industry, for the actors, for the audience and for the future generations. She gives us something we can all learn from. 

"Heal what has been hurt,

Change the Fate’s design,

Save what has been lost,

Bring back what once was mine." – Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) in Tangled (The Healing Incantation).