Jaw-droppingly GOOD! A show about survival.

Ok so one night I was on the Netflix front page and impulsively clicked on this drama because of Kim Donghee's face in the preview; seeing it pop up was a pleasant surprise! Since I really enjoyed his portrayal of Hamin in A-Teen, I had high hopes and was super excited to watch him act in another high school drama. Turns out his new role as Jisoo, like Hamin, fits that straight-A model student trope, so clearly he excels at these types of characters.

In the many directions this drama could've gone, I gotta say I never expected this drama to turn out this way. Don't be fooled by the label of "high school drama". If you think this is going to be your typical high school rom-com with conflicts related to academic pressure, social belonging, people drama, and filial expectations, you're in a for a big surprise because this drama takes all of these to the next level.

*Just how far are you willing to go to ensure a good, stable future?*
This drama raises the question of the moral integrity of criminals. Are crimes crimes regardless of who is doing it and what they do, or are they forgivable under special circumstances? Are they always driven by greed? What if they were necessary for survival and weren't hurting anyone? Those were the questions floating in my mind as I watched.

Our male protagonist, Jisoo, is this hard-working, ordinary high school student who normally keeps to himself and lives a pretty mundane life. Except the one thing people around him don't know is that he anonymously works as the head honcho of a prostitution, or as he likes to put it, "protection service" app that pairs buyers (prostitutes/gigolos) with sellers (clients). If the participant is confronted with a dangerous situation, one middle-aged man named Lee Wang Cheol's job is to step up and protect them. So he ends up doing most of the dirty work, while Jisoo organizes everything behind the scenes.

In the beginning, we learn that Jisoo lives alone. Both his parents abandoned him years earlier, leaving him to fend for himself. That's why he needs this high-paying job and uses the money he makes from this job to pay for all his tuition, fees, and bills. As viewers watch scenes displaying his work ethics at school while doing his job at the same time all for the sake of achieving his dreams to graduate, we find ourselves admiring his level of conscientiousness and can't help but empathize with him, even though deep down we understand what he is doing is wrong. At least in my case, I was rooting for him the whole time. It didn't seem right to not want a good kid like him to succeed in life, so I kept praying that he wouldn't get caught. haha

Then a girl named Bae Gyuri, a member of the same club Jisoo is in, comes along and that moment was when everything changed. She eventually found out about Jisoo's secret part-time job through snooping through his stuff. Eager to escape her constricting life, she told Jisoo that she wanted in. Although Jisoo was reluctant at first, after multiple blackmail threats of exposure and destruction from Gyuri, the two agreed to join forces, becoming partners-in-crime. Their relationship dynamic and vibes reminded me a lot of the main characters in another Netflix show I love called The End of the F***ing World.

Soon after the two got caught up in dangerous situations they never thought they'd be in. People who were against the app sought out their identities and wanted revenge on them. Jisoo's plans of staying safe through distancing himself backfires and things turn into a matter of life and death. The two start lying, fleeing, and doing everything they can to save their source of income. I had to sit and watch as Jisoo's life started falling apart little by little and the worst part is there was nothing I could do about it. I guess the thing that shocked me most was how far he was willing to go to keep his job a secret. Of course, if caught, he would get sent to jail but curiously, in his mind, not graduating and having a stable career was worse than getting arrested. The frustration felt as if taking one step forward was two steps back. Every attempt at concealing themselves only made matters worse.

By the end, the character I became extremely attached to was Mr. Wang Cheol. Him acting as a (grand)father figure to Minhee made my heart ache. Hats off to Choi Minsoo for his realistic, melancholic portrayal. You can tell he is wise, really cares for Minhee and would do anything to protect her despite her protests. That's why I was so affected by his death. Although I saw it coming, I still bawled my eyes out during the final battle scene between him and the karaoke house owner. The coolest thing about this Ahjussi, though, was how tanky he was. haha I mean he was able to withstand damage from a mob's attack AND getting a f*cking axe in his back, started walking not long after he woke up after being unconscious, went back to fighting a larger mob, suffered repeated punches, kicks and stabs, and still ended up having the strength to beat the shit of psycho karaoke house owner. What an absolute legend!!! I respect his commitment and sense of duty to the job.

Kitae was the character I didn't know how to feel about at the end. I detested the way he bullied the kids for no reason. Just seeing his smug face made my blood boil. However the last few episodes somewhat humanized him as it depicted his heroism. I think they were supposed to be his redemption episodes since he stood up for Minhee. But don't hate me if I say I can't forgive him for being a d*ck and a heartless boyfriend to her. But now that I think about it, the question again is is he truly worse than Jisoo? Or Gyuri?

The final thing I want to mention was the creativity in the host of symbols and metaphors scattered throughout the drama. Scenes like the one of Gyuri imagining bullets through her parent's head represented the true feelings towards her parents. The hermit crab represented Jisoo tendency to retreat into his shell and when his dad stepped on it, he was crushed as well. The self-burial dream scene represented his own (metaphoric?) death and the loss of hope for his future. Every scene was incredibly well shot and delivered. The actors performances were mind-blowingly intense and raw. When they sobbed, screamed, and cursed, I was able to feel their mental distress and insanity through the screen. These actors will definitely go far in the future.

As for whether I would recommend this drama, as much as I love this show, I can't say it's for everyone. If you like fast-paced, dark shows and can handle seeing lots of blood on screen, I'd check it out. They should have put a trigger warning because there are some R-rated scenes. The violence can be pretty shocking. I'm glad I gave this a shot though. This might be my favorite drama this year thus far!

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