Brotherly love changes a hero’s fate in SBS’s While You Were Sleeping

by tipsymocha

I don’t know about you all, but I’ve found my OTP already, and Suzy (Uncontrollably Fond) isn’t the other half of it: SBS has recently released a teaser and stills for upcoming supernatural romance While You Were Sleeping that finally give us our first look at Shin Jae-ha (Wanted), who will play Lee Jong-seok’s (W–Two Worlds) younger brother, and the two siblings look like they have the most adorable bromance ever.

Previous stills of Lee Jong-seok have been predominantly of him in spiffy office attire, with nice dress shirts and neatly tied ties, but I rather prefer these recent ones of him with Shin Jae-ha in casual home clothes that seem to place comfort over aesthetic. Or at least, I hope that’s what he was going for, ‘cause that green velvet tracksuit… Questionable fashion choices aside, I’m already loving the brothers’ dynamic just from these shots, and in particular the one where Shin Jae-ha is holding a bag of chips close to his chest and trying to ward his brother off with his face. It’s a feeling I can strongly relate to.

Unfortunately, there’s no character poster for Shin Jae-ha, but we do get posters of Lee Sang-yub (This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair), Go Sung-hee (My Beautiful Bride), and Jung Hae-in (The Lonely Shining Goblin), which are accompanied by a tagline that throws some light onto their characters. First, there’s Lee Sang-yub who plays a star defense attorney and former prosecutor: “Good results for both of us… that’s what you call a win-win.”

Go Sung-hee’s poster indicates that she’ll be that rare breed of dramaland prosecutor who actually believes what her robes stand for. The copy on hers reads, “Convicting and locking people up, no matter what? That’s not justice. That’s opportunism.” I’m slightly wary of Go Sung-hee as an actress, but I’m warming up to her character already. And last but not least, there’s Jung Hae-in, whose tagline says, “At this point, it’s not coincidence but fate.”

The latest teaser for While You Were Sleeping begins with the words, “I had a frightening dream.” The scene we saw in a previous trailer where Suzy is on the outer side of a rooftop railing replays, and she narrates, “I told you. There’s only you.” When she lets go this time, the teaser cuts to a separate incident that does end with the victim falling onto a parked car. This is the first of several accidents and crimes that are briefly shown sequentially, with Lee Jong-seok saying, almost ironically, that he’s a prosecutor who convicts criminals after the fact and is not responsible for whoever dies in her dreams.

Lee Sang-yub, whose character sounds morally ambiguous, assures someone that “the law might be slow, but I’m quick.” Uh oh, Shin Jae-ha is seen in the back of a police car, as his older brother struggles to reach him. The rookie prosecutor goes to Suzy asking for help, and she says, perhaps continuing her opening statement in this trailer, “Because you were able to prevent accidents that were supposed to happen.” The chyron reads that they must “change the flow of time,” as a calendar in the background goes in reverse. In voiceover, Suzy muses that time will flow differently, and he questions whether that change will be for better or worse.

I do really like how all the teasers are showing different sides of While You Were Sleeping: If the first two were more melo and rom-com, this third teaser introduces an action thriller aspect that I find consistent with some of writer Park Hye-ryun’s previous works (Pinocchio, I Hear Your Voice). Hopefully, her formula works its magic again for her newest show.

While You Were Sleeping premieres next week and will take over the Wednesday-Thursday slot from Reunited Worlds, which ended its run today. So close, and yet, still so far!

Via SBS, iMBC (1), iMBC (2), iMBC (3)

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