[2017 Year in Review] What it takes to reach the end of a story

by Guest Beanie

Fight My Way

By @irishrah

I love stories of all kinds in all mediums and can spends hours, even days happily engrossed in them without regard for food or sleep. You see, I have this monster living inside me which NEEDS to know how a story ends or it starts raging (Oh how I raged at Mystery Queen’s not-an-ending), and I will follow stories till the end, never mind how slowly the end comes or how good or bad it is. (I’ve been painstakingly following monthly updates of the manga Skip Beat for ten years now.) So, it’s rather unsurprising and a bit embarrassing that I watched a whopping thirty K-dramas this year.

Of them, the dramas which stood out and left a mark on me this year all had two hallmarks—they were dramas about warm friendships and finding family among strangers, and also about grit, perseverance, and tenacity. It perhaps reflects where I am in life: two extensions into my PhD, and far away from home in a different country. I’m sure many of us have gone through a phase where life has become stagnant and on pause, waiting to start again only if you could finish that one little thing, complete that one challenge life has thrown your way. But how?

Chicago Typewriter

My answer came in the form of grit, perseverance, and tenacity of the likes of our trio from Chicago Typewriter. Nothing the Japanese authorities threw at them fazed their determination and conviction to free their homeland. If one plan failed, they moved on to the next. In the present life, Se-joo kept at the writing every single day despite his writer’s block, until something gave. In Fight My Way, every time Dong-man got thrown down, he got up to fight again and again. Ae-ra didn’t give up when her chance to be an announcer was taken away, even at the smallest of events. Our Strongest Deliveryman formulated strategy after strategy to battle the big bad corporate food chain. Do-han from Lookout had no Plan B at one point, but went ahead with the conviction that if he continued his work, somehow, something, somewhere would give way and a new plan of action would emerge.

But more often than not, strong will and determination also waver under an onslaught of disappointments, injustice, and simple plain fatigue from fighting failure. Giving up and walking away seems so much easier and the fight not worth the effort anymore. Even the ever-optimistic deliveryman Kang-soo gave up at one point. The icy cold claws of defeat and depression can paralyze you into inaction. What then?

Those icy claws can be melted away by the warmth of love, constant encouragement, and support of friends and family. Ji-yoon supported Jin-gyu till he found his confidence working with the Strongest Deliveryman family. Fight My Way’s Dong-man, Ae-ra, and their friends were each other’s cheerleaders—when any of them showed signs of flagging or giving up, the others inspired and cheered them on. Could Chicago Typewriter’s trio have had such strong conviction in the face of such hardship, torture, and death if they didn’t have the warmth of their friendship to keep them inspired and true? Hwi-young’s speech before their last front was deeply moving: “While fighting spirit and anger flare up easily, they also die easily in the face of reality… However, the desire for my loved ones to be happy can never change.”

Buam-dong Revenge Club

Living in a new country, I have survived grueling failure simply because I’ve found wonderful strangers who became my friends and a family of sorts, turning boardinghouses, hostels, and apartments into homes away from home, and filling the void left from being far from family. Be it taking you to the hospital or sharing a sympathetic cup of coffee, a laugh, or a hug, friends and family are our personal cheerleaders who are always there to refill and reenergize our flagging aspirations or energy.

Buam-dong Revenge Club was a drama which portrayed this amazingly. I have abused the word warmth a lot in this write-up, but there is simply no other word which can substitute it or convey the feeling. There was so much warmth and love in this show. Yes, I loved the comedy (Ra Mi-ran’s car-stopping dance, and Madam’s discovery of junk food and par-excellent cooking skills, ha!), their spectacular fails at petty revenge, and the thrill when they succeeded. But what cinched the drama for me was the three ajummas and the lost child finding support and love in each other where their own families had failed them.

At some point, it ceased to matter whether their revenge had succeeded or not, for just finding this new family had already changed them, their lives, and their perspective. This was a group of people who were starving for a little love and acknowledgment, and how they transformed and thrived once they found it. I had tears in Episodes 9 and 10, when they all faced hardships and were all alone and longing for each other, but unable to reach out. The image of Madam alone at the sauna, taking comfort from the mat she shared with her Do-hee Unni was heartbreaking. I whooped with joy along with her when the Avengers turned up. Together, they were able to face any challenges thrown at them with a smile, because they knew they had each other.

Age of Youth 2

Similarly, Age of Youth 2 was a beautiful ode to this idea of strangers-turned-family, where the only common factor between the girls was a shared living space. Jo Eun, who entered the Belle Epoque house with the intention of identifying a culprit, ended up finding a family instead, who accepted and loved her for who she is, General Short Hair Long Pants and all. No matter how they fought with each other, they banded together against outside threats and helped each other face their challenges. (Of course, I hold a teeny-weeny grudge, the size of a blackhole, that the show never gave us any real Ssong-Sung-min progress, but that’s a rant for another post.)

And that, my friends, is how I survived this year and am close to reaching the end of my PhD story (fingers crossed)—with perseverance on one hand and a loving group of family and friends (including Beanies, of course, a few in particular!) on the other, who keep me sane. Slaying the metaphorical dragon doesn’t seem as impossible now.

 
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