#yoojae x hanjoon

[ueasking]

I want to date you! You… jerk.

Starstruck Episode 4

#starstruck #star struck #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #yoojae #hanjoon #baek zuho #zuho #sf9 #kim in sung #korean bl #*mine: gifs #*starstruck

[heretherebedork]

The way HanJoon was trying to hide his desperate state from YooJae and the love that came from a gift that YooJae thoughtlessly threw

on the ground and broke.

(YooJae did that because he loves him anyway, because he loves him and wants to protect him and take care of him and give him the nice things he deserves but HanJoon sees only the insult in that moment because it's all he has. It's the problem with love sometimes, that love is about caring for the other person and being hurt on their behalf but that other is still a person.)

HanJoon and his mother have always given YooJae food and love and the chocolate was just another extension of that, more to give to him to show how much he cared for him, to take care of him the only way he could.

Because this fight is about worry and love and fear. YooJae is scared of how his friend is living, how much his friend is spending, that he's losing his friend over this change in money and HanJoon is just trying to express his love, to love YooJae and to give him things because of love.

Neither is right, neither is wrong. They're both trying to show their love and their care for each other, their worry and their comfort, they're just doing it differently and that's hurting each other because they're young and they're scared and they're in love and life is changing so fast around them.

#star struck #star struck series #star struck the series #starstruck #starstruck series #yoojae x hanjoon #hanjoon x yoojae #bl series #bl drama #asianlgbtqdramas #asian lgbtq dramas #korean bl series #korean bl drama #koreanbl #korean drama #korean bl #kdrama #kseries #kbl #스타스트럭

[goingthroughthedark]

.💫💫💫.

It’s not the same anymore.

It can’t be the same anymore.

#starstruck #star struck #yoojae x hanjoon #hanjoon #yoojae #korean bl

[kolachess]

Star Struck - Explaining the conflict and cultural nuance

Those of you who have seen the Korean BL, Star Struck, probably thought it was a(nother) mediocre school BL. In a year with more and more BLs from South Korea (yay!), it might have been an easy pass.

BUT, if you’re like me, you will have really, really appreciated the refreshingly realistic taste of a friends-to-lovers dynamic, complete with a conflict that is not just over one-sided or mutual dislike of each other for once! (Which is not to say I didn’t love the BLs that had that... they’re all great. But I do think expanding scope is always admirable!)

I realized that part of the reason why what seemed to me a rather thoughtfully constructed set of characters and plot development comes across as plain boring to many others might partially be a cultural nuance issue.

So, here’s my attempt to bridge that gap and give it a little more credit than it got (at least, so far). Of course, that’s not to say I think this drama is perfect... I do think a lot of pacing / editing could have done with some improvement. And at the end of the day... it is a coming of age sort of school drama, so it’s not going to be crazy complex. And I’m also writing this after episode 4, so there will be spoilers through episode 4. 

Disclaimer: I am not Korean, nor did I grow up in South Korea, so I definitely do not have complete authority on this subject matter. However, I feel like a lot of what was happening in Star Struck might have been... unfairly overlooked or otherwise not understood by audiences who are less familiar with Eastern Asian cultural values, so as a Chinese American, I wanted to do my best to add a bit of perspective.

So. What is the root of SHJ (Seo Hanjoo) and JYJ (Jo Yoojae)’s conflict?

Certainly, SHJ’s (seemingly) one-sided crush on JYJ and JYJ’s reactive jealousy is a large part of it, but the other big part is a newfound wealth gap and how that translates into what esteem they hold each other in.

From the get-go, we can tell SHJ is very (self-)conscious about money. He knows how hard his mom has to work, and he feels guilty and early on already tries to justify to himself (and others) that some costs, like the cram school he saved up to attend, are not worth it. He’s too prideful to honestly mention his money troubles to anyone.

Although SHJ doesn’t know JYJ’s rich yet in this scene, JYJ’s financial circumstances still was better off than SHJ’s. But he’s clearly uncomfortable with the idea of his best friend paying for him like that. And here’s where I’ll do some cultural breakdown.

In East Asian culture, the collective identity comes first, and the individual comes second. Meaning, people take more pride in what school they graduated from, what company they work for, what their family background is, more so than people in many other cultures. I’m not talking school pride like, ‘I’m proud to be a <insert school mascot>!’ kind of spirit. I mean that everyone in your life, in society, will measure your worth first and foremost (and often only) by the primary institution or family background you came out of. And with SHJ’s sort of background - poor, single-mother - that’s a big stigma. He’s still a rational human being though, so at least he doesn’t blame his poor mother for their circumstance (which some kids do, given all the pressure of society). But that all said, this clearly weighs on him - how his lack of money reflects on him. And if money is viewed at all similarly to how it’s viewed in China... it’s basically a measure of your capabilities and standing in society. The inability to be generous with your money is ‘losing face’ i.e. embarrassing. And so... yeah. It’s a lot of ‘dings’ in SHJ’s social profile. The kid is understandably a bit self-conscious, though he clearly tries to not let it get to him.

Fast forward to when he finds out JYJ is now ‘rich’... Obviously, he’s upset at not being told because they’re supposed to be close friends. However, he’s clearly super self-conscious about being seen as someone who’s that sensitive about money. Notice how he hasn’t actually commented / asked about JYJ ‘moving out’. (Note: I wasn’t 100% sure if this carried the implication that JYJ might be moving away, but the text message made it sound like that? Correct me if I’m wrong.) He immediately assumes JYJ didn’t tell him because he’s pitying him or otherwise worried about how he’d react because of how it involves money. And he hates that. (Which... he’s not totally wrong about. JYJ might not pity him like how SHJ is thinking, but he definitely worries a bit about how SHJ will perceive things, and it becomes this death spiral of misread intentions.)

And of course JYJ starts to comment on SHJ’s family, which just confirms all of JYJ’s worst fears. He suddenly ‘realizes’ that his best friend who he has a crush on actually walks on eggshells around him because of his money situation, which is a blow to his self-esteem, because what does that mean? That there’s a meaningful gap now in their social status and JYJ looks down on him and just never said? That JYJ sees SHJ as too delicate to be able to handle this new reality? (His insecurities and perspectives, not necessarily what JYJ thinks, of course.) 

It’s like having a close friend say something that makes you suddenly wonder if they were actually judging you this whole time, and your mind goes into overdrive analyzing every past interaction you’ve had and reading in between the lines to see if you were actually blind all this time. To SHJ, who is already a bit self-conscious about all of this... it’s a major blow. And although he says he’s only ever felt inconvenienced by his poverty... I’d say he’s being a bit dishonest with himself. Again, he’s clearly not the shameful type to blame his poor mother, but he clearly has trouble admitting his circumstances to even his closest friend.

Meanwhile, for JYJ...

...the guy is clearly struggling too. He obviously cares for SHJ and extremely mindful of his money situation, hence previously wanting to just pay for SHJ at the cafe. However, he also doesn’t want to hurt SHJ’s pride even more, so he ultimately still tosses his pair of perfectly good shoes he no longer wants despite wanting to give it to SHJ.

Once SHJ cools down a bit, and JYJ extends the olive branch, they both apologize to each other and come to an understanding. However, as is with a lot of human emotions... getting over it in the moment does not necessarily mean getting over it for good if you haven’t addressed the inner demons that spawned these bad feelings in the first place. And it’s not long before we see another issue pop up.

At this point, SHJ has had to move into the side house (and hides it from JYJ). He finds the Gucci receipt in the pocket of the jacket JYJ lends him, and JYJ immediately tries to wave it off saying it was pretty much something his mom made him buy.

He’s clearly worried about SHJ feeling bad again. He definitely doesn’t seem to care for the materialistic things as much as his parents seem to, and he even seems a bit embarrassed by it. So when SHJ brings up his big new house, he immediately tries to make light of the situation by joking about how indeed, the one good perk is that he can no longer hear his parents fighting. So that’s clearly another thing that weighs on him. SHJ is seemingly rather sensitive to JYJ’s money situation, but JYJ doesn’t really want anything to do with it at all. And the thing he really wishes could be new and shiny - his family’s relationship - is not something their newfound money could buy. In fact, it’s possible he’s even a little envious of JYJ for having such a caring mom.

Later, when he finds out SHJ has moved into the little side house / shack, he’s understandably upset that his best friend had chosen to hide this from him, that he didn’t see JYJ as understanding enough to be honest with him. He obviously also aches for SHJ’s circumstances. 

Gift-giving is a big part of East Asian culture, but there’s casual gifts between friends, and there’s gifts between everyone else. When you’re gifting gifts to someone less close, you definitely don’t want to go for things too cheap, so people tend to skew for expensive and unnecessary things because it’s part of social gestures and having ‘face’. While well-intentioned, sometimes receiving (and continuing to receive) gifts, especially more expensive ones, can make the receiver feel like they have to reciprocate in kind and continue to stand on ceremony or otherwise have this formal distance between the other person. It’s a big game of chicken sometimes, but some people’s ‘face’ won’t allow them to take a more casual, intimate approach first. This is not the main reason why JYJ gets upset of course, but it is an element.

All that compounded - he’s hurting already on SHJ’s behalf, yet his best friend seemingly doesn’t trust him enough and still tries to save face. And what’s worse, SHJ seems to think JYJ is materialistic and chases expensive things, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth - he dgafs about this kind of stuff. So to have his best friend essentially woefully misunderstand his character, continue to hold him at arm’s length / treat him with non-intimate courtesy, make sacrifices that hurt himself to give JYJ something that makes him seem materialistic and puts even more distance between them due to their economic gap... he’s pretty hurt and furious.

Of course, in reality, while SHJ not telling JYJ might be partly due to his pride, the expensive gift was purely because he was crushing hard. And cue the confession tumbling out.

-

So actually, I feel like there was a wonderful build-up of their tension, oriented not entirely on SHJ’s romantic feelings towards JYJ, but a very real issue between two people compounded by the complexity of romantic feelings.

Although I grew up away from the frontline influence of these sort of social gestures and expectations, it was still a big part of my upbringing. And I feel the agonizing indecisiveness over what to say, how to react, etc. You read intention into every gesture and word, because that’s how Asian culture operations.

I was rather surprised to see people comment that this drama was boring, but upon analysis, I did consider that part of it might be because a lot of this tension goes over the audience’s head if you weren’t brought up in that context. What seems like beautifully nuanced dance of well-intentions-turned-sour might come across as a jumbled mess of ‘being upset over unnecessary secrets’. That, coupled with some abrupt scenes that might not be tied in too smoothly, might have led to a lower evaluation.

Or it’s just my bias for a non-romantic-feelings based tension haha.

-

Anyway... curious what others think!

#star struck #seo han joon #jo yoo jae #kbl #korean bl #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #jo yoojae #seo hanjoon #spoilers

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Jealous YooJae is my favorite YooJae.

#star struck #korean bl #kbl #yoojae x hanjoon #rosygifs

[bellarkeandclintashaandsuch]

I have so many feelings about Star Struck. Yoojae and Hanjoon give each other presents (if a leaf plucked from a tree right in front of you can be that) for good luck and to show they care. And because they want the other to do well, so they can go to university together and live together. (I also love the fall colors 😍)

But then the truth came out for Hanjoon's secret this time, and it all comes crashing down 😭 and Yoojae is mad because Hanjoon kept this from him. And he's mad that Hanjoon is spending his money on him. And he's upset that Hanjoon might not be eating enough.

It's heartbreaking when Hanjoon bends down to put the chocolates back in their case. A heart of chocolates that Hanjoon spent too much money on because he wants to show Yoojae his love. Shattered like his own heart is about to be. But he still puts the pieces back in place 💔

And Yoojae is worried that Hanjoon thinks he's full of himself now that his family has money because why else would he buy something so expensive but to keep up with him because he thinks that's what Yoojae cares about now. They used to be equal. Both poor. Both with hard home lives. Both taking care of each other. But now they're off kilter, and Yoojae doesn't know how to process it.

I think that Yoojae does already have feelings for Hanjoon, based on the way he's always pulling him into his chest and how he got jealous of Hanjoon spending time with Jinhwan. He might've thought it was friendship jealousy, but I think that's just what he tells himself, so he doesn't have to think deeper about why he acts the way he does with Hanjoon. Just speculation, but that's what I'm thinking.

But he's repressed those feelings hard! And he can't take Hanjoon's confession :(

I'm so, so glad that Hanjoon doesn't just say that he likes Yoojae. He doesn't leave it there. He makes sure Yoojae knows hat he likes him, and he wants to date him. I don't know why, but I love that so much.

But he just leaves. Come back, Yoojae!

#star struck #star struck the series #starstruck #yoojae x hanjoon #hanjoon x yoojae #yoojae come back! #i just have so many feelings about this show #스타스트럭

[mare-sanguis]

what i love about star struck the most is how characters are portrayed as humans, with flaws on BOTH sides because, a lot of times, both parties are struggling, with all kinds of emotions. and the series portrays exactly this but in two different types:

we have the socially drawn back, who appears more calm, hanjoon who keeps things to himself because he feels inferior (he thinks yoojae cares about how much money he has, he belittles himself). when he voices his thoughts, they are direct and polite, but they can also spit fire

and then we have the more open, who appears more lively, yoojae who keeps things to himself because he feels he would hurt hanjoon (the money thing especially). when he voices his thoughts, they are rude, thorny and hurtful.

they are both perfect potrayals of human beings. even the amount of stress, angst, anxiety and miscommunication they've got going on is real. even in close friendships, you'll find such situations from time to time - those situations do strengthen the bond, IF the people involved actually care for each other (and both do). theres no friendship without real fights.

and i do think that yoonjae is struggling with some type of internalized homophobia or just doesnt understand feelings at all- the possibility is high, if we look at his family (theres literally no love involved and i guess there is much strained emotions between him and his mom as well), and a lot of times it also feels like he has already given up on himself (when he says hes just like his parents). and hanjoon is the other side of the coin. there was no adult to guide him thought friendship or love either- yet, he tries his best, but fails ultimately. a beautiful depiction how growing up without parents can manifest within people.

but most importantly: both keep secrets from each other which means no one of them is perfect and both are kinda assholes to one another. both kept from each other how they'd move out/part ways with their parents. and both were mad at each other for exactly this reason.

while yes, yoojae may be an ass (as he shows it outright in some parts), hanjoon is one as well even if its not as visible and hidden under a layer of composure. no matter how often yoojae tells hanjoon he doesnt care about how much money he has, the latter one does not understand it and it hurts yj's feelings as well.

_______

i really hope people will look at both characters in a nuanced way and not take any sides because neither hj nor yj is perfect. yes we can, and should criticize yj, but we should also do the same with hj.

because no human is perfect

#korean bl drama #bl drama #bl series #korean bl series #star struck #hanjoon x yoojae #yoojae x hanjoon

[mosbanks]

I really enjoyed starstruck when it first begun but i felt let down in the last two episodes nothing much changed when they became a couple they still seemed to act as though they were still friends

#starstruck #yoojae x hanjoon #kdrama

[alien-ally]

i swear i just found out about starstruck and I'm quite literally buzzing rn. like i don't know much about sf9 but a very popular kpop boy being in a bl? Do you know how important that is to me rn? Also i feel like sf9 has been in my periphery like all this time but i never really checked them out properly, Is this my cue? Aaargh. t8s just got over and odt is going on, must you really do this to me? And only 4 eps are out akajsmwkskwm

#starstruck #baek zuho #sf9 #kim in sung #yoojae x hanjoon #hanjoon #yoojae #the eighth sense #our dining table #aa mine #thingamabob

[ppeonppeonhan]

Star Struck - Random Thoughts

(For emotional context: Watched from 11:30pm - 4am)

Forget the confession/initial rejection scene in ep. 4. When Yoo Jae threw away the chocolates at the end of ep. 5...I died.

When the box hit the garbage, I felt like I got dropkicked in the chest. Aint nobody stronger than a kdrama character with a crush.

When Yoo Jae told him to sleep next to him, I was like, Run girl! Runnnnn! SO glad Han Joon chose self-preservation, and set boundaries.

Yoo Jae was like, I'm rich, but my life is hard -- comfort me. 🥺 I would've been like, Instead of buying Gucci, go buy yourself some therapy, and leave me in peace.

The way I would've swapped that number with the nearest girl. What do you MEAN kiss my crush who rejected me?! ON MY BIRTHDAY?! I would've pulled the birthday boy card. So sorry, new rule: If one of us refuses to kiss the other, they have to play Truth or Dare. Pick bitch. Pick. 🙄

That was...a whirlwind of emotions. Still not even sure Yoo Jae likes Han Joon. Felt a little like he was given an ultimatum, and he figured he might as well date his bff, because who else would put up with his shit?

But at the same time, Yoo Jae was sooooo clingy and I'm like, How does this child not know his own feelings? Han Joon was right for calling him out about that.

The end.

P.S. F*ck Yoo Jae's parents.

CREDITS

Series Title: Star Struck

Language: Korean

Main Theme: Slowburn romantic trauma drama

Romance Level: Kissing and hand-holding

Episodes: 8

Episode Runtime: 17 min

Available on: iQIYI

Production Note: One of the directors also wrote and directed Color Rush. It appears aloof, stalker-y cool guys and the skittish boys who try not to love them are his forte.

#star struck #bl drama #bl series #kdrama #korean bl #yoojae x hanjoon #starstruck

[hoppipolla]

Just save my love, or kill this heart

Lyrics from Save Me, Kill Me by CIX

#스타스트럭 #star struck #starstruck #kdramaedit #kdramadaily #asianlgbtqdramas #yoojae x hanjoon #zuho #sf9 #cix #kim in sung #I can't listening to this song #off-topic but the third pic makes me so emotional #Yoojae’s gaze is so soft in that scene #*Liz makes simple edits #*starstruckedit

[ueasking]

Just be direct and say what you want to say. I have nothing to say to you anymore. Why not? What else can I do?

Starstruck Episode 6

#starstruck #star struck #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #yoojae #hanjoon #baek zuho #zuho #sf9 #kim in sung #korean bl #*mine: gifs #*starstruck

[heretherebedork]

This boy learned his lesson. He isn't giving him any more time or chances. He is giving him directions and he isn't going to leave any wiggle room. Yes, it's sweet and it's about their friendship but it's also about how desperate YooJae is for Hanjoon to be back in his life, to return to how they were, to have that steady presence back in his daily life. He needs him and he won't risk that loss again, not for anything.

#스타스트럭 #star struck #yoojae x hanjoon #korean bl #bl drama #bl series #korean bl series #hanjoon x yoojae #korean bl drama #koreanbl #korean drama #kbl #kdrama #asianlgbtqdramas #asian lgbtq dramas

[goingthroughthedark]

I think there are so much more layers to why YooJae acts the way he does. He doesn’t really have anyone to look up to, he has been hearing his parents fight every single day at home (that place that should be his safe space).

I’m aware that that’s not an excuse to react the way he does, but he’s still young and I think he has yet a lot to learn but something I really like about him is that he knows how to say sorry. How to sit down next to HanJoon and talk things out.

There’s so much pain in this last scene but at the same time so much love. I think YooJae is not just angry with HanJoon for keeping that secret from him.

I believe he’s angry with himself, angry for not being able to take care of his best friend. Angry with all the changes that are coming at once into their lives, angry for not being able to stop them and at the same he’s really scared of loosing that person and that relationship that has been his safe space since they were little.

So maybe he could have reacted differently (surely he could), but let’s give him a place to grow and time to understand his feelings and to realize that maybe two types of love can coexist in their relationship and that maybe changes can also be beautiful.

#Starstruck #star struck #yoojae x hanjoon #korean bl #YooJae #HanJoon

[ueasking]

"New Zealand from penguin."

Starstruck Episode 4

#starstruck #star struck #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #yoojae #hanjoon #baek zuho #zuho #sf9 #kim in sung #korean bl #*mine: gifs #*starstruck

[ueasking]

Gosh, you sure use the "Hyung" term a lot.

Starstruck Episode 6

#starstruck #star struck #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #yoojae #hanjoon #baek zuho #zuho #sf9 #kim in sung #korean bl #*mine: gifs #*starstruck