Heartstrings: The Other Couples

Yes we all know about Lee Kyu-won and Lee Shin’s relationship.  They created beautiful music through a combination of her traditional korean music and his western music and they fell in love and bought couples phone charms.  Shin told Kyu-won that to him she was the best actress….awwwwww.  She tripped a million times and one time managed to fall on Shin and break his wrist.   They almost got a recording contract together but the record company only wanted Kyu-won.  Shin broke up with her so she would go be successful recording artist and not be tied down with his injury.  They don’t reconnect till after a year later when Kyu-won gives Shin back his fathers record, she yells at him and they kiss.  Not necessarily in that order.  But this post is not about Lee Kyu-won and Lee Shin.  Oh no there was so much more romancing going on during the 15 episodes of Heartstring.  So let’s get to discussing the other three relationships.

Han Hee-joo and Yeo Joon-hee

Overview:  On the hunt for food,  Joon-hee comes across Hee-joo dancing.  He proclaims her as his “Natasha” but she could care less.  Hee-joo one and only care in the world is to be a successful perform.  Anything else does not matter not even her health, having friends or really a life for that matter.  But a persistent Joon-hee slowly wins her over.

Thoughts: For some reason these two remind me of the relationship in Center Stage between Maureen Cummings (Susan May Pratt) and Jim Gordon (Eion Bailey).  For all of you who did not have a sister that forced you to watch it, Center stage is a movie about a group of young dancers enrolled at a dance academy in New York City.  Maureen was a lot like Hee-joo;  she was the best dancer with perfect form who had a mother who pushed too hard.  She was cold and distant with very little friends and she threw up her food just like Hee-joo.  Jim, a pre med student, shows Maureen the life outside of ballet.

Joon-hee and Hee-joo were truly opposites of each other.  Joon-hee was personable with a lot of friends while Hee-joo was an ice queen with no friends.  Joon-hee could eat ANYTHING and not gain weight but Hee-joo starved herself because she use to be overweight.  Joon-hee was childlike and sort of naive to certain things while Hee-joo knew how to manipulate situations to get what she wanted.  I think in the end, they definitely complimented each other.  He made her a little more human and realize that performing was not the only thing in life.  As well because of Joon-hee, she was able to stand up to her rabid stage mother.   She helped him grow up a bit.  Instead worrying about where his next meal was or having Lee Shin help him out of situations,  Joon-hee focused on helping Hee-joo.  I mean the guy got the way too skinny girl to eat some food.  He should get a much deserved metal!

Jung Yoon-soo and Kim Suk-hyun

Quick Overview:  Yoon-soo and Suk-hyun became a couple when back when they were in school.  They broke up due to Yoon-soo’s ambition to be a dancer when she left for New York.  Her dancing career was ruined by a car accident and Suk-hyun ends up being the successful one with a lucrative career as a Broadway producer.  Reunited after several years, these two still had major feelings for each other.  After working through the baggage, they decided to give it another go.  This time when Suk-hyun goes back to New York, Yoon-soo goes with him!

Thoughts:  In the end Lee Kyu-won and Lee Shin’s relationship mirrored Yoon-soo and Suk-hyun’s romance.  Lee Shin got hurt and was not able to play the guitar like he use to just like dancer Yoon-soo’s career being cut short due to an accident.  Kyu-won ended up as the successful singer similar to Suk-hyun’s successful Broadway career.  Also both couples were didn’t get back together due to their pride.

I will admit I was not as instantly invested in these two as probably others were.  In the beginning of the drama it was them giving angsty or longing looks at each other and me sighing or rolling my eyes.  I was super happy that they did reconnect fairly quickly and it was not dragged on for too long.  Yes I am looking at you Oska and Yoon-seul of Secret Garden….. I think the problem might have been that I kept waiting for the eventually betrayal of Suk-hyun by Yoon-soo.  The drama sort of started to hint at going that way and when it didn’t happen I had to re-evaluate the situation.  Ultimately I am glad that they did not go that cliché route and just kept them as a couple reconnecting from the past to see if the spark is still there.

Kim Sa-rang and Yoon Soo-myung

Quick Overview: Soo-myung wanted NOTHING to do with Sa-rang until she was doting on another guy.  She tried everything to get his attention during the musical team’s group trip but he avoided her instead working his moves on Yoo-soo.  Little did Sa-rang know that all she needed to do was shift her attention else wear and Mr. Jealousy would rear its head.

Thoughts:  Though this couple is a very small plot line in this drama,  I am quite happy they got together.  Scene stealer Sa-rang totally deserved a little relationship herself.  I am glad that Soo-myung realized that Sa-rang was more than just the leader of the three annoying girls.

So which was your favorite couple in the drama?

More on Heartstrings:

Lee Kyu-won and Lee Shin

Yoo Joon-hee: The Hungry Drummer

Heartstrings: Lee Kyu-won and Lee Shin

Park Shin-hye as Lee Kyu-won and Jung Yong-hwa as Lee Shin

Couple: Lee Shin and Lee Kyu-won

Drama: Heartstrings also known as You’ve Fallen for Me

Meet Cute:  They almost meet at a lighthouse where Shin is taking pictures.  Kyu-won gets a call from her grandfather and rushes to meet him.  Shin spots her running off and snaps a couple of pictures.  Kyu-won was struggling to get her rolling suitcase on the bus.  Shin, who is also getting on the bus, grabs the luggage and brings it on the bus for her.  There was no interaction after that on the bus.  The two of the them do not realize that they had met that day until episode 12.

Occupation:  Both students – Lee Kyu-won is a traditional music major who plays the gayageum and Lee Shin is a western music major who does vocals and lead guitar for the band The Stupid.

Obstacles:  The fact that EVERY girl in that school and then some is in love with Lee Shin.  I really meant it they all LOVE HIM.  Jung-hyun, Shin’s younger sister, doesn’t want them together as it brings down the value of his autograph that she sells to girls at her school.  Lee Gyu-won’s bestie Bo-eun always seems to pop up to ruin their couple moments.

Past Secrets:  Not really any that is significant.  Shin has a dying alcoholic musician father that he gets to meet for the first time.  There is a very small plot line where he wonders if alcoholism is hereditary.  Kyu-won has the father that her grandfather kicked out of the house for liking western music.  Nothing that really affects their relationship like other dramas have.

Love Rivals:  Shin is head over heals for the dance teacher.  Lee Shin perceives Kin Suk-hyun, the Broadway producer, as a rival for Kyu-won’s affection.

Episode where the female realizes she is in love with the male:  The end of the second episode Kyu-won gets to see Shin play with his band in which she is completely mesmerized.    Because it is soooo hard to fall for cute lead singers in a rock bands…….

Episode where the male realizes he may return the girls feelings:  When Shin finds out that Kyu-won found the lost necklace that he kind of jerkishly made her look for.  I mean for reals who asks someone to search for a dainty necklace somewhere in the grass.   Then again who seriously looks that long for something like.

Episode in which lead males tells female not to stop liking him:  Episode 8 at the end after they ran from the security guards who were putting the kibosh on the fireworks festivities.  Lee Shin throws Lee Kyu-won a bone by telling he that she does not need to stop liking him while she is wondering where the others ran off to.  Then she gave a look of shock……..enter fireworks and end credits.  Though in the beginning of Episode 9 when Lee Kyu-won asks if Shin likes her and he doesn’t answer right away Kyu-won is like oh hell no you want me to like you but you don’t like me.  Don’t do me any favor.  He is completely taken aback on why she might find this a tad offensive.  Side note – In hindsight lighting fireworks off of a random balcony may not be the smartest plan but that is what you get for listening to any ideas that hungry drummer boy comes up with.

The trip that brings the couple closer together:  The student trip to the beach.  Lee Shin and Lee Kyu-won gets sent out to buy some fruit to go with dinner so they go to a bustling outdoor market where Kyu-won wants to haggle something fierce for a watermelon.  Shin and Kyu-won get separated on Kyu-won’s obsessive quest for a super cheap watermelon when she dips in to a store to buy a pain patch to sooth her aching ribs from when she fell down a flight of stairs.  Shin turns around and can not find her and quickly becomes worried that she is hurt or worse.  When he finally finds Kyu-won, she is ecstatic that she finally haggled someone down to a good price for the stupid melon.  Unfortunately Kyu-won does not quite understand why Shin is upset especially when he snubs her at dinner.

Later Shin and Kyu-won both can’t sleep and they run into each other.  There is talk about wishing on a star but Kyu-won won’t tell Shin what wish she will make but gets a little annoyed when Shin won’t tell her what he would wish.  Shin takes Kyu-won’s hand and tells her that his wish is for her to like him again.  After this their relationship is to the next level – Hand Holding.

(Oh and there is a rendition of Colbie Caillat’s Lucky by Shin and Kyu-won trips…….again…….this time hurting her ankle.)

Major Accidents or Sickness:  Episode 7 or 8.  Lee Kyu-won trips and falls down the stairs.   She ends up with a few bruised ribs and I think a sprained ankle?????  Trust me though when I say this was not the first nor the last time she fell.  It’s just the one that put her in the hospital.

In episode 14, Lee Shin breaks Lee Kyu-won out of the traditional music competition that her grandfather is insistent  she participates in.  Of course Kyu-won trips and falls (it is her MO) and bumps into Shin causing him to land awkwardly on his hand most likely spraining his wrist.

First Kiss:  Episode 10.  To shut down all the hating girls, Shin kisses Kyu-won in front of the majority of them after he plays a special song for her at his nightclub gig with The Stupid.  It is kind of awkward as Kyu-won has a look of WTF is going on right now.

Temporary Break Up or Time Spent Apart for Personal Growth:  Episode 15.  Kyu-won is planning on giving up her recording contract to stay by Shin’s side due to his broken wrist.  So Shin breaks up with Kyu-won to force her to go to London instead letting the opportunity slip by.   He even punctuates the moment by given the her back the kind of big stuffed bear charm.  They reunite after a year when the director tries to pull them together for a project and Shin gets over his stupid pride over the wrist injury affecting him playing the guitar.

Thoughts:  I like that for the most part Lee Shin and Lee Kyu-won’s relationship was simple.  We got to just watch a natural progression of two people who came to like each other.  Sure there were little bumps in the road but that happens in any relationship.  They had very little outside opposition.  Both families for the most part accepted the relationship rather easily.  Except for lil sis there.  To be fair the couple was messing with her money intake.  The only people really opposed to the relationship was EVERY female who went to the same school that was not a friend of Kyu-won’s.   They all loved themselves some Lee Shin.  Whew and if he was playing a guitar forget about it.

I usually get annoyed at the cold kind of mean demeanor that are typical of the male lead.  I am always in amazement how the female leads could fall in love with these jerks.  In this case I kind of understood why Lee Shin was that way.  If I had every girl in school obsessively infatuated with me I think I would be that way as well.  He had to be cold to not give them anymore ideas.  Could you imagine if he was nice and approachable?  The girls would be even more relentless.   But once you cracked Lee Shin’s hard candy coating he was surprising sweet in the center. The big fault with Lee Shin is that he was a little too supportive.  Nobody is that perfect.  He was completely willing to sacrifice his relationship with Kyun-won just so she could go after her dream.

I did find the klutzy antics of Kyu-won tiring after a while.  She tripped or fell quite a bit and it was usually on Lee Shin.  I mean come on did they have to use that plot device that many times.  I will admit that I am a total klutz but I don’t think I’ve ever wiped out a single person in one of  my falls.  I also think this gets abused in a lot of dramas so my tolerance of it is already at its max.  The awkward klutziness was very reminiscent of Park Shin-hye’s Go Mi-nam/ Go Mi-nyeo in You’re Beautiful but it did not come off as endearing or comical.

Their relationship, as well as the whole drama, sort of had that High School Musical feel to it with a little less Disney touch and a smidge more teen angst thrown in.  You had the uber popular boy thrown together with the sweet slightly innocent good girl.   They both got together even though they are from completely different social circle and went on to push each other towards each others dreams.  I really felt like the show and relationship could have ended at the beginning of Episode 14 where Shin tells Kyu-won that “You’re the best lead actress to me” after she sacrificed her spot in the school show.  After that I really didn’t care about Kyu-won’s recording contract or Shin breaking his wrist and losing the ability to play the guitar the way he used to.  I didn’t need them to create the conflict of Shin breaking up with Kyu-won to ensure that she follows her dreams and not get dragged down by his injury.  It all felt tacked on and unneccessary.   The simplicity of their relationship is what I enjoyed and the last two episodes didn’t add anything for better or worse.

I Heart You: Yoo Joon-hee

Poor little hungry drummer boy Yoo Joon-hee.

He all he thinks about is food.

So he eats….

and eats…..

and eats…..

and eats some more.

Not many people realizes that he is also the super awesome drummer of The Stupid.

Oh and the only thing he loves as much as food is his “Natasha”, Hee-joo.