Worlds Within

I’ve just completed watching Worlds Within starring Hyun Bin and Song Hye Kyo. It’s part of my Hyun Bin marathon where I’ve not too long ago discovered Hyun Bin and am now catching up on all his shows. I haven’t completely watched any of Hyun Bin’s movies yet, but I have Late Autumn on my list.  I’d actually started watching it late one night but fell asleep, so back to the drawing board on that one.

Worlds Within, Saranghae

Of course you know I loved Worlds Within.  I particularly loved Song Hye Kyo’s portrayal of Joo Joon Hyung.  She’s not as tough a female character as I’d like, she’s constantly confused about her relationships, and her longest love affair, I think, is with her job.  That seems to come first always.  Which seems to have rubbed her then doctor boyfriend, Li Joon Gi (played by Lee Jooh Hyuk), the wrong way, and he eventually broke up with her.

Without Hyun Bin

So after breaking up with the doctor, her thoughts go back to an old ex she works with, Jung Ji Oh (played by Hyun Bin), and she can’t remember why she and Jung Ji Oh broke up in the past.  They decide to give it a try again, which would mean that Ji Oh shouldn’t complain about her job because he does the same thing.  They fight, they love each other, and then….she has a dinner date with her doctor ex, Ji Oh is aware of it and acts cool as if there’s no problem, and then he starts to hear things from Yang Soo Kyong (played by Daniel Choi) about Soo Kyong and Joon Hyung, but of course not the complete circumstances, Ji Oh seems to become insecure and he ….just….breaks up with her.  No questions asked.  No clear reason for the poor girl to have some closure.  And COLD as a block of ice.  Deleted his number from her phone and took away the house key.  Damn! Hyun Bin played the heck out of that scene.  I forgot he was actually acting, and if I’d bumped into him on the street right after seeing that scene (like that would ever happen), I’d scold Hyun Bin for being so mean ;).

Joon Hyung begs for a reason so she can understand, and truth be told Ji Oh didn’t give her one because I don’t think he really knew why himself, and he said as much later.  I really wanted to give him a swift kick in the pants.  First for not expressing his displeasure at her meeting her ex, and second, for not expressing why he broke up with her.  But then I always say when I want to resort to violence that means they’re doing a great job of acting  (*giggle*). Ji Oh is even insecure about their family backgrounds – she from a wealthy family, he from a farming family.  He’s making excuses in his brain as to why he no longer wants to be with her, and that’s one of them.  He’s crazy.  But then they eventually get back together in the end, after she was real persistent, but true to KDrama form when she threw up her hands and was finally done with him, all of a sudden he realized he wanted to get back with her, especially when he needed her. Typical.

The dynamics between Yoon Young (played by Bae Chong Ok) and Kim Min Chul (played by Kim Sap Soo) was also awesome.  The long standing love that Kim Min Chul had for the flighty superstar Yoon Young was interesting.  I must say I admire his boldness to let the world know that even though she left him standing at the airport  alone all those years ago (almost as bad as standing at the alter), he would still lay down on a railroad track for her.  That definately takes some guts, not sure I have that much.  No, actually, I’m sure I don’t.

Song Kyu Ho (played by Uhm Ki Joon) was the other cutie-patootie in this show, and I loved his character.  I remember his bad boy performance from Ghost which he played beautifully. This other side to his acting in Worlds Within is nice too, and he does it well.  Uhm Ki Joon has a soft quiet handsomeness, not screamingly handsome like a Huyn Bin or Song Seung Heon type, but nice and refreshing.  I loved how Kyo Ho’s relationship played out with Jang Hae Jin (played by Seo Hyo Lim).  He tried to play it cool, didn’t he? But he couldn’t fight how he really felt for Hae Jin, and he was smart enough to give up and just go with the flow.

I also liked Kim Min Hee’s (played by Lee Da In) and Yang Soo Kyung’s (played by Daniel Choi) characters.  Kim Min Hee had a little spunk, just a smidgen, and she seemed like the rock that kept all the other “crazies” glued together.  She had a crush on Yang Soo Kyung, who had a crush on Joo Joon Hyung, who was in love with Ji Oh, typical KDrama love triangle.  And Yang Soo Kyung was a funny, goofy, love sick puppy, but his character constantly brought a smile to my face. He’s the kind of guy you’d want to have as your buddy.  He was still lovable, even though you’d have to keep an eye on him always, because most times you wanted to smack him in the head for doing some crazy stuff.

Worlds Within lingers in my psyche – like the scent of a perfume where the originator is long gone but the scent still lingers pleasantly.  I really enjoyed the show, and it’s range of actors.  I especially enjoyed Hyun Bin’s role as a mouthy, ill tempered, speak-his-mind producer.  I enjoyed the angry, annoyed, shouting tirades of his character.  It was actually funny.  It was good to see him act in a different way from an arrogant rich boy in Secret Garden, or a broken genius in Snow Queen, or a lost-in-love chaebul in My Lovely Sam Soon.   He’s a great actor, and I’ve yet to see a drama that I’m not head over heels crazy for, especially because he’s in it.