Lazy Unnie’s Couch: Light On Me

Tae Kyung is a 18-year-old high school student. He is also a lifelong loner. But one day, he starts questioning his own judgment and tells a teacher that he no longer wishes to be alone. The problem is, he has no idea how to start going about making new friends. The teacher advises him to join the school’s student council. He agrees, but discovers that making friends may be harder than it seems. He meets the Vice President of the council, Shin Woo, who is cool and level-headed, but also somewhat cold toward him and reluctant to accept Tae Kyung. However, he also meets the super-attractive President of the council: Da On, who appears to take an instant shine to him. The beginnings of a romance appear to be in the cards for Da On and Tae Kyung, but Shin Woo does not seem to approve. Matters are further complicated by the fact that Da On’s close female friend – who secretly loves Da On – is jealous of their closeness, and attempts to drive a wedge between them!
mydramalist

Starring: Lee Sae On | Kang Yoo Seok | Choe Chan Yi | Go Woo Jin
Episodes: 16 (24 mins.)
Aired: June 29 – August 19, 2021
Network: Viki
Where to Watch: Viki

I was sure that Korean BLs were going to be something I would not enjoy. I thought that Korea was too chaste and conservative to even do the genre justice. Light On Me told me to shut the hell up and eat my words. There were so many things I wasn’t expecting about this show when I started but by the end of the short ride, I was wishing for more.

As the synopsis says, Taekyung is a loner who one day wishes to make friends or connections in general and thus joins the Student Council. What I liked about Taekyung was that he exhibited many traits of being on the spectrum but no one ever said anything about that. He was just this blunt kid that left no room for misinterpretation of his feelings. But this show really was carried on the strong back of the love triangle. I’ve seen my share of love triangles but this was really the first time that I didn’t know which way Taekyung would sway between the seemingly perfect Student Council president, Daon, and Shinwoo, the stand-offish but sweet vice-president. Both ships could have worked and each had its positives but it was just something about that unrequited love at first sight thing Shinwoo had going on that swayed me to his side.

Speaking of Shinwoo… I wonder if his back hurts cause boy did he carry. From the moment Taekhyun encounters Shinwoo with a fallen dildo, I knew he was gonna be my guy.

I love that broody seme type and he had all of it. But what made me realize that this was a different kind of triangle was when he realized that Taekyung, his crush, had feelings for his friend Daon, regardless of whether Daon was closeted or not. And he decided to step aside and let them be together, even if it made him unhappy. Break my heart why don’t you! He was the underdog but so deserving of love. However, in the same breath, I wanted Daon to win too. I wanted him to grow from being this people-pleasing person who felt like he had to only be perfect. And when he was with Taekyung you saw a glimpse of his true self peak through. I feel like both pursuers were their best selves when with Taekyung.

I could go on and on about our main three. I could also go on how this show exhibited the different ways people deal with homophobia. I loved that it wasn’t ignored because in real life it isn’t. I loved how you saw what it could do to a person like Daon who had probably denied his true feelings for a long time cause of fear. And then you had someone like Shinwoo, who had been through it and decided that he was over that hurdle and wasn’t going to deny his feelings for anyone. But one of the most important parts that I think the show kinda threw to the side was how sometimes the people closest to us are the ones that hurt the most, in the form of Lee So Hee, a “friend” of Daon who she had a crush on. Even with all the brood and levels of self-reflection, you had Namgoog Shiwoon who was kind of the glue of the group. I loved his antics and the fact that he didn’t care who his friends loved because he loved them and wanted everyone to be happy. He was definitely the comic relief and sometimes I found myself just laughing at his bratty reactions because you know what, I want attention from my best friends too!

By the time I got to episode 16, I found myself pouting because I really wanted more. I wanted more of this world and these friends because it felt like just a glimpse into something that could be much larger. It wasn’t perfect because some things could have been left out or developed more. And there was even a point when I wanted to throw the whole show out for Daon doing stupid boy times but the good outweighed the bad so much. I know that we see a cameo of Shinwoo and Taekyung in the newest season of Best Mistake, which Daon and Namgoong’s actors star in, but that feels like not enough! VIKI! GIVE ME MORE JUSSEYO!