Sorry I forgot to post something over the weeks when it got busy IRL. I am slowly going down the ENHYPEN rabbit hole and eventually watched I-LAND and also BL drama Happy Merry Ending.
Happy Merry Ending (2023) - based on an ongoing webtoon of the same name by Dorae, Seungjun (KNK's Lee Dongwon) is a wedding singer and meets a pianist Jaehyun (Byun Seong Tae) who starts working part time at the same church/wedding venue. They strike a good partnership at the wedding venue as well as a relationship which Seungjun is reluctant to progress further due to demons from the past which revisit him in the form of Joowon, his former boyfriend/manager of his previous company (played by SS501's Kim Kyu Jong). Seungjun's social anxiety is very relatable and his hesitance to start a new relationship after being hurt by his former manager understandable.
The two men do eventually open their hearts to one another but then after Joowon tries to get Seungjun to come back to the company Seungjun feels guilty and ashamed of how anyone would love hime and breaks up with Jaehyun, leading to a jump one year later. That honestly threw me off and ruined the pace of the story. I get it is a web drama though it makes it look more rushed.
His best friend Hoyeon played by Shin Myung Sung has been by his side since his first breakup and suffers from one-sided feelings towards Seungjun. Poor guy deserved better but he learns to let go when he realises Jaehyun is in Seungjun's heart.
Of course the couple reunite, reconcile their feelings and rekindle their relationship. Seungjun does not hold back and he and Jaehyun get that happy ending. As always I wish these kinds of dramas were longer and it seems tricky to wrap a drama up if the original webtoon storyline is still ongoing.
I think Dongwon did well in his debut acting role and in previous posts I said I liked his singing voice so Happy Merry Ending does give him the opportunity to show some of his deeper vocal tones.
Trailer for Happy Merry Ending can be seen below:-
I-LAND (2020): I'm impressed they still managed to film this during the pandemic. So I started to watch this finally after being pulled in by ENHYPEN's Dark Blood concept film and listening to their latest mini album which is actually enjoyable to the point I caved and bought an album. I wanted to see the eventual finalists' journey through I-LAND and it's certainly been an eye-opener. I swore not to get into another group, especially a 4th gen one but when something sticks in my mind I will go down the rabbit hole. As always my late bloomer/late learning attitude shows so here we are.
I had some first impressions when I got into ENHYPEN and after watching I-LAND I can safely confess some other trainees got my attention whilst there were personalities or actions I did not agree with - it could be down to dodgy editing but who knows?
I mean for example, if you want to push your fellow trainees to get a routine right due to time constraints but they say they need a break and to reenergise which results in you getting snappy when they get the moves wrong you may need to think your teaching methods. Like any job (or any survival show) when it comes to the team work and you are not on the same page because of different levels of learning or different ways of working the conflict will show.
On the one hand, the trainees who have a bit of an attitude actually grow over time once they have their discussions with one another which leads to better teamwork. Writing all this makes me think of the working environment.
I think the BTS test was definitely a challenge but they still did well. I may consider watching &audition - The Howling to see how the &Team was created and the fact it has some I-LAND trainees ready to debut. It's good to see HYBE take notice of the four trainees and make them the confirmed members before finding five more to join them.
Going back to ENHYPEN - Bite Me is just addictive as hell and seeing the latest MV and stages for Sacrifice (Eat Me Up) has only fuelled the enjoyment in this comeback. I think I will try to go back and watch the group's set from the 2021 Weverse New Years Eve concert.
MV for Sacrifice .
I love the band version of Bills as well.