Film version of Park Sang Young's Love In The Big City. I have now added some thoughts to the drama version.
The film is focused more on the first story "Jae Hee" when our main character Jang Heung Soo (Young in the book) meets his best friend Jae Hee. The friendship between a straight woman and a closeted gay man, both whom enjoy partying, drinking, smoking and having short flings. Time moves forward, their characters experience ups and downs, heart ache and adulting dramas. They keep finding each other over the years no matter how much they argued and help one another where needed e.g. when Jae Hee tried to tell her fiance she wasn't cheating on him with Heung Soo because he was gay and the eventual ex-fiance was not convinced.
Noh Sanghyun as Heung Soo. Cold but keeping a secret from majority of the ones close to him. His own mother refusing to acknowledge his homosexuality near the beginning. In the book, she already knows he's gay and like in the film, is deeply focused on her religious views, believing God will heal her son. After Heung Soo comes out to his mother she gives him the silent treatment, even going out for the evening and not saying where. He finds out later on after a panicked moment that she went to watch Call Me By Your Name which features a gay relationship, indicating she is most likely trying to understand her son's sexuality and why or how people like him behave this way.
Kim Go Eun as Jae Hee brought out the character's emotions and I feel the film focused on this character and how her friendship with Heung Soo made an impact on him over the years. They both looked out for each other. They are both promiscuous with their flings but looking for true love deep down, especially with Jae Hee. The blatant discrimination from men who brutally say nobody would date Jae Hee because of her lifestyle is unpleasant and judgemental.
The film does borrow some details featured in the novel so anyone who has read the original book will recognise a few scenes and lines. But the writers changed a few things around, if not perhaps to make it more diverse in the casting. The author's cameo in that news article Heung Soo was reading made me chuckle.
As far as the mention of gay icons go, in the novel the main character listens to Brown Eyed Girls and calls HIV Kylie (as in Kylie Minogue). In the film, Heung Soo listens to Miss A while he and his bestie are waiting for their face masks to dry up.
Trailer can be seen below