At a Distance, Spring Is Green (2021)

"You owe me emotionally"

It has been a rollercoaster ride to follow up these broken characters from young adults with painful scars of their past, to the adults that bear secrets to uphold the way they chose to live their own lives.

The highlight of this drama it has to be the bond and bickering between Soo Hyun and Yeo Jun. How these two helped So Bin, making the three of them become an inspiration to many others who crossed their paths in character development.

"Can't you love me?"

Ji Hoon has really engaged into his character Yeo Jun to the point that we can really see the pain and neglect from his sorrowful stares and feel the agony he has tried to hide for most of his life behind fake smiles yearning to be loved to fill the void of loneliness. I don't know how to explain it but he seems so soft looking and yet can depict such a tragic character.

"I lived many years in darkness due to my father's physical abuse.
I'm all better now. I'm in the light."

Although mostly all the characters have their troubles and painful stories, the trio we have come to love and support through this Journey have more similarities than all the others. Yeo Jun, Soo Hyun and So Bin all share family problems. Although different and the same, they all have been through childhood suffering in their own way by those predicaments.

Yeo Jun being a victim of an abusive father, Soo Hyun having to step up as the older son and provider to help his mother and younger brother after his father passing, and So Bin with her parents divorce and knowing her mother left her behind cutting ties. It all leaves scars running deeper in their souls and slowly defined their personalities all through the course of their lives.

"If someone ever says awful things to you, it means that person is hurting inside."

It is not easy to rely on others and much less to share personal pain. Having a traumatic experience can also mess up our memories as a way to cope with the pain, we create walls as a mechanism of defense, only those who come close enough to knock them down and sustain the fall are reliable. I am glad that these three complete strangers from the first episode have come closer and learned in some hard but valuable way how to manage that, and be there for one another.

Developing a close friendship, a loving relationship and strong brotherhood.

Jun Wan always seemed more than met the eye, emotionally closed he had more secrets to hold than anyone. I only hope that he too breaks free from that habit, from their abusive father by saving the ones he loves and cares about, his mother and brother and finds valor in himself. For such a young kid to be willing to sacrifice his life and happiness so that his brother has it own was commendable, although it did not work as he thought it would. By pushing Jun away he only created a wall between them isolating the other, it has also caused him pain when Jun should have a strong pillar for support he found himself alone.

They all were lonely living in the shadow of their father.

Mi Joo and Young Ran are two characters that I really like in terms of development and that are fresh in dramas. Their bonding is pure and amicable and not as usually rivals tend to be that at some point in the story it turns sour and petty. Not, these two, they are both strong female characters that despite their differences and being total opposites still manage to become supportive friends and rivals when it comes to love. Kudos for that, it's a rare sight be it in real life and drama land.

Mi Joo seemed like a spoiled brat in the first episode but revealed to be a misunderstood and naïve character with a pure heart, still I must say, the courage she mustered for a confession, facing a rejection and accepting and still wrapping it all up by letting go it was honorable and this should be an example of a healthy way of moving on.

The character that I still have trouble warming up too has got be Chang Ki, now he is not bad and I for sure love his interactions with Jun when it comes to jealousy. But overall as a best friend, there was always something about him that lacked. I haven't read the webtoon yet, so I have no idea how it goes there. If he had any clue that So Bin had a crush on him like in here he seemed to have and yet he still engaged in pointless relationships or should we say nightstands that were hurting her.

Although claiming to be her best friend and always there, that is just an excuse. Because in the end their friendship shouldn't be measured by the years they've known each other, but by how they were there for each other. In the end So Bin knew more about him than he knew about her, that he even neglected that she appeased him in his own tastes because she liked him when he truly believed that she liked the same things as well.

Only when she become unavailable on his radar did he deemed her to be the missing piece in his life and that important? Only then did he brought the topic that her mother asked him when he was a child to look after her. Was he living with that in his conscience and not being able to confess any feelings he had, being afraid of losing their friendship in case things went sour?

If it's like that then he and Young Ran are on the same boat by having crushes on their friends.
Nevertheless, that's the reason these two bond as well in their rough times they learn to rely on each other and show an unlikely and inspirational bond to overcome their own troubles. I enjoyed their scenes and advices, it's relatable.

I really am fond of the main characters, and the moments that move me more definitely are the scenes with both Yeo Jun and Soo Hyun. I have been rooting for these two to get to know each other and pass the strangers mark to having a close bond and friendship and I am really content with the development so far. No one can measure who bears the most pain there, both are still suffering, but the best thing now is that they are no longer alone. They have each other. The fact that Jun calls him hyung is proof enough of how they matured and surpassed the barriers they had ever since the first meeting.

"I've become an adult who can share his true feelings, thanks to the people who love me for who I am."

The acting of the cast is good. I like most of the cast in their roles.
Bae In Hyuk and Park Ji Hoon are enjoyable to watch, the first being playing two polar opposites roles in two different dramas. Here being a poor and broke student, quiet and reserved, while on My Roommate is a Gumiho being the rich playboy who redeems his ways when falling in an unrequited love. Quite the promising young actor of this new generation.

The same goes with Park Ji Hoon, from idol to actor, he has talent in both. What I love most about him is how he conveys the emotions in his characters, they couldn't have chosen a better for this role of Yeo Jun other than him, he has the cute and soft look, while conveying the hidden emotional scars in his lonely tears. I am looking forward for more roles with him, he seems to get better and better and he truly dedicated himself to embody Yeo Jun in many lenghts.

The OST is pleasant to hear. The main theme, Talk to Me by Ji Hoon is so catchy that I find myself going with the flow. Rothy and Han Seung Yun song Pum is also nice to hear. And of course it wouldn't be a youthful OST without having Punch here.

I recommend, either you have read the webtoon or came to see this blind as I did. Its okay.
There will always be main differences and preferences on both sides, but the journey is always the same.

And remember,

"You can write your own ending to your story."

Therefore don't despair in your own struggles, where there is darkness there is also light, create your path at your own pace :)

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Too much romance instead of development.

At a Distance, Spring is Green. My first thoughts? The poster looked like something from a 2010's show, which isn't bad but seeing a yellow haired male lead made me just not like Park Ji Hoon's (Yeo Joon's) look at all. But, I started liking his look later on in the show.
Just a note, I have never saw the webtoon before so this is solely based on the drama itself.

CHARACTERS/STORY
MALE LEADS
Yeo Joon and his family were brought into the limelight in starting episodes, but after that, where are they? Yeo Joon's current family problems are faded into the background after introducing it one episode, and we just kept getting flashbacks. Until they decided to bring back his family problems second to last episode. Beside his family problems, Yeo Joon isn't that bad of a character.

Soo Hyun, not bad either but not my favorite. Soo Hyun starts warming up to Yeo Joon the last minute, having some/barely any scenes with them. I just don't really know what to talk about him.

Chan Ki, boring! And they at least try to redeem his character soon in the story, He barely gets screen time. And if he does, sure he has his haha moments but that's it.

FEMALE LEADS
So Bin, not gonna lie, after seeing Kang Min Ah in True Beauty I was pretty excited she'll get her own main role, but her character's a bore. Don't get me wrong, it's not like she's just standing their all episodes but she's just a bore? Too nice maybe? She does have a backstory to her past but that's only for 1-2 episodes in the middle of the show.

Mi-joo, boring. I won't lie, her character COULD'VE been better with some screen time and development, we barely know anything about her to even declare if she's good or not. Only thing I know is that she has good fashion sense. She also had to many scenes "drooling" over Soo-hyun. But I'll give props to screenwriters for not making her some cocky rich girl as I thought she would've been.

Young Ran, maybe the most interesting? But not really also because lack of screen time, all we know is that she's Soo-hyun's longest friend, she's strong physically, and that's about it.

SOBIN AND YEO JUN'S ROMANCE
I personally think they're romance was pretty cute but took too much screen time to develop most characters. Talking about you the most Mi-joo.

SOO HYUN'S LOVE TRIANGLE
What an annoying triangle I've ever seen. One is to scared to admit their feelings and the other one get's too hook up on Soo-hyun thinking they know everything about him while barely having any interactions with him.

SOO HYUN AND YEO JOON'S BROMANCE/FRIENDSHIP
Love, love, LOVEEE! IT! I recommend you stay to watch these two if you don't like the romance part, although some episode they barely get any scenes at all with each other.

ACTING
The acting was great! Not enough to give a 10 though but great!

MUSIC
Loved! I mostly have a lot of them on my playlist.

WILL I REWATCH?
Specific episodes only.

SUMMARY!!
This show was amazing at first to me, what was missing was character development/likability in a lot of characters, wasted scenes with So-bin and Yeo Jun's romance, Soo-hyun's stupid love triangle, and again. WASTED SCENES! Although my rating isn't that high I do recommend that you check this out as it only has 12 episodes, I think it should've had 16 or just more time duration!
They're other things I would've talked about like Mi-joo and Soo-hyun's interactions, Jun-wan and Yeo Joon and more but I think you'll make your own opinion on those once you choose to watch it or not.

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