Recap: Light On Me, Episode One
There’s a cute new Korean BL webdrama called Light On Me. Kdramaland has been killing the Boy Love genre over the last year and this is one of my favourites so far. I very much enjoyed this short kdrama and thought I’d give you all a rundown to help you decide if it’s for you.
Light On Me: Recap, Episode 1
The episode opens with four boys lighting off fireworks on the beach. One boy watches the other three while taking photos of them. The narration tells us that this is the summer the boy with the camera turned 20 and that one of these boys is his first love.
Outside of School
We are transported back to the beginning of the school year two years earlier. Boys are walking up to the school building laughing and joking with each other. One student walks alone. A teacher greets this particular student by name. He introduces himself as the new homeroom teacher, Seo Hatbit. The student, named Taekyung, walks away quietly. Another teacher comes up and explains Taekyung to the new teacher. Turns out Taekyung is a loner. He has no friends, and doesn’t think that he needs friends. Other teachers have tried to help him integrate more in the past.
Walking up the hill towards the school building, a couple of classmates behind Taekyung make fun of his loner status. He stops to ask them what they are talking about. It’s unclear whether Taekyung has heard their teasing words, or just the tone and knows they were speaking about him. The student who wasn’t speaking apologizes for his loud mouth friend and Taekyung asks why the friend doesn’t apologize for himself.
Inside the school building, a classmate runs up to Taekyung to return the wallet he dropped. This classmate attempts to make friendly conversation about how the two of them are in the same class again this year, but Taekyung doesn’t recognize the student at all. When another classmate joins them, they start discussing the assignment that is due that day and how unfair it is to have homework over the summer break. Taekyung knows nothing at all about the assignment. The classmates don’t understand how he doesn’t know since the information was sent out in the class group chat. Problem is, Taekyung isn’t in the class group chat (what a nightmare to show up to the first day of school and find out there was homework you didn’t do). We see that for all his bravado, Taekyung isn’t sure that being all alone is really the best life.
Cafeteria
Later in the school cafeteria, Taekyung eats by himself. A student comes and asks Taekyung if the seat next to him is taken. Taekyung looks hopeful for a moment and answers that it is not. The other student says thanks and grabs the chair to take with him to another table. Taekyung watches all the other students seemingly enjoying their lunchtime as they chat and joke with their friends. Again Taekyung wonders, “Am I going to be alright?”.
Suddenly a bottle of juice is placed on the table in front of him. Startled from his thoughts, Taekyung looks up to see the new teacher standing in front of him. Seo Hatbit sits down and a conversation about beans and picky eating ensues. When the teacher says that he finally tried beans for the first time, he asks Taekyung what he thinks happened then.
The teacher laughs and says that no, he still didn’t like the beans. But, he says, they weren’t as bad as he thought they would be. The moral of the story is to try new things sometimes. Just to see what they’re like. Taekyung starts thinking this idea over.
Hallway
As Taekyung walks down the hallway later, somebody carrying a box of sex education supplies drops a dildo on the floor. Completely unselfconciously, Taekyung picks up the dildo and chases after the boy. Unfortunately, Taekyung trips and winds up poking the other student in the butt with the dildo (worst meet cute ever, lol).
Other students walk out and see the strange situation. Taekyung tries to make up for the accident, but only makes things worse. He mistakes the red ears of embarrassment for a sign of pain and starts talking about how hard he pushed it in. The other student just begs Taekyung to leave him alone, and Taekyung is left thinking that having a friend like that would be worse than being alone.
In a day of things that go from bad to worse, Taekyung then get hit in the head with a ball some kids are throwing around. When another student checks if he’s okay, Taekyung accidentally headbutts the concerned student in the face (this is a much better meet cute, but I’m pretty sure he is not The One).
The kind student checks that Taekyung is okay before turning to scold the students who were playing with a ball inside the school. After he leaves, the ball-playing students apologize to Taekyung. They call the kind student Daon. Apparently he is the nicest student in school and everybody wants to be friends with him. They voice a wish to have joined the student council so they could get to know him better. Taekyung agrees in his head that a friend like Daon would be worth having. He decides to try something new.
Teacher’s Office
Taekyung confides in Seo Hatbit that he has never had a friend before. Not one. Ever. He tells the new teacher that he doesn’t know how to even try and make friends. Thankfully, the teacher has some ideas. He suggests that Taekyung should join the student council. It will be a good way to spend time with other students and get to know more people. There are 20 members to the student council and Taekyung will need to get their approval to join the group, since sign ups ended two weeks earlier. Basically there is a core group of kids who will be able to sway the other students so they are the important ones to get in good with.
The first, of course, is Shin Daon whom we’ve already met. He is the president of the council and is liked by everyone for his kindness. The second is Siwoon, a loveable goofball who knows everything there is to know about what goes on at the school. The third is a boy named Shinwoo who is the vice president and helps keep the other two in line… and who sometimes apparently carries sex education supplies through the hallway.
Student Council Room
When Teacher Seo takes Taekyung to tour the council room, Shinwoo is already there. Daon and Siwoon join them shortly. Daon recognizes Taekyung from the ball incident earlier, and even remembers his name. The teacher proposes his plan to have Taekyung join the student council and while Daon and Siwoon are easy to convice, Shinwoo says no. Taekyung refuses to give up without hearing why Shinwoo disagrees with the other two.
Daon tries to difuse the situation by suggesting they all hang out after school but Shinwoo shuts that down too. He is just determined to be unyielding in this situation. Similarly stubborn, Taekyung also refuses to yield. While the teacher and older students try to get Taekyung to leave so that they can talk to Shinwoo, Taekyung demands to know the reasons why Shinwoo is blocking him out of the council. Shinwoo begins to list off his reasons.
First off, there is a process. Everyone has to follow the process.
Secondly, the council has a maximum number of 20 students.
And lastly…
Taekyung rises to leave, but then stops. Turning back, Taekyung looks Shinwoo straight in the eye and says “I don’t like you either”.
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this story. As I was saying to some friends, in a sense all the boys from the opening scene are Taekyung’s first loves, because he has never had a friend before (sob 😥). The friendships in this drama are just as important as the romance. It’s a wonderful tale that never takes a wrong turn.
Currently this drama is available to watch on WeTv, and Viki. The acting is very good and the production values are excellent. It’s a little weird that all the students are played by actors in their mid-20s, especially when the teacher is also being played by an actor in his 20s 😂 The episodes have a run time of around 20 minutes each, so it will be a quick binge if that’s what you’re looking for. I’ve completed the whole drama now and it had a very solid ending. Why not check it out? What have you got to lose?
Are you looking for another short romantic drama to binge? Check out our first episode recap of How To Be Thirty
Looking for dramas with more great friendships in them? Check out our Galentine’s Day podcast episode.
If you’re just looking for some more RomCom recommendations, why not try out Certified Romcoms?
