New tvN K-Drama’s Second Male Lead Is Gay, But It’s Not A BL

Netizens are loving the representation so far.
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This article reveals plot details of a current movie or series.

TvN has premiered its latest K-Drama, which takes the place of Marry My Husband now that it has concluded. The new K-Drama is Wedding Impossible, an adaptation of the webtoon of the same name by Song Jung Won.

From left: Kim Do Wan, Moon Sang Min, and Jun Jong Seo in “Wedding Impossible” poster
Wedding-Impossible. webtoon
Webtoon

Jun Jong Seo (Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area and Burning) stars as an aspiring actress, Na A Jeong, who prepares to enter a contract marriage with her best friend of 15 years, Lee Do Han, who is portrayed by Kim Do Wan (Doona! and Big Mouth).

Do Han and A Jeong
| tvN

Lee Do Han proposed to A Jeong because, as a chaebol, he was being pressured to marry. In most K-Dramas, Do Han, as a chaebol forced to marry, would be automatically the male lead. Yet, that’s not quite the case in Wedding Impossible. 

Do Han
| tvN

The reason behind Do Han’s proposal to A Jeong is that he doesn’t actually want to get married due to his secret. He’s a closeted gay man, and his best friend, A Jeong, is the only one he trusts with it. So, he proposes to her that they marry for just three years to appease his family for the time being.

Do Han and A Jeong hugging
| tvN

Viewers were surprised by the representation so early on in the series. Episode 1 introduces Do Han in bed with another man as he’s in the U.S. Someone followed him even in New York, capturing intimate photos of the two.

His friendship with the female lead began due to his sexuality. In high school, rumors circulated that he was gay. Concerned for Do Han, A Jeong stood up for him. From then on, they pretended to be a couple to quiet their homophobic classmates.

Now that Do Han has returned to Korea after living abroad, he is concerned again about such rumors due to his family, which A Jeong has only just discovered he is a chaebol. By Episode 2, A Jeong agrees to Do Han’s proposal. Yet, his younger brother, Lee Ji Han, portrayed by Moon Sang Min (Under The Queen’s Umbrella and My Name), is against their engagement, although he doesn’t know the truth.

Na A-Jeong (Jun Jong-Seo) works as an extra actress. She’s talented as an actress, but she has gotten recognized for her work at all. She has experience acting as a married woman, but, in real life, her dating life is on the back burner due to her difficult reality. She has a male friend named Lee Do-Han (Kim Do-Wan) whom she has known for 15 years.

Lee Do-Han is the son of a chaebol family that runs the LJ Group. He is pushed to get married by his family, but he has a secret that he can’t marry. Lee Do-Han turns to his friend Na A-Jeong and asks if she would act like his wife and daughter-in-law of his family. She accepts the offer and prepares to play the first leading role in her life as Lee Do-Han’s wife. At that time, she has an unexpected disrupter. That person is Lee Ji-Han (Moon Sang-Min), who is Lee Do-Han’s younger brother. Lee Ji-Han has ambitions to make his older brother Lee Do-Han the successor of the LJ Group. Lee Ji-Han works hard to achieve his goal, but his plan is disrupted by his brother’s sudden wedding announcement. Lee Ji-Han now tries to prevent his brother’s wedding and he brings Yoon Chae-Won (Bae Yoon-Kyoung) into the picture as his brother’s potential bride.

— AsianWiki

Poster
| IMDb 

In just the first two episodes, Ji Han appears to have already developed feelings for his older brother’s best friend (now fiancé). So, he will ultimately take the place of the male lead, making Do Han technically the second male lead.

While Do Han would no longer be the male lead to our female lead, he is still a main character, which is rare for non-BL (Boy Love) K-Dramas to include a gay man in such a prominent role. Even in Wedding Impossible, Do Han himself refers to this, saying, “Is there a family drama (K-Drama) with an illegitimate gay son?” 

Do Han
| tvN

Still, we’re seeing more LGBTQIA+ characters in K-Dramas. For example, in Love in Contract, the female lead’s best friend was a gay man, and Itaewon Class and The Killer’s Shopping List included trans characters in supporting roles.

Kang Hyung Suk in “Love in Contract”
“Itaewon Class” cast | Netflix

Additionally, Nevertheless, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Run On, Love Alarm, Mine, A Time Called You, and My Lovely Liar all included queer characters, and these are just a few more examples. The 2010 K-Drama Secret Garden contains one of the first depictions of a gay character on Korean TV. 

Ahn Hyo Seop and Rowoon in “Time Called You” | Netflix
Lee Jong Suk in “Secret Garden” | SBS TV

So, K-Dramas are certainly getting more progressive as time goes on despite South Korea’s conservatism. Do Han is now one of the first gay main characters in a mainstream K-Drama. We’re only a couple of episodes in, and netizens are already loving the representation so far.

Wedding Impossible airs Monday and Tuesday at 20:50 (KST) via tvN, and it is available internationally via Rakuten Viki.

Another K-Drama recently premiered, garnering attention for its sapphic vibes, although it’s not classified as a GL (Girl Love) drama. Read more below.

New Sapphic K-Drama? “Pyramid Game” Viewers Are Shipping Two GL Couples

Source: AsianWiki
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