One of the most anticipated Korean BL web dramas, “A Shoulder To Cry On” has finally begun!
“A Shoulder To Cry On” is an ongoing seven-episode web drama based on Dongmul’s hit comic of the same name — starring Kim Jae Han and Shin Ye Chan, from the same Korean idol boy group, Omega X. It follows the story of Lee Da Yeol, both an outsider and a skilled archer who finds solace in the archery club at school. His scholarship is put in jeopardy when he has a misunderstanding with the famous and handsome student Jo Tae Hyun. Tae Hyun accuses Da Yeol of making advances toward him, threatening his scholarship. Tae Hyun takes pleasure in tormenting Da Yeol and follows him everywhere, but Da Yeol’s feelings become conflicted as he wonders if he’s beginning to develop feelings for Tae Hyun.
Warning. Spoilers Ahead. Read at your own risk.
Episode 1: The Hamster and The Sociopath
The first episode begins with a young archery athlete named Lee Dayeol, whose entire life revolves around the target until he meets Cho Taehyun. And he wonders how it all happens and doesn’t realize when it’s too late.
Lee Dayeol, a senior now, is getting ready for school. His father prepared a samgyetang, a ginseng chicken soup known as a popular stamina dish, for his son and later called him out to have breakfast. He headed to the school, bringing his lucky charm, a collection of arrow fletch, and went to their training room, where Min Jung had already started to practice. Dayeol joins him; as he stretches the bowstring, he suddenly feels pain. Jung noticed it and advised him to go to the school infirmary because it might cause him serious injury, and no need to worry as he would inform their coach.
At the school infirmary, Dayeol overheard a gay hookup sound next to him. Suddenly the wind blows the bed curtain revealing a good-looking man. Dayeol stands up, but he accidentally trips and falls to where the young man was lying earlier, causing him to lose his arrow fletch. As Dayeol searches for it, he suddenly lies down to Taehyun and drives him to a misunderstanding where the nurse sees them in that position. Dayeol and Taehyun head to the teacher’s office along with Won Kyung, Taehyun’s friend. Later the coach arrives to fetch Dayeol and talks about what just happened and to be mindful. Cho Taehyun followed them and joined the conversation, where he introduced himself and wished to reconcile with Dayeol. Taehyun offers a handshake which Dayeol gladly accepts it thinking of all the hardship he has gone through. However, Dayeol can’t stand unfairness and asks Taehyun to tell the truth that it was an accident. Taehyun didn’t want to do so. So, Dayeol threatens him to reveal who he is. And that’s how Dayeol and Taehyun’s hate relationship begins.
Dayeol arrives home late, and he wakes up his dad, who is sleeping on the sofa, to go to his room which he later covers with a blanket. A flashback began when his dad taught him archery when he was young and gave him the first piece of his lucky charm. On the other hand, Taehyun found Dayeol’s missing lucky charm. By the following day, Dayeol arrives in the class later and finds out that he and Taehyun are in the same class and team up for their upcoming presentation. And Taehyun begins pestering Dayeol as he tells him he has found his lucky charm. Dayeol rushes to Taehyun’s place after receiving the address. As he entered, he started to search Taehyun’s home and his body. And the two trip and fall facing each other on the couch.
Dayeol and Taehyun trip and fall, facing each other on the couch, and someone’s heart pounded so fast. Taehyun repeatedly teases Dayeol that they are doing something scandalous, just like at the school infirmary. However, Dayeol pointed out that he’s the one who did it and added he’s not interested in women and men. After the incident, Dayeol heads home. By the following day, after Dayeol, Taehyun and his team started their presentation. The two head outside the building, and suddenly, a lady, who turns out to be his aunt, appears and slaps Taehyun. She started blaming him for killing everyone, a murderer, and yelling at him to die.
After Dayeol witnesses what happened to Taehyun, he wonders why Taehyun doesn’t attend school for three days. While Dayeol practiced his archery, Min Jung noticed that he seemed distracted, and he to lesson why there was a person he hated the most who didn’t go to school for days now. To make it short, Dayeol is worried about Taehyun. In the class a teacher enters the classroom and asks the class if someone knows Taehyun’s house and pays a visit. But no one in the class knew his address, which later Dayeol volunteered as he knew Taehyun’s place.
Dayeol skipped a practice to visit Taehyun to check if he was okay and to hand out a reviewer from Kang So. As he enters the house, Taehyun asks him for a drink which Dayeol responds to water, and he heads to the bathroom. While drinking a cup of water, Dayeol suddenly remembers what he witnessed with Taehyun’s aunt and starts over, thinking that he later got choked on the water. When he flips the throw pillow, he notices tears on it. After Taehyun peeled the apple, he sat on the floor and wondered why he had visited him or if he was concerned about him. Dayeol denies that he’s worried about him and tells Taehyun it’s up to him if he wants to befriend him since he will continue pestering and teasing him. He leaves after that and is not bothered if Taehyun will go to school or not, to which he receives a response, see you tomorrow from Taehyun.
The following day, Taehyun went to school and finally returned Dayeol’s arrow fletch. Taehyun starts treating Dayeol as his friend, having lunch together at the cafeteria and giving him drinks. He even wished Dayeol to do well in his archery match, which Dayeol won—and sat next to him, where the two exchanged an adorable written conversation while in the middle of the class. A brand new start between the two begins.
In the hallway, Dayeol bumps into the two girls, and one of them asks if he knows where Taehyun is and later asks him to give him the clothes. Dayeol heads to the classroom and finds Taehyun peacefully having a nap. The wind blew in the window, and a piece of dirt landed on Taehyun’s face. Dayeol tries to pick it up but fails, so he gently blows the dirt off, waking up Taehyun. He starts to startle and causes Taehyun’s nose to bleed. After treating Taehyun at the school infirmary, Dayeol apologized for what happened. Taehyun being unapologetic causes the two to argue, as Dayeol blames him for almost dropping the match because of him. Taehyun never thought that Dayeol liked archery because he hadn’t seen him smiling so brightly while playing. Dayeol was stunned after hearing it and never realized he was like that. After their class, Dayeol carries out the basket with gym equipment to return it to the warehouse, which Taehyun helps him with. As the two entered the storage room, a man locked the two together.
Episode 3: The Gym Equipment Storage Room
A man locked Lee Dayeol and Jo Taehyun inside the gym equipment storage room. When Dayeol realizes this, he rushes to the door, trying to open it. He shouts for help. Meanwhile, Taehyun is looking for comfy stuff to sit on as he has already determined who’s the person who is reliable for locking them up, which is Won Kyung. Taehyun sits and later asks Dayeol to sit next to him since there’s no way to seek help when they leave their mobile phones in the classroom unless the class finds out they are missing. The two were drenched with sweat now while waiting for someone to open the storage room. Dayeol stares at Taehyun and wonders who Taehyun is, and curiosity arises. He begins to ask him if he is dating Won Kyung, and a flashback begins with Taehyun’s point of view that shows what happened at the school infirmary where Won Kyung jokingly put a hickey on him. Back to the present, Taehyun starts teasing Dayeol again by placing a hickey on him, where Dayeol stays still. He even closes his eyes, and his heart starts pounding. Taehyun asks him if he likes men, and Dayeol denies it. Then suddenly, someone opens the storage room’s door.
Inside the teacher’s room, Dayeol and Taehyun’s teacher asks a few questions if they intentionally cut classes or did something like in the school infirmary. Taehyun said that someone locked them up, and he and Dayeol were getting along with each other. At the same time, Dayeol’s face turns red as he recalls what happened earlier and Taehyun’s smell. The teacher asks him if he’s sick due to redness, and Dayeol responds he’s okay because it was hot inside the storage room. After hearing it, he let Dayeol and Taehyun go. As they walk out, Dayeol asks Taehyun if he is using a cologne which turns out he’s not using anything. Dayeol didn’t show up to practice. When he arrives home, he heads to his room, sniffs his clothes, and is still bothered by what happened. The next morning. Before Dayeol leaves the house, he sprays a lavender air freshener on him. Kang So noticed it while Taehyun asked him to eat before heading to the class.
At the school auditorium, the school nurse teaches the class how to apply the “Heimlich Maneuver.” And she calls the class president, Taehyun, and randomly picks his partner, which turns out to be Dayeol. The nurse demonstrates the Heimlich maneuver with Dayeol first and afterward, followed by Taehyun, as the nurse explains the process. When Taehyun pressed Dayeol’s stomach, Dayeol’s reflexes accidentally hit Taehyun’s stomach. The nurse asks Dayeol to apologize to him by saying, “My friend, thank you for saving my life. I love you.” Dayeol does, but he replaces the “I love you” with “I like you.” Taehyun gladly accepts his apology.
At the archery club, after practicing, Dayeol overheard his coach ask his co-member to drop out of the competition. Meanwhile, Taehyun overheard his friends Won Kyung and Ye Beom talking about Dayeol and the incident at the auditorium. Dayeol was dumbfounded and confessed to their friend and confirmed that Won Kyung did it. Dayeol discovers he and Min Jung will be competing with each other in the upcoming competition. Taehyun went to the archery club that night and watched Dayeol practicing. After Dayeol’s sudden confession, it draws a line between him and Taehyun. Taehyun tries to talk with him, but Dayeol continues ignoring him. The two had a serious conversation, which later turned into a fight.
Episode 4: An Arrow With No Regrets
The episode begins with Taehyun’s past, in which he was diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This disorder develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. Ten years ago, at the orphanage, Taehyun was an orphan who was adopted and lived with his adoptive parents. Everything started to change when his parents were expecting a baby, and he got worried when his sibling came home will, he would be returned to the orphanage again. When his parents are away and under the care of his aunt. However, he ran away from home after getting a slap and was scolded by his aunt because he wished his young sibling to die. When his parents arrive, they find out Taehyun is missing. His preggy mom starts looking and finds him at the playground. When Taehyun sees his mom, he runs toward her while a car approaches. However, when his mom noticed the car, she rushed toward him. A car accident occurred, and his mom grieves after a miscarriage. Back to the present, Taehyun and Dayeol start avoiding each other.
A fierce archery match between Dayeol and Min Jung begins. Dayeol wins and moves as one of the finalists as Min Jung’s hand slips on his last shot. He confronted him and later found out Min Jung will quit archery because of his seriously injured shoulder. Meanwhile, Taehyun is at his house, who is suffering from depression, and hits the flowerpot on his head and bleeds. After the confrontation, Dayeol receives a text message from Taehyun, stating, “it’s because of you”. Dayeol calls him when he finds out that Taehyu is bleeding. He rushes to his place and the two head to the hospital. After Taehyun got treated, the two talked about what happened to his injury, which he told him was just a scratch after the pot accidentally fell. Finally, the two reconciled, and Dayeol handed his shirt to Taehyun to change his shirt. While sitting in the park, Taehyun finally tells Dayeol about his past and reveals his adoptive parents because of him. After finding the truth, the two become closer than before.
That night the two headed home riding on a bus, where Taehyun fell asleep and leaned on Dayeol’s shoulder. The two finally found each other’s haven with each other.
T’was a roller coaster of emotion throughout the first four episodes that showcase impeccable chemistry between OMEGA X members Ye Chan and Jae Han. In addition to that, they wowed us with their promising acting knowingly this project, “A Shoulder To Cry On” is their debut in acting. And lastly, the original soundtracks are great — which are performed by the leads and their fellow members. It‘s highly recommended to check out!
