Where Your Eyes Linger – 너의시선이머무는곳에 | Episode 5 – 6 [Review]

Where Your Eyes Linger, although a vested experiment, seemed to have gained a lot of media attention as well as dedicated fans who are absolutely in awe of this teenage romance between the main leads, entitled Chaebol heir Han Tae Joo and his bodyguard Kang Gook.

– Edited by TheFNGee

The introductory episodes set off a nice pace to grabbing the audience’s attention while the subsequent episodes followed up on the developing relationship. Although the age-old jealousy trope has been heavily overused, it’s time tested and seems to be the only logical way to sway our resident Casanova “Tae Joo’s” heart. In the first two episodes, while he seems completely oblivious of Gook’s affections, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Episode 4 ended on a sad note, with Tae Joo finding it difficult to accept the alternate reality where Gook might be more affectionate towards someone else. Let’s review what happens next!

Storyline

Episode 5, “Yet Another Kind of Gaze,” focused on the changing equation between our main leads. The episode starts off with Tae Joo asking his driver to turn around so that they could pick up Gook. Obviously, he is disgruntled and confused about the new yet antagonistic feelings he is experiencing. He even questions Gook about this, who brushes off the question. The question, however, is loud and clear, “Have you always felt this jealous when you see me courting girls.” Tae Joo is slowly realizing things about Gook that he never noticed in the past.

At night, Tae Joo morosely requests Gook to hug him. Since we don’t know their habits, this was a little surprising for me. Do they always behave like this when Tae Joo is feeling sad? Is that the reason why Gook declines because he can’t keep up with the pretense anymore? However, his love for Tae Joo precedes everything, and so Gook softly tugs him in, as they fall asleep.

The next day they have their PE class, where again Hye Mi tags along, complaining she doesn’t have any friends. This raises Tae Joo’s hackles, who spends quite a lot of time berating her. Unfortunately, while playing, the ball hits Tae Joo, who is utterly shocked that Gook protected Hye Mi instead of him.

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The confrontation happens, and it’s blazing hot for Korean standards. Gook tries to reconcile with an angry Tae Joo. Tae Joo is certainly in a confused state of mind when first he casually admits that Gook doesn’t need to apologize. But then grows wild and straddles him instead. The conversation is entirely charged as Gook gets tensed and nervous with Tae Joo’s behavior. Tae Joo doesn’t mince words as he directly addresses the problem even as Gook acts oblivious. The episode ends as Tae Joo closes in for a kiss!

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Episode 6, “15 Years of Friendship Comes to an End,” exposes our main couple’s feelings and intentions. The episode starts with Gook pushing off an angry Tae Joo. But later, as usual, he repents and drags Tae Joo out of the playground before anything untoward happens. The scene was entirely amusing because Pil Hyun was trying to stop Hye Mi and suddenly Gook and Tae Joo walk past, entirely ignoring them both.

Tae Joo is still angry at home, and Gook decides the best solution is having a bout. They fight it out in the training room, and the scene almost resembles a heavy-duty makeout session. Tae Joo, however, isn’t ready to give up yet and directly confesses his feelings
“You being with Hye Mi pisses me off. I thought it was the jealousy of a friend, but I like you. I want to be with you all the time. When we are together, I want to hug you. If I can’t see you, I want to whine.” I wasn’t expecting Tae Joo to be so direct and honest, but what shocked me the most was Gook’s reaction. Gook rudely rebukes Tae Joo and even goes to the extent of saying that “Out of the 15 years together, that one week you spent in Japan was when I was the most free and happy.” Tae Joo breaks down crying and orders Gook to take steps to end his job as Tae Joo’s bodyguard.

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Although he is rude to Tae Joo, Gook feels guilty and, as such, accepts his feelings when he meets Hye Mi later. I’m glad that Hye Mi understands the situation and doesn’t beg for a second chance. Although it was frustrating to see her try to come between both of them time and again, she did back off and accept Gook’s decision. Gook walks home to possibly have a chat with Tae Joo and maybe confess his feelings. But he is shocked to find their home in a state of disarray and Tae Joo is missing. Did Tae Joo really get kidnapped, or is this one of his temper tantrums to punish Gook?

My Opinion On This Drama

Han Tae Joo is certainly charismatic, or should I say Han Gi Chan’s fresh portrayal of the character is! The way Gi Chan expresses the confusion which Tae Joo is facing makes for an interesting watch. Also, it’s intriguing that Tae Joo is not having a sexual identity crisis. He accepts his developing emotions for Gook right away and addresses them right then. This is a welcome change from most BL dramas, where we follow the lugubrious path trudged by the main characters, panicking about their attraction to the same sex.

Gook, played by Jang Eui Soo, on the other hand, is having a conflict with his inner self. He has been in love with Tae Joo forever, but he has grown to mask his feelings well. Seeing Tae Joo flirt with other girls makes him jealous but he has already accepted that as the fate of their relationship. He has given up on imagining any kind of possible future with Tae Joo. So when faced with Tae Joo’s increasingly erratic behavior, Gook naturally panics. He is insecure about his status and also entirely unsure about Tae Joo’s true feelings. The only solution for him is to act rudely to make Tae Joo back off. I hate this tug of war going on between the main leads. The show left us with a major cliffhanger, so here’s hoping things get better in the finale, and our sensual couple finds their happy ending because no one deserves it more than them!

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars [See our Review Guide]