You Make Me Dance 당신은 나를 춤추게합니다

The much-anticipated Korean BL series You Make Me Dance premiered on Rakuten VIKI earlier this month. This short series has eight episodes, and each one is around thirteen minutes long. You’d think this wouldn’t be enough time to tell a story well, but short series have had a popular run in Korea with titles like Where Your Eyes Linger and Mr. Heart. Those titles have great reviews and prove that you can tell a story in small pieces with the proper script and cast.

—Edited by TheFNGee

The Story

This story begins with a 22-year college student named Song Shi On. He is a romantic dreamer who yearns to dance on a big stage. Dancing, for him, is like breathing for other people – it is a necessity. This dreamer meets his opposite one day as destiny pushes them together. Jin Hong Seok is a 28-year-old debt collector for the Chachacha Group. He’s trying to leave that business behind. He’s searching for something but doesn’t know what. He feels lonely and empty inside. When his world collides with Song Shi On, he begins to feel things again. However, his last job as a debt collector is to collect from Song Shi On. Unless he collects the money, he will have to stay in his position. What will become of the two of them? Can these two opposites learn to navigate the tricky world of dance and the dangerous work of a debt collector? Read on to find out.

Cast

Chu Young Woo plays the dancer Song Shi Om. This series is the 22-year old’s debut work.

Won Hyung Hoon plays the debt collector Jin Hong Seok. The 28-year actor made his debut in the 2019 movie “Mobsters’ Requiem” and appeared in the 2020 series “Mute.”

Lee Su Ryeon plays the debt collection agency owner Cha. She debuted in the 2014 drama series “Pinocchio.” Her other works include “The Royal Gambler” (2016), “Money” (2019), and “Steel Rain 2: The Summit” (2020).

Episodes 1 & 2

I am in love with this show.

I know what you are thinking. Didn’t she just do an initial impression of The Tale of a Thousand Stars and say the same thing? The thing is, I must have picked the best ones to check somehow. I promise I do have really high standards. But in the 26 total minutes between two episodes of the show, I fell head over heels with the characters and the story.

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We start with Song Shi Om waiting for the bus. he has earbuds in and begins dancing while waiting. It’s like he can’t seem to help himself – he’s lost in the dream world of dance. Credits roll. We see him on the bus, listening to a female talk radio show host. She brings up the Chinese tale of the red thread of fate. I happen to love this belief because it’s beautiful. The theory says that we are tied together with one person, our soulmate. This red thread stretches from our pinky to theirs. It cannot be passed from person to person but exists only between you and your fated one. She asks the listeners to hold their pinky up and look around them to see if they can find their soulmate. We know that Song Shi Om will do this. He is a dreamer with a romantic soul. Looking around, Song Shi Om hopes to find his one true love. He doesn’t see anyone do the same until he spots a businessman sitting near him, meekly holding his pinky up.

They share a disbelieving look between them, but Song Shi On has to hurry off the bus as his bus stops at the college. Like Cinderella, Song Shi On lost a ballet slipper out of his bag, this because the bus driver had previously taken a turn too hard. The businessman notices the shoe as Song Shi On is exiting the bus and decides to make a move. He quickly picks up the shoe and opens the window calling out to Song Shi Om. As the shoe is handed off, the pair share a look of curiosity and wonderment. Have they met their destined soulmate?

This “Cinderella” moment made me smile. Will Jin Hong Seok, the businessman, become the Prince Charming of this story? Will he rescue his damsel in distress? Or will the obstacles get in the way of their fated love story?

We find out that businessman Jin Hong Seok is a debt collector trying to resign from his position. However, his boss, Cha, wants him to stick around because she likes him. She wants to tie him to her, so she gives him one last assignment before she will accept his resignation. If he completes this retrieval, she will take his letter. We know who it is for, and when he sees Song Shi On, his shock is evident. Here is his Cinderella.

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There are several obstacles our couple must face if they are to keep their soulmate. There is the matter of Song Shi Om being indebted to the Chachacha Group. He may have to choose to stay with the group or risk losing a connection with Song Shi On. As for Song Shi On, his senior dance instructor has abandoned him right before a major audition. He is alone once more.

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Jin Hong Seok and peer go to the dance studio to seek out Shi On. After a rather funny chase, Shi On is captured and then bound by Jin Hong Seok’s scarf. Song Shi Om bargains for more time to pay off his debt. Jin Hong Seok asks him what he could do to get the money in one month. Song Shi Om replies with the conviction of an ambitious man “I can dance.” He goes on to say that when he secures the role he is auditioning for, he will pay back the money. Jin Hong Seok seems skeptical, so Song Shi Om takes him to the studio to present his dance skills.

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As Song Shi Om dances, he daydreams about his mother, a dancer herself. He remembers her patience and beauty as she taught him to dance as a young boy. He remembers how beautiful she looked at her wedding. After the dance is finished he looks over to find Jin Hong Seok with tears in his eyes. He was moved to tears by the beauty and grace of Song Shi Om’s dance. This is a pivotal moment between them. This man’s dance brought forth emotions he thought long gone within him. In that moment Jin Hong Seok couldn’t bear to extinguish the flame burning inside the young man before him. Song Shi Om would have his month.

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So many things could go wrong for our couple, but I’m hoping things turn out all right in the end. After all, even Cinderella gets her Prince Charming.

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