“Light On Me” Stars On Taekyung’s Endgame, BL Dramas & That Dildo Scene

Series leads Lee Saeon and Kang Yooseok dish on their new series.
Lee Saeon as Taekyung Kang Yooseok as Shinwoo
Lee Saeon as Taekyung, Kang Yooseok as Shinwoo in Light on Me.Courtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA

In South Korea’s new Boys’ Love drama, Light On Me, actor Lee Saeon plays the meek and friendless 18-year-old Taekyung, opposite Kang Yooseok’s beautiful disaster, Shinwoo. But over Zoom interview, both are a far cry from their onscreen counterparts: former Produce 101 idol trainee Saeon is dimpled and welcoming, while Start-Up actor Yooseok is laidback, a mess of tousled curls. Both are effervescent, even as they casually further queer representation in a more conservative Korean entertainment industry.

Boys’ Love dramas — more commonly known as BL, which originated as “yaoi” in Japan — have been growing in popularity for years, but even more so in the midst of the global pandemic. BL series depict romance between male characters that makes us feel warm and gooey inside, and not unlike K-dramas, they offer vicarious wish fulfillment in a time where physical interaction has never been more coveted. Based on a mobile dating simulation game, Light On Me is widely considered to be one of the country’s first longform Boys’ Love dramas. Combining the charming fluff of a BL with the classic tropes of Korean dramas, the 16-episode series really said: K-drama, but make it gay. (Spoilers for Light On Me ahead.)

Set in Saebit Boys’ High School, the drama follows Taekyung, “an outsider that falls in love with a boy,” according to Yooseok. Realizing that he no longer wants to live a lonely life, he joins the student council as a temporary member — but not everybody is thrilled with their new guest. While classmate Daon (Choe Chanyi), the president of the student council, is welcoming (and gorgeous), and Namgoong (Go Woojin) is the hilarious best friend we all deserve, the same can’t be said for Shinwoo, who strongly objects to Taekyung’s initiation into the council. But as they get to know each other and Taekyung warms to him, it soon becomes clear that he has two love interests: Shinwoo and Daon.

Courtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA

While LGBTQ+ characters are still underrepresented in K-dramas, there have been notable strides in recent years in shows like Itaewon Class, Reply 1997, and Where Your Eyes Linger. Light On Me is another brick laid in the path towards more queer stories in Korean media, and for us in the West, richer stories that fill out the world of K-dramas we love to enjoy. “Even though this kind of genre isn’t that common in Korea, right now we are making BL dramas a little bit more than before, so I think it’s a good thing. I really respect the LGBTQ+ community and I understand,” says Saeon, who has watched BL dramas before. “Since I’m not part of the community, the hardest part for me was to express my emotions through my eyes. Even though I don’t know the feeling of loving a guy, I do know how to love a person, so I wanted to express those kinds of feelings.”

Lee Saeon as Taekyung, Choe Chanyi as DaonCourtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA

This is a point of view shared by Yooseok. “I try to not think of it as ‘a boy and a boy’ love,” Yooseok explains. “I was trying to communicate the fact that a person loves a person, so with Shinwoo’s love towards Taekyung and how he cares for him, I tried to focus on that emotion more.” During our interview, I suggest that it is more so that love doesn’t have gender, that it exists regardless. “Yes, I don’t really think of it gender-wise,” he says. “A person can fall in love with anybody, because a person can love anyone.”

Rising K-pop stars A.C.E contributed an OST for the series, “SPARK,” which accompanies every episode’s cliffhanger with jangly guitar, before exploding into vocals. It was important for A.C.E. to be part of the project, the group's leader Jun explains over email.

“Just like how all of our fans, CHOICE, are different in their own special ways,” Jun tells Teen Vogue, “we know that there [are] a range of different ways to love among all kinds of people in this world which we acknowledge and respect. It was really exciting for A.C.E. to be able to contribute ‘SPARK’ as the first song to the Light On Me original television soundtrack, as the listener can hear us detail the unique and intense moment when a new romance is taking over someone's body. We hope that listeners enjoy ‘SPARK’ and also hope BL dramas like Light On Me and others in the future can help break down prejudices and create a more equal world for all.”

The world of Light On Me is fun to fall into as viewers enjoy the slow burn between Taekyung and Shinwoo, and their joint coming of age stories. “Usually I really like to be around people and I do have a lot of friends,” Saeon says of himself, but Taekyung is more awkward. He plays the character with stiff expressions, which become more animated as he warms to the council members. He adds that he drew on his memories of attending an all boys’ middle school and high school, a time he feels nostalgic for now.

In contrast, Yooseok’s initial instinct is to defend Shinwoo’s first impression. “Outside he may look very cold, but inside he’s a very, very warm person,” he says. Shinwoo’s love language is acts of service; he will stand in silence but show up with a box of band-aids the moment Taekyung is hurt. “He’s not really comfortable expressing his feelings in words and even though he’s very simple and uncomplicated, I think he’s comfortable showing his emotions through his actions.” While Shinwoo’s fans might feel sad watching his inability to convey his feelings through words, Yooseok is quick to reassure them. “Maybe someday there will be a time that Shinwoo will say what he wants to say," he says. "They say that if you wait, it gets more precious and the words get heavier.”

Lee Saeon as TaekyungCourtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA
Kang Yooseok as ShinwooCourtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA
Choe Chanyi as Shin DaonCourtesy of WHYNOT MEDIA

Up until this point in our interviews, my face in the frame has obscured my Zoom background: a picture of the dildo scene that flooded social media following the first episode. When I move aside to reveal it, Yooseok grins and Saeon laughs heartily. “This scene was shot on the first day,” Saeon explains. “Even though this is a school for boys, they do have sex education, so after that class Shinwoo was going and dropped the dildo.” On screen, Taekyung attempts to return the dildo, but trips and ends up just inches away from impaling Shinwoo with it. “I didn’t really have fun shooting it,” he adds. “Though the situation was really funny, since Taekyung is a mellow guy, I couldn’t really show [my true reaction].” Yooseok, on the other hand, felt the awkwardness tenfold. “Of course we had met each other about five times before because of the read-through, but we weren’t as close as we are now, so it was kind of awkward. The atmosphere, everything, was awkward.” At least they can laugh about it now.

In a later episode, Taekyung wears a jersey that labels him as the “ultimate cutie” of the student council. “I agree 200%,” Saeon says, jumping at the chance to weigh in when asked, prompting my request for him to drop his skincare routine. “My skin? First of all, I wash well. And after wearing make-up I try to wash it off as soon as possible. I kind of think that skin-wise, I’m born that way,” he laughs. His confidence stokes envy, but he’s so damned charismatic it comes across as nothing but endearing. But Saeon has competition in the form of Yooseok, who says, “I do agree that Saeon is 200% cute, but I’m 201% cute.”

That leaves the million dollar question: Taekyung and Shinwoo, or Taekyung and Daon? “Shinwoo and Taekyung are cuter together,” says Yooseok, who laughs when I suggest that this makes them 401% cute, “so I hope everybody roots for them.” Lee Saeon, the star of the show, answers simply. “Taekyung.”

Light On Me is streaming now on Rakuten Viki.

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