“Sweet Home” Siblings Lee Do Hyun & Go Min Si Fall in Love in “Youth of May”

By Jae-Ha Kim
KOCOWA
May 31, 2021

Lee Do Hyun and Go Min Si are knocking it out of the park in the K-drama “Youth of May,” where their slow-burning romance is set against the tense backdrop of the Gwangju Uprising. The series title refers to the span of time (May 18 to May 27, 1980) when nearly a quarter million Korean citizens demonstrated against martial law. The official death count issued by the government neared 200 — most of them civilians. But student organizers and Gwanju residents argued that the figure was closer to 2,000 fatalities.

South Korea of that era wasn’t a democracy as we know it today. Brute force was used to limit both citizens’ personal freedom and stifle the press. (Some excellent films to watch about this era include  “A Taxi Driver” — starring “Parasite” actor Song Kang Ho — and Lee Chan Dong’s “Peppermint Candy,” which offers a brilliant time capsule.)

So far, “Youth of May” has been able to give viewers a feel for the tension of the time, while setting up the romance between Hee Tae (played by Do Hyun) and Myeong Hee (portrayed by Min Si). He is a rich man’s son who’s a medical student. His father wants him to marry a rich man’s daughter. Unlike Hee Tae, Myeong Hee doesn’t have the kind of family background that will open doors for her. She is a hardworking nurse who fends for herself.

I will admit that when I first started watching this, I had a difficult time. Why? Because I remembered them as brother and sister! Did anyone else watch the horror series “Sweet Home,” where Do Hyun played another med student and Min Si was his ballet dancing younger sister? They had a more contentious relationship, with Min Si regarding him as a straight and narrow do-gooder who — she felt — was stuck taking care of her. (His parents had adopted her.)

Which got me thinking: how many sets of actors played siblings in one series and then love interests in another? If you know, tell me, because all I can think about is Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum playing brother and sister in “Kill Me Heal Me.” I got a serious case of the heebiejeebies when his character began to think of her romantically. (SPOILER ALERT: She was adopted into his family. Even though they weren’t biologically related, they were raised together from a young age. So I side-eyed that part of the plot big time.)

But later that year (2015, for those keeping track), Seo Joon and Jung Eum reunited in “She Was Pretty,” where their characters (Sung Joon and Hye Jin) had been childhood friends. As adults,  he wants catch up with her. But not confident about her looks, she has her beautiful best friend pretend to be her and date him in her place. When he starts to like her friend … OK, that’s all I’ll tell you here.

Ironically, there’s a kinda/sorta similar plot line in “Youth of May.” When Hee Tae is set up on a blind date with Myeong Hee’s rich friend, Myeong Hee takes her friend’s place. And that’s how the two meet.

Are you watching “Youth of May”? What are your favorite elements of the series: the era it’s set in, the cast, or the writing? Let me know in the comments!