Like, Subscribe & Be My Friend?
Episode 1 of At a Distance, Spring is Green begins at Myungil University as freshmen are welcomed for the new school year ahead. Among those is Yeo Joon, an online sensation and a guy with hundreds of friends. He even has his own fan-club too! By comparison you have Soo-Hyun, who’s down on his luck and barely scraping by after working as many hours as possible. Caught in the middle of these two men is So-Bin, a junior who does her best to study for the upcoming TOEIC test. Soo-Hyun and Yeo Joon arrive ready for their lessons. Things immediately go awry when Yeo-Joon accidentally spills coffee over Soo-Hyun’s shoes. He apologizes and tries to pay Soo Hyun but he refuses, calling him a human ATM and shuffling off. This human ATM comment is especially true that night as Joon is invited out for drinks and food. Only, he’s the one whose been paying for all this. As he heads into the shop to pay for now supplies, Soo-Hyun happens to be there working. Joon tries to encourage him to join them after work. Soo-Hyun is having none of it and flat-out refuses. The truth is, Yeo Joon doesn’t really have real friends. These guys with him are clearly leeches and just using him for his money. Deep down, Yeo Joon seems to know this too but he puts on a brave face nonetheless. So-Bin arrives at her dorm but finds herself sharing a room with a woman named Min-Joo. She’s not exactly compatible with So-Bin’s work ethic, and it seems like the pair are going to have a long year ahead of them. The next day, So-Bin heads out to chaperone the freshman trip alongside Soo-Hyun. While Soo-Hyun manages to keep everything under control, So-Bin is less effective. At least to begin with anyway. As they head to the meeting spot, So-Bin continues to cast glances at Yeo Joon, who teases her and asks if she likes him. Eventually she scarpers away. So-Bin eventually catches up with Soo-Hyun instead. In the past they were assigned the same task but Soo-Hyun was the one who did the most work on the project. He managed to obtain an A+ but So-Bin only received a mediocre grade. Part of this comes from an email she sent that he claims he never received. As we soon come to learn, it actually ended up in his spam folder. When Soo-Hyun finds out later in the episode, he promises to make it up to her soon. Soo-Hyun has less enthusiasm toward Yeo Joon. He calls the boy insecure although Yeo Joon promises Soo-Hyun will let his guard down soon and they’ll be friends. It seems Yeo Joon is almost talking about himself here, especially later on when we receive a flash of his past. Thisn depicts Yeo Joon as a child, scared on account of his Father seemingly abusing his Mother. This brief flash paves way for So-Bin and Yeo Joon to start growing closer together. After patching up his cut lip, the next day the pair discuss the bungee jump and whether they should do it together. They eventually do and So-Bin faces her fears. On the back of this, Yeo Joon promises to give up his position with the research gig and hand it over to her. However, this university is about to get shaken up when a guy called Jun-Wan shows up, He’s transferred there and he’s going to start giving lectures starting the next week. This clearly affect Yeo Joon though, as it seems there’s a dark history between them. When class is cancelled later that week, Soo-Hyun manages to see through Yeo Joon’s tough façade. Yeo Joon suddenly changes, especially when Soo-Hyun accuses him of have an over-inflated ego, and questions the boy over his motives. As things turn heated, So-Bin shows up around the corner as this issue is left unresolved.
The Episode Review
Money can’t buy happiness and likewise, money can’t buy true friendship either. This seems to be the message in KBS2’s latest drama, picking up where Youth of May left off for another romantic drama. Of course, there’s no uprisings in this show, unless you count the brewing conflict between Soo-Hyun and Yeo Joon. The pair have good chemistry though, which is only further accentuated by the inclusion of hard-working So-Bin. She’s clearly going to be playing the leading female catch in this upcoming love triangle, with lots of questions remaining over how this conflict is going to play out. Either way, the first episode sets things up nicely with an introduction to our trio of characters and a simple but effective hook. The acting all round has been good, and the light bites of comedy provide a relief for what’s likely to be quite a dramatic season ahead. The coming of age vibes are strong with this and just like that bungee jump, we’ll be plunging in hard to these character relationships and ensuing drama. Roll on the next episode!
