Anyways, here's I go.

Drama to view? Navillera, the central plot is heartwarming and all that, but I want to get to the dirty stuff only. And that's my favorite character: Yang Ho Bum.

Early on, we know at least three things:

He torments Chae-Rok out of resentment.

He has given up on life in a way.

He was abused physically by Chae Rok's dad.

Since the first moment the abuse he endured was revealed, I grew some sympathy for him. Yes, he's mean, and has done bad stuff to Chae-Rok, but he's a complex human, with broken wings.

It's true, Chae-rok was abused by his father too, he disclosed this information more than once. He has moved on, and everyone keeps telling Ho Bum to move on too.

For Ho Bum, this was it, it was his dream, his long shot for something grander than him. For Chae Rok, it was an obligation he held towards his father. He found ballet to truly be his passion.

But, imagine being Ho Bum: Poor, abused by a parental figure, literally beaten with a bat in front of his teammates, struggling to heal, and everyone keeps telling you to move on. How do you move on? Forgive and forget? Why does it always turn to this?

Chae rok should forgive his father, Ho Bum should forgive his coach. Why? It's okay to resent someone, to keep them at an arms' distance, to shield themselves from further abuse. In my opinion, and from my experience, it's okay not to forgive your abuse, instead, you should forgive yourself for the blame you put on yourself.

They were teens! No one told Ho Bum there was something else beyond his dream, no one told him he could pick up his broken wings and fix them. He didn't have that luck. And he didn't have the will, because his spirit was broken countless time.

Ho Bum is the perfect example of the flea circus analogy. And so is Chae Rok, they are just two different people, and that's okay. The flea circus analogy refers to someone who wants to break free and jump high, but, in order to be trained, and to break their spirits, fleas are put in a jar, and they learn to take little jumps in order to not get hurt.

Chae Rok escaped from it, his dance teachers helped him do so. Ho Bum didn't, he learned small leaps were the way to survive in this life. How could Chae Rok jump so high? Ho Bum wanted Chae Rok to learn what he was forced to learn, take small leaps, be quiet and don't complain. Small leaps will stop this society from hurting you.

No one had hopes for Ho Bum. Enter Mr. Shim, the first person in years to tell Ho Bum he could soar too, he was still young, he still had a chance.

Don't get me started on Chae Rok's father, I'm going to see red with his bs reason to treat Ho Bum the way he did. How did he go from I want you to heal that injury to lemme give you a good beating with a metal bat?

The mentality of forgiving your abuser in order to heal is bs too.