[Limelight·Woo Young-woo③] "It Was Like a One-Sided Love for a Cat"

Lee Junho as Kang Tae-oh
Many ideas reflected in lines: "Cats are close to free spirits"
Unrealistic exterior is regrettable: "I don't expect it to move as I want"

Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin) grows by communicating with unfamiliar people. The person who influences her the most is Songmu Team employee Lee Junho (Kang Tae-oh). Their first meeting is unusual. He shows interest in the special name that Woo Young-woo is aware of. Seeing the iron, which is evidence in the case, he also recalls a humpback whale. This hints at their relationship developing into a romance. Love between a non-disabled person and a person with a disability does not flow easily. Woo Young-woo is distracted by the case she is handling during their dates. She cannot resolve conflicts smoothly either. Feeling fear of others' gazes, she even asks for a breakup. Lee Junho holds on to her until the very end.

"My feelings for the lawyer are like unrequited love for a cat." "Un-unrequited love for a cat?" "Cats sometimes make their owners feel lonely, but just as often, they make them happy. (...) So let's not break up."

Cats do not routinely show submission like dogs do. The defeated side in a power struggle is no longer allowed in the group and is driven out. There is no reason to keep lowering themselves and showing submission. Science writer Steven Budiansky described this in his book About Cats: "A cat sitting on its owner's lap and receiving affection may be conflicted between the pleasant feeling of being petted and the unpleasant feeling of having its personal space invaded."

The lines reflecting the characteristics of cats were influenced by actor Kang Tae-oh's ideas. In the first meeting with writer Moon Ji-won, he said, "Lee Junho's feelings for Woo Young-woo are like a person walking a cat." A dog owner actively pulls the leash, but with cats, one walks a step behind, prepared for danger. Kang Tae-oh said, "This is a lesson I learned from raising Abyssinians named 'Nana' and 'Tata.'"

"Dogs can be trained, but cats are difficult. For example, if you tell a dog not to go near dangerous objects, the dog listens well. Cats don't. They are closer to free spirits, so it's better to remove the danger first. I felt that Lee Junho's way of loving Woo Young-woo was similar."

To communicate with animals, people usually face each other and exchange gazes. Cats are not trained for this. In any communication, the cat's own feelings are more important than the person's. While they may make their owners anxious, this actually benefits their health. According to the book Psychology of Human, Dog, and Cat Relationships by psychologists Serge Ciccotti and Nicola Gegang, many studies have shown that people living with cats are healthier than those who do not keep animals. Recently, it has also been proven that spending long periods with cats lowers blood pressure. Cats are mentally relied upon a lot and positively affect health.

For these reasons, Kang Tae-oh did not consider Lee Junho and Woo Young-woo's love a fantasy. He prepared it no differently from the romance he portrayed in previous works. "I did not approach it as love between a non-disabled and a disabled person. It might have appeared unrealistic. Even Junho is full of gentle and kind appearances. But he also honestly shows complex emotions. By acknowledging differences, they create an attitude to accept each other. I empathized a lot emotionally."

In a structure where a new case unfolds and is solved each episode, their love stands out even if it is secondary. Kang Tae-oh sincerely expressed feelings like hurt and regret even under conditions tailored to reactions. When Woo Young-woo says, "I will not date you," his visible reaction is a representative example. "Are you kidding now? Who just says they don't want to date and then leaves like this? Am I that, am I that ridiculous?" Lines that could be perceived as aggressive are actually a deep appeal based on the premise that the love has grown too big. This stirs Woo Young-woo's heart again.

Their love cannot escape a fantasy framework no matter how much realism is added. This is why Woo Young-woo is given codes like human victory. Viewers did not cheer by empathizing or identifying with the emotions of a person with autism spectrum disorder. They healed themselves by observing the process of overcoming all kinds of adversity. Kang Tae-oh regretted the unrealistic veneer cast over the acting. Since he was ready to see the world like a cat, it seems he still has lingering feelings.

"I hoped the process of loving a person with autism spectrum disorder would be more revealed. It was not easy to express it in a condensed way. Trying to convey it realistically, I was inevitably captivated by Junho's emotions for a while. Woo Young-woo never wished for things to go her way. If she had, she would no longer be Woo Young-woo."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.