Can You Hear My Heart: A stirring tale of love, joy, romance, family ties, and only a little murder.
Can You Hear My Heart
He's a deaf man who pretends he can hear. She's the daughter of a deaf mom who JUST SO HAPPENS to be the stepsister of his adopted father's bio son with his fake-dad's sister. Together, you'd think they were in a kdrama or something!
30-episode family dramas aren't most people's idea of a good time. I know this, I understand it, and yet I'm pimping CYHMH anyway, because this is the family drama that will change your mind about family dramas. You may think they're all the same or that they're just not your cup of tea, but a few eps of CYHMH and you'll be singing a different tune. It's that good.
If you like:
Awesome childhood eps
Well-done love triangles
Interesting storylines across multiple generations
Plots that converge when you least expect it
Families that are created, not born
Then this drama is for you.
This is Woo Ri! She's your standard plucky girl heroine, except she makes it awesome. Her first appearance is throwing someone in a river, chasing them home, and then kicking in their door because they owe her money.
That's just how she rolls.
Woo Ri lives with her (step)father, who's mentally handicapped. They never say what's wrong with him - since it's a kdrama, they probably just made it up - but he's basically very innocent and sweet. He raised Woo Ri as his own and doesn't understand or care that they're not blood-related. She's his daughter, and that's all he needs to know.
Basically, if you don't love them from the very first scene, you are a robot without feelings.
This is Jun Ha!
Jun Ha is Woo Ri's stepbrother. He was a smart, stuck-up kid who hated his embarrassing dad and his embarrassing sister and his embarrassing life, so he eventually ran away and never looked back... until now.
No one knows that this rich successful doctor is actually the scrawny kid who's been "missing" for fifteen years. Woo Ri, in particular, has no idea that this hot stranger is actually her long-lost stepbrother.
Later in the drama he'll claim "I've never thought of her as a sister! Not now! Not in the past! Not ever!" Hmmmmmmmmm...
YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE THE OTP, RIGHT? Angst! Piggybacking! Ex-stepsiblings reunited after fateful childhood events! Except NO. You see, when Jun Ha was away all those years, he was with...
Dong Joo!
Dong Joo was another kid in their Great Predetermined Kdrama Destiny, which of course influences everything in the present.
Look at him. Now look at yourself. Now back to him. Sadly, you aren't him. Because you don't have a crooked bowtie of adorableness!
Dong Joo is deaf because of a childhood accident, but he uses a variety of tricks to pretend he can still hear. For example, headphones, lip reading, special doorbells, and snuggling up to Woo Ri to play the piano from memory.
Then!
Now!
THEY ARE SO ADORABLE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STAND IT. They're romantic and hilarious and full of nostalgia ("you liked me, right?" "no! you had a crush on me!"). They frequently run places hand-in-hand. Sometimes they cuddle and pretend it meant nothing in the morning.
YES. SHE GETS PIGGYBACKING FROM BOTH LOVE INTERESTS. BWAHAHA.
Of course, complicating things is the fact that the boys are "as close as brothers," which basically means they are SLASHY AS HELL.
Seriously, they spend more time sharing a bed than actual OTPs do. QUICK, LOOK AT THIS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE:
Congrats if you guessed "two fake-brothers sharing a tender moment while the woman they're supposed to be fighting over stands OUTSIDE, ALL ALONE, IN THE DARK, pressing her hands against the glass because she can only gaze longingly at their EPIC GAY LOVE."
BECAUSE THAT'S CLEARLY WHAT IT IS.
The kicker? Jun Ha is Dong Joo's father's son. Except Dong Joo isn't. So even though they have the same dad, they're... still not actually related.
WHICH WOULD MAKE PORN OKAY!
If you're confused by the family tree, don't worry, it makes sense once you watch it. Mostly. Sometimes. Um... LOOK, JUN HA IN THE SHOWER!
Plot.
Just to recap, your shipping options are:
1) Childhood sweethearts uniquely suited for each other in every way
2) Ex-stepsiblings finally reunited after fifteen years apart
3) Slashy pseudo-brothers who sleep in the same bed and say things like "hyuuuung~!" and "do you love me?" and "you can't! we're brothers!"
Or you could just go for the threesome. At one point someone asks Woo Ri which guy is her boyfriend because they honestly couldn't tell. My subs called it a "triangular relationship."
I also want to mention Young Gyu, who is seriously one of the best things in the drama. He's so wonderful and warm and amazing and the text DOESN'T PATRONIZE HIM! He isn't one of those ~sunny disabled characters~ dramas love so much. Young Gyu actually has relationships and dreams and depth. He has OTPs. He's allowed real feelings.
Feelings that will sometimes break your heart, but still. Feelings!
Young Gyu cheering up his mother.
Young Gyu sleeping while his long-lost son touches his face because he isn't ready to come back home. (WAHHHHHH)
YOUNG GYU AND DONG JOO, BFFS FOREVER.
IT'S SO UNLIKELY AND YET SO PERFECT AND YOU WILL CRY. LITERALLY. THEY ARE SO HEARTWARMING, AUGH.
Also amazing? The secondary girl is NOT A LOVE RIVAL. She's interested in the guys but she deliberately flirts with both of them because she doesn't really care which brother she marries, she's "keeping her options open" (HAHAHA). She and Woo Ri get drunk together and bitch about men.
Basically, this drama is amazing and adorable ACROSS MULTIPLE GENERATIONS and there is no reason at all not to watch it. Not unless you just HATE HAPPINESS.
He's a deaf man who pretends he can hear. She's the daughter of a deaf mom who JUST SO HAPPENS to be the stepsister of his adopted father's bio son with his fake-dad's sister. Together, you'd think they were in a kdrama or something!
30-episode family dramas aren't most people's idea of a good time. I know this, I understand it, and yet I'm pimping CYHMH anyway, because this is the family drama that will change your mind about family dramas. You may think they're all the same or that they're just not your cup of tea, but a few eps of CYHMH and you'll be singing a different tune. It's that good.
If you like:
Then this drama is for you.
This is Woo Ri! She's your standard plucky girl heroine, except she makes it awesome. Her first appearance is throwing someone in a river, chasing them home, and then kicking in their door because they owe her money.
That's just how she rolls.
Woo Ri lives with her (step)father, who's mentally handicapped. They never say what's wrong with him - since it's a kdrama, they probably just made it up - but he's basically very innocent and sweet. He raised Woo Ri as his own and doesn't understand or care that they're not blood-related. She's his daughter, and that's all he needs to know.
Basically, if you don't love them from the very first scene, you are a robot without feelings.
This is Jun Ha!
Jun Ha is Woo Ri's stepbrother. He was a smart, stuck-up kid who hated his embarrassing dad and his embarrassing sister and his embarrassing life, so he eventually ran away and never looked back... until now.
No one knows that this rich successful doctor is actually the scrawny kid who's been "missing" for fifteen years. Woo Ri, in particular, has no idea that this hot stranger is actually her long-lost stepbrother.
Later in the drama he'll claim "I've never thought of her as a sister! Not now! Not in the past! Not ever!" Hmmmmmmmmm...
YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE THE OTP, RIGHT? Angst! Piggybacking! Ex-stepsiblings reunited after fateful childhood events! Except NO. You see, when Jun Ha was away all those years, he was with...
Dong Joo!
Dong Joo was another kid in their Great Predetermined Kdrama Destiny, which of course influences everything in the present.
Look at him. Now look at yourself. Now back to him. Sadly, you aren't him. Because you don't have a crooked bowtie of adorableness!
Dong Joo is deaf because of a childhood accident, but he uses a variety of tricks to pretend he can still hear. For example, headphones, lip reading, special doorbells, and snuggling up to Woo Ri to play the piano from memory.
Then!
Now!
THEY ARE SO ADORABLE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STAND IT. They're romantic and hilarious and full of nostalgia ("you liked me, right?" "no! you had a crush on me!"). They frequently run places hand-in-hand. Sometimes they cuddle and pretend it meant nothing in the morning.
YES. SHE GETS PIGGYBACKING FROM BOTH LOVE INTERESTS. BWAHAHA.
Of course, complicating things is the fact that the boys are "as close as brothers," which basically means they are SLASHY AS HELL.
Seriously, they spend more time sharing a bed than actual OTPs do. QUICK, LOOK AT THIS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE:
Congrats if you guessed "two fake-brothers sharing a tender moment while the woman they're supposed to be fighting over stands OUTSIDE, ALL ALONE, IN THE DARK, pressing her hands against the glass because she can only gaze longingly at their EPIC GAY LOVE."
BECAUSE THAT'S CLEARLY WHAT IT IS.
The kicker? Jun Ha is Dong Joo's father's son. Except Dong Joo isn't. So even though they have the same dad, they're... still not actually related.
WHICH WOULD MAKE PORN OKAY!
If you're confused by the family tree, don't worry, it makes sense once you watch it. Mostly. Sometimes. Um... LOOK, JUN HA IN THE SHOWER!
Plot.
Just to recap, your shipping options are:
1) Childhood sweethearts uniquely suited for each other in every way
2) Ex-stepsiblings finally reunited after fifteen years apart
3) Slashy pseudo-brothers who sleep in the same bed and say things like "hyuuuung~!" and "do you love me?" and "you can't! we're brothers!"
Or you could just go for the threesome. At one point someone asks Woo Ri which guy is her boyfriend because they honestly couldn't tell. My subs called it a "triangular relationship."
I also want to mention Young Gyu, who is seriously one of the best things in the drama. He's so wonderful and warm and amazing and the text DOESN'T PATRONIZE HIM! He isn't one of those ~sunny disabled characters~ dramas love so much. Young Gyu actually has relationships and dreams and depth. He has OTPs. He's allowed real feelings.
Feelings that will sometimes break your heart, but still. Feelings!
Young Gyu cheering up his mother.
Young Gyu sleeping while his long-lost son touches his face because he isn't ready to come back home. (WAHHHHHH)
YOUNG GYU AND DONG JOO, BFFS FOREVER.
IT'S SO UNLIKELY AND YET SO PERFECT AND YOU WILL CRY. LITERALLY. THEY ARE SO HEARTWARMING, AUGH.
Also amazing? The secondary girl is NOT A LOVE RIVAL. She's interested in the guys but she deliberately flirts with both of them because she doesn't really care which brother she marries, she's "keeping her options open" (HAHAHA). She and Woo Ri get drunk together and bitch about men.
Basically, this drama is amazing and adorable ACROSS MULTIPLE GENERATIONS and there is no reason at all not to watch it. Not unless you just HATE HAPPINESS.