Coffee Prince 9 &10

In episode 9 start off with Han Kyul exchanging gender roles as he is was wearing a feminine apron and was cooking for Eun Chan. Throughout the whole episode, it appeared to me as the show was trying to hard to speed up the process of Eun Chan and Han Kyul's relationship with one another. The series of bantering and flirting with each other really was just over the top for me, but for some reason made me feel awkward. It was as if the storyline had gotten so out of control that I began to feel bad for Han Kyul as he is the only one who does not know that Eun Chan is a woman.

Then as we progress into episode 10, we see Han Kyul really struggling with this emotions for Eun Chan. So much so, that he distances himself from her and even physically threatens her. This tortured Han Kyul is brutal to watch as we can see that he does not want to harbor these homosexual feelings yet, they are there and he can not ignore or suppress them. I thought the issue of "getting away with certain gender and sex behaviors" due to being "brothers" was an interesting spin and concept for the show and just in society. Here we have a case of being allowed to hold hands, hug, and show each other affection with the same sex as long as we notify society that we are "brothers" or "sisters" and then it okay. So how much flexibility does this provide a population who are not able to openly express themselves in a culture that is not gay friendly?

Another line that I caught was "society has changed" and this was being told to Han Kyul and that he should be alright with this feelings for Eun Chan and I think to myself, has it? Has society in Korea changed that it would not protest an openly gay relationship? What are the limitations, if any, society holds against homosexual relationships? I would like to research how the audiences took to the passionate kiss between Eun Chan and Han Kyul. Were there protests? Cheers? Did some viewers stop watching the drama due to the content? Even though, we all know Eun Chan is a woman and therefore okay for Han Kyul to be attracted to her, the writers are still pushing the envelope with the story and its character's actions.