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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Park Jin-young, Kim Min-ju
Latest Nielsen rating: 1.7 per cent
Idol-turned-actors Park Jin-young and Kim Min-ju lead the slow-burn slice-of-life romance Still Shining, which chronicles the evolving relationship between two characters from their school days into their early thirties.
Got7 member Park, who is fresh off the acclaimed Our Unwritten Seoul, plays Yeon Tae-seo, a school senior studying in Seoul with his brother Hui-seo (Sung Yoo-bin, Twelve).


Tae-seo is a straight-A student who could have his pick of universities, but after Hui-seo – a former athlete whose dreams were dashed thanks to an injury – starts being bullied, they go back to the countryside. They move in with their grandparents and enrol in a struggling rural school that may soon close down.
During the summer break, Tae-seo spends his time studying in the school’s library, which he shares with one other student – Mo Eun-a, played by former Iz*one member Kim Min-ju.
Both students are preparing for the all-important college entrance exams, but while Tae-seo is disciplined and diligent, Eun-a’s mind quickly wanders from the books in front of her. With no one else to talk to in the empty school, she takes to badgering Tae-seo.
A spark eventually develops between them during the hot summer, but just before the holidays end, Eun-a accidentally blurts out that she likes Tae-seo, driving an awkward wedge between them. Once the new term starts and the halls are again filled with activity, they both keep their distance and their heads down as they focus on getting into university.

Aside from the time they shared together, perhaps Tae-seo and Eun-a were able to sense the pain and suffering each of them harboured. Tae-seo’s parents both died in a car crash, the same accident that injured Hui-seo’s leg. The trauma is still fresh, which may explain why he is so devoted to his studies.
Tae-seo also suffers sharp and sudden ear pains, which a doctor attributes to study stress, but it would not be a great surprise if this ailment resurfaced in another form later on.
For her part, Eun-a lives with her father, Mo Seon-gyu (Kim Tae-hoon, Friendly Rivalry), who runs a small pension; it is not clear what happened to her mother. Eun-a is always scared to leave her father alone, as he has suffered from depression in the past and once tried to take his own life.
After a few months of going their separate ways, Tae-seo and Eun-a bump into one another in Seoul, which rekindles their connection from the past summer. They start seeing each other, but once they are accepted to university in different parts of the country, their incipient relationship is put to the test.

While Still Shining does not begin with any flash-forwards, its eventual reunion structure is already widely known. In classic K-drama romance fashion, Tae-seo and Eun-a will drift apart before reuniting later in their lives, at which point they will discover whether their first love can become a lasting one.
We also know that their fortunes will have changed as Tae-seo, despite his top grades and prestigious university, will eventually become a subway driver, leading an ordered life without dreams and aspirations. Eun-a, following in her father’s footsteps, will go on to work as a hotelier.
Those professions are telling, as these former lovers will wind up working in transient spaces that people move through but never linger in. We will have to watch the rest of the show to find out whether they are stuck while the world moves around them, or waiting to get off at the right spot.
Languid and pensive, Still Shining is conceptually appealing but is unlikely to suit all viewers. Its deliberate pacing leaves little room for narrative fireworks, while the melodrama simmering on the edges – past traumas and unspoken feelings – clashes against the series’ placid surface.

Director Kim Yoon-jin is known for Our Beloved Summer and Tell Me That You Love Me, while writer Lee Sook-yun is a classic melodrama scribe whose credits stretch as far back as 2001’s One Fine Spring Day.
Given the creative team’s pedigree in lyrical romance, Still Shining feels a little disappointing by comparison. This is a show that wants to take its time and demands patience, but it has yet to reward those willing to offer it.
Still Shining is streaming on Netflix.


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Starring Got7’s Park Jin-young and ex-Iz*one member Kim Min-ju, Still Shining is an appealing concept but is yet to reward viewers’ patience


Starring Got7’s Park Jin-young and ex-Iz*one member Kim Min-ju, Still Shining is an appealing concept but is yet to reward viewers’ patience.


Netflix K-drama Still Shining: Park Jin-young and Kim Min-ju star in slow-burn romance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Starring Got7’s Park Jin-young and ex-Iz*one member Kim Min-ju, Still Shining is an appealing concept but is yet to reward viewers’ patience

Starring Got7’s Park Jin-young and ex-Iz*one member Kim Min-ju, Still Shining is an appealing concept but is yet to reward viewers’ patience