From the writer behind the masterpiece dramas My Mister and My Liberation Notes, Park Hae Young returns with We Are All Trying Here, starring Go Youn Jung, Koo Kyo Hwan, Oh Jung Se, Park Hae Joon, and more.
The drama follows people whose lives are weighed down by envy and jealousy as they search for peace and healing.
It centers on The Eight Club, a group of friends who formed their bond as students and promised to rely on one another. As adults, they all became respected directors and producers in their fields...except for one member, Hwang Dong Man, who was left behind.
Hwang Dong Man is seen as a pathetic loser by his friends. In their circle, he is the only one who still hasn’t debuted as a director. At 40 years old, he works as a teacher, but he’s losing students every day because they don’t believe in what he’s teaching. He’s overly passionate, yet his own life doesn’t reflect his words. To make ends meet, he also takes on part-time jobs, but it’s still clearly not enough.
His brother wants him to quit chasing his dream and work in construction instead, so he can have a stable income. After all, it’s been 20 years and nothing has happened. But Dong Man is stubborn and refuses to give up, continuing to work on his screenplay day and night.
"If I can't prove myself by succeeding, I'll prove myself by falling apart."
This was the phrase he was screaming at the top of his lungs when he went home frustrated.
Park Gyeong-se is a highly successful director with many achievements, but he is obsessed with proving that he is different from Hwang Dong Man. Because of this, he works relentlessly, and his entire life nearly revolves around that goal.
Lee Jun Hwan so far, he is the only one who has been genuinely listening to Hwang Dong Man's blabbers. He's always there for him helping him out in times of needs. When everyone else do not care to listen, sympathize and show up for Dong Man, it is him who does all that. What a true friend. I would want to know the backstory of their friendship because he's doing all that despite the pressure of their other friends disliking him.
Choi Hyo Jin is a producer who is also part of the group of friends who are very frustrated with Dong Man. She calls him a “walking corpse,” like in Sixth Sense—suggesting that he doesn’t realize he’s already “dead” in a metaphorical sense.
What she means is that, in their eyes, Dong Man is completely overlooked and dismissed, yet he himself doesn’t seem aware of how little he matters to them. So he just continues on, as if nothing is wrong, even though everyone else has essentially stopped caring about him.
Kang Mal Geum is Park Gyeong-se’s wife. She’s very straightforward, the only one brave enough to tell Dong Man to his face that the group doesn’t like him.
After witnessing how much stress her husband has been carrying because of Dong Man (to the point that it stressed her out too), she decided to step in. To protect Gyeong-se from self-destruction, she spoke on behalf of the club members and officially cut ties with Dong Man.
Lee Gi Ri and Woo Seung Tae are also members of the Eight Club. They’re clearly irritated and annoyed with Dong Man too, but they don’t have the courage to confront him or say it to his face.
Now that we're done with the members of The Eight Club, let me mention other important characters too let's start with the Female Lead, Byeon Eun-A.
Byeon Eun-A works as a producer at Choi Film. She used to be called “The Axe” because of her sharp and brutally honest screenplay reviews during her rookie days. However, a few years later, that edge started to fade, making her the target of her boss’s constant frustration.
This sudden change in her work performance was heavily affected by her painful breakup with her boyfriend.
Hwang Jin Man is Hwang Dong Man’s older brother and legal guardian since they’re the only family they have left. He’s the one supporting them financially, especially since Dong Man’s income is unstable.
While he tries his best to take care of him, he also wants Dong Man to give up his dream of becoming a film director because years have passed without any real progress.
Even though he often feels frustrated, Jin Man still stands by his brother no matter what, even when Dong Man is being looked down on or pushed around by their old friends.
Park Yeong Su is the council member of The Eight Club. He tries to support the younger members and keep the group together, including Hwang Dong Man. However, even he can only hold things together for so long, especially when most of the members eventually want Dong Man out of the group.
Choi Dong Hyeon is Byeon Eun A’s boss and the CEO of Choi Film, where most successful members of The Eight Club work. He is the first outsider from the group to directly tell Dong Man to give up his dream and leave the film industry. He also adds pressure on Eun A, as her performance at work has noticeably declined under his strict expectations.
So far, I’m really loving the vibe of this drama. The cast is incredibly talented, and their acting feels so natural that everything comes across as very believable. The script is also well-written, with lines that really hit the heart because they’re so relatable.
The story makes you curious about every character, and even though Hwang Dong Man is a flawed protagonist, I can’t help but root for him. His never-give-up mindset is what makes me so attached to him. I want him to find someone who truly believes in him and his vision, and one day prove everyone wrong.
I’m really looking forward to seeing if Eun A becomes that person for him, and I’m curious how they might end up improving each other’s lives as they grow together.
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