On New Year s Eve, Kim Yoo-jung and Shin Dong-yup presented the 2021 SBS Drama Awards. And now for the winners of the 2021 SBS Drama Awards, Lovers of the Red Sky, Now, We Are Breaking Up, One the Woman, Our Beloved Summer, Racket Boys, Taxi Driver, The Penthouse 2, The Penthouse 3, Ahn Hyo-seop, Cha Ji-yeon, Cha Mi-kyung, Choi Hyun-wook, Choi Wooshik, Choi Ye-bin, Esom, Han Ji-hyun, Jin Seo-yeon, Jung Min-sung, Kim Da-mi, Kim Eui-sung, Kim Joo-hun, Kim Kang-hoon, Kim Min-ki-I, Kim So-yeon, Kim Soon-ok, Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Young-dae, Kwak Si-yang, Lee Hanee, Lee Jae-in, Lee Je-hoon, Lee Ji-won-I, Lee Sang-yoon, Oh Na-ra, Park Hyo-joo, Roh Jeong-eui, Shim So-young, Shin Chul-jin, Shin Dong-yup, Son Sang-yeon, Song Won-seok, Tang Joon-sang
Na-eun (played by Kwon Young-eun) is our final protagonist. The high school student is a bit on the heftier side, but has a genuine talent in song and dance. She also obsesses, as teenage girls often do, on romance. Her hyperactive fantasies get a boost when a mysterious figure named J leaves her candies and a love note. There are two logical candidates- Jin-beom (played by Cho Sung-jun) is bright and cheerful, always doing high fives. Kang-joon (played by Kim Min-ki-I) is an extremely cute member of a flash-in-the-pan since disbanded boy band, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Cho Sung-jun, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Park Se-hyun, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan
OK, so episode four was not the end of the story of Yoo-ra, the passive-aggressive girl fuming after her breakup, and Nam-ho, the gruff soccer player who lives next door. Why this story specifically of the three in the "Adult Trainee" omnibus needed an extra episode is unclear to me. It has by far the most generic plotline. But whatever editing should have been managed in the first two episodes, the third is a dramatic improvement where pretty much all the interesting stuff happens, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan
The second story of "Adult Trainee" isn t quite self-contained. Or at least, the end of the fourth episode was way more ambiguous than the one at the end of the second episode. But more importantly the story in general is a lot less interesting. Yoo-ra (played by Jo Yoo-jung) is a high school student who s still nursing her pride from a nasty breakup. So for somewhat convoluted reasons, she enlists the aide of her longtime friend Nam-ho (played by Ryeoun) to pretend to be her boyfriend, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan
In this era of unapologetic sex positivity, "Adult Trainee" makes the bold move of having its first two episodes be a self-contained story about the value in abstaining from masturbation. The timing of fortuitous, if probably coincidental, as we are in the midst of No Nut November. But in "Adult Trainee" the cause of masturbatory abstention is presented as more ongoing. High school student Jae-min (played by Ryu Ui-hyun) takes it up when his crush, the academically rigorous Ye-kyeong (played by Miyeon) expresses disgust at those who masturbate so excessively as to do it at school too, Adult Trainee, Bang So-min, Jeong Hyeong-geon, Jin Yoon-joo, Jo Yoo-jung, Kim Hyun-min, Kim Min-ki-I, Kwon Young-eun, Miyeon, Ryeoun, Ryu Ui-hyun, Yoo Hak-chan