If you’re heading in thinking that this drama is similar to Dream High. Think Again. It’s darker. Edgier.

The drama begins with a gloomy sequence from the future- seven of our characters are dressed in black – crying for someone as a yellow balloon flies up high.

Going back in time, we see a trio, one of the males is our leading man Jang Jae Hyun (Im Joo Hwan). He’s causing trouble with a drunkard on the street. In the midst of chaos, he pickpockets the man’s wallet and drops it in his friend’s hand, who finally hands the wallet to their nicely-dressed female accomplice.

Happy with their crime, they walk into an alley. The male accomplice suddenly backs the pretty girl against the wall, ready for some happy times. Jae Hyun gives them some space but the girl eyes his back uncomfortably until a group of men comes after them. Jae Hyun takes her hand and flees the scene.

Somewhere else, an internet sensation who goes by the name, Hades, makes his first public stage performance. His background is a mysterious. His face is masked. This is Ha Do Sung (Kang Dae Sung). Inside the waiting room, Do Sung worries about his mother. What if she knows I’m here? His manager, who is also his uncle, assures him that his mother doesn’t listen to Kpop. She usually skips the entertainment section in the newspaper. Just wear your mask and she won’t find out. He looks down nervously.

Cut back to Jae Hyun and his friends, they’ve lost each other. Turns out that his male friend is cornering another victim. This time, the female friend refuses to help and walks by just when the police arrive.

Seeing that his buddy is in trouble, Jae Hyun buttons up his sweater, flashes the girl a quick snicker, and heads towards the crowd. He poses as a detective from Kang Suh but one of the policemen is sharp and asks for his badge. Jae Hyun distracts the dumb men by pointing to someone behind their backs, “There! Catch him!” and runs off with his friend in the opposite direction.

His friend falls and sprains his ankle, so it’s up to Jae Hyun to lure the cops away.

At the same time, Do Sung’s stage performance begins. The vibrant lights fill the room and he’s rocking it.

Jae Hyun jumps on a motorcycle and speeds down the road until an Ajusshi runs right into him. The ajusshi falls to the ground while Jae Hyun collides into a wall. The Ajusshi struggles to stand up as a truck strikes him hard. Crap!

Jae Hyun stares at the accident he’s created, numbed. He needs to make a decision now. Stay and be arrested or run and escape the responsibility. He chooses the latter. I love the contrast of this scene. While Do Sung is hitting new heights in his career, Jae Hyun falls to rock bottom of his life.

After his stage performance, Do Sung is exhausted. On the other hand, his uncle is enthusiastic and ushers him to change costumes. They only have a 10-minute break. When he’s finally alone in the changing room, Do Sung looks at himself in the mirror. He lifts his hand and places it over his racing heart, remembering his mother words to him as a child:

“The only way for me to live is by hiding you…Mom lives so you can live too…”

She says they need to separate for a while. A while isn’t living the next decade separately right?

Do Sung takes off his mask and unbeknownst to him, a reporter has been hiding behind the racks. He starts snapping photos and Do Sung stares in shock. The reporter quickly runs outside the room and bumps into the uncle.

The guard catches him but the man is not new to this business as he throws the memory card to someone in the screaming crowd. I love the visuals of the breaking glass here, almost mocking a celebrity’s life. The moment someone has a hand on your stain, the pretty glass (status) shatters into hundreds of pieces, like your fleeting glory.

His uncle returns to the room, dejected. Hades looks on worriedly and dials a number. A woman picks up, it’s his mom. She wonders why he’s calling her today, it’s not on schedule. The crowd in the stadium continues to cheer for Hades but he’s not anywhere near the stage. His mother tells him she’ll send someone to clean up the mess but she can’t guarantee a second time. She lays out the condition, they’ll be over if it does happen again. Oh… very cold, this woman. Is he an illegitimate child of a big gun?

To end the night, he sings his title song – “Lunatic”. With a heavy heart. After the performance, he declares the death of Hades and bids goodbye, leaving the fans dumb-struck.

Jae Hyun hitches a ride on a truck and ends up in a music hall where the voice of an angel lures him into reality. The female singer is covering the song “Dream of Sanity.”

Tears stream down his tired face. The guilt is settling in and the singer continues to send chills down my spine with her high notes. Pay attention to the beautiful lyrics too.

He’s made up his mind. Jae Hyun asks a cashier for the hospital’s location of the accident concerning an old man but the girl is in a daze over Hades’ sudden disappearance. She brushes him off by saying that the old man got “fixed” so he should be fine.

Relieved by the news, Jae Hyun exhales and leaves the scene. Unfortunately, the boss comes back and announces to his co-worker/wife that the man was pronounced dead on the scene. *gulps* This is going to haunt Jae Hyun later…Sigh.

Next morning, Jae Hyun eats breakfast with his mother. She hurriedly shuts him off when he begins talking, saying that she doesn’t have money. He wonders whether she would remarry if he gets accepted into a university. She scoffs at her own son’s ridiculous dream. He breaks down his career choice – Dumb? Can’t do science. Temperamental? No patience to learn. So maybe, he could be…an actor?

Jae Hyun explains how he came across this idea by meeting a female singer. His heart was pumping, pumping, pumping, yunno? The mother gives him a quiet stare and he quickly dismisses the idea, a university is costly anyway.

However, the witty mother understands the feeling he described (of course, parents are once young too!), he feels alive for the first time. She hands over her savings and teases, “PUMP! PUMP! PUMP!” Awwww!

The next day, he’s ready to become a new man. He gives his female friend some background information and asks her to fill the application for him. She searches for “Musical” with a devilish smile. Girl, please.

At a train station, our first female lead appears, Park Tae Hee (Kim Ji Won), wearing a red beanie. She’s heading to find the school for her audition. As she sits down, the camera pans out and we see the dead old man from the previous night sitting by her side. He was her father. o.o They have their daily back-and-forth conversation like he was still alive… He asks, “Are you sure you’re going in the right direction?” which makes her nervous. She confirms with a stranger, Jae Hyun, of course. Who just got a Secret Garden‘s flashback?!

At the university, potential students practice their talents diligently. One of them is a nervous Kim Byung Hyun (Jo Jung Suk) who faces the wall and fusses about his puffy eyes and strained voice. The door smacks open and the man tells them the rules – do not disclose your name or previous university. The next 15 students head in for their audition. Another applicant bumps slightly into Byung Hyun and sends him twirling to the ground. He’s applicant number 137.

Byung Hyun breathes heavily until an angel’s voice rings in his ears. It’s an experienced actress, Eun Chae Young (Jang Hee Jin). She calms his tangling nerves by saying that everyone would have the same mentality if they’re put in the same condition. She smiles and he’s about to clean the floor she walks on.

In the audition room, the main judge is Professor Yang (Kim Mi Kyung). She has no time for leisure talks and rushes the first applicant to go right in. Outside, Jae Hyun finally arrives on campus. But…he needs to find the right building.

Jae Hyun demands the location from a security guard with an attitude. Dang, I want to ball him right in that disrespectful mouth! The security guard isn’t about to give the brat an answer and tells him to check the application form, which he does, and finds out he’s signed in as a musical major. His jaw drops. “What? WHYYYYYYYY?”

While this is going on, our bumbling girl, Tae Hee, is running back and forth in the background trying to locate the same building. hahaha!

Next contestant is Eun Chae Young. Everybody knows her as an actress so they’re wondering why she’s applying to be a musical major. She tells them on her high horse, “Should I give an honest answer? Or give an answer like this is a press conference?” Professor Yang replies with a hard edge, “We can read the answer from a newspaper. So just answer honestly.”

Forming the last girl of our female characters is Oh Doo Ri (Lim Ju Eun). She’s standing outside with her mother. Looks like she’s the focus type and only pretends to smile to keep her mother entertained.

Tae Hee is still roaming the campus, trying to find the building. The security guard loses his patience and approaches her. She cries tearfully, explaining that this place looks different as compared to the last time she was here. It was snowing! Girl, girl! Shut down those tear glands immediately! Just a small matter. keke

Inside the audition room, Chae Young responds like a pro, she wants to star in a musical and avoid being scolded like a newbie. She aspires to learn it properly.

It’s Byung Hyun’s turn and he can barely bring out a note. Singing? No. Acting? Too wooden. Memorizing lines? YAYYYYYY!!

Aha! Look who we find sitting in a corner, waiting for his turn? It’s Do Sung! Coming to his side is Tae Hee and she asks if they can practice together. Then…sitting down next to her is Jae Hyun. He asks them, “What’s musical major?” The duo gapes at him. hehe.

In the audition room is Doo Ri. She’s acting but the judges are bored out of their minds. She allows her personality to seep in and takes over. She walks straight to Professor Yang while expressing explicitly that she wants to live according to her principles and ideas! It’s my life. Charisma? Ding Dong!

It’s Tae Hee’s turn now. Before she goes in, she gives Do Sung an adorable hi-five. I think I’m going to like this bumbling pair. =D

Inside, she starts reciting about snakes, scaring the hell out of the judges because she’s so into it. Honestly, she looks possessed. haha!

Tae Hee runs outside after her audition. Do Sung immediately raises his hand up for another hi-five but she leaves him hanging. Aw!

Finally, it’s Jae Hyun’s turn. He comes unprepared and asks for some music. The director’s assistant is confused since there’s nothing written in his papers. Jae Hyun turns mischievous and blames the music director, An Jung Tae, for losing his CD. He even cunningly adds in “Hyung” at the end to make it seem like they’re close friends. Angry, the director’s assistant lunges at him just seconds before Jae Hyun shouts an end to his acting performance. Dang! He’s so quick on his feet. He fooled everyone!

It’s Do Sung’s turn but he’s too tense to utter out a proper sound in the first minute. Gradually, the music takes over, allowing his soul to be free. Do Sung stuns the judges with his Korean rendition of “This Is The Moment” originally sung by Jekyll and Hyde. And earns himself a new fan, the camera director.

Alice: I like this. I went in thinking it would be like Dream High. Other than the theme of music, both dramas are different. In terms of acting and characterization, this one is better and bolder.

Although the theme of death is prominent throughout the episode, I like that the twin brother, Rebirth, is always foreshadowed through the little cracks of each character. Hades is no longer alive, but Do Sung is finally able to live as a person with his face. At the same time, Jae Hyun recognizes the purpose of life through the eyes of death. It’s a hefty motivation. Let’s see where the writer takes this.

I’m a bit worried about Tae Hee. Her character is bubbly so far but this type of females usually bug the heck out of me by the third week with their overly dense head.

Doo Ri seems more like my type. I saw her short hair in episode 2. Me like her already!