Jang Dong-yoon rekindles his dreams in Like Flowers in Sand

by solstices

Another teaser is out for ENA’s coming-of-age sports drama Like Flowers in Sand (previously The Sand Flower), offering further insight into our hero’s dashed dreams. He may be two steps away from giving up, but when a new manager unexpectedly joins the team, she becomes a much-needed ray of hope for our disheartened wrestler.

Jang Dong-yoon (Daily Dose of Sunshine) stars as the ssireum athlete Kim Baek-du, who opens our teaser with a shocking announcement — he’s retiring. As the youngest son of a renowned ssireum fighter, Baek-du once earned high accolades in his childhood days, enough to be called a young prodigy. Since then, though, his career has been on the decline.

Disbandment looms on the horizon for Baek-du’s ssireum team, so as a last-ditch effort, a new team manager is recruited. She’s Oh Yoo-kyung — played by Lee Joo-myung (Twenty Five Twenty One) — a no-nonsense lady who’s capable of toppling a grown man in the ring. It’s enough to make Baek-du gasp. Turns out Yoo-kyung is his childhood friend, although she answers his nervously-stuttered questions with a staunch denial.

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Yoo-kyung can’t believe how far Baek-du has fallen, and she’s determined to knock some sense into him (both literally and figuratively). “Just live the way you want,” she chastises, urging him to pursue what he likes and avoid what he doesn’t. For Baek-du, who’s lived his life in the shadow of his family’s legacy, Yoo-kyung’s words are deeply moving. Seeing her in a new light — one that inspires him to give ssireum another shot — he tells her: “It’s because of you. I returned because of you.”

It’s a pity we still don’t get to see the rest of the cast, because I’m excited for Kim Bo-ra — whom I loved in Finland Papa — as a cafe owner, and Lee Joo-seung (Black Knight) as a police officer and Baek-du’s best friend. Joining them are the elite high-flyer Yoon Jong-seok (Our Blooming Youth) and the ssireum ace Lee Jae-joon (So Not Worth It), who’ll likely rile up Baek-du’s competitive spirit.

Helmed by PD Kim Jin-woo (A Model Family) with scripts written by Won Yoo-jung (The Lies Within), Like Flowers in Sand premieres on December 20 in ENA’s Wednesday-Thursday slot, and will stream on Netflix.