K-drama may be
one of the most dangerous addictions that a person can form in a lifetime. It
starts innocently enough. You begin with your first taste, perhaps an episode
of “Descendants of The Sun”, “The
Heirs,” or “Doctors” You
curiously sit down for an episode, which turns into two or three. The Internet
becomes your friend as you get to know the characters and the actors. Welcome
to the world of K-drama Addiction. Here are clear signs that you are an addict.
A cure has not yet been found.
1. MARATHONING AND ALTERNATIVE WATCHING
If you didn’t
know what marathoning was, you sure do now. Unlike the serial season formatting
of many popular English-language shows, K-drama normally keeps it short and
sweet, giving the drama addict enough time to watch an entire show in a week,
or even in days. We watch drama while on our sofas, or stream Viki on our
phones while lying in bed. But on occasion, we stream via tablet on the
free-class. Alternative drama watching is all the rage amongst K-drama addicts.
Marathoning
leads to a phenomenon known as sleep loss. This happens when you watch most of
a Korean drama in one night and still have to get up for school or work. This
phenomenon keeps re-occurring despite the side effects of sleepiness, and the
desperate desire to finish out the drama. You make endless promises to yourself
that you’ll “only watch until the end of this episode.” In the end, you glance
at the clock at 5 A.M. after finishing five episodes because how can you stop
when you see your favorite actors have a romantic scene on that drama. Answer:
You can’t. And you don’t.
It doesn’t
matter how early or late you start. Once you start watching an episode, one
episode leads to ten more and before you know it, the sun has risen. The dark
circles under your eyes are worth it when you finally finish a good drama with
an equally good ending. But when the drama’s a disappointment, you suddenly
want to throw away your laptop.



