Here's The Reason Why Hyun Su Was Bullied in Sweet Home

Summary

• In the first season, we learned that Hyun Su was bullied in high school.
• The only reason for the bullying was that Hyun Su was kind to others.
• This is an allusion to the rigid hierarchy in Korean society.

South Korean action-horror drama Sweet Home, whose first season was adapted from the webtoon of the same name by Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan, holds a special place among Netflix's original series. Sweet Home immediately became one of the most popular shows on the streaming service when it was released in 2020, and while the second season received less favorable reviews due to its divergence from the manhwa storyline, fans are still eagerly awaiting the premiere of Season 3.

The story of a suicidal high school student trapped with other residents in an apartment complex called Green Home, filled with 'monsterized' residents, won over both general audiences and professional critics for its depth and allusion to contemporary social issues.

However, even four years after the premiere of Season 1, many fans are still wondering why the protagonist, Cha Hyun Su (Song Kang), was bullied in the first place.

Reasons Why Cha Hyun Su Was Depressed

Cha Hyun Su, brilliantly played by Song Kang, is introduced in the first episode of Season 1 as a suicidal teenager suffering from crippling depression. Of course, his mental health was largely influenced by the tragic events that led to the death of his entire family, but as we found out in the flashback in Episode 7, other factors may have been the trigger.

One such factor may have been Kim Do Hun (Ahn Do Gyu), the bully at Hyun Su's high school. He is a spoiled and pampered teenager who actively took advantage of his father's high position in society, so all of his pranks and antics that caused others to suffer went virtually unnoticed by the adults.

As we know, when the protagonist offered to buy him a drink, it immediately enraged the emotionally unstable Kim Do Hun, and as a result, he and his henchmen beat up Hyun Su. After that, the teenagers started harassing him on a regular basis.

Why Cha Hyun Su Was Bullied

When Hyun Su asked Do Hun why he was doing this, the bully answered with a very vague statement:

'I'll tell you why I'm doing this to you. The day you offered me those dirty coins, the sky was so clear. That's my reason.'

Of course, in principle there is no need to look for any meaning in these words. There was no point in bullying at all, that's the point. Do Hun just took advantage of the fact that Hyun Su's father is his own father's subordinate, and when you're allowed to do anything, you don't look for reasons to do what you want. Unfortunately, there's no room for morality and dignity in such an environment.

So the answer is simple. Cha Hyun Su was being bullied for literally nothing. Do Hun's wounded ego took Hyun Su's gesture of goodwill as an act of pity.

However, both the comic and the TV series do not use this flashback just to show violence again. Korean society before the apocalypse in Sweet Home is a mirror of what happened after. Sometimes people are much scarier than monsters.

As a result, Hyun Su is the one who goes against the toxic norms of a society built on power dynamics. He does not strive to be at the top of the hierarchy and does not differentiate between people based on their social status.

The very 'disease' presented in the story makes people feel superior to others by wallowing in their desires, and that is why Hyun Su, uninterested in societal expectations, manages to find a balance between his human and monster parts.

Sweet Home Season 3 is coming soon, on July 19, 2024.