Lee Won-Joon is one of the main protagonists in the bittersweet romance Kdrama, Doona. The character is played by Yang Se-Jong.
Lee Won-Joon is a sincere and rather pure-of-heart young man of 20 years of age when he moves from his home to Seoul, to live in a sharehouse where he stumbles upon a former K-pop idol, Doona.
When he learns about her identity and their misunderstandings are all cleared, Won-Joon’s life takes a drastic turn.
Moving to the city
Lee Won-Joon is a second-year civil engineering student who has to commute to his college in Seoul. However, now that his ailing sister is out of hospital, he can move to Seoul city and save a lot of time.
He goes to a sharehouse and begins living on the second floor. The other tenants include a fitness freak who’s aversed in relationships and another tenant who’s a bit too fast and loose with his relationships.
His mother is also not atop her health game and so he asks his best friend Kooksu to take care of her in his absence, and his friend is more than ready and willing to do so.
Moving on from old love
Lee Won-Joon had a major crush on Kim Jin-Joon back in school. However, when he did confess his love, she delayed her response because of some troubles in her family that she never had the courage to share with Won-Joon.
Meanwhile, he misunderstood this as her lack of interest or reciprocal feelings, and parted ways, until a year later they met again. Jin-Joon enters the same college as him and also becomes a private tutor like him to pay all the fees.
They keep running into each other and also happen to find themselves working at the same restaurant. Won-Joon still has feelings for her but thinks she still doesn’t, which is totally untrue.
He gets help from fellow tenant and latest friend Doona in trying to score dates with Jin-Joon and possibly have another go at their romance, but it’s all to no avail.
By the time Jin-Joon becomes clear with her feelings and confesses them to him, he has fallen hard for Doona and has to reject her, however painful it is to admit. He’s moved on.
Moving ahead to a bittersweet end
His romance with Doona really flourishes and both confess their true feelings to each other through words, actions, and emotions.
Their love is passionate, intense, and intimate, but also vulnerable because Doona has to contend with a lot of unprocessed and unresolved trauma and grief, in addition to conflicts about who she really wants to spend her days with.
She does eventually confirm that Lee Won-Joon is who she really wants to be with. And they do enjoy their brief time in pure bliss. However, bliss ends and the two have to drift away from each other as Doona has a real chance at a career comeback.
The opportunities come knocking for her but they also sever her communication with Lee Won-Joon for enough time that he gives up hope and when she meets him again, he breaks up with her.
He goes to complete his military service and Doona charts higher and higher as a solo artist. He completes his service and the two confront each other again, years later. He apologizes to her for not fighting more for their love and the two tearfully embrace each other.
The show ends with no clear indication of them being together. Instead, they are shown to be thriving in their respective careers. Doona continues to garner success and love, while Lee Won-Joon passed civil servant exams and bagged a job.
Also Read: Doona summary and ending explained
