Doona focuses on a young college student’s life turning upside down when he crosses paths and begins a relationship with a former K-pop idol, as his high school crush renters his life.
Lee Won-Joon is a 20-year-old college student who moves into a sharehouse where one of his housemates turns out to be a former K-pop idol, Doona. They soon get into an unlikely friendship which blooms into a passionate romance.
However, their situationship becomes more complicated when Won-Joon’s high school crush with whom his romance never quite got the chance to bloom fully, reenters his life and he tries to reignite old feelings again.
Lee Won-Joon
Lee Won-Joon is a simple college student when he first meets Doona. He’s left a mother and an ailing sister back home to live in a sharehouse that’s near the college.
He stumbles upon Doona at the sharehouse, a vaguely familiar face that he finally manages to attach to the right person — a former K-pop idol who’s steeped in controversy at the moment and who his best friend is a die-hard fan of.
Their first meetings are rife with misunderstanding and Doona thinks he’s a stalker. Once it’s clear he’s not, they begin friends and Doona frequently teases him. Gradually, the two begin having feelings for each other.
Lee Won-Joon also has residual feelings for his high school crush Kim Jin-Joon. She also has had feelings for him but the two have never been able to open up and confess their true feelings because of miscommunication.
Kim Jin-Joon
Kim Jin-Joon always ranked second at her school, behind the one who always topped the rankings — Lee Won-Joon. She never could confess her feelings and when Won-Joon finally did, she was on cloud nine.
However, she couldn’t reciprocate the feelings immediately as her troubled family posed more problems for her and her sister. Her abusive father used to beat them for trying to do anything that displeased him or he deemed indisciplined.
She was too embarrassed and hesitant to share this with Won-Joon at the time and that hesitation was misinterpreted by him as a sign of her lack of romantic interest in him.
Won-Joon thought he was presumptuous and heartbroken, he’d leave and never meet her again for a year. They reunite in college and Won-Joon tries to reignite lost passion, continually getting disappointed, yet again misinterpreting and being clueless about her feelings.
When Jin-Joon finally reveals why she didn’t reciprocate the love back then, her family troubles at the time, and her love for him that’s always been there, it’s too late. He tells her that he’s moved on and now loves Doona.
Lee Doo-Na
Doona is a former pop idol who falls for Won-Joon’s innocent and naive charms. Where the world is full of hate and cynicism, he’s a beacon of sincere kindness and simplicity, a quiet that she’s been seeking for a long time.
However, she still has unresolved feelings for her agent, the manager who recruited her at a young age and groomed her to be a singer and dancer. She’d go on to become an idol beloved by millions.
However, the manager In-Wook was always a narcissistic man almost incapable of empathy. And yet, Doona has always wanted his approval and validation, and so when he returns to take her back to her old world, she automatically is drawn back to him.
This breaks Won-Joon’s heart, but Doona later returns and states she went with In-Wook to see who she really needs in life, and it’s Won-Joon.
The two begin a passionate relationship that flourishes until it’s time for Doona to go back to her career and singing.
Due to a total lack of communication, it becomes hard for Won-Joon to remain hopeful, and when she finally meets him, he gives up on their relationship, breaking up with her.
Years later, the two meet again and he apologizes to her for not fighting for their love more. The finale ends with the two gaining success in their respective careers but no clear signs of them being together in any meaningful capacity is shown.
However, the two have reconciled and the resentment is sure to be little to none after the tearful embrace they engage at their reunion.
Also Read: Doona! summary and ending explained
