Dowoon Lee

"He was a puppet. A puppet who didn't even know what happiness was."

— Taehun Seong in Episode 60

Lee Dowoon
Name
Korean	이도운
English	Dowoon Lee Do-un Lee
Japanese	宅間 圭 Takuma Kei
Basic Info
Gender	Male
Age	15
Height	167cm (5'5")
Professional Status
Status	Deceased
Occupation	Middle school student
Fighting Style	Taekwondo (yellow belt)
Relationships
Relatives	Unnamed father Unnamed mother Unnamed sibling
Appearances
Debut	Episode 55

Dowoon Lee (이도운, Lee Do-Un) is a minor character of Viral Hit.

Appearance

Dowoon is small for the average teenage Korean male. His complexion is very pale and skinny, with prominent bones. His hair is shaggy and naturally light brown; often confused with dying his hair. His eyes are light brown. He is noted to look very similar to Yoo Hobin.

Personality

He’s very upbeat and looks on the bright side of everything, albeit being quite naive. He is a people pleaser, not wanting to get into trouble so he doesn’t disappoint his father. He is described by Taehoon as someone who talks like he could never say no. Taehoon’s father describes him as a good kid, who’s extremely kind hearted, who doesn’t know what he wants, and does as he’s told and focuses on making his father happy. Taehoon’s father says that he is far from happy, telling Taehoon to look out for him.

Inspired by Taehoon, he becomes more reckless, even though it ultimately leads to his downfall.

Synopsis

Dowoon was first introduced by Seong Hansoo to Yoo Hobin, Gaeul, and Jiksae (Snapper). He debuted in chapter 55. Dowoon was first misunderstood as a massive delinquent that badly influenced Taehoon, but Hansoo told them that he actually influenced Taehoon in a good way. Dowoon first appeared where he was being bullied by three schoolmates about his hair colour, them thinking he was some sort of a 'wannabe delinquent'. Taehoon intervened in the bullying scenario, asking Dowoon if he was okay. Before Dowoon could show his gratitude, Taehun lands a kick to Dowoon's face, asking the others, "Why's this motherf*cker's hair brown?".^[1]

In scene one, three schoolboys are smoking outside of a school, talking about Chan Jeong, a leader of a crew that's called Skid, a teen motorcycle gang, who reportedly "f*cks anyone up if you pay him". Dowoon is asked for his opinion, while a classmate spits in his hand, using him as an ashtray. While harassing Dowoon for his hair colour and talking about how intimidated they were of him at first, Taehoon lands a flying side kick to the classmate's face, asking them to rate his kick score. When complimenting his kick score, Taehoon immediately throws a knee strike to a different classmate, telling them, "You shouldn't rate people like that. Think of it as a chance to become a better person." Taehoon notices Dowoon being used as an ashtray, slaps him, and then states that he was smoking. Tahoon drags Dowoon from his hair and says he's going to report him for smoking and dying his hair, before coming back to the bullies and advertising his father's Taekwondo Dojang.

Later on in the day, the setting is in said dojang, where no one is there except for Dowoon. Taehoon is outraged when he sees Dowoon, and accuses him of mocking him by coming. Dowoon is confused by Taehoon's outburst and accusation, saying that he came there because Taehoon asked him to. He shows him the flyer that Taehoon gave him, and was described by Taehoon as a "weird kid, who talked like he could never say no to anyone." Taehoon asks his father if he's a mama's boy, frustrated with Dowoon's overall appearance. This is the first time Dowoon tells him he wants to be a good kid for his parents (mostly his father, as his mother is not seen in the web-comic).

In episode 57, we get a peek in his daily life. He tells us that there are 5 rooms in his house; his dad's room, his mom's room, his sibling's room, his room, and the room inside his room. He says that his father is a self-made man, who has high expectations for him. His father tells him that he can and will be successful in the future. He admits that it's tough, but he doesn't want to disappoint his father because he feels like it'll make things tougher for him. He doesn't want to make things difficult for his father or make him worry. This marks a second time where he says he wants to be a good son.

While studying, he gets a text message from 'Master Seong' (Taehoon) telling him to clean the studio and get ready for class. He gets ready to leave his cramped room, sliding the door and finding his father on the other side, telling him that he has 13 minutes left, which is enough time to answer 4 more questions. When his father says this, it's a rather chilling scene, as he looks upon Dowoon with dull eyes. He grabs a hold of Dowoon's shoulder, telling him to spend his time wisely because his future depends on it. After this, he says again that he'll be a good son, ending with his father sitting right outside the small room, a chilling scene.

Afterwards, during the Taekwondo session, Taehoon looks at Dowoon and tells him he should beat his dad up. Dowoon is obviously surprised at this statement, looking up at Taehoon and asks him how he can say that. Taehoon asks him if he thinks it's normal for a father to treat his son like that, backing his question up by saying that Dowoon's father locks him up in a small room so he can study, ending it with calling Dowoon a puppet. He tells Dowoon that his father should be the one studying since he loves it so much, and that his life is his to live, not his fathers. After berating Dowoon, Taehoon tells him to check something out that he's going to do. Taehoon performs the 1080 kick, a kick he made and is planning to master. Dowoon stares in awe, describing the kick as the most beautiful kick he’s ever seen. Dowoon compliments Taehoon for his kick, as Taehoon says that he doubts there are more than 5 people in the country who can perform the 1080 kick. Dowoon quickly says that he’s late for cram school and needs to go, making Taehoon insult him before he leaves.

The next day at school, Dowoon is thrown into the lockers, being bullied for his hair colour again. Before one of the bullies lands a hit on his face, Taehoon walks in with his hair dyed the same colour as Dowoon, asking what’s wrong with having brown hair. The bullies are shocked, and anxiously compliment Taehoon’s new hair colour as Dowoon stares on with big eyes. Taehoon picks up Dowoon and drags him outside, saying that they’re taking outdoor classes today. They proceed to skip school, making Dowoon anxious about what his father might do.

Taehoon takes him to go get piercings, saying that he looks much better after getting his ears pierced. Dowoon is nervous about his ears, wondering what his father is going to say when he comes home when his father is calling him. When talking to each other, two girls come by and ask to hang out with them. Being called cute by one of these girls, Taehoon observes Dowoon’s body language, noticing how dorky he’s being around these girls. The girls invite them to go to a karaoke place and have fun, Dowoon reluctantly accepting the invite. During this, Dowoon thinks about how he shouldn’t be having fun, how he shouldn’t be enjoying himself, how he should be at his cram school studying, and not disappointing his father. When he’s taking pictures with the group, he gets one frame to himself, flipping off the camera.

When in the arcade, Taehoon asks Dowoon for 500 won, (0.40 USD) Dowoon says he only has his debit card with him. Taehoon shrugs it off, disappointed he couldn’t play the fighting game he wanted to play. Dowoon repeatedly says sorry, wishing he could lend him some because Taehoon is helping him have fun today. Taehoon, being annoyed, tells him to stop apologizing for everything. He tells Dowoon that he can borrow from the girls. Dowoon, however, apologizes again, saying that the next time they come into the arcade, he’ll lend him as many coins as he wants. This is the origin of the 500 won comment.

After beating Taehoon in a fighting game, Taehoon says he needs a smoke, and walks outside with one of the girls in tow. When playing a claw game, he closes in on her and asks how much they are paying her. She is surprised, as the gang leader, Chan Jeong, drives towards them, closing in on Taehoon. When asked to go and settle things elsewhere, he requests that they leave Dowoon alone, because he’s never been in a fight or anything similar. Chan Jeong snorts and tells him it’s not his problem, declining his request. Taehoon meets Munseong Kim for the first time, and they have their first fight. After winning the fight, Taehoon comes back to the arcade to see Dowoon perform the 1080 kick on Chan Jeong, surprising Taehoon on how he pulled off the kick Taehoon wasn’t able to. Still in shock, he realizes that Dowoon is the true Tae Kwon Do prodigy, not him. Dowoon asks where Master Seong is, noticing him and running up to hug him. Taehoon talks about how Dowoon made him feel despair for the first time in his life, and asks him to let go of him with an angry look on his face, jealous of Dowoon.

The day after that, he is in a school meeting with his father, talking about what happened the day prior. His father is told that Dowoon will have difficulty aiming for the prestigious science high school he was aiming for, absolutely furious from the statement. He tells Dowoon that he wants him to quit Tae Kwon Do. In the hallway of the school, he rips out the new piercings, and tells Dowoon to stop hanging out with Taehoon.

Dowoon is confused for the rest of the week, wondering why Taehoon avoided him at school. Dowoon had an idea as to why Taehoon is ignoring him, and it circles back to the 1080 kick he successfully made in front of Taehoon. He cries in a busy street, berating himself as to why he should’ve never done that kick, and that he’s sorry. When crying, he is snapped back into reality by someone asking him if he's crying, with him getting cut off and Taehoon playing in the arcade. Taehoon gets a phone call in the midst of a game from Dowoon, and picks it up. Instead of Dowoon, it’s Chan Jeong who answers the phone, telling Taehoon that Dowoon is with them.

When getting beat up by Chan Jeong, he doesn’t use anything to defend himself, only focused on the fact that Taehoon is coming, and that he’d be disappointed in him. He announces to the gang that he’s done with Tae Kwon Do.

After saying so, he is hit in the back of his neck with a large bat, his eyes void of any emotion. He lands on the ground, his eyes and mouth open with shock. He is being told by the gang members to get up, and that he’s faking the hit, only stopping when Chan Jeong repeatedly slaps the back of his head. Jeong checks the back of his head to see blood on his hand, cursing at his goons to run. He wonders why he is losing consciousness, saying he'll probably feel better after a nap.

It is raining by now, as Taehoon comes rushing to the scene, meeting with Dowoon’s head on the ground. The next scene shows Taehoon carrying Dowoon on his back, asking for help from the hospital. Dowoon is pronounced dead at this point, when we see Taehoon in front of Dowoon’s memorial. The only other person who shows up is Dowoon’s father, tilting to the side with no emotion. Taehoon feels regret, as he never had the chance to say sorry.

Dowoon never formally appears in the modern timeline, but Taehoon does think about him occasionally. He is first seen in Taehun's yearbook as Taehun looks through it. When asked if Taehun cares for Hobin because he resembles Dowoon, Taehun notes that Dowoon and Hobin are nothing alike.

Relationships

Taehun Seong

Taehun was one of Dowoon's only friends. He cared a lot about Taehun's feelings, and he blamed himself for Taehun's jealousy.

Dowoon's father

Dowoon wanted to please his father a lot. He wanted to be a good son even if it meant not experiencing life the way he wanted to. In his efforts to not cause trouble he did not fight back against Skid, which led to his death in the end.

Fighting Prowess

Dowoon was a promising fighter. Although he did not have much training, he quickly rose compared to Taehun. One of these feats was mastering the 1080 degree kick, something even Taehun could not do at the time though he was proclaimed a genius. Dowoon quickly dispatched of the Skid gang members in Taehun's absence, proving he could fight well on his own.

Techniques

• 1080° kick

Quotes

• "The next time we come to the arcade, I'll lend you as many coins as you want."

Trivia

• He was the only one who came in the Tae Kwon Do Dojang although Taehoon Seong advertised it everywhere.
• After the death of Dowoon, Taehoon starts attacking the friends of the people he bullied, which may be a reflection of what happened to Dowoon, who was attacked for being his best friend.

Gallery