My wife and I love Korean tv shows. In the one we're currently watching, the protagonist is an optimistic start-up entrepreneur whose dreams are crushed by the corporate machine. She loses her boyfriend, her career, and her company. Her team is broken up and her office is empty. And yet, after marinating in the rubble for a little while, she puts her hair back into a ponytail and starts again. We have a feeling her rebirth will end in success. Devoid of characters, K-dramas (and every story) would just be scenery snapshots. Protagonists and antagonists must grow and change throughout a story if they are to move us. Samwise Gamgee would be annoying if he didn't have a spark of loyalty. Darth Vader would be one-dimensional if he didn't save his son from a cruel death. We find these characters compelling - but why? Good stories nibble, grind, and pierce into our souls. They evoke emotions within us that sometimes pierce the veil of normality. They whisper (and sometimes shout)...