First Impressions: "Light Of Dawn" Is A Moody And Suspenseful C-Drama Perfect For Mystery Lovers
Long hidden secrets, a sudden accident, and a long buried skeleton entwine the fates of two individuals: Gao Feng (Zhang Ruo Yun) and Wu Fei Fei (Ma Si Chun), who probably would have never met. However, a chain of events brings them together. Both in search of their identities, they realize that their lives are not only interconnected, but also that they could probably have something to do with the city’s long concealed dark history. As they join forces with the police to investigate, the two must confront some unpleasant truths which will put their futures at stake.
“Light of Dawn” is as taut as it is gripping, with plenty of twists and an engrossing plot. Here’s what you can expect from the drama so far!
Warning: spoilers from episodes 1-4 ahead.
Gao Feng has been searching for his biological parents for as long as he can remember. But it seems the mere mention of his parents, especially his mother, is forbidden. His foster parents refuse to divulge the truth, preferring to keep him in the dark.
He enrolls at the police academy, a decision that creates a rift between him and his foster father. Gao Feng continues to rebel against his adoptive parents, hoping that someday they will tell him who his parents were, or at least something about his mother, of whom he still carries faint memories. The relationship remains strained until one day when his foster father dies.
His death, too, is shrouded in mystery. Did he die of natural causes, since he was grievously ill, or was it premeditated? As Gao Feng probes further, he draws a blank. Neither his foster mother nor the local detective want to tell him the truth, instead asking him to let it go.
However, this only strengthens his resolve as he investigates his foster father’s last few days. He discovers that his foster father had been meeting a mysterious woman near the town square. On further probing, he learns that his foster parents had been paying large sums of money to a scammer who knew the truth about his mother.
But what is the relationship between the strange woman in a beanie and his foster parents, and why do all roads lead to the gigantic lion statue in the town square? As Gao Feng keeps hitting dead ends, far away in a mansion, Wu Fei Fei is dealing with a ghastly secret of her own.
Fei Fei is the only daughter of one of the city’s wealthiest men. She is all set to marry her childhood sweetheart, Xu Zhi Yang (Ren Bin), the son of a company’s co-founder. Their marriage is a business alliance, though the facade maintained is that both Fei Fei and Zhi Yang are in love. But are they really?
Fei Fei has an altercation with Zhi Yang’s mistress, Wang Dan, who has been blackmailing her and threatening to make compromising pictures of Zhi Yang public ahead of the wedding. As the two women get into a heated argument, Fei Fei pushes Wang Dan, who falls unconscious. Thinking she has killed her, Fei Fei drives away, only to return and find that the body has disappeared.
As she traces Wang Dan’s whereabouts, Fei Fei discovers that the woman is in a hospital and that people around her have been paid off for their silence. Fei Fei’s father confesses that it was he and his men who caught Wang Dan. Well aware of Zhi Yang and Wang Dan’s relationship, the woman now in an unconscious state has been placed under strict vigilance in the hospital.
Fei Fei’s father wants the couple to marry and insists that he will handle Zhi Yang’s mess. He asks Fei Fei to overlook Zhi Yang’s mistake since the man insists he has always loved her. However, on the day of the wedding, Wang Dan escapes from the hospital. She drives her car and crashes into the statue in the town square.
The collision leads to the discovery of a skeleton beneath the statue. As the police investigate, Gao Feng’s DNA samples—which he has long circulated in his search for his mother—match those found at the site. However, the origin of the skeleton leads the police to Fei Fei’s father, since it belonged to someone who was part of their company.
Fei Fei, who has long yearned to know about her mother, who passed away when she was young, was always told to pray at the statue, as it would guide her.
As Gao Feng and Fei Fei finally cross paths, they realize they may be mere pawns in a larger, murkier game of power and deceit—but it remains to be seen who will escape unscathed.
Zhang Ruo Yun gives an emotionally grounded portrayal of Gao Feng. He plays the character with a quiet intensity, allowing grief, frustration, and obsession to simmer beneath a controlled exterior, making Gao Feng’s search feel both personal and believable.
In contrast, Ma Si Chun brings a sturdy, no-nonsense presence to Wu Fei Fei, projecting composure and authority even as the character is clearly fractured on the inside. Her performance captures the contradiction of a woman forced to appear unbreakable while carrying unresolved loss, adding emotional weight to the drama’s central mystery.
So far, “Light of Dawn” unfolds as a tightly wound narrative that resists easy answers. The series deliberately withholds clarity, layering its mystery in a way that keeps motivations, alliances, and even truths constantly in question. It is perfect for all those who love putting on their detective hat.
Start watching “Light of Dawn”:
Puja Talwar is a Soompi writer with a strong Yoo Yeon Seok and Lee Junho bias. A long time K-drama fan, she loves devising alternate scenarios to the narratives. She has interviewed Lee Min Ho, Gong Yoo, Cha Eun Woo, and Ji Chang Wook to name a few. You can follow her on @puja_talwar7 on Instagram.