Dokgo + Tong + Blood Rain Timeline (Spoilers)

Whenever I read a series or anything long, I always want to put the events in order because I’m boring and this is fun. :) *This definitely contains spoilers (due to spoilers from reading the raws), so you've been warned, however, I did clearly label it so you can skip the spoilers.*

What’s included in this Dokgo/Tong Universe: Tong Memories (prequel; manhwa + drama), Dokgo Rewind (prequel), Dokgo (seasons 1-3), Tong (seasons 1-3), and Blood Rain (seasons 1-3).

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• Tong Memories (manhwa + drama): The manhwa version, which consists of 10 short chapters, takes place during Lee Jung Woo’s middle school years: it sets up the drama by introducing the characters and their motives. (We see cute little Lee Jung Woo and him befriending Doo Hyun.) The drama, which consists of 12 episodes, takes place during Lee Jung Woo’s first year in high school before he transfers to Seoul. The manhwa and drama both show why Lee Jung Woo transfers to Seoul (Dong Jin High).

•Dokgo Rewind: Hyuk’s 17 years old (ch. 133) and turns 18 years old towards the end (ch. 224, 269). Hyuk, Tae Jin, and Jong Il meet and become friends. The Trinity thugs are taken down. Kang Hu is beaten, put into a coma, and dies (after a few months).

•Dokgo (season 1): Hyuk is 19 years old (ch.1 – “Hu” takes a year to recover). Although he’s in a coma, Hu is still “alive” for a 7 months which is why Hyuk doesn’t get revenge right away. Hu dies and then Hyuk’s revenge against Tae San High begins. Before the final fight against Lee Tae Hyun begins, Lee Jung Woo transfers and asks Jong Il for directions for Dong Jin High.

•Dokgo (season 2): Two years pass (ch. 1) and Hyuk is 21 years old. The police find Hyuk’s mother and he goes back to high school to appease her; it’s a high school that’s for students who’ve been expelled and/or due to some circumstances, never attended/finished high school. There are some problems: Hyuk’s mother is sick and dying, the head of the school Hyuk attends is Lee Tae Hyun’s older brother (the one who killed Hyuk’s father) and he is trying to get Hyuk expelled (because of revenge although Lee Tae Hyun never went to jail; just bad publicity for the family), and some of the students (Lee Young Soo and more) who were a part of the Lee Jung Woo’s group that took down the gangs at end of Tong (season 1) are acting up and forming a new alliance. Hyuk begins helping the police with taking down this alliance (as a student). Jong Il is going to University (the same University as Lee Jung Woo, but different departments?). Tae Jin is supposedly working for a lower branch of Dong Hae (Taeyun* Unemployment). Everything clashes.

•Dokgo (season 3): Hyuk is 21** years old. Not published yet because Dokgo (season 2) is still in progress. Official rumors: Hyuk, Tae Jin, and Jong Il take down the lower branch of Dong Hae (Taeyun Unemployment), and sometime in the future (after the prologue in Blood Rain), Tae Jin supposedly dies (is murdered?).

•Tong (season 1): Lee Jung Woo is 17 years old (tong (season 2): ch. 3 – subtraction). Lee Jung Woo transfers to Seoul (Dong Jin High) and he, at the end of the season, takes down three gangs with his 150+ friends.

•Tong (season 2): Two years pass (prologue) and Lee Jung Woo is 19 years old (ch. 3). He starts college, but puts it on hold (although he tries to quit) as he starts his journey to become the strongest man in Korea so that he can protect his friends. Kim Jin Woo is a part of Dong Hae although he has his own agenda and even Kim Min Kyu is suspicious of him. Kim Jin Woo kills Doo Hyun and although Kim Jin Woo leaves before Lee Jung Woo arrives, Lee Jung Woo kills everyone there besides one person to send a message, avenging Doo Hyun. Jang Sung Tae (Dong Hae has already abandoned him) kidnaps Lee Sae Jin, kills her, sells her organs, and sends her body to Lee Jung Woo.

•Tong (season 3): Lee Jung Woo is 19** years old (ch. 62) — the final fight takes place in December of that year so only a few months pass. Jun Hyung Soo is killed and a funeral is held which Kim Min Kyu attends to pay his respects and to talk to Lee Jung Woo. Lee Jung Woo avenges Lee Sae Jin by killing Jang Sung Tae and eventually ends up becoming the president of Chan Lee Group (the rival gang of Dong Hae). Both gangs mobilize: Kim Min Kyu asks Taeyun Employment for assistance, but this branch is wiped out before the final fight with Lee Jung Woo. Kim Jin Woo is his shady self and betrays Dong Hae (he’s on no one’s side). Lee Jung Woo and Kim Min Kyu fight, Kim Min Kyu loses, and he goes to jail through his own free will (he has time to leave but doesn’t). Kim Min Kyu asks for a promise from Lee Jung Woo which he agrees to: even if it’s not him, whoever Kim Min Kyu recommends, Lee Jung Woo will fight him. Tong started with “I am the best” and season 3 ends with “We are the best.”

•Blood Rain (season 1): Three years pass (Kim Min Kyu’s jail sentence and early release) and Hyuk is 24 years old (ch. 12). The prologue starts with Kim Min Kyu’s retrial and him asking his lawyer to look into who took down a lower branch of Dong Hae. Some time passes and Hyuk starts his undercover mission in taking down the gangs in Seoul. In the end, Hyuk reveals that he’s a cop while pointing his gun at Kim Min Kyu and they fight hand-to-hand after Hyuk throws his gun away. During the fight, Kim Min Kyu realizes that he must be the one to take off Hyuk’s shackles. Kim Min Kyu loses and says that he’s ready to go back to prison, but Hyuk says Kim Min Kyu must be the one to save the girl and doesn’t arrest him. Before Kim Min Kyu leaves, he tells Hyuk to tell Lee Jung Woo that “Kim Min Kyu recommends him [Hyuk]” (not exact quote). Kim Min Kyu leaves after sharing a nod with Hyuk, saves the girl, and leaves the gangster world. After some time, Hyuk meets up with another officer (woman officer seen in Tong) and agrees to another mission.

•Blood Rain (season 2): Lee Jung Woo is 23*** years old. Not published yet. Official rumors: It’s about Lee Jung Woo and Kim Jong Il. Hyuk isn’t going to be shown just like how Lee Jung Woo wasn’t shown in Blood Rain (season 1); Hyuk will probably be referred to indirectly though.

•Blood Rain (season 3): Not published yet. Official rumors: Hyuk, Lee Jung Woo, and other major characters meet.

*Taeyun Employment: I translated this with my very limited Korean and it’s probably incorrect. The important thing to remember though is that Tae Jin is supposedly a part of this lower branch, that this is the same group that Kim Min Kyu asks assistance from, and that Hyuk, Tae Jin, and Jong Il destroy this group.

**Dokgo (seasons 2-3) and Tong (seasons 2-3) happen within a few months from each other, the ages fit within Kim Min Kyu’s prison sentence which lasts 3 years. (Hyuk’s birthday is May 14th.)

One discrepancy is that Kim Min Kyu is 24 years in Tong (season 2) and 28 years old in Blood Rain (season 1), but he’s only in prison for 3 years. When Kim Min Kyu and Lee Jung Woo first meet, it’s early in the year when school is beginning: The academic year starts at the beginning of March and runs through until mid-July and the second semester starts at the end of August and continues until mid-February in South Korea. Kim Min Kyu’s birthday is July 6th and the final fight ends in December which means that he turns 25 before he goes to prison. The important thing to remember is that there is a two year difference between Hyuk and Lee Jung Woo.

Actually I don't remember where I read that Kim Min Kyu is 24 years old in Tong (season 2); I just read a reader comment on it not making sense. He might just be 25 years old which would make sense that Hyuk would be 21 years old (in Tong (season 2) and Dokgo (season 2)) since there's a four year difference between the two.

***From the author’s blog, so maybe a year passes.

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Timeline:

------------------------------------Tong Memories (manhwa)-------------------------------------------------------------(15) Tong Memories (drama) --> Dokgo Rewind (17)-----------
-----------------------------(17) Tong (season 1) --> Dokgo (season 1) (19)--------------
-----------------------------(19) Tong (season 2) --> Dokgo (season 2) (21)--------------
-----------------------------(19) Tong (season 3) --> Dokgo (season 3) (21)--------------
-----------------------------------(22) Blood Rain (season 1) (24)----------------------------
-----------------------------------(23) Blood Rain (season 2) (25)----------------------------
-----------------------------------------Blood Rain (season 3)----------------------------------

So basically, I think Tong and Dokgo happens simultaneously.

It’s going to be so interesting to see how Hyuk and Lee Jung Woo interact with each other. I honestly don’t know whether they’ll be enemies or end up as friends; I’m hoping for the latter. Hyuk got along well with Kim Min Kyu and they share a lot of the same qualities: three friends making a promise together (Hyuk, Jong Il, & Tae Jin + Kim Min Kyu, Hyun Tae, & Tae Soo), asking opponents to attack together, not letting others get hurt for their sake, stamina, etc. I love how much respect they have for each other. Kim Min Kyu and Lee Jung Woo are similar too which is why they never truly hated each other. In fact, Lee Jung Woo warns Kim Min Kyu to leave before the police arrive after their fight and they leave each other on good terms. Hyuk and Kim Min Kyu also leave each other on friendly terms despite being “enemies.”

I think that Hyuk and Lee Jung Woo might share more similarities together: they have similar friends/know a lot of the same people (a lot of people from Dokgo Rewind resurface), they both have the same sense of lame humor (Hyuk’s “something else” to Jong Il in Dokgo Rewind ch. 82 and Lee Jung Woo’s “I touched you” in Tong (season 2) ch. 24), they both were unable to save their loved ones (Hyuk and Lee Jung Woo are still going to lose more people), they both have a guy obsessed with them (Lee Tae Hyun + Kim Jin Woo), etc. It’s fascinating that Lee Jung Woo, who came from a wealthy family, ended becoming a gangster, and Hyuk, who came from a poor family (according to the author), ended up becoming a police officer. Also in the afterword of Tong (season 3), Kim Min Kyu talks about how Lee Jung Woo drags on the fight to tire out his opponent and Hyuk's been known for doing the same/having great stamina and Kim Min Kyu asks questions like "Who can catch Lee Jung Woo?" If Lee Jung Woo and Hyuk fight which seems to be the case since it's being build too much, their fight is going to be epic. I’m waiting with bated breath for their meeting.

If anyone has a better timeline, please say so! This is just what I thought it was like.