The latter, titled Boys Don't Cry in Korean, is about two orphaned friends (played by Song and Lee Wan) who become involved in the black market to escape poverty.

[19] In 2009 he was cast as the antagonist in the Kwon Sang-woo starrer Cinderella Man, a Prince and the Pauper tale set in the world of fashion merchandising, which drew lackluster ratings.

[21][22][23] The drama was a hit with average ratings of 20%, and Song earned praise for his portrayal of a gentle, kind doctor of internal medicine, who happens to be openly gay and in love with Lee Sang-woo's divorcee character.

[28] He and co-star Park Shin-hye had previously worked together as voice actors for the local hand-drawn animated film Green Days: Dinosaur and I.

[29][30][31] Song starred in two series in 2012: Syndrome, a medical drama on cable about neurosurgeons,[32][33] and The Great Seer, a historical epic about the founding of the Joseon Dynasty.