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To the Beautiful You: Episode 2

Secret’s out but were we at all surprised? We learn Jae-hee’s motivation for ending up at an all boys’ school, friendships are born and hearts begin to flutter. This episode kicks it up with the cute and though Jae-hee hangs by a wire between a stan and a stalker, one thing’s for sure: when it comes to her and that finish line, she sure as hell isn’t going to give up.

Lesson of the Day: Lee Hyun-woo is the ultimate Noona Killer as the most adorable thing ever.

SONG OF THE DAY

TVXQ – “Hug” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 2 RECAP

Doc demands to know why there’s a girl in an all boys’ school. You and me both, good man. Jae-hee gets on the defensive but Doc says that he can tell right away with one look at her wrist.

She blusters that Doc must have it all wrong; she’s definitely a guy. She runs out of the office leaving Doc with a knowing smirk.

Tae-joon sits alone in the darkened gymnasium after the failed CF shoot. Director Jang reassures him not to worry and then places the blame on herself for rushing his recovery. They’ll run some more tests and then treat his injury.

I know your intentions are good but it’s like placing a band-aid over a healed cut and still calling it a boo-boo.

Her phone rings and Tae-joon assures Director Jang that he’s fine; it’s not like he was going to be an athlete forever. He’s sure something will work itself out and covers his disappointment in himself saying that he was getting sick of high jumping anyway.

He walks out.

Eun-gyul happily hops over towards Jae-hee after having heard she left the Doc’s office. Concerned, he tells her that she should be more careful – one never knows how they could die.

He changes the subject, breezing that it’s seems like Injury Day because Tae-joon didn’t complete the high-jumping segment of the CF. He wonders if Tae-joon’s ankle injury still hasn’t fully recovered.

Jae-hee reacts in shock and searches for Tae-joon but he’s nowhere to be found.

Dad’s car pulls up next to Tae-joon and the first thing Dad does is slap him. Um, ow. Dad asks if Tae-joon purposely messed up the CF shoot to put on a show for everyone.

Tae-joon glares back – what’s with Dad’s sudden concern? Dad tells him that there were plenty of other ways Tae-joon could have rebelled against him rather than simply giving up. “Don’t act so immature Tae-joon.”

Tae-joon bites back that he’ll figure out what he needs to do on his own.

Back in the room, Tae-joon remarks that Jae-hee must have no intentions to move out if her stuff is still here. Jae-hee begs to let her stay – she’ll be as quiet as a mouse. He pushes her aside and when she cries in out in pain, he thinks she’s faking it.

With his back to her, he says that he’ll kick her out if she’s louder than 40 decibels. Jae-hee belatedly realizes that it means he’s letting her stay and she’s as happy as a clam, even though Tae-joon mentions that it’s only temporary.

He adds that it doesn’t make them equals either. He’s the owner of the room and well, she’s nothing. When she calls him out on it, he says in a haughty playful tone, “If you don’t like it, you can pack your things.”

They bicker back and forth until Jae-hee finally concedes.

We peek into Tae-joon’s dream where he and his father are part of his mother’s funeral processional. Her date of death is July 2010 and Tae-joon places his high jumping gold medal on Mom’s grave.

Oh noes – did Mom die the day you won? That would explain part of the reason why you don’t want to high jump again.

Jae-hee notices Tae-joon sleeping in a fitful state and walks over to cover him with his blanket. He suddenly grabs her wrist and we see him dream of his mother smiling at him. Unconsciously, he then holds Mom/Jae-hee’s hand, pulling it towards his chest.

Stuck, Jae-hee sits by his bed and comfortingly pats his blanket and we see Dream Mom doing the same.

Morning. Tae-joon blinks awake with Jae-hee’s hand still in his. He jerks her hand away awkwardly when she begins to stir. She apologizes for falling asleep by his bedside and he grumbles, “Do I have to tell you where you have to sleep too?”

As Jae-hee gets ready in the bathroom, she gets an unexpected morning visitor in the form of Eun-gyul. He doesn’t get why Jae-hee gets upset, thinking it’s no big deal because they’re both guys and then he just whips it out.

When Jae-hee asks if he doesn’t know of any basic manners, he’s like, my bladder is more important than damned manners! As soon as he leaves, Seung-ri walks in and then proceeds to sit on the john to do a Number two. HAHA.

Jae-hee cries in horror.

Reporter Yang finds it odd that Tae-joon still isn’t fully recovered from his injury especially since Director Jang herself declared otherwise. Director Jang brushes the matter under the rug.

Jae-hee ducks behind Doc’s car to remain hidden from view. He zooms off and she resolves that she’ll need to avoid him for the time being.

Seung-ri gathers Dorm 2 residents to discuss the upcoming school wide athletic competition. Their dorm won last year and they’ll need to do it again to keep the perks they received from the school.

He turns to Tae-joon and assigns him as their high jump representative. Tae-joon opts out (Hyun-jae gives a flicker of surprise), citing that he doesn’t want to expend his energy on a wittle competition like this.

Seung-ri is offended and held back by Eun-gyul and Jae-hee as Tae-joon walks out.

The three dorm leaders meet and we find out that the winning dorm will get access to the fancy school cafeteria. These guys are an absolute hoot. Charles, er I mean, Chul-soo of Dorm 3 quotes, “Veni, vidi, vici” and Dorm 1 Young-man sighs, “Can’t you talk in Korean?”

We pan over to see the striking contrast between the two cafeterias: the fancy cafeteria has its own greeter whereas the other one has a crabby ajumma who curses at the students.

Seung-ri checks in with the other dorms – how’s their training going? Young-man shrugs “not much” (Commence Boot Camp) and Charles says they went on a MT (Navy Seals style). They turn the question to him and Seung-ri answers, “We practiced just a teeeeny bit!” (Brutal soccer scrimmage)

They agree to play fair and join hands for a three way handshake… which turns into a three-way thumb war. Heehee.

Tae-joon happens to catch Hyun-jae in the middle of high jump practice and he’s surprised by the Reporter Yang. She informs him that Hyun-jae’s personal record is just shy of Tae-joon’s and doesn’t get why he’s so touchy – doesn’t he know she adores him?

Tae-joon looks back at her, “That kind of adoration is stalking.” Yeah, I can think of another person who should hear that statement.

She asks after Tae-joon’s condition – is he not jumping because he can’t or he won’t? He tells her to think what she wants, does a little fake turn on his heel (ha), and leaves.

Eun-gyul watches with a look of disgust as Jae-hee inhales her food to avoid Doc’s eye at lunch. They’re soon joined by Jong-min who’s royally pissed to see his best buddy eat with the new kid.

Jae-hee heads back to the room and then promptly puts on Tae-joon’s shoes (which, ew) before pretend high-jumping onto his bed.

She kicks her feet up and while she admires them, thinking back to the Doc’s question about what she’s doing at Genie High. So what part of this doesn’t make you a stan again?

After dance practice, Hanna and her girls jab at the screen of yummy food before they disparagingly open up their own salads. Hanna sighs, wondering if she should retire to live her life as Tae-joon’s wifey.

It’s apparent that Hanna has this ability to snap veiled insults in a matter-of-fact way to her dancer friends. She frets that Oppa’s been having such a hard time lately and wonders if she should send him a present. She puts in a call.

That “present” is a giant box that is delivered to Tae-joon’s room and Jae-hee examines it curiously. And then surprise! Hanna pops out, scaring the living daylights out of her.

Hanna introduces herself as Tae-joon’s girlfriend and warns Jae-hee not to circulate the news about her presence, especially on the internet. Which isn’t a problem since Jae-hee has no idea who the crazy girl in a box is.

She has this hilarious mixed look of amazement and shock on her face of, You don’t know who I am? She’s Seol Hanna, the nation’s younger sister who’s cuter than a celebrity.

Jae-hee just shrugs an apology that she doesn’t know because she just came from America. Hanna murmurs, “Don’t they have internet there?”

Tae-joon returns, none too pleased at the unexpected visitor and as Jae-hee watches Hanna pout, she figures that Hanna mustn’t be his girlfriend after all.

Another petty attack by Jong-min at the dorm track practice sends Jae-hee with a hurt ankle to the Doc’s office. She tries to grab some meds while the coast is clear but approaching voices send her hiding behind a curtain.

Doc and Tae-joon enter the office and Doc notices the pair of exposed shoes. He confronts Tae-joon about his injury, adding that being honest is the only way he can truly help.

Tae-joon answers that it does and so Doc launches into a possible theory: he thinks Tae-joon might have an acquired syndrome where the athlete is suddenly unable to perform anymore.

He continues that it often appears in athletes whose sports require a considerable amount of pressure and concentration and Tae-joon has a very particular case of this.

It’s different from a slump, Doc explains, because this condition has no known method of treatment.

But since it’s just a speculation, Tae-joon shouldn’t be too discouraged. Tae-joon replies that he’s not since he didn’t expect much anyway.

After he leaves, Doc calls Jae-hee out of her hiding spot. They have two separate conversations: he asks about how Jae-hee entered Genie High while Jae-hee inquires after Tae-joon’s condition.

Doc puts a stop to her line of questioning – he doesn’t know how she got in but he knows a surefire way to get her out.

He picks up the phone to call the principal as Jae-hee pleads that she came because of Tae-joon and he’s ready to spill the beans when Jae-hee admits that she wanted to see him jump again.

She admits:

“At first, I just admired Tae-joon’s jumping, so in order to feel close to him I joined track and field. I thought at some point, we’d be able to stand together in the same place. Right now, I have to debt to pay to Tae-joon. So I can’t leave after seeing Tae-joon like this! I have to see Tae-joon high jump again like he did before.”

Doc asks how she plans to do that and she bursts she’ll do whatever it takes by any means necessary. If it means he can fly again, she’s okay with cutting off her own wings. So she needs to see him jump again and can’t go back to being a girl.

Doc stares at her with a hardened expression before deciding not to put in the call after all. He tells her, “Go back…” and then clarifies, “…back to your dorm.”

But this isn’t a green light; he needs time to think things over. He warns her that it’s just a matter of time before the school will find out anyway.

Tae-joon pretends to sleep when Jae-hee returns to the room, listening as she admits that she overheard his conversation with Doc. At her word of encouragement, Tae-joon tells her not to overreact because he was getting sick of high jumping anyway. So he’ll take this opportunity to quit the sport altogether.

Jae-hee calls him out as a liar – she knows his expression when he jumps, “How can a kid who used to fly in the air settle for just living on the ground?”

Tae-joon raises his voice at her suggestion to help and tells her that if she really wants to help then she can move out. It’s Jae-hee’s turn to raise her voice now and annoyed, he states, “43 decibels. You’re out.”

Outside, Eun-gyul sees Jae-hee dragging her feet and notices her dejected mood. He drags her to the soccer field and suggests a friendly soccer match. If she can steal the ball away from him, he’ll grant her a wish.

Jae-hee’s not in the mood to play and Eun-gyul shows off a few soccer tricks to entice her. He teases that she shouldn’t give up too easily and when Jae-hee finally agrees, he breaks into The Most Adorable Smile Ever. Gah, why are you so cute?!

Unable to surpass Eun-gyul’s skills, Jae-hee resorts to tugging at his shirt and they both fall to lie on the grass. Eun-gyul teases that this means she lost and then takes out his phone to take a picture together.

The uploaded caption reads: Friendship feels like a trapping at 11 PM. The ball wasn’t the only thing that passed from my foot to yours. That’s friendship.

His heart start to thump loudly and he looks over to see Jae-hee in a new light. Aww, bromance?

Reporter Yang corners Jae-hee at school to discuss a sports feature on Tae-joon. As Tae-joon’s roommate, Jae-hee must know him best, right?

Elsewhere at the Doc’s office, we see Hyun-jae sneak a peek at Tae-joon’s file, rifling through his medical records and x ray. He makes sure to snap photographic proofs Tae-joon’s healed Achilles’ heel.

Director Jang flips a lid at Reporter Yang for the recent headline about Tae-joon’s condition. Dad sees the headline too and tells his staff to bring Tae-joon home later.

Tae-joon reassures Director Jang over the phone that he’s fine and that the acquired syndrome is only a theory. He thinks back to how the reporter found out in the first place and recalls finding her business card among Jae-hee’s things.

He tenses, “Was it for that reason?” Jae-hee has no idea what he’s referring to and he shows her the article. He asks again if Jae-hee hung around him so that she could sell off information about him.

But Jae-hee defends to the end that she had nothing to do with the feature and he storms off.

Athletic Competition Day. Seung-ri wins the relay for Dorm 2, Dorm 1 wins the basketball tournament and they pull ahead with another win in tennis.

Eun-gyul secures the win in soccer with another awesome butterfly kick and when he spots Jae-hee cheer for him, his heart starts to pound again.

With the marathon up ahead, Seung-ri scolds Jong-min for carelessly getting injured. Jong-min pipes that it’s no big deal since Tae-joon will win the high jumping round. Trouble is, he’s nowhere to be found.

Hyun-jae makes a jab about his condition and it’s enough for some of the dorm members to start wondering if it really means the end for Tae-joon’s career.

So Seung-ri assigns Hyun-jae to get the job done but he feigns injury – he’d love to see what might become of Tae-joon as well.

To everyone’s shock, Jae-hee volunteers to run the marathon. If she wins then Tae-joon doesn’t have to jump right? Seung-ri points out that Jae-hee’s a sprinter; has she ever ran a marathon? Jae-hee insists that she can do it.

Seung-ri gives his dorm members a last bit of encouragement and instructs Jae-hee to run with the finish line in mind.

Given Dorm 3’s sketchy pep talk, it looks like they have something up their sleeves…

As the students run, Seung-ri narrates to a concerned Eun-gyul that they’ll be approaching the first deadpoint. Your body starts to break down from the agony, unable to keep up with the condition.

We catch up to the runners and just before Jae-hee reaches the table of drinks, a student from Dorm 3 crashes into it. Tae-joon finally shows up and Eun-gyul informs him that Jae-hee is running the marathon because of him.

Then Seung-ri announces the final deadpoint. “From that point on, it’s a fight with your mind, not the body.” And then, the Dorm 3 student kicks Jae-hee’s shin.

There’s a hilarious break between the marathon to spend a moment with our teachers. Coach Baek has a budding crush towards the language teacher and shyly hands her a drink. She then offers it to Doc who then hands it back to Coach Baek. HA.

Back to the marathon. Dorm 3 cheers to see their runner in the lead and then we see Jae-hee turn the corner. She pulls up next to him and then takes the lead much to Dorm 2’s roaring cheers.

But then Jae-hee collapses to the ground, suffering from a sprained ankle. Tae-joon involuntarily reacts in shock and the muffled shouts of the crowd deafen her.

She struggles to get up and thinks back to Tae-joon’s speech after his high jump vcitory that, “A miracle is just hard work by another name.” Repeating those words, she gets up just before the other runner catches up to her.

With a final burst of energy, she speeds to the finish line. As soon as she crosses it, she collapses. Her dormmates gather around her and as Seung-ri treats her injury, she looks to find Tae-joon.

She limps towards him, telling him that she repeated that mantra to herself in order to win. She loses her balance and Tae-joon catches her before she falls.

He remains silent as Jae-hee insists that it wasn’t her who talked to the reporter about the leaked article. At a distance, Eun-gyul looks on.

Seung-ri happily accepts the athletic competition trophy for Dorm 2 and the celebration party begins (à la EXO’s performance of “MAMA.” Nice, subtle touch SM). They chant Jae-hee’s name when she appears and throw her up in the air.

Eun-gyul notices Jae-hee’s discouraged mood and he checks in about her physical condition. She giggles in response that she finally feels like a student who belongs at Genie High. Eun-gyul’s heart goes thump thump again. Puppy love solidified.

Heads turn when Hanna joins the festivities and Eun-gyul snaps at her for speaking in banmal. Clasping a hand over his chest, he worries, “Getting mad at a girl and your heart flutters for a guy? What’s going on?” He runs away in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Tae-joon crushes the article about his condition in his hands.

How much do I love that Eun-gyul is so popular with the ladies online but in reality, he’s just a big ol’ dork? He literally pulls at his hair when the ladies scatter at his awkward dancing.

Tae-joon contemplates a drink before downing in the next minute. Sure enough, we find out that he unknowingly grabbed a drink containing alcohol and Seung-ri warns Jong-min to make sure Tae-joon doesn’t consume any.

Why? Because of his “alcohol allergy” (uh, okay), Tae-joon gets drunk with just one sip.

Hanna pouts at being unable to find Tae-joon. She lights up when she sees him walking towards her in the distance. Then we hear Seung-ri narrate that Tae-joon’s drunken habit is to kiss the first person he sees.

Hanna happily turns the corner… and fakeout! She pushes Eun-gyul aside, upset that he’s not Tae-joon.

Jae-hee trudges up the stairs, at the brink of giving up on finding Tae-joon. He appears, clearly drunk and spots her.

Target locked, he stares at her with unwavering eyes. She looks back at him, confused.

Then, Tae-joon leans in to kiss her the very moment fireworks burst in the sky behind them.

 

COMMENTS

Good luck recovering from that, Jae-hee. And good luck trying to convince him that it actually happened.

This episode was filled with so much cute and adorableness that I thought I might die. And that was even before Lee Hyun-woo came along. ‘Cause really – who wouldn’t melt at that adorable face? And apparently, he always takes a selca after he scores a goal. I thoroughly enjoy Eun-gyul as a character because at this point, he’s the most dynamic and intriguing. Poor thing has a budding friendship and crush. C’mere, noona will give you a hug.

Now we know a piece of what’s motivating Jae-hee in her efforts to see Tae-joon high jump again but it does little to settle the uneasiness I feel when I see her watch him sleep and try on his shoes. You’re no Edward honey and if you were, that’s still creepy. You’re a complete stranger to Tae-joon at this point bordering on stalker territory. To her credit, it was sweet of her to step in so that Tae-joon wouldn’t necessarily have to high jump in order to protect him but then that swung right back when she said she repeated his words in her head. I can see the production team try to portray these actions as innocent as they can, but I just can’t shake off the feeling that if it was someone else who had a less innocent face than Sulli, we’d be watching the Perfect Sasaeng.

I do believe it’s worth noting that although I am familiar with parts of the manga and have seen the 2007 Japanese drama adaptation, I’ll do my best to refrain from drawing any comparisons that say “x drama did this better than y drama.” The reason is that though this show is a remake, I think it is worthy of its own praise and criticism as a separate entity. An adaptation is just that – a version of the source material and though the purist in me cries for exactly how I imagined it, I’m always intrigued to see how someone else reinterprets the same material and incorporates their own style into it. We may not always see eye-to-eye when it comes to that but it can make for healthy discussion.

Getting back to the drama, one of the relationships I really love right now is between Director Jang and Tae-joon. She’s the closest thing to a maternal figure in his life and seeing their conversations warms my hearts. Though I see the intention of trying to cover Tae-joon from high jumping until he’s ready, we’re beginning to see those consequences of those actions. She does care for him but it certainly isn’t the most loving thing to cover his fear of high jumping again. On the other hand, this is where the Doc really shines because he provides that opportunity for Tae-joon to be truthful to himself about his injury – both the physical and emotional one.

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Guys, can I just say that I would totally dress up as a guy if I got to be roommates with Minho!

Hahaha the kiss was so funny!

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Agreed! Minho looked so damn adorable when he's drunk.

Seriously! Does anyone get that cute and hot when they're drunk? :)

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I wasn't all surprised at the ending, but I was surprised that there was a kiss so early. Eun-gyul continues to be my favorite. I hope he doesn't get his heart broken to badly. Hanna is so annoying. Every time she's on screen I groan. Two episodes in and I already hate her.

Thanks for the recap, gummimochi!

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Although I promised that I would stop comparing the two version, I must refer back to the Japanese Hana Kimi in order to respond that , no, I wasn't surprised because in that version they have a kiss early on also. This version though was so PRETTY! I hope I get my fireworks kiss someday too ;)

Also, I feel my heartstring tugging already at what will soon be Jae-hee's one sided love!

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Oh, I see. I haven't seen any other version of Hana Kimi, or read the manga, so thanks. And you're right, this drama is so colorful and pretty. I love it so much already!

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I second that about the Japanese (2007) version.
--BEGIN short comparison--
I think it's funnier in the J version though because there is a scene where all the guys in their dorm admit to having the Tae Joon character kiss them at least once. Turns out the J-Tae Joon has gotten drunk a lot of times and kissed his dorm-mates a lot of times, but they're all used to it. haha...
--END short comparison--

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if we refer to the manga the kiss is early. in jap verson it was also in ep2.
about hanna , i too don't like the bratty princess and we'll going have more reasons to hate her in the following eps.

i think these are the reasons why jaehee disguised as a boy and attends to boy school to meet her idol taejun :

1) taejun's jump save her life and gave her hope, motivation and reason to live.
-->if you've watched in the ep 1, jaehee's in the hospital
while watching tv on taejun competing in Canada.
jaehee is either got very sick or got into accident that she can't walk or she had suffered or fell into a deep depression that she loses her hope and feels don't she don't want to live in this world.
for her, taejun is like her guardian angel. taejun's jump save her life and gave her hope, motivation and reason to live.
from then on she admired taejun and became person she idolizes.
"I don't believe miracles exist. if such things as a miracle exists , miracle is just hard work by another name (it exists because of hardwork)".
these are taejun's inspirational words that jaehee live by and keeps her even more motivated.

2) taejun saved her from an accident or from the thugs and that caused of his injuries. (just like the jap ver)
--->that incident happened in the US when taejun came probably for training, fan meeting or another athletic competition.
even though he saved her from that incident he didn't recognized that girl he saved was jaehee.

because of these two reasons, she feels that her life is in debt to him. now she wants to repay them back by helping him go back high jumping again and bring back his lost happiness.

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At first I thought it was something similar to your number 1. She looked either sick or depressed when she was in the hospital.

But now that you remind me of the Japanese drama reason, I think it might be a combination of both. idk We'll have to see.

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U re Right

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I absolutely adore hyunwoo ever since God of Study. He reminds me so much of wooyoung... the smile of theirs make me smile too :)

I watched this for hyunwoo and is presently surprised that it was not as bad as I expected. Sulli proves she has the chops for acting, minho I don't really care about but am glad he isn't half bad.

I watched the first jpn adaptation and enjoyed it. This version is different, in a good way so I guess ill be following it...

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I absolutely adore hyunwoo ever since God of Study. He reminds me so much of wooyoung... the smile of theirs make me smile too :)

I watched this for hyunwoo and is presently surprised that it was not as bad as I expected. Sulli proves she has the chops for acting, minho I don't really care about but am glad he isn't half bad. That last scene, I totally don't get how jaehee just allows taejoon to kiss her. And yes, she is stalkerish creepy... trying on his shoes n laying on his bed. I'd be totally pissed if someone touched my stuff without my permission.

I watched the first jpn adaptation and enjoyed it. This version is a little different so I guess ill be following it...

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LEE HYUN WOO <3

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liking it so much so far. so cute. the stalkerism is toned down, so it doesn't feel uncomfortable. i don't get an "i love you 'til i die" vibe from jaehee, so i'm loving the sweet moments. can't wait to get the entire picture of why she's there.

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lee hyunwoo is giving me serious jeremy-vibes. ahhhhh. why so cute and sunny?<3

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Yahh, you felt that too?
Ok, now I fell better, cause I thought it was only my own puppy love for the cuteness of him.

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Seriously! My 16 yo daughter fell in love with him - as I knew she would because she loved Jeremy most of all. Adorableness everywhere. Can we keep him?

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LOL...so true! I caught myself a number of times being, "aw, poor Jeremy" in my mind. :D

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Same here, so that only solidifies my fear of crying my eyes out when his heart get torn into pieces. :( Instead of seeing him to Nakatsu, I keep seeing him as Jeremy.

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Same here, so that only solidifies my fear of crying my eyes out when his heart gets torn into pieces. :( Instead of seeing him to Nakatsu, I keep seeing him as Jeremy.

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Dangit! Why'd it post twice!? I now feel as if I've spammed. -_-

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Me too! :D Especially when his view of Jae-hee kept changing like the way Jeremy saw Minyeo.

Yay, I'm not the only one.

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i super agree ... hyunwoo reminds me of jeremy/hong ki ... same hair style too. It cracks me up when he was confused coz" he's getting mad at a girl and his heart flutters for a guy lol!

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There has GOT to be a drama where this kind of character is the hero!

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I'd love to watch it! Seriously, I'd just watch for the cute interactions, even if there was little plot.

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Lee Hyun Woo is so amazing, I hope he moves into leading man territory soon!

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Glad to know I am not the only one who fell for him. He totally has become the ultimate noona killer.....

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Yeah yeah agreed with you and gummimochi. Initially I started watching this show with no preference to any of the character since I'm not into Minho etc, but Lee Hyun Woo as Eun Ygul simple won me over with his sunshine smile, and now I will focus most of my attention to him during the show. Indeed a noona killer ;)

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Thanks for the recap, gummimochi!

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gummimochi ~

Thank you for recapping this. I watched this on a whim last night.

Really cute.

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BANG!!!! i had been shot by the "second lead crush" bullet... sorry gummi, but Eun-gyul has another noona that wants to give him a hug, hehehe.
thanks for the recap :)

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Lee Hyun Woo is adorable, but I just realize, he is so petite for a guy O_o (not that is a bad thing)
At the first picture of this recap (they lay together in grass) Sulli looks bigger and bonier than him.

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Thank you for the recap, I appreciate it!

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Am I the only one thinking that Eun-gyul feels a bit like Jeremy in You're Beautiful?
And maybe he'll be paired with Hanna in the end, so he's not completly crushed.

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Sulli's acting is great! but i'm quite disappointed my favorite character Sekime & the ghost guy aren't in it.

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The soccer scene between Jae-hee and Eun-gyul is so far the best scene throughout the two episodes. It was earnest and sweet, and both of them were so adorable in it, individually and together. I am not sure if the cuteness is enough to keep me watching though. I appreciate that this version is not another carbon copy of the previous adaptations, but I am not really liking the direction they're heading with the characters and plot.

(&LOL @ the random EXO performance, yup, real SUBTLE there).

Thanks for the recap.

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Thanks Gummimochi. I like this drama its not as creepy as I assumed it would be so I ok watching.

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I agree, her stalking Tae-joon is very creepy that she's coming off as worse than a sasaeng fan.

It's in this instance that I appreciated the way the Jdorama (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) handled her motivation. Aside from her just being one of his fans, she's also part of the reason why he is unable to high-jump: he saved her from a mugger (or from some sort of criminal), which ended up with him getting a wound on his foot (or ankle, sorry it's been a long time)... So it's in that instance that I would understand why she felt so compelled to go and live with him/motivate him to return to high-jump, because she thinks that she's partly at fault.

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but maybe that's also the reason Jae-hee is doing the same here, we just don't know yet.
She just said to Doc she needed to see Tae-joon high jump again, but she did not clarify why she needed it so much, or did I miss something?

Confused now.

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You're right. Jae-hee hasn't given us the audience a full explanation of the "debt" she owes Tae-joon so you haven't missed anything. Is your fellow reader's explanation a spoiler? Maybe, maybe not - we don't know yet.

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i'm seriously hoping they go that route because if they go the "hey i was in the hospital for a while because i was seriously ill. seeing you do your high jump inspired me and helped me get through my illness" route, im gonna flip a table. that gratitude could have been handled with a letter. maybe a gift certificate inside the letter.

also kinda mad that julia was rushed here again. hoping they go the manga route and utilize her a bit more but doubt it.

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OMO, I'll be royally pissed if the 'you inspired me through my illness - now I'm a seriously grateful creepy stalker' card gets trown at us.
Seriously, that's one of the worst case scenario ever created in k-drama.
I'm going to keep my hopes up for at least the same explanation the J-drama version came up with, cause that's better than this one.

AFF, now I'm dreading this part. Please, drama don't go there *prays to k-drama Gods*

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I personally can see them going, "inspired me to continue living after the death of my sports/fencing lovin older brother who was also my best friend died tragically in an accident, just like your mom"....which is probably even more dramatic. Btw. Just finished watching the Japanese version. v. Cute.

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Thanks for the awesome recap, friend! My favorite part of the episodes was the dorm training. Edited for perfect comedic effect, and the zaniness of it all reminded me of the original Hana Kimi. Just reading the recap portion of that scene made me laugh all over again.

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Thanks for the recap!
I agree wholeheartedly that this will end up being LHW's time to shine. He could have chemistry with anyone. He and Kang Nam Gil were adorable in Return of Iljimae.

By the way, the Doc's hair was so distracting, I didn't realize it was Ki Tae Young - you know married to Eugene?
THIS guy: http://tinyurl.com/9babzkq
I am sure they will find a reason to get him shirtless, too.

Based on the scene where they show Sulli crying as she watched TJ jump, I don't think we have heart the WHOLE story behind her obsession. No matter what, you are right that she is a stalker, though. But if she were a normal girl, there would be no show!!

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WOAH!
Did not realize that Ki Tae Young was Doc....

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'Twas my mistake - completely forgot to copy and paste his introduction into the first episode recap. If you check, Mr. Eugene is there now :)

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I have to admit Eun-gyul and only Eun-gyul is the reason I am still watching. I have not seen the J-version so I won't compare. Its cutesy at best but Eun-gyul is still the reason for me watching.

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So am I the only one who's happy with Minho's acting? I mean, he's by no means perfect, but he's doing a far better job than I ever expected from an SM idol.

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No, I like it too. He's not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, but he's still good. I was a little surprised by it, even though he's the reason I decided to watch it. Most people may not like his acting yet because he doesn't have much to do yet. All he's doing really is moping and brooding. Once the show gets going, I'm sure he will improve.

Also, I think Choi Siwon, also an SM idol, is a good actor, too. And Sulli isn't bad either. In fact, she's adorable in this. Her scenes with Lee Hyun-woo are my favorite.

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I'm bailing out now. This is BOF all over again. I'm not comparing this with the past two versions but heck, the acting sucks.

And the cute. It's forced. I cringed.

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aw. no! The only thing this drama reminds me of in relation to BOF is the scenery and a camera work which in my book is not a bad thing. You're right, BOF was super forced sometimes to the point I've cringed so many times and couldn't watch but I feel none of that here. Sulli is much more naturalistic than gu hye sun was in the beginning, and minhos more the typical broody type, not the lovely but bit over the top lee min ho :)

hope you'll give it another chance, I think the source material for hana kimi has alot more room for growth than hana yori dango, its more about youth and dreams, overcoming adversity as opposed to the straight up loveness of BOF.

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aw so hooked. I think there's definitely more to Jae Hee's reasoning to helping Tae Joon than what she led on and I don't know why, I find her fan stalking very earnest which is why I don't have a problem with it.

I love this world already, and just feel like I live in it everytime I watch, and the characters feel real except for Hanna. Must say I watched Jae Hee win that marathon quite a number of time, it was just very uplifting however, how many times has she been attacked now? LOL.

The kiss was so pretty, Min Ho smoulders like no one else and Eun Gyul! Noona killer indeeeeed. Only thing I've noticed is he's never really treated Jae Hee like a boy, he deff is a gentle wrist grab this ep :)

ps SM- you reduced EXO to a birthday singing group. Points for effort though haha

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I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling the creepy in how she's approaching things. I guess part of it is in any other genderswapping story I've seen I've known from the get go why they have to go to such lengths.

If a crush is her only reason, which is all we've been given... well I'm just having a hard time really cheering for her. I can't be invested in her character as the protagonist until I am less creeped out by her motivations.

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I finished watching ep 2 and have decided that this drama doesn't do it for me. Sulli and Minho's acting bothers me although I like Sulli's presence very much. Minho's acting especially bothers me.

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Lee Hyun Woooooooooooooooooo! Oh my. I'm in trouble.

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Great recap! The second episode was better than the first.

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And once again, Nakatsu's character is stealing the show. I agree though, that he is the most dynamic character even in the manga. He just has a lot to deal with and figure out, plus he's hilarious--he's the type you root for.

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Also I'm getting used to his hair, hahaha.

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this was better than the first ep but dunno if i'll stick with it. time to give this one ye olde 6 episode test.

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As a long-time Manga reader, I find even the re-caps about this series depressing. I was predicting the next act of petty cruelty a paragraph or two before it was described. Not an original moment in sight.

Just an passing observation, but between Mangas, animes, and TV series, an outsider could get the impression that life in high schools in Japan and Korea is an relentless, Hobbesian hell of bullying and torment for everyone but a select few. All these fictional high schools seem to be ruled by strict authoritarian regimes, but no one seems able or willing to keep the students from torturing, robbing, and committing criminal assault on each other, day after painful day. I've seen better behaved, less sadistic gangs of characters in prison movies.

And most of these stories are COMEDIES. I'll take 'Whispering Halls,' instead, for some honest horror.

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The thing about REALITY is that it will never be truly represented by the mainstream media anywhere, not just in Korea.

We just have to accept the fluffy world of To the Beautiful You as a fictional world just as we do for most dramas because who really would be able to get their identity changed to somehow enter an all boys school?

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True, one would get that impression. But when done right, it's interesting to read/watch.

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So why are so many mangas, tv series, and animes like this? Like is there a reason, or is it just a narrative preference?

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Song of the day was DBSK's "Hug." A+, gummimochi! :)

Lee Hyunwoo, Sulli, and the dorm heads are seriously my reasons for sticking to this drama, even if I have to fastforward Minho's scenes. LOL. Just like how I skipped most of Oguri Shun's scenes in the 2007 Japanese version.

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I loved the Japanese version, that's all I'm going to say. But, I do like this version as well. As usual, the Nakatsu (I'll remember the Korean name one of these days) jumps off the screen. Lovable and funny... And then there's Tae Jon, we love to hate him, but can't.

Anyway, I think the debt Jae Hee meant was for her life. If you see the flashback, she looked depressed and alone and then she saw Tae Joon. It might be speculation, but, she could have bern clinically depressed and seeing Tae Joon gave her hope and make her feel alive again. That's probaby why she felt like she owe him or something...

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How did Eun Gyul and Seung Ri get in her dorm room in the first place to even borrow her bathroom? It's not like Tae Joon would just let them in. Jae Hee is being a tad too obvious with her high-pitch squeals and shielding her eyes, isn't she? And Hyun Woo, please wash your hands!

Our soccer star Eun Gyul is no less talented than Tae Joon, so I don't get why Tae Joon gets all the fame and fortune. Get this cutie in some CFs! I thought Exo was supposed to play students? They play themselves?! =_= Guess I can't complain about SM's shameless plug seeing how DSP did the same thing with Triple S in Boys Over Flowers. The Kissing Monster is an important plot point, so I'm glad they kept it in.

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HELP. can someonne explain to me about drama ratings? example, gaksital has a 19% rating. does that mean 19% of the whole south korea is watching gaksital? and what percentage is considered a good rating? what is the highest possible rating? i heard some dramas reach 40.. is 60 possible too?

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Look down below on this page under "Resources" :D

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WAIT! Actually never mind--don't do that, lmaooo. I'm no help at all. But, I'm not sure. I think it might be the same rating system we have here (U.S.) but not sure. It might be regional, too. But I know that 14-19% is pretty good. And 1-2% is good for cable.

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In short, ratings are the percentage of viewers tuning in to that show. Korea displays both national and Seoul's ratings.

To say something has "good" ratings should always be taken into context - like, what other shows are they competing with during that hour? Gaksital is leading the pack in the Wed/Thurs lineup and I believe To the Beautiful You actually dipped in ratings close to 6 or even 5%.

Also, "good" ratings have changed over the years since more and more people watch and re-watch the shows online. As a general benchmark, a double digit premiere is a good indicator that people are tuning in to watch. More than the number itself, you'd want to see what trend the drama follows: are the numbers increasing? Decreasing?

To my knowledge, Sandglass holds the epic win of rating records with a series high of 65.7%. Hope this helps!

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thanks! when you said "ratings are the percentage of viewers tuning in to that show", example gaksital is 19%, does it mean 19% of the whole country?

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Yup. They compare the nationwide ratings to the Seoul ratings.

Also, when dramas go past 40% in ratings, they get dubbed "national dramas." Examples would be Brilliant Legacy, Queen Seon-deok, Baker King, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, Iris, My Name is Kim Sam-soon, etc.

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love the second lead, he is so cute...
the main guy just look good but boring...

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Eun-gyul seems like he would continue the proud tradition of Nakatsu, who had so much chemistry with the female lead that he basically sucked the chemistry from the main pairing. I just wished that the students were more...there somehow. I really did not want to compare but what made Hana Kimi more than a typical Sweet Polly Oliver series was the camaraderie and friendship of the characters, main and supporting.

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KYAAH LEE HYUN-WOO!!! <3 Why so cute?! I think I'm going to be rooting for the second lead in this series AGAIN, instead of the main pairing.

And yupyup, REALLY subtle there with EXO, SM. Totally headdesked there. Also, nice song of the day. Can't help it, my TVXQ fangirl side is squeeing. :P

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thanks gummmimochi !

EUN GHUL and DOC almost had the same hairstlye - bowl shape ! but cute !!

for a high jumper Minho is still physically stiffey - loosen up man !.

Jae hee is trying very hard to be a pretty boy !!.

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the one thing that I like about this episode is that they included the bathroom scenes cuz it was the fun part in the j-version xD

Lee Hyun Woo ___<

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but how did she win in a marathon against a whole bunch of guys, a third of which cheated, with a sprained ankle no less ._.

i snorted when i watched that.

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well....she is a runner (In the manga, she's good enough to compete with guys), and while it's a little hard to swallow, I thinks it's supposed to showcase her stubbornness.

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"Lesson of the Day: Lee Hyun-woo is the ultimate Noona Killer as the most adorable thing ever." - If this is facebook I would have liked this over and over again. :)

They need someone Lee Hyun-woo, an actor, to portray this interesting character. I fear for other actors who's in this drama, he might overshadow them due to his awesome acting skills.

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TVXQ hug :') sighhhh....

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Ooh...the ending! I wonder what their respective fans think about the kiss. Hahaha!!! And yeah so far the casting seems to be spot on. Sulli actually looks pretty good on her short hair. I hope that we get some extra elements which are original too. And please din drag unnecessarily

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I kinda wished that they played the kiss for laughs first before making it all romantic...

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Sulli is awesome and this is my first time shipping the main girl with then 2nd lead....
Damn MinHo, I hope your acting will improve so I can change my mind or I will cry ugly at the end of the drama llol

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Sulli is so tall!

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Starting to love this. Though I cringe they followed the 2007 Japanese remake, not the original.
(I have yet to watch a remake that followed the manga)

Cha Eun-gyeol = Jeremy/Hong-ki (kinda looks like him in one angle; see http://s630.photobucket.com/albums/uu26/dramabeans/drama2012/TTBY/TTBY_02/TTBY02-00881.jpg) + Ikuta Toma's Nakatsu (my personal absolute fave EVAR~!!) + manga version of Nakatsu Shuichi. The most perfect combo.

Dorm celebration with "MAMA" as music. Hell, 5 or 6 of EXO (K & M) are there.

"Alcohol allergy"? Please, I didn't hear that from either Jap or Taiwanese remakes. XP

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The alcohol allergy, although not called the same name, was present in both dramas and that manga. And that really was how their first kiss occurred. I'm curious about Jae Hee's secret though. Is the doc still the only one that knows? I thought Tae Joon's was supposed to know by now. I guess I'm too much of a literalist, but that seemed like such a significant plot point to just fill in at a later point.

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help! can someone explain to me how does taejoon know that jaehee is a girl? because in ep 3 and 4 he is very protective towards her as if he know that she is a girl...

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I can only theorize, but if that's the case...maybe production followed the original manga flow; meaning Sano (Tae-joon) was the first, aside from the Doc, of everyone knowing Mizuki (Jae-hee)'s a girl...I think it was when Mizuki's out and Sano touched her, and just realized Mizuki's a woman.

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super film interesant si hazliu

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Does anyone know the phone Eun Gyeol, Tae Joon and Jae Hee are using in this drama? ⊙﹏⊙

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Girls cutting their hair = Boy.
This formula in Kdramas is really getting on my nerves now.
None of the acting in this drama engages me either. The written updates are waaaay better, so thanks for taking time to write up summaries. :D

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hi, anybody knows the name of han na's 2 dancer friends??? find one of them rlly pretty but cant search for her!

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