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School 2013: Episode 10

Major developments drive today’s episode, not in one but two broken friendships. Sacrifice is the name of the game, though thankfully not of the stupidly noble variety; it’s more like stepping up to prove how much your bromance is worth to you. For a species (the teenage male, I mean) that’s so averse to candid and emotionally frank communication, quite a lot gets said today, maybe just as much via nonverbal actions than through words.

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EPISODE 10 RECAP

Pulling Jung-ho out of the testing session he’s disrupting, Se-chan gives the ultimatum to stay at school or never come back.

This seems like a brilliant idea if your goal is to get rid of the kid. As I doubt that’s his intention, chalk this one up in the “whoops, miscalcuated” files. Jung-ho leaves, to nobody’s surprise.

Meanwhile, Nam-soon and Heung-soo are stuck in the storage shed, having been locked in accidentally. Heung-soo’s hating this and asks what they’re going to do. Nam-soon misinterprets (perhaps deliberately) and answers, “Everything—I’m going to do everything I should have done three years ago.”

Heung-soo doesn’t want to hear apologies, but Nam-soon presses on—it was an accident, that he was just planning to repeat the initial hazing in that last fight. Heung-soo starts pounding on the doors to get out, trying not to listen as Nam-soon raises his voice to say that no matter how messed-up he was, he had zero thought to injure his leg.

Heung-soo grabs him by the shirtfront and growls, “I know! I know it was a mistake! So shut up.” Nam-soon persists, “But it was still my mistake. I wronged you.”

Heung-soo is unmoved. “If it was an accident, if it was your mistake, what does that change?”

Nam-soon holds back tears. “That’s why. Because nothing changes, because this isn’t something that will change just by trying, I’m sorry, you bastard. I’m sorry to death. I’m so sorry I can’t even say the words I’m sorry—”

Heung-soo punches him in the face.

Nam-soon comes back from the punch literally asking for more—he says Heung-soo should have done this at the start, and when Heung-soo doesn’t punch him again Nam-soon challenges him to be honest with himself. He grabs Heung-soo’s fist and tells him to have at it, to beat him as he must’ve beat him up a thousand times in his mind since that day.

Heung-soo agrees that yeah, he did. His temper finally flares, and he shoves Nam-soon as he yells, “What are you gonna do about it?!”

Only, the shove sends Nam-soon into the tower of precariously stacked chairs, which come crashing down on top of him. He falls unconscious under a pile of metal, and Heung-soo frantically digs him out.

Their absence is noted by the teachers, but Se-chan supposes that they’re just off attending to their own matters. That’s what happens when cutting class becomes so routine; nobody looks for you anymore. Uhmforce does puzzle at their absence, noting that they left their bags and cell phones behind. That means they’re still on campus somewhere, and he goes off determined to see what trouble they’re brewing up.

Heung-soo pounds on the door and screams for help in a panic, which is all the more heartwarming for the look of confusion that crosses his face when Nam-soon stirs awake. He’s not totally unscathed but neither is he on the brink of an early demise, and Heung-soo heaves a sign.

Ha, you almost see him wishing he could take back his worry, but that’s the thing about love—once it’s out in the world, it ain’t yours to keep anymore.

Heung-soo settles back, drained, and Nam-soon says matter-of-factly that he’d been scared: “I was scared of you abandoning me to go to Seoul to play soccer.” Heung-soo points out that he didn’t end up leaving, so why’d Nam-soon run away?

Nam-soon answers, “Because I thought you’d throw me away for good. That you’d say you’d never see a bastard like me again. Because all I had was you. If I heard those words coming from your mouth, I had nowhere to go.”

Flashback. Nam-soon quietly sneaks into Heung-soo’s room, their daily routine, and settles in to sleep. Heung-soo asks why he doesn’t sleep at home, and Nam-soon answers, “I’m comfortable here.” Plus he’s a loyal friend. Heung-soo scoffs that he just didn’t want to be alone at home: “Don’t you have anywhere to go except to me?” Nam-soon feigns sleep, and Heung-soo tucks him in.

The same memory seems to be playing in their heads now as they sit on opposite sides of the room in silence.

Uhmforce arrives just outside the shed and sees the smoke puffing out from its open window—Heung-soo’s just lit a cigarette. Aw, is he going to assume he just skived off for a smoke?

He goes for the janitor, and the door swings open just as the boys are hurriedly fanning the air to thin out the smoke. HA. Way to not look guilty, guys.

But it’s not Uhmforce who’s let them out—it’s Se-chan, who assesses the scene: fallen chairs, scraped hands, stamped-out cigarette butt. He notes, “I’ve caught you red-handed.”

Uhmforce arrives and takes over, ordering the smoker to step forward. At which point Se-chan steps in front and baldly lies, “I was thinking of my youth when I came here to smoke, for old time’s sake. It was me.”

Pwahaha. This isn’t exactly convincing but Uhmforce steps aside, leaving Se-chan to the disciplining of the truants. Se-chan sends them this smirk, saying they are his now.

Minions 1 and 2—I suppose we can call them Yi-kyung and Ji-hoon now—find Jung-ho napping up in the pool hall, which is also home base for the older gangsters that even Jung-ho finds intimidating. Ji-hoon wants to talk, but Jung-ho’s still smarting from his earlier betrayal (y’know, for wanting to go to school and have a future) and snaps at him. They should scram, since he’s got a new crowd now—these hyungnims.

For all their braggadocio at school, the two friends are shocked at this bit step toward adult delinquency; you get the sense they’d only thought to keep up the teenage rebel thing till high school was over. They don’t really want to live this way forever.

Ji-hoon can’t believe Jung-ho would decide to become one of those hyungnims’ underling. It seems like Jung-ho needs to be pushed—no, wants to be pushed—back to the safer side, but pride dictates he keep up the big talk and he insults Ji-hoon into stalking away in frustration.

Yi-kyung, the peacemaker, sticks around and assures Jung-ho that he wouldn’t leave him, which appeases him somewhat. But then Jung-ho turns to the gangsters to announce that he found out who their bike thieves are, and they happen to go to his school. Gulp. Nervous Yi-kyung clearly feels this is going too far, but he’s hardly in a place to stand up to any of them.

Se-chan sets the boys to sweeping the office, annoyingly pestering them to do a good job. Then he sends the boys to write essays on their wrongdoing, which elicits twin looks of aggravation on their faces. It’s pretty priceless, but given the choice to write essays now or write them under Uhmforce’s direction, they grudgingly comply.

Then he levels with them: Do they really not want to come to school? Do they really insist on one of them being transferred out? If that’s not the case, they’d best give school a proper try. Stop fighting, stop smoking, and act like students.

The boys stoically grimace through Se-chan’s orders that they return here tomorrow, and if they ditch or are late, he’ll hand ’em over to Uhmforce. Ha. I love how Uhmforce is the universal threat.

As they leave campus, Nam-soon spots the gang of hyungnims hopping the wall. Even without knowing the reason for this visit, it can’t be good news and he yanks Heung-soo back out of sight, indicating that they’ll sneak out back.

Heung-soo asks how long he’s going to keep running from them, since he’ll inevitably have to confront them someday. Nam-soon figures that’ll happen when it happens. For now, it’s best to avoid.

The principal also advises our teachers to do nothing about the Jung-ho situation—if he doesn’t return to school of his own accord, the school won’t step in. Se-chan tells In-jae that there’s no use going after him, because without a change of heart coming from Jung-himself, he’ll just keep stirring up the same trouble.

In-jae knows that, and she’s not disagreeing. It’s just that she wonders whether Jung-ho would be able to come back even if, say, he were to decide he wanted to. She asks whether Se-chan would be able to do it—to admit he was wrong in the face of all the embarrassment. Isn’t telling a kid to do something that an adult couldn’t do just the same as telling him not to bother?

Nam-soon and Heung-soo get pulled out of class by Se-chan, who presents them with test sheets. He wants to see how much they know, and takes a jab at their pride—if they get stuck in remedial class, that means they’re as dumb as third-graders.

Nam-soon speaks up to vouch that Heung-soo’s smarter than he is. Ha, Heung-soo shoots him this look.

Ha-kyung goes to Se-chan for advice on her academic file—she’s feeling uneasy about her admission chances and wants to beef up her activities. He advises her what she can add, recommending a debate competition or some such activity, and wonders why she came to him. She replies, “Just tell me how to study.” As in, that’s all he’s good for—the numbers and the odds and how to beat them.

The teachers note that with the nationwide exam results out, the students are finally spurred to study—even if, in the case of Class 2, that means as little as asking what page of the book to turn to. At least they’re feeling the panic, which is motivating.

Principal Im makes her next move, which is to make Class 2 evaluate In-jae’s lessons—but not Se-chan’s, or anybody else’s. He’s outraged on her behalf and takes it up with the vice principal, aware that the school is actually soliciting negative critique of In-jae. Basically, the principal’s steamrolling In-jae into compliance, so that Se-chan’s test-prep methods prevail.

But In-jae says she’ll allow it, to Se-chan’s surprise. He asks point-blank whether she’s using the kids as her excuse to give up: “Do you have so little confidence in your teaching?” It looks like he hit the nail on the head, because she just asks back, “Do you have confidence in yours?”

She admits that she’s at a loss to know how to teach to everyone’s levels, or to instruct kids who don’t even know why they need to be in class. They’re in charge of teaching kids who’ve already give up and kids who aspire to go to Seoul National University in the same classroom: “Wouldn’t having confidence in the class be stranger?”

So in the next class, In-jae hands out the forms to her students, and the results come back as we might expect. “Class is boring,” “I don’t think the teacher prepared for class very much,” and “This is not helpful for the college entrance exam.”

The other teachers try to cheer In-jae up, telling her that the kids are feeling pressured right now and would reply the same way about all the teachers. Of course, the trouble is that none of the other teachers are being evaluated.

It’s thoroughly disheartening, and In-jae admits it was more than she’d expected; she feels incompetent. Se-chan gives her a cute little pep talk about how not every teacher in the world can have his talent and charisma, which gets a smile out of her. But he says that she can teach plenty with her level of abilities.

The kids bicker amongst themselves, with the overachievers snapping that In-jae’s probably had the sense knocked into her and won’t continue her discussion group classes. A few kids seem to recognize that it’s not In-jae to blame, and Kang-joo retorts that their stress is more to blame than In-jae’s teaching methods.

In-jae announces that from today, they won’t need to arrange themselves into their groups anymore, having carefully read all their replies. At least some students have the grace to look abashed. They offer mumbled excuses, like how her classes were fun but it made them nervous with thoughts of the future ahead of them, and how they haven’t been able to show Mom their dismal score yet.

But Young-woo raises his hand and stutters, “I-I started liking poetry.” Aw.

After class, Ji-hoon stops In-jae to ask her whether she could step in again and appeal to Jung-ho, one more time. She answers that this time Jung-ho has to make the decision for himself and come to school. She suggests that the friends try persuading him.

But Ji-hoon sighs that they have no effect. Even if he did want to come, Jung-ho needs an excuse—so what if she tries one more time? He and Yi-kyung will go with her to step in if needed.

She asks if he’s scared of Jung-ho, but Ji-hoon chuckles it off, saying there’s nothing to be scared of. In any case, Jung-ho has no other friends aside from them.

In-jae provides the excuse needed to bring Jung-ho, telling them to inform him that she has his cell phone (left behind from test day), and that if he wants it back he’ll have to come get it.

Se-chan is given the task of selecting two students to represent the school at an upcoming debate competition (based on their essays). His choices are Kang-joo and Min-ki, who have differing responses: Kang-joo’s excited but asks to think it over, while Min-ki asks nervously, “Does my mother know?”

When Kang-joo shares that info, Ha-kyung doesn’t betray a reaction, but it’s not too hard to guess she feels put out for being bypassed, especially when Se-chan told her that the competition would be good for her profile. Ha-kyung takes it out on her friend, saying that such a prime resumé-builder is wasted on Kang-joo. Ouch.

Kang-joo gets it—Ha-kyung means that the opportunity benefits a Seoul U aspirant but does nothing for a bad student’s chances. Ha-kyung replies evenly, “Realistically speaking that’s true.” Dig that grave.

Kang-joo snaps back, “Then you should’ve written better essays than me. If it’s not me, do you even have the skill to go in my place?” Oh snap.

Back to Nam-soon and Heung-soo, FINALLY, who have been taking the longest test ever. Who thought it was a good idea to make these two take a test offscreen for half the episode? Se-chan collects their answer sheets and sends them along to study hall.

As they get up to leave, Heung-soo advises Nam-soon to give it up now—they’ll never be able to go back to how it was. “We can’t erase what happened, or forget it, can we? So let’s stop now.”

Nam-soon hangs his head and says, “Okay.”

Min-ki steps aside to call his mother, and asks if there’s a way he can avoid the debate competition. She must be insisting he go, but he protests that none of his essays were written by him. AH, that explains his stricken expression whenever his papers are singled out. But Mom goes off on a tirade and he sighs heavily, defeated.

Uhmforce pulls Se-chan aside and warns him about something in the school guidelines regarding violence. Hm. What’s this new trouble now? Whatever it is, Se-chan keeps this from In-jae, looking perturbed.

Nam-soon seems willing to give Heung-soo his space, but when he sees Heung-soo heading for the gates and the team of gangsters heading in, he has to step in. He calls Heung-soo with a trumped-up excuse that Uhmforce is looking for him, then heads out to face the gang. Alone. Arg!

Nam-soon is grabbed by both arms the second he steps outside. Gulp.

Except… Heung-soo senses something wrong. Turn back! Save him! Bromance powers activate!

So when Heung-soo heads back out, he catches a glimpse of Nam-soon being escorted into a van by the thugs. He runs after the car, though he’s left in the dust gasping for breath.

The two minions head to the pool hall, where Jung-ho is actually quite cutely excited to see Yi-kyung. He’s less thrilled to see Ji-hoon next to him, but Yi-kyung shoves Ji-hoon inside and tells them to have their little talk, shutting them inside. Ha.

Ji-hoon passes along the message to pick up his cell phone, which Jung-ho dismisses in two seconds flat. He tries another tack, saying they should all graduate together, and Yi-kyung is being a whiny brat without Jung-ho around. Plus, the students have quieted down in all their talk about jjang hierarchies.

Jung-ho isn’t fooled by any of these excuses and asks why Ji-hoon’s butting in. Ji-hoon fires back that he’s his friend, which seems to kill a lot of the animosity.

Before this bromance has a chance to heal, though, the gangsters return to the pool hall with their scapegoat in tow, ready for his beating. When instructed to call his buddy in to join him, Nam-soon puts down his bag and clenches his fists… and kneels. Whoa.

He’s not begging for mercy, at least not in the traditional sense, because he says, “Just beat me up and let’s finish this today.” That’s his trade-off for not dragging Heung-soo into it.

The beating begins. The gang members all crowd around Nam-soon to get their kicks in while he just takes it, not fighting back. Jung-ho watches with a smirk on his face, though Ji-hoon shoots him a look. Jung-ho feigns disinterest, and Ji-hoon asks, “Are you really just going to let this go on?”

So Ji-hoon steps forward instead and tells them they got the wrong guy. Jung-ho mutters at him in alarm—is he crazy?

Must be, because Ji-hoon admits to being the instigators of the bike incident, because they were pissed he sold off Jung-ho’s bike.

Funn enough, hyungnim actually says he’s got balls and tells “baby” he can leave, scot-free. But they’d better not come around here anymore.

Jung-ho storms off furiously, because he’s just been ejected from the gang, no matter the part where Ji-hoon just saved his future. He’s not thankful for the interference, and tells Ji-hoon he was almost fooled—they’re not friends. Jung-ho has no friends.

Nam-soon barely has enough strength to keep upright, but he does muster the energy for a smile. Well I’m glad you can enjoy the moment even when you’re half-pulp.

Just as Jung-ho’s stalking off, Heung-soo comes running in, and gets to the pool hall just in time to catch Nam-soon, literally, as he falls to the ground. The sight of his bloodied and cut-up face is startling, and Nam-soon sighs, “Damn, you caught me.” Like you thought you were gonna be able to hide this?

After walking some way in silence, Heung-soo asks if Nam-soon took his beating for him. Didn’t they just agree to cut this out? “D’you think acting like this will make my leg better? Will I be able to play soccer again?”

Nam-soon says fiercely, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t pretend not to know and I can’t take it back.” He says he’ll do anything and everything—and even if he can’t pay him back, he has to at least try, to act like he can.

Heung-soo grabs his jacket. “You dumb bastard. You should have just been there from the start. No matter what! You should have just stayed there. All I had besides soccer was you—and when soccer was gone and I wanted to die, you should have just been there, bastard.”

He’s shouting and crying now, and Nam-soon’s crying too, and so am I for that matter. He continues raggedly, “So what I’m saying is, didn’t you miss me, bastard?”

In-jae watches over her class during the after-school study hall. She’d asked Se-chan to have this duty for a particular reason, but all she’s doing is watching her students work in silence. Uh… she’s not planning another goodbye, is she?

Finally she speaks up, saying that there was something she wanted to do in her last discussion class. She asks if they can do it now, and recites a poem, called “Flowers That Bloom When Shaken” by Do Jong-hwan.

Where is the flower that blooms without shaking?
Any of the beautiful flowers of this world
all bloom while being shaken
They shake on stems that grow upright
Where is the love that goes without shaking?
Where is the flower that blooms without being soaked?
Any of the shining flowers of this world
bloom as they are soaked
Soaked by wind and rain, petals bloom warmly
Where is the life that goes without being soaked?

Se-chan reads over the school policy book with a grim face, and asks Uhmforce if this means “one of the two” will be forced to transfer out. In-jae happens to catch the conversation, and there’s no more hiding it from her. Either Nam-soon must go, or Heung-soo.

 
COMMENTS

Ack! Of course this happens now, just when the boys finally confront their feelings and are on their way to mending. ‘Cause Fate’s a bitch, as we’ve established drama after drama.

It’s such a cathartic moment for Nam-soon and Heung-soo to be able to actually say what they’re feeling—perhaps to themselves as much as to each other. Who else loves that it’s the time-worn romantic trope that forces the conversation, of locking the two quarreling parties in a room and not letting them out of the bind until they’ve hashed out their subtext?

While I believe Nam-soon has had a bit more time to process the aftermath and get acquainted with his guilt over the accident, Heung-soo’s always seemed one step behind, still stuck in denial an anger and unready to walk through the remaining stages of grief. So when he accuses Nam-soon of leaving when he should have stayed and asking whether he missed him, I wonder if this was the first time Heung-soo had allowed himself to admit he’d missed Nam-soon too. As the guilty party, Nam-soon is free to admit that he was wrong and that he misses their friendship, but Heung-soo’s got that stabilizing, energizing anger to hold fast to. It’s one way to get through the hurt, but it’s also an obstacle to self-actualization.

The admission also makes so much sense—not that Heung-soo’s resentment wasn’t perfectly understandable before—because the cut actually goes deeper than a bashed-in knee, a lost career. Heung-soo’s not betrayed by the injury so much as he’s betrayed by the abandonment, even though it was driven by fear and guilt and not, say, an emotional chucking. Same with Nam-soon—he was so afraid of being left behind that he had to do the leaving. Maybe he found some sort of twisted solace in wallowing in his guilt, because he was the one who caused the rift, he is solely to blame. I’m not sure he could have taken it if Heung-soo had done the abandoning. Only, he loved his friend too much to see that he perpetrated his greatest fear right back at him.

In that way he’s not totally unlike Jung-ho, who showed a little more of his softer underbelly today. We’ve seen hints of it before, but now it’s pretty apparent that Jung-ho is a deeply lonely person who lashes out before he can be hurt. His rejection of Ji-hoon is so much like Nam-soon’s self-destructive (and okay, plain destructive) response to Heung-soo leaving him behind for soccer—now that Ji-hoon’s showing an interest in having a life beyond him, he’s afraid of being the odd man out and attaches himself to a different group, even if he’s the loser minion at the very bottom. It speaks volumes about how small-potatoes Jung-ho actually is with his badass routine that his friends are actually shocked that he’d take this step—because for all his posturing, Jung-ho still went to school, he still must’ve wanted to graduate. Right now his pride is his big stumbling block, but the more people who clue into the fact, the closer he comes to being reachable.

I do wonder where the Nam-soon/Heung-soo resolution takes us for our story, because that friction has been the key driver of their storyline thus far, and a lot of that has been resolved. I hardly think they’ll be back to their former camaraderie now that they’ve had this confrontation, but now with this threat of transfer, our conflict goes from an internal one to an external source. My favorite aspect of School 2013 has always been the conflict between Nam-soon and Heung-soo; it’s one that’s fraught with so many emotions and terribly complicated to unravel, because there’s no easy way to pin the blame on someone and feel better about things for having that scapegoat. That complexity and grounding in emotional reality are what give the relationship its heft. I hope the transfer storyline continues that.

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Such a great drama!!!

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Thank You!!

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asdfgjl thank you so much!!!! i'm so addicted to this drama, i'm up watching the ep rt now and i'm supposed to wake up in 5 hrs... ah well, i'd rather watch than sleep;) these guys were SO ADORABLE when they were besties, i keep squealing at all the flashbacks:)

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oh and btw lol i LOVE how se chan says, follow ME. it's so cute:D

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me too! his swarmy voice never fails to amuse me

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this ep was amazing....I swear when Nam-Soon was holding back the tears in the storage room my heart was slowly breaking..and then the flashback of how they used to be, their bromance was so cute I can't take it....and the ending when Heung-soo was like "didn't you miss me?" I swear the tears were rolling and my heart just burst. The sight of them crying together at the end, I just couldn't deal..my eyes were flooding

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oh wow i didn't mean to comment the same thing twice my cpu had messed up and i thought it didn't post

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still waiting patiently for subs :( can't wait to watch it and read your review after! thanks xx

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thaaaaaaaaaaaanks! finally ! :)

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Thanks you.....
Nice guy and Big were the first dramas which I watched when they aired.....and I didn't have any emotional attachment to them...and I thought that it happens only when you watch a drama continuously for 3 to 4 days....

But after watching King of dramas and School 2013, i understood that it depends on a drama, whether you connect with it or not...and I totally love these two shows...

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i friggin' loooved this episode! i would've liked it as the ending ep of last week. oh so good. i hate it when they throw off the episode coupling. i hope they get coupling eps back together well.

So. Very. Good.

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this ep was amazing....I swear when Nam-Soon was holding back the tears in the storage room my heart was slowly breaking..and then the flashback of how they used to be, their bromance was so cute I can't take it....and the ending when Heung-soo was like "didn't you miss me?" I swear the tears were rolling and my heart just burst. The sight of them crying together at the end, I just couldn't deal..my eyes were flooding

And I'm glad I'm not the only one tht finds the episode kind odd

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Thank you so much for the recap! I just they bring everyone together again --- so many story lines to keep track of! They were always stronger together.
This show is a favorite for sure.

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I made the weirdest sobbing noise at Kwak Jung Wook's face after Jihoon called himself his friend. There's such great, subtle acting in this drama.

But can't we get more Ha Kyung? Specifically, Ha Kyung with people besides Kang Joo? I like their friendship and their little rivalry, but I really enjoyed her relationship with Nam Soon. I'm kind of mad her character got pushed back.

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Haha. At one point when I was watching this episode, I was like "Where the hell did Nam-Soo and Heung-Soo go?". Haha they like disappeared for a long time. But I'm really respecting Ji-Hoon more with each episode. He wants to succeed and he's not abandoning Jung-Ho either in order to succeed. That's a good friend right there. He wants them all to succeed together or at the least, graduate highschool together.

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I say we lock them up in the storage room again. Without the chairs and you know, other potentially dangerous objects. But just make it cold enough so that they'll have to huddle together for body heat, and kind of isolated, so they'll have to spend an even longer time together and then they'll be forced to make up!

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Hmm, sounds good. ;D

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I think there were be some serious fanfic based on this episode. I laughed out loud at how much lurrrrve they had for each other. It was very touching yet very hilarious. It's not yet at the Goo Yongha / Moon Jae Shin level, but it was totally palpable.

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Awh, this episode made me cry so much (kinda). I loved especially how In-jae reads the poem to encourage her struggling students. She seems like such an inspirational teacher, I wish I had a teacher like her. And also, the bromance in this episode slays me. There was just so much raw emotion tears just welled up. I'm also glad there's more progress with Jung-ho's storyline, and that we got to see more of him. :) Can't wait for tomorrow!

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IKR! I'd love to have teacher like In jae in my life

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Bromance and more bromance please!!!

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I loved that poem. It was extremely soothing and very, I don't know, the word that came to mind is Haleem, which in Arabic is a sort of deep patience with the trials of life. I guess, I mean that the poem seemed to encourage that patience because it will all work out in the end and because nothing really lovely comes easy.

Why the heck do the all the students have such huge phones? Are they all rocking phablets?

And did anyone notice from the viki subs: HS's mother is in a coma. As Sechan says, those kids have a lot on.

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Phablets! I love it!

Yeah, about HS's mother being in a coma. Yikes. No wonder it's just him and his sister.

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awww.. this bromance breaks my heart. MAKE. UP. ALREADY!! These Korean teens really holds up grudges like a bitch. If were in a jdorama, they'll be friends again after a couple of
punches, a run with the baddies and a close call with the cops, but we've been through all that and yet even more pain and they have two meddling teachers to boot! The angst is too much, but it's really great. Go Nam-soon is my new poster boy for teenage bromance angst. but please, show, No more Nam-soon in tears.

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Jdrama? LOL You're talking about Gokusen, right? Please be talking about Gokusen. I was absolutely enamored with the delinquents of Class 3D. Especially Gokusen Season 2, but I'm just biased towards the old KAT-TUN. Gokusen has a totally different format though... The conflict gets resolved in each episode - it's short and simple. I love both, but School 2013 has really gotten me invested in their darker, longer conflicts.

If you're not talking about Gokusen, I'll be majorly disappointed. LOLOL

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Where can I watch Gokusen ?

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it's available at dramacrazy.net

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Omg a fellow Gokusen fan! :D School 2013 was reminding me so much of Gokusen!

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YES! I was totally citing Gokusen as an example LOL. Awesome drama that is. and I'm also partial with Gokusen 2, big Kame fan here ^_^ I have a soft spot for delinquents. har, har.

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These Korean teens really holds up grudges like a bitch O.o Are you ..... my friend??? cause she just said something along that line... supernatural much?

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I have had a long day, so this episode of School will be my treat of the day. Anyway, the good thing is that they are 100% subbed now. Will be back when I finish this one ^^

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Hi :) Where are you watching this show with subs?

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Hi there, I watch School and other dramas on viki.com (they sub very fast there), but I know that it is only available in some countries (before I lived in the Europe and couldn't watch).

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I watched this episode 3 times by now. I gotta say that... I don't really know whether I'm satisfied with the episode or not. I still love it.

The first thing I like about this episode is Se Chan and In Jae "relationship". Se Chan is growing to care more, steps up to protect the kids and tries to teach them some lessons. Tough kids like Nam Soon and Heung Soo need some books' knowledge to survive the exam while bookworn kids need lessons about social interactions. In Jae continues her caring way, and it indeed reaches some "lost lambs".

My second favorite is Nam Soon-Heung Soo confrontation with their past. Finally, both of them can confess what they feel/fear in the past to each other. They had their own fears of losing something/someone important, and they were frustrated of what to do. I feel like even though both of them spoke their hearts out, the "already-done" damage can still be a mountain between the two kids.

Is it kind of weird if I get the vibe of Nam Soon-Heung Soo as a couple, not 2 best bros? The other day, one comment said that the show decides to not develop the Nam Soon-Ha Kyung love line and they change to focus on the Nam Soon-Heung Soo OTP. It was a joke, but now I feel like it's kinda right based on the way they built up Nam Soon-Heung Soo interaction via several flashbacks.

My 3rd favorite is the dynamic friendship/rival between Ha Kyung and Kang Joo. Min Ki's conflict and Ji Hoon's character development are also my hope. It feels like once the producer decided to push aside the Nam Soon-Ha Kyung love line, Ha Kyung character also got pushed aside. If that's the case, it's such a waste.

Based on the preview, there are great deals to come in episode 11, so I'm waiting for it right now, in an hour I hope :D

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Awww....the bromance..thnk you sooooo much for the recap...

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I love HK's boldness, her self-awareness, and her cut-the-BS attitude, but her academic elitism is starting to get too much for me. At what point does she just become a smarter, more eloquent version of the three overachieving stock characters who sit behind her? I hope she learns something from her recent conflict with IJ.

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Er, her conflict with *KJ, not *IJ.

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what worries me is it about half way through this drama, traditionally the time k-drama start lose the edge and gloss as the work pressure of live shooting starts to bite. Already I getting to the point where it feel like the story goes one step forward two steps back and repeating itself. I really starting to hope, unless there a new big story line brought into play, that it is indeed only the 16 episodes long. The two guys have had enough time to grow up and start getting on with thier lives insted of living in the past, the bully..frankly he had so many chances I can not find it in myself to really care what happens to him. The headmaster vs the twin teacher though mainly In-jae is also starting to get too much it just more of the same each week..they get past one trick then the headmaster pulls another..then they get past that trick..and so on. it almost as if the writer feels the need to have some sort of "villain" when really a show like this need no evil villain. I think it was a mistake on what I have seen and where it going, or not going, to take out the romance or they should use more humor to counter the melodrama. I still 'like' the drama but feel if it keeps on as is or goes even more deeper that I going to end the drama with that common feeling in finishing watching a k-drama of..ow..it could have been so much better...sad...

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I don't think the show's actively looking for a "villain", like what you say. School 2013 is supposed to be a drama that explores the actual Korean high school scene, picking out real life problems that teenagers face, in order to address them. So sometimes the drama seems mundane--in the way that a problem pops up after another is solved, continuously, even though sometimes they're really minor--but it's /supposed/ to be like that. That's life.

As for the romance, I'm sad that there aren't more Nam Soon/Ha Kyung moments lately, but this episode offered a fair bit of In Jae/Se Chan. And there's definitely humor. The whole sequence with Se Chan disciplining the two boys after finding them in the storage room and their looks/attitude at him (when they were leaving the office they bow politely to In Jae and then just nod their heads at Se Chan with this look xD) was quite funny, imo. It's this kind of situational humor's that golden.

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Yeah, it's really too bad they seem to cut Nam-soon/Ha-kyung completely. Let's just hope the two would have some moments again later on.

Wouldn't it be great if they kinda go for a double date ? (okay, just hang out together, then) Nam-soon, Heung-soo, Ha-kyung and Kang-joo.

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Oh gee....I'm kinda hoping for a Kang-joo Nam-soon relationship. Cause i think that would be more realistic in a non-drama kinda way. I do miss seeing more of the girls but it's also good to see the pain of boys. I always felt kinda wary of "take your daughters to work" day and at all those programs that aim for girls to be emotionally sane and psychologically prepared for the world. IT always seemed to me that boys had souls too and were also in need of all that mental care we were always giving girls. Still, as long as there are viable relationships not based in pain at the end of the drama i'll be happy. Way too many pain-based relationships going on. I want peace for my bromantic duo.

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She likes Nam-soon. And I think they'd go we'll together too.

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I agree with this comment.
I'm still willing to give this drama a chance but I don't look forward to watching it as much as I did before. The past few episodes have been disappointing for me. :/

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totally understand how you feel about the bully. Makes me wonder. Troubled teens are so romanticized...it's interesting to see Ji Hoon just begin to cut the friendship with the bad guy loose. I like that as a creative idea....

So far Jung Ho has been given no redeeming qualities. And the whole pride thing is his one big obstacle. But it would be interesting to have a character given up as a total loss. Not that we should go doing that in real life...but in a drama..why not? The whole idea of "giving a bully another chance" can be so abused by the bully. There is just so much love and patience one has ...and just so much hope and patience one can lay at someone's feet to step on.

Se-chan and Im-jae are good teachers. They might not give up on the bully yet...but if the bully's presence is destroying the lives of other people, the bully should be tossed to the curb. It seems silly to me to let lives be destroyed and destruction for the many to continue just so one soul can be saved/redeemed/enlightened

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I enjoyed Jung-ho in this episode and in episode 11, but I do think it is sort of strange that In-jae felt that Jung-ho can be redeemed. Has she ever witnessed any redeeming qualities in Jung-ho? Did he hold the door for her once? see him attempt a math problem?? rescue a puppy from drowning?

Some kids are just horrible people, like the Rape Crew from that Steubenville school.

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If this drama wants us to continue to be interested in Jung-ho we need to see some redeeming qualities. As you point out he has absolutely none and at the end of the previous episode I almost lost it when he was "acting out" by playing his cellphone game during the exams.

In-jae isn't a realistic character if she doesn't let Jung-ho go. The guy was physically and verbally abusive to her and is one of the major problems at the school.

The only purpose Jung-ho serves right now other than an annoyance is that he is as a reminder of who Nam-soon used to be.

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The betrayal by abandonment you hit on, jb, pairs with the flashback where Nam Soon says, "This is what loyalty looks like" when he and Heung soo lay on the bed together. Such sweet bromance loyalty power, love it so much! I always say that if you find a few people who are loyal in your lifetime, you can count them on one hand and have fingers left over. I will wager that their friendship will reshape itself through the loyalty that will resurface from the depths of their wounds.

How many times does NS have to get beat up? "HS is harder than I thought." Yeah, NS, take better care of yourself, baby.

On a completely different drift - Se-chan's neon yellow sweater was so distracting and the two-tone red and black one he wore later wasn't much better. Reminds me of the male HS teachers who were such bad dressers with corduroy and suede patch elbow sports coats, pink shirts and bad hair. Always bad hair. Although I think Se-chan is a doll, with an adorable grin and a devil-may-care sway-so cute!

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Thank you for calling out Se-chan's blinding sweater and overall bad teacher-wardrobe. All he needs now are those squishy pleather loafers (and suede patch elbow sports coats, of course) and his look will be complete.

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sigh..
I need more Ha-Kyung.. :(

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“So what I’m saying is, didn’t you miss me, bastard?”
I DIED. screaming on the inside!!!!!!

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i KNOW right! i loved that part.

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omo omo! i need to go home early and watch this part!

this bromance is making me cry!! kekeke

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SAME, OMGOMGOMG. :')

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Someone totally needs to make a fanvid, stat!

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Oh, I know. I loved that scene. Just to know that's where most of his anger comes from, not necessarily the injury... But the abandonment. Ouch.

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YESSSSS. I've been waiting all week :). This totally makes having the flu seem better ;).

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My big gripe with this drama is that they need to show the students' academic problems getting solved. In this episode, I was happy to see Se-chan insist on a proper assessment for our two heroes. It's ridiculous that two intelligent young men should be at 3d grade level. I want to see them pull out of that.

As for Ha-kyung, I'd like to see how she'll fix her weak essay skills, but beyond that, I don't care much about her anymore. She's getting repetitive.

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I was also happy to see Se-chan insisting to proper assess the kids. I feel like Se-chan and In-jae need to do weekly assessment or biweekly assessments on these kids and fix any problems before the official school tests.

Namsoon and Heung-soo really like to sleep in class and spent their middle school years being delinquents (who probably also slept in class), so I wouldn't have been surprised to see them get a 5 on the test. Sometimes all you need to be awake and listen and you'd unintentionally absorb something the teacher has said and apply it to a few problems. They couldn't even do just that.

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bromance FTW!!! i did not read your review 'coz i haven't watch it yet.. kekeke

i'll read it after i watch the ep.. (^^,) excited much...

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Love this ep, love the bromances (especially with the Jung-ho trio). But I wish there was more Ha-kyung with some more interesting conflict. Can't help missing all those lovely Ha-kyung/Nam-soon moments from the first few episodes. :(

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Yeah! bromance powers activate!

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I like the character consistency. Namsoon tends to run away or take the less confrontational way out. Like how in this ep he said he'll just run first, and think about the confrontation only when it happens. And how at the start of the series he would clam up/ keep to himself, not defending or explaining himself. It just adds to way he couldn't help turning away from Heungsoo first. And really, the way he seems so young around Heungsoo (who projects a super cute hyung vibe) in the flashbacks... despite his iljjang status... it's so cute and bittersweet at the same time. Can they really not return to that relationship? Please? ;_;

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I usually am not into this but seriously.....

can they please just kiss or something already? Hug?

I'm like dyin here.

OTP <3333333

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I gotta say. This is turning into my favorite drama right now and I'd say it ranks in my top five of all time. There are so many moments when you just fall in love with the characters, and it's so great when it's not necessarily one of the leads.

For instance, when Min Ki is on the phone with his mom about the essay contest; how can you not love a kid that is so torn between his mom's plans for him, his own self, and his own sense of right/wrong. And when Han Young Woo tells In Jae that he learned to like poetry, my heart just melted. I totally get why In Jae's heart just aches for these kids. They're magnificent messes.

And, what's this? Se Chan...you're a damn good teacher and a pretty alright guy when you put your mind to it.

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I really love Minki and can't wait for his mom's comeuppance. The previews indicated that some serious upheaval's coming for that tiger mom.

Seriously. Moms like that need to get their own lives. This Wise Mother, Good Wife thing - we ought to leave that behind in the 20th century.

For some time now, Korean girls & women have been expected to compete for the top spots, yet what do they do after they get into prestigious universities and get their degrees? I know too many whose primary use of their degree is to be the fiercest tiger mom. And juice. Obviously not true for all these women who attain elite status, but still what kind of message are they sending their daughters? I had one student claim that she wanted a college degree but ultimately wanted to live her mom's life, which is to not work and watch Korean dramas all the time. Gah.

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It's hard for me to really understand how difficult it is for women in Korea. I mean, we've all seen the dramas and I suspect that a lot, like me, have read a lot of news also. Even so, as someone that's grown up in America, even though there are still gender stereotypes, we also have many more protections that allow us to break out of the stereotypes. I applaud Korean women who are able to make their own way, on their own terms. I mean, I don't have any problem with a woman choosing homemaker or housewife for her life. I just believe that it should be just that, a choice.

As far as tiger moms go, we call them "helicopter parents" here. Of course, it's not as crazy as a tiger mom, but it definitely is the same genre.

As far as Minki goes, I'm also really hopeful that he's going to get a chance at some peace during his teenage years.

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why uhmforce whyyyyy
let the two make up and attend hs together!

thanks for the recap

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Am i the only one getting tired of the bromance? Seriously can they cut the chase already!! it's getting repetitive!! I want other characters to shine like ha kyung, kang joo or minki!! i'm giving myself an ultimatum if the next three episodes won get any better. I WILL DROP THIS DRAMA!!

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I'm with you I really dislike how the focus is mostly on the bromance their story was interesting at first but now it's getting old and repetitive this drama is actually getting quite boring for me..Also the nam-soon/ha-kyung interaction were awesome..even though they cut the romance(which sucks)they should still give some focus on hakyung(I mean she IS the female lead of the school gen)but NO instead they just treat her like a side character barely giving her any scenes,and yeah what about minki and kang joo? I thought we were gonna see more development for their characters.Honestly I'd much rather see them than the painfully boring female teacher.*sigh* oh well I guess I'll just focus on I miss you for now until this show can get interesting again.

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haha you're not the only one!

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It's upsetting to me that some k-drama writers seem to think that female characters = love lines. I have absolutely zero problem with love lines being omitted (although teenagers do fall in love, in school so I don't get the whole romance is sacrificed to make it more realistic... wait what?), but it seems to me like once they did, they just didn't know what to do with the girls. And that never happens to male characters. I just feel so bad for Park Se Young.

I was really excited for Park Heung Soo and Go Nam Soon's rivalry at first but now it's just kind of draggy and far-fetched, it takes way too much time from other storylines and character development. I suppose it's good if you're here for the angsty bromance, but if like me, you aren't (I would've prefered a general highschool drama) then it is veeery tiresome and even annoying. For a show that was supposed to be realistic they have ignored a lot of stuff that does happen in school to favor the more fantasy-like bromance between two friends. I'm happy it's getting high ratings though, I like all the actors.

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one of the reason this drama is becoming my fave kdrama 2013 is bcs of the bromance...couldnt care less about the romance btw ha kyung and nam soon hahaha..Keep the bromance coming!!!! XD

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haha exactly. who needs romance when the other conflicts are way more interesting.

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my thoughts exactly!!

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I so love this drama...and I adore the villains, Jung Ho, Minki's mom, and the principal. I know there are villains galore in dramas but I've never been really able to fully hate a lot of them. Jae Hee in Nice Guy....nah...not hateable. Representative Oh in KoD...nah...not hateable. But with maybe the exception of Tommy Hong in Alice, the baddies in School just get me so royally p*ssed off when they're on screen. I so love that. I looooooooooooove hating them. And that kind of visceral hatred is not earned in a lot of dramas.

I seriously want something incredibly bad to happen to Jung Ho. I'm a nice person but I really don't care if his little bully heart gets healed or if he finds redemption or gains insight into his slow trajectory toward loserdom. Yep, i hate him that much. Oooh, Writer-nim of School.... I just love that you've given me a real villain that makes my heart boil.

Thanks for the recap.

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You call an angry, dysfunctional teenager a "real villain"? Are we watching the same drama?

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Yep. I've met quite a few angry dysfunctional teenagers when i used to teach. I have no patient for them. They can be cruel as heck. I still remember the kid who went over to the teacher who had the bladder problem (and who always smelled like pee) and totally embarrassed her in front of the class. I remember another kid who wrote very cruel things about a fellow classmate on the blackboard. So yeah, i have no patient with angry dysfunctional teenagers. Just because someone is a teenager doesn't mean they can't cause horrifying trouble and harm to other people or even lead other kids to suicide. And then there was the angry dysfunctional teenager who raped a retarded girl.

And yes, we are watching the same drama. We are all angry and dysfunctional. It's part of life. Very few of us are totally functional and life does make us angry. But most angry dysfunctional folks -- and most angry dysfunctional teenagers-- don't take their anger out on other people in so consistently and cruel a manner as this particular character has. Therefore I am allowed to call this person a villain. Life is too short to not call a spade a spade. And seriously we are talking about a show. A drama. Dramas have villains. And this is a villain I find totally unlikable...again because I taught the finish-not-fail kids in a very tough school. I've met this kind before. They grow up to be very nasty people. Enough said.

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Dang! I should proof-read. *patience*

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I agree with you. Plus, I find this particular villain really tedious. I want less of his trouble-making and more of the students developing as students.

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I'm with you, Carole. Actually, I'm glad viewers have not been manipulated YET into finding redeeming qualities in Abusive Bully Jung Ho.

At the beginning of the drama, I cringed at the very thought of being dragged as a viewer into rationalizing his conduct with the specter of family abuse, addiction (like Nam Soon), extreme poverty, health crisis, whatever. Too many of us suffer those conditions and are NOT bullies, after all.

I normally don't watch high school ANYTHING - movies, dramas, musicals, etc. But I stayed for Nam Soon. His character and the writing for him are superb.

I'm also fascinated by the teaching styles personified by the two leads and the pressure to "teach to the test(s)". Actually, come to think of it, Min Ki's mom - tiger as she may be - is responding to the competitive nature of certain societies, manifested as early as pre-K in some cases. Apparently she's still a firm believer in The Climb to the Top mentality or she'd have taken an entirely different route with Min Ki so he wouldn't be as affected as his brother.

And "elititist" Ha Kyung? She's just following said program, also endorsed by her own family.

This education topic was VERY well contextualized in A Wife's Credentials, imo.

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I'm just upset that Jung Ho and his gang get more character development and screentime than the supposed main characters like Ha Kyung and Kang Joo. I'm not saying that I hate the rebel kids' storyline because I love it... I just wish that the show had more balance. I'm so disappointed that the lady characters seem to have just faded into the background after the loveline was cut off. I wouldn't complain much if they weren't billed as main characters and if the show didn't put emphasis on their characters in the first few episodes but that's not the case here. :/
Anyways, I'll just give episode 11 a chance to see if they'll improve on this. If not, I'll just wait for the show to end before I watch the remaining episodes.

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I think the rebel kids have more growing to do. But what they're going to accomplish in 16 episodes is beyond me.

I wish they'd focus more on the class getting up to speed and all having a chance at college or vocational school, even if it's not Seoul U.

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Same here. I'm really worried since it seems like none of the kids' studies have improved since episode 1, except for Ji Hoon. It'd be too unbelievable if they ended up with a final test in episode 16 and their grades all jumped.

And it's not like the kids are taking tests in the hard sciences. I feel like kids should come out into the adult world knowing some vocabulary and how to think and reflect on what they've read.

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Wow, i felt the same way about Ha Kyung and Kang Joo as well. When they reappeared on the screen, I thought: "Wow, I've missed them."

The troublesome kids often take up a lot of energy while the non-troublemakers are kinda silently imploding. I fear for Min-ki and for Ha-kyung. Ha-kyung's stress and pills, Min-ki's brother...might foreshadow his own reaction to stress.

I'm trusting the writers will somehow show how bad things can be happening so subtly to someone in front of our eyes but because of more "vocal" troublemakers, we don't see how the "successful" kids are also being destroyed in some way as well.

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I said I didn't like Ha-kyung but I had the right to change my mind. But for the record my earlier dislike stands, in fact it's intensified. What the heck kind of friend is she? I don't care if she is under pressure from her family, she only has ONE friend, she needs to learn how to treat her right!

Another great episode for the boys. With Heung-soo's cold facade falling away to reveal the raw, painful emotions he's been holding in for 3 years, to afraid to express them. I love Park Heung-soo and I can't imagine anyone other the Kim Woo-bin playing him. When Nam-soon had the chairs fall on him, HS's concern was genuine, nothing hidden. That was the real, inner HS coming out from beneath the layers of pain and loneliness; and I've been waiting to see the real HS to show through again for a long time. Not in flashbacks, but in the present, so it was a welcome change in his demeanor.

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Wow, great episode. I'm glad the boys are starting to resolve things and can only hope it continues, even with the new trouble cropping up of one of the boys leaving the school. Which I think is stupid and a poor plot movement, but whatever. If it helps the boys become friends again, I'm all for it.

I hope Ha-kyung and Kang-joo can stay friends, and Ha-kyung gets off her freaking high-horse. I hope Min-ki can stand up to his mother. I hope Jung-ho comes back to school and he and Ji-hoon and Yi-kyung can stay friends.

I like the poem In-jae recited at the end of the episode. Very poignant and beautiful.

Thanks for the recap, Javabeans!

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Ahh....what an episode! just so good....thanks for the recap =D

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I love this show. But honestly I am more curious about what roads the kids took after they graduated high school or became adults. For this show I am more curious about the destination than the journey.

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the bromance! i can't take it! *pulls my hair*

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This bromance gets me every single time. Like can I watch an episode without crying? It's okay though because I really enjoy being able to feel the characters and their pain.

Love this show(:

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I'm so upset that they seemed to push the girls to side after the love-line stopped being prevalent. That's just insulting to the characters. Hope they come up again

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thanks for the recap! the ending with In-jae reciting that poem with all those scenes cut in made me shed a bunch of tears! Those kids really have it hard and it made me wish the drama was 100 episodes long so we get to have In-jae and Se-chan steer each and every one of their students to a more fruitful and happy future.

I'm glad there's going to be an extension. We still have Ha-kyung, Kang-joo, Minki, and the bitchy-stressed-out-girl-whose name I don't know to cover. We still have to find Se-chan's past. And how In-jae and Se-chan will teach these kids in a way to benefit all of them.

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It’s upsetting to me that some k-drama writers seem to think that female characters = love lines. I have absolutely zero problem with love lines being omitted (although teenagers do fall in love, in school so I don’t get the whole romance is sacrificed to make it more realistic… wait what?), but it seems to me like once they did, they just didn’t know what to do with the girls. And that never happens to male characters. I just feel so bad for Park Se Young.

I was really excited for Park Heung Soo and Go Nam Soon’s rivalry at first but now it’s just kind of draggy and far-fetched, it takes way too much time from other storylines and character development. I suppose it’s good if you’re here for the angsty bromance, but if like me, you aren’t (I would’ve prefered a general highschool drama) then it is veeery tiresome and even annoying. For a show that was supposed to be realistic they have ignored a lot of stuff that does happen in school to favor the more fantasy-like bromance between two friends. I’m happy it’s getting high ratings though, I like all the actors.

gah, posted in the wrong place sorry

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The strength of this drama lies in the fact that the relationships between the characters are so well written. Not just for the leads like Nam Soon and Heung Soo, but also for Ha Kyung and Kang Joo.

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Okay, did anyone notice that Heung-soo used his foot towel as a pillow for Nam-soon in the flashback? Anyone else a little grossed out by that? Or is that just what boys do?

Plus, why were they sleeping in their clothes with next to no bedding? Is that a poverty thing?

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I, too, noticed the act of Heungsoo's foot towel being put to Namsoon's head and let out a little girly "eew" at that moment. But, immediately after, the thought just left my mind since the scene was so heart-rending. I mean, he gave him a pillow. How sweet. School has just used the device of flashbacks so effectively. I love 'em!

In relation to the small things noticed while watching, did anyone notice how cold it was in the storage room? The scene was so intense, but I couldn't but be so distracted by their visible breaths every time they spoke.

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I agree, giving him a pillow and giving him the blanket was sweet. But I think the foot towel as pillow was eew by any standards...

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ASDFGHJKL OMG THE BROMANCE HEREEEEE! *SQUEALS* That part were Heung-Soo finally confronts Nam-soon as they were walking home from the thug's hangout..To me it seemed like those "I still love you; I regret breaking up with you" moments..(insert fan squeal here)..And yet they said "bastard" to each other soooooo many times..(새끼=bastard) Bromance between men is so strong (/>ㅅ<)/♡

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