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True Beauty: Episode 2 Open Thread

Our heroine might be known as a goddess at her new school, but that doesn’t mean she can rest easy. Her makeup-less identity is soon on the line, and our heroine quickly learns the difficulties of keeping up two lives (and two faces).

 
EPISODE 2 WEECAP

When we left off at the end of Episode 1, Joo-kyung found her manhwa store and safe haven was not exactly safe for her anymore. Soo-ho’s presence there throws her off balance (in more ways than one), and she winds up falling on top of him for the second time. (Anyone want to keep a tally of falls and catches in this drama? I have a feeling it’s going to be epic!)

This particular fall is the best because it sets off some important recognition hijinks. Soo-ho clearly recognizes the girl from the rooftop, since both she and the situation are identical, and Joo-kyung recognizes Soo-ho as her cold, popular, and gorgeous classmate. While Soo-ho’s interest is clearly piqued (this girl not only saw right into his soul, but also shares his love of horror manhwa), for Joo-kyung this is just 100% disaster.

The drama is building such a fun construct here — Joo-kyung trying desperately to dodge him (expecting him to realize she’s the same “beauty” from school), and Soo-ho wondering why she doesn’t realize he’s her savior from the rooftop.

Joo-kyung is on hyper alert, and running into the bullies from her old school while makeup shopping sets her into even more of a panic. In fact, much of what we see of Joo-kyung is her scurrying around, trying to escape from potentially damaging situations. One of these puts her directly into the path of our second lead hero, HAN SEO-JOON (Hwang In-yub).

When we first meet Seo-joon he’s being a badass on his motorcycle, running away from thugs, and generally looking and behaving like a bad boy manhwa hero. Gosh, I love how this drama just feels like it jumped off the page — I’m not very familiar with the webtoon, but even as a newbie it’s easy to appreciate everything from the direction, to the framing of certain shots, to the overall aesthetic. The sets, in particular, blow my mind — whether it’s Joo-kyung’s bedroom or the manhwa shop, the level of detail and world-building impresses me at every turn.

Back to Seo-joon, though — Joo-kyung is shocked when he turns up at her school the next day, and we learn that he’s ex-besties with Soo-ho. The two have an epic face-off, and I’m betting it’s not the last time we will see these two butt heads. But for now, Seo-joon recognizes “pretty” Joo-kyung as his accidental helmet thief, and their relationship dynamic is off and running.

So is Joo-kyung’s dynamic with Soo-ho, though. They meet again at the manhwa shop, and this time Joo-kyung falls off a step stool and into Soo-ho’s arms (a great improvement from the prior belly flop). This is where the real misunderstandings and mis-identifications between Soo-ho and Joo-kyung get even more fun.

Joo-kyung is desperate to protect her identity, and agrees to give Soo-ho a prized manhwa if he will “keep her secret.” However, what that secret actually is, is much confused. Soo-ho, who still thinks they’re two different girls, believes Joo-kyung is embarrassed about her suicide attempt, and agrees to keep her secret in exchange for the manhwa. Joo-kyung, however, thinks Soo-ho has just agreed to hide the secret behind her makeup. She thinks she’s finally safe, but really, the hijinks are only just beginning.

With some nerd bonding and contract writing between them, Joo-kyung now feels totally comfortable to approach Soo-ho at school. She’s got a bag all ready to return the blazer that “pretty” Joo-kyung stained, and the manhwa that “ugly” Joo-kyung promised.

His cold response to her gets her thinking, and Joo-kyung is a smart girl. She quickly pieces together the misunderstanding between them, and just in the nick of time. Joo-kyung uses a hilarious “sanitary pad” excuse to take the incriminating bag back from Soo-ho before he puts two and two together. It’s such a great use of props here, that two mundane items being in the same bag actually conflate two very different identities into one. So fun!

Keeping up the charade of two (literal) faces is getting even more stressful for our girl, though. In addition to the constant humiliation at home (seriously, why!), Joo-kyung’s secret is constantly under threat.

I’m sure we’ll dig a lot more into the trouble this dual identity causes her, but the drama is already getting this theme across quite well, like when Joo-kyung leaves the house with only half of her makeup on. Which Joo-kyung is she? Which does the situation call for? Who does Soo-ho think he keeps meeting at the manhwa store? I don’t know how long our sweet Joo-kyung will be able to keep this up.

Sure enough, the cliffhanger at the end of Episode 2 lands a near-disaster for Joo-kyung’s hidden identity. An extravagant 100 days of dating anniversary turns into an accidental cake right in Joo-kyung’s face. More than the embarrassment of having this happen in front of all of her classmates, Joo-kyung goes into a panic of what will happen when all the cake (and her makeup) gets wiped away. She screeches for no one to touch her, and everyone seems to be locked in panic — until Soo-ho sweeps in in true hero fashion, covering her with his blazer.

I feel about this scene the way I do about the entire drama so far: it’s so silly, so cringe-tastic, and so absolutely FUN! With our first two episodes so colorful and strong, I have high hopes for the rest of this drama, and look forward to the ride.

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i love it..its so hard to comment on ep2 when u hv wached epi4
anyways so far a great start i love moon ga young new best friends at her new school...the trio remind me of my best teenself
cha eun and ga young have a pleasant nice chemistry and am glad he already know her secret and are establishing some kind of relation ship...her family is GOLD lol
i feel like seo jun and suho have a conflict bcoz su ho father maybe had something to do with the death/suicide of their best friend? We will have to wait to know more but i hope more background story will b shown and they can b friends again bcoz that trio will b legendary
am happy soo jin is not evil like in the webtoon i hope it stays that way
cant wait for next week

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Thank you, @missvictrix! I agree that this show is really fun to watch. I really enjoyed the part where she gets out of the house with half her face made up and trying to remember what Soo-ho wants her to give him - the blazer or the comic. But I like it that they're comfortable with each other in the comic book store, like old friends.

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I just want to say, with the number of running sprints we see MGY/Joo-kyung do in these early episodes, she should have a cameo on Run On.

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LOL, I love this comment

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I just love Joo-kyung! She's a nice, warm and so funny person. The "sanitary pad" excuse was so funny. She's just trying to have a normal life, without bullying, hanging with friends, etc. But everything is way more complicated and the poor girl is struggling to maintain her "image".

I want her to realize that Soo-Ho never showed any sign that he was thinking she was ugly. He's completely normal with her.

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Sad that this went from full detailed recap to summary

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It wasn't on the current recap list to begin with. I'm grateful for the open thread now and wouldn't mind it if it became the 2 episode weekly thread.

Thanks @missvictrix !! I've been enjoying this fun and cute drama so much.

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Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of weekly weecaps for True Beauty *confetti*

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I liked episode two much better. Moon ga young going crazy with her own dual identity was kinda fun.
Was it this episode she literally stepped on his (2ML) back and continued running. I laughed so hard there.
cringe-tastic - lol. Yea. That’s the word missvictrix.

Can we have more of the home room teacher please? How refreshing is it to see a good teacher in kdrama.

p.s I am yet to remember the character names. Will get there soon :)

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Yes, it was at the end of this episode. She jumped on the "bad boy's" back and shoved his wannabee minions into two rounds of accidental kissing. 😂😂

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"... it’s so silly, so cringe-tastic, and so absolutely FUN!"

Agreed 100%

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Does this mean we're be getting weecaps @missvictrix? Yay! Though you missed my favorite scene this episode: the GOBLIN parody, when cool Unnie (like Goblin) watches the nice teacher hopping across the street (like Eun-tak) while the autmn leaves fall. I laughed so much to hear "Hush" but it was also nostalgic.

I think I'm sold on the comic book look and feel... even the abrupt scene changes give it that feel of "turning the page". This is from the PDs of EXTRAORDINARY YOU and I think they're having a lot of fun. The music could be toned down but it suits the over-the-top scenes.

The only part I don't like is how she is humiliated at home (seriously, why?). Her feisty mother does it without thinking, seemingly venting her own frustrations - but regardless the reason it just reinforces Joo-kyung's belief that she's ugly and worthless. Her gentle and rather useless father never speaks up for her although he clearly adores her. Her brother seriously needs a spanking.

Final thought: who is this Hwang In-yub guy and why have I never seen him before? I had to look him up and he's almost 30! I feel better now in case I have SLS 'cause he's not a baby. He kind of looks like Lee Jun-ki.

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About Hwang In Yub, same. I am blown away by that fact that he is a 91 liner and that he was able to hide his acting talent for almost 30 years. According to Wikipedia, he started acting in 2018 and got 5 credits to his name. I saw him in 18 Again for the first time and he immediately got my attention, he is really charismatic, I even dare to say he is a scene stealer. I was blown away once more when I realized he used to be a model, I really thought he was a stage actor. I hope we'll get to see more of him in the future.

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The family is my biggest gripe ( as I wrote on ep 1 recap).

Unni and teacher!! I need more scenes of them ; ).

The second male lead is 30?? Really? I thought he is another 20's something boy.

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IKR. Thank goodness Hwang In Yub is older than he looks. XD

I’ve only seen him The Tale of Nokdu as one of the villain’s right hand man. He didn’t have a ton of screentime, but he was alluring. Hope this project propels him to more main roles. :D

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Hwang In Yub was also in 18 Again. He started as a bully but had a character redemption towards the end.

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This drama is everything I expected it to be but even more fun. Our female lead is precious, I really like her (and MGY of course).

I knew it, I knew that I will have a case of SLS thanks to HIY but I was not ready for the level of that SLS. I enjoyed our leads together and then bamm Seo Joon showed up, it was over for Soo Ho *sigh* Maybe if Soo Ho was played by someone who can measure up to HIY's talent then I could get over it faster. Welp, at least Eun Woo changed his voice compared to My ID so I guess it was his way of separating Soo Ho from Do Kyung Seok.

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wasn't going to try this then i read the wee cap and it sounds really fun. thanks Miss Victrix! sounds like a fun coverup

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Loving this.

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Happy to see this drama recapped!! And yup, it is cringey + silly + fun. There are cute, heartwarming moments too. Like the 100 day anniversary was a tad cringey, but it was still nice to see young, innocent love. Hope these two turn out to be good people and friends to Joo Kyung.

Joo Kyung has some great lines. She had me cackling with her quick thinking when she shouted "sanitary pads". Her character is fleshed out and acts like a real teenager. She can be smart and dumb (like at math lol), sweet, blunt, insecure, confident, etc. She's shown many varied emotions.

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I am adoring this drama.

The first episode was very much a 'meh' for but count me impressed! Most K-dramas don't get me laughing often, but this one got me a few times. I wasn't expecting it to have decent humor in it.

I was getting MY ID IS GANGNAM BEAUTY vibes throughout the first episode, though this one has by far more personality and humor. I really liked that drama and thought it had some potential that wasn't quite met by the end. Hopefully this one will be able to land a little better in its message.

Also, Cha Eun-woo's acting seems better here from I've seen so far. We'll see once his character is fleshed out a little more.

And I actually wasn't a fan of Moon Ga-young at the beginning of this drama. I know people really seem to like her on Dramabeans, so I was a little surprised I didn't care for her. I'm not sure if it was the acting or the character is supposed to be portrayed (I haven't read the web comic). I didn't much care for her character in her last drama either (which is probably why it's on still on hold) and thought the roles seemed similar initially here. But she's grown on me tremendously.

Super excited to see what's in store! Not sure how the 16 episodes will play out, but hopefully there won't be too much avoidable angst.

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Love this. Exactly what I need. Never knew MGY can be this funny. Miss this kind of comedy in kdrama.

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