So far, so good. I enjoyed these first two episodes and here are my reasons.

1. The writer

I know I kicked up a fuss earlier because I don’t like kdramas derived from comic books, especially the serialized webtoons.

This is what I said…

My problem with this drama is its source material. It was adapted from a webtoon comics. As a rule, I avoid stories written by webtoon writers. For one, most webtoon writers are young and I don’t think that they’ve gained enough life experience to be profound. (hahaha. Elitist!!! Age-ist!)

For another, webtoon writers, like writers of serial stories, don’t see the ending of their story coming. Most of them, when they begin creating their story, have no defined story arc because their plot is evolving in “real-time.” Depending on the feedbacks they receive online, these webtoon writers are easily influenced to improvise and change directions of their characters and plot to suit the demands of their followers. (Well, I can’t blame them. The readers and site traffic pay their bills.)

To me, the integrity of the story suffers as a direct result of the popularity and commercialization of the story. I’ve yet to find a webtoon kdrama that’s cogent and concise.

 

I steered clear of “Cheese in the Trap,” “My ID is Gangnam Beauty,” and “Love Alarm,” and was burned by the overambitious plots of “Tale of Nokdu” and “Extraordinary You.”

However…

I recently discovered that this webtoon was adapted for the drama by the screenwriter Lee ShiEun. She (he?) wrote “Top Star Yoo Baek” (2018) which I wanted to watch but no good subs were available at that time. I had to drop it after the first three episodes.

So I’m giving the screenwriter a chance here. From the couple of episodes I watched of “Top Star Yoo Baek,” I remember that she could zero in on the absurd behaviors and turn them into comedy gold. She could flesh out her quirky characters so they become relatable. And although her pacing could be uneven and I sometimes found myself waiting for the punchline, I blamed these on her relative inexperience and the director of the kdrama.

I want to see if she’s improved in this kdrama.

As for the director, he’s Kim SangHyub. I’ve seen two of his works before, “Extraordinary You,” and “The King in Love.” He’s alright.

So far, the only Korean director on my blacklist is Han Sang Jae of “A Poem a Day” (2018). He’s the one director who threw his three screenwriters under the bus because he was pressured to rewrite the ending of his kdrama to satisfy the screaming, idiotic fangirls. Hence, his crappy ending. His apologies after admitting what he did just don’t cut it with me.

2. The shadow of “Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol”

Did I tell you how traumatized my fragile soul was

after watching the romance grow between 24-year-old pianist and the male lead of DDSSLLS? He was an:

a) 18-year-old high schooler
b) who had nothing in common with the girl except her debts,
c) who was running away from his chaebol parents,
d) who felt guilty over the death of his best friend, and
e) who had an undiagnosed leukemia.

What else could go wrong, right?

At face value, the male leads in both DDSSLLS and “True Beauty” have three matching points. They’re seniors in high school, estranged from their rich parents, and burdened with guilt after witnessing their best friend died.

But two major character traits make SuHo, the male lead of “True Beauty” more interesting to me than Jun, the male lead in DDSSLLS.

One, Suho has a hobby.

He likes to read horror comics, just like the female lead, JoKyung. It bothered me that the romantic couple in DDSSLLS don’t have hobbies and interests in common…except the dog which was hers to begin with. Even with music, he began taking up piano lessons because she was a piano teacher. So, I like that in this drama, the lead couple have a joint passion which makes their friendship plausible and a romantic connection conceivable.

Two, he’s snarky.

I dislike that he threw his jacket at JoKyung’s face as she was putting on make-up; that was unacceptable. But I like how he used his jacket (is the same jacket?) to cover up JoKyung when she had cake icing all over her face. I thought that the writer was trying to redeem Suho’s character with that gesture.

Other than that incident with that jacket, I didn’t mind him. Hmmm…this is probably because I didn’t want to focus on this actor’s performance.

As for Suho’s verbal jabs at heroine, I regard them as snarkiness. I don’t think he’s a bad character if:

a. he previously had a best friend,
b. he immediately went to her rescue,
c. he’s still cut up about his friend’s suicide. This is what he told JoKyung after he grabbed her from the ledge of the building.

SH: What were you doing? Were you going to jump off? Are you crazy? Out of your mind? What could be so hard that you want to die? Why would you make such a choice?! Why?

This is transference. To me, he wasn’t seeing JK but was seeing his dead friend in JK. He was redirecting his pent-up anger and frustration over his friend’s death onto JK.

JK: I wasn’t going to die.
SH: If you want to die, you have to fight just as hard.

Hmmm… there was something interesting about this Viki translation.

I checked out Dramamilk, and the recapper there subbed it like this:

SH – You should fight with the courage of you trying to kill yourself. Don’t you think your family will be sad?

source: https://www.dramamilk.com/live-recap-true-beauty-episode-1-part-1/

 

It’s close to the Viki sub, right? So I checked out Dramamcool, too. The subber simply short-cut the line, and said that Suho was angry that she was thinking of committing suicide.

To me, Viki and dramamilk have similar nuance. Suho wasn’t so much angry that she thought of committing suicide but that she was choosing the easiest way out — i.e., jumping off the ledge — without even hesitating, grappling, struggling, and fighting against her final decision to commit suicide. How could she end her life in such a cowardly manner? It was like she was committing suicide on a whim.

Do you see what I mean?

SH: Have you not thought about the others around you who would be sad if you die?
JK: I…
SH: Someone would’ve felt guilty enough about not saving you, and that could make them miserable their whole life. Got it? There’s nothing you can do for a dead person. So don’t die.

With that said, he turned to leave. He thought he got through to her and knocked some sense into her. He thought he was able to convince her that suicide is a selfish act and that she should consider the people she was leaving behind. But when she didn’t follow him, he turned around again to address her.

SH: What? If I leave, will you jump off?
JK: No.

Their conversation as he was giving her a piggyback down the stairs was a sign of his snarkiness.

SH: I’d better carry you on my back.
JK: Thank you. I’m a bit heavier than I look, right, Ahjussi?
SH: You look heavy, too. Who are you calling “Ahjussi”?

lol. I laughed when he told her that she just didn’t “look” heavy she was actually heavy. I also find it interesting that even at this moment, he was already blurring the lines between them by telling her that they were the same age. He would do this again at the comicbook store.

JK: (whispering) Excuse me. I have something to ask you, Ahjussi. Why were you at rooftop?
SH: Ahjumma, just stop whispering, will you?

I laughed here, too. She obviously was too blind that she couldn’t tell from his features that he was a teenager like him, and not “Ahjussi.” But his snarky “Ahjumma” was his retaliation because her “Ahjussi” really vexed him.

I also laughed that her whispering irritated him. I understand why. Her whispering sounded:

a. scary: it’s like having an evil spirit on his back whispering evil things for him to do, or
b. annoyingly seductive. Her voice sounded like she was doing an “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response” (or ASMR) on youtube. If you watched “Start-Up,” this was what Chulsan was doing for Saha when he videotaped himself reciting the pi.

I get why he wanted her to speak in a normal voice when they were going down the dark steps.

JK: If I talk louder, it’ll echo. That’s scarier. Why are you calling me “Ahjumma”? I’m in a school uniform. I was wondering if another person has been on the rooftop like me. (he sighs) I mean, we’re strangers, but you saved me and got mad at me. So I was wondering if you know anyone who’s died like that.
SH: If you say another word, I’m going to leave you here. What do you eat that you are so heavy?
JK: Stay strong. Stay strong!
SH: Ahjumma!
JK: Oh, I won’t say another word. Let’s hush, okay? Hush.

Now, put yourself in this guy’s shoes. He went to the rooftop on the birthday of his dead friend. The rooftop could have even been the scene of his best friend’s suicide. To me, Suho intended this moment of remembrance, and he was going to be filled with sorrow, anger, regrets, and recrimination…but he wasn’t going to kill himself.

He wasn’t expecting to come down from the rooftop with an additional burden — a physical one this time — on his back. As comical as this scene was to us, he would be exasperated with her. Yet…they were calling each other ahjumma-and-ahjussi.

So, this absurd situation just made light of the emotional burden that he’d been carrying since his friend’s suicide.

JK: Excuse me, Ahjussi!
SH: (to himself) Ugh. Again with that “Ahjussi.” (to her) What?
JK: Uh…Although it’s not my place to say this. Please stay strong. The dead wouldn’t want the people they left to suffer for so long. So you should be happy. You should! (smiling at him)

This was probably the first time he heard somebody say this to him.

Although I’m not one bit impressed with the acting of Cha EunWoo, I’m willing to ignore him and just focus on reading the subs (lol). So far, I find his character a more realistic representation a misunderstood and temperamental teenager than Jun of DDSSLLS. Of course, Jun was better performed by Lee Jaewook.

3. The Bukchon connection

Although I never once stepped foot in Gangnam in all the times I traveled to Seoul, I always made it a point to carve out time from my meetings to get lost in the streets of Bukchon. Bukchon and its neighboring village Insadong have a picturesque, old-world charm that would me gasp and say, “Whoa! I’m not in Kansas…err…the US anymore.” There are plenty of quaint teahouses, art galleries and small museums to make a whole day pass by in a blur. Once, I left my people in the hotel, and stayed in a hanok, just to experience a traditional Korean home. It was worth stressing out my colleagues about my whereabouts.

If you happen to go to Seoul, I recommend a brief afternoon just walking around the neighborhood.

I enjoyed watching the street scenes where JK and her newfound friends wandered after school. I also liked the cozy comic shop where JH and SH would meet. It seems like the comic shop is going to be integral to the drama when the director showed JK’s face mask floating in the air (ala drifting petal in “Start-Up” lol) and landing on SH’s face as he walked out the comic shop.

Gif credit: Liveasbutterflies’ tumblr

credit: liveasbutterflies’ tumblr

Their next meet cute in the comic book was funny, too – if you just ignore how she landed on top of him again. She wanted to flee but was told to stay and eat up the ramen because of the 700 won organic egg in it.

In effect, her embarrassment was worth a whopping…err… a measly 700 won. She gobbled it down and accidentally drank his ginseng drink.

SH: That’s mine.
JK: I’m sorry. You must like red ginseng juice. I’ll buy you a new one.
SH: No need. (giving her the comic book) You can look over it first.

Note: he was being kind to her because he recognized her as the girl on the rooftop.

JK: No. I’m okay.
SH: After you flew over my body to snatch it? Quickly look at it.

lol. He was being snarky again. But he’s right. She did a jump spin just to grab it from him. I like this scene because they had gotten their lines crossed. She recognized him as the snobby boy Suho at school. He recognized her as the “Ahjumma” on the rooftop.

How was HE supposed to know that she was embarrassed that of all people in school, he’d be the one to see her bare face? And how was SHE supposed to know that he was being kind to her because of their rooftop encounter?

I thought the misunderstanding worked out well in this story.

JK: Do you live around here? I’m not trying to get information about you. But your visuals are very noticeable to the eyes. I haven’t seen you around this neighborhood.
SH: If you haven’t seen me around even though I have a unique appearance, that probably means I don’t live in this neighborhood.
JK: (under her breath) Ah. Then why did you have to crawl out all the way here.
SH: What do you mean crawl? I’ve been able to walk upright since I was 11 months old.
JK: Oh, I see.
SH: I’m 18.
JK: What?
SH: You seem my age. The honorifics are bothering me a bit. How old are you?

JK: (quickly improvising) I’m 15. Middle school, second year.
SH: You don’t look younger than me, Ahjumma.

I thought the word “Ahjumma,” is funnier than the translated word, “Ma’am.” The word “Ahjumma” implies joking. He was riling her up…in a friendly way. He was also trying to jog her memory with the “Ahjumma” but she couldn’t remember because she didn’t see him.

JK: It’s a joke. I’m 25. A lot older than you, right?
SH: We must be the same age.
JK: (quickly finishing her ramen) Wow, I’m full. This is fun. (flipping through the comic book) Here you go, have fun reading it.
SH: Already.
JK: I’m a master of speed.
SH: I’m talking about that. (pointing to the bowl of ramen)
JK: Especially that.

Then, she high-tailed out of there. She almost lost a shoe (like Cinderella) but she quickly grabbed it and fled the bookstore.

On the surface, nothing much seemed to happen here. But I think this was meaningful for two reasons.

one, JK was probably the first girl who did NOT want to spend time with him. All the other girls at school would have prolonged this encounter and chatted with him. She on the other hand gobbled her ramen and ran out of there. Her behavior would have piqued his interest.

two, he found it burdensome (or unnecessary) to speak to her in “jondaemal” or with honorifics unnecessary. Korean etiquette demands that a person use jondaemal as a sign of respect, even when addressing someone younger, at a meeting for the first time.

But SH wanted to talk to her in “banmal,” the informal way of speaking which is reserved for family, friends, and familiar people. This is a sign that he feels comfortable talking with her (and teases her with “Ahjumma”). He wanted to speak banmal with her, although at school, he hated the familiar way the other girls called him “Oppa.”

Sure enough, after she left, SH thought she was strange. He recognized her from the rooftop. He was wondering about her weird reaction, “How could we meet here? But why did she ignore me? After going through all of that?”

He thought that their encounter at the rooftop had made them more than acquaintances. For a good guy who kept everybody at a distance, JH

4. Moon Gayoung’s comedy

No words needed.

Wait! I do need words to explain this. The reason she didn’t think that her make-up was odd was because she was used to reading horror comics where characters would look ghostly and gothic.

5. “True Beauty”

I’ll set another time to discuss the Korean society’s obsession over beauty standards. For now, all I want to say is that many teenagers all over the world are self-conscious about their bodies. This self-consciousness is part and parcel of going through puberty. Adults have to remember that during adolescence,

a. the body of a teen goes through a lot of changes,
b. peer acceptance is a big factor in a teen’s life, and
c. social media and cultural values impact a teen’s body image.

As adults, we’ve been through this.

For many teenagers, this self-consciousness comes and goes, and eventually fades away in time. But for those teenagers whose views of their bodies negatively affect their physical and emotional health, their studies, and their relationships with others, it’s advisable to consult a trained therapist on how to cope with this issue.

In this drama, the heroine JoKyung decides to take matters into her own hands, and use make-up to fit in and look acceptable to her peers. To me, one of the sad scenes in these episodes was when she was hanging out with her new friends, and it was she was side-eyeing one of the girls, SooJin, and secretly copying her poses because it was her first time inside a photo booth.

Making herself presentable was just the first step for her to gain acceptance. Eventually, her good qualities, her various interests and her authentic self would gain her friends.

As it is, she already found friendship from an unlikely source, Suho. I don’t think it would escape his attention for long that in those occasions when he needed somebody at his side, like the birthday of his dead friend and on his birthday, she was there with him.

SH: How much longer are you gong to pretend? I know you know me.

She fell off the step stool and he caught him. The shop owner interrupted their awkward moment.

SH: You always jump on me every time you see me. It’s become a habit. You have to keep your balance when you’re up there. You have zero athletic ability. People with no athletic ability should be forever banned from using step stools.

He was nagging her because a) he was embarrassed, and b) he knew her as the girl who would climb up on ledges. He was referring to their encounter at the rooftop. He expected her to recognize him already. But she thought he was talking about being classmates.

JK: You surprised me by acting like you knew me.
SH: My acting isn’t good enough to keep pretending to know you.
JK: (shock) Then did you recognize me when you saw me here last time?
SH: I’m blessed with an exceptional memory.
JK: Is being able to recognize a matter of good memory? Does he have a hawk vision or what?
SH: It’s obvious it’s you. What do you mean?
JK: No, I’m saying that THAT face and THIS face are totally different.

I like the Viki sub better than this sub from dramacool….

She meant that that there was a difference between her made-up look and her bare face. However, he was talking about their rooftop encounter.

SH: Are you finding hidden pictures?
JK: I mean it’s a different picture.

Suho mentally compared her different faces and declared that her eyes are different.

SH: Ahhh. Your eyes are different.

lol.

This graphics here was a bit confusing to understand. To me, this moment signified that he unconsciously recognized her as the transfer girl in school. But he wasn’t so much interested in proving the identity of THAT glamour schoolgirl as he was intent on proving that she was the rooftop girl.

Besides, how could he just say that the “eyes were different” when her whole face was totally different?

To me, what he meant here was that the worried expression on her face looked like her woebegone  face at the rooftop. Her eyes were the same.

And her smiling eyes at school were different from her sad and worried eyes.

JK: (confused) Eyes? Right. The eyes are the most different.
SH: Am I wrong to recognize you?
JK: No, you aren’t.

JuKyung then asked him if he was going to tell people the truth about her.

JK: Are you going to tell people?
SH: Tell people what?
JK: The truth about me.
SH: And what’s that?
JK You saw everything, so I’m sure you know already. I’m a complete mess. If people fine out, I don’t think I’ll be able to bear with it.
SH: (Inwardly) Is she talking about how she tried to jump off the rooftop? (aloud) Why are you so worried about that?
JK: It’s just how I feel. Can you do me a favor and not tell anyone about it. Please. (thinking) But this guy is a sociopath…)
SH: Sure.

To me, SH didn’t seem like the type to gossip about personal lives. He would have kept it a secret, especially since he thought she was talking about her suicide attempt. She quickly made a confidentiality agreement. She learned from her little brother not trust anybody with her secret.

Again, they had their signals crossed. In other dramas, I would have been exasperated with this drawn-out misunderstanding but it was working for this couple because they didn’t move in the same circles at school. The comic book shop was the only place where they could be themselves, but their presumptions of each other were already falsely established elsewhere. Case in point, she thought he was a sociopath.

SH: Do you really have to go this far?
JK: That’s how desperate I am. Sign here.
SH: I don’t feel like it. You say you’re desperate yet you copied everything from “The Hell Duty.”

This is cute. She was copying from a comic book but he recognized it right away.

JK: I was rushing it—You know “The Hell Duty”? That’s the classic of classics. Not a lot of people know about it.
SH: How could I not know? Pictures that aren’t tacky even after 30 years, the first in the nation to graft occult horror and sci-fi. It’s the best of the 20th century.
JK: Wow. It’s fascinating to meet someone who knows about it. But rather than “The Hell Duty,” I like the author’s previous piece…
SH: “The Cursed Mask!”
JK: “The Cursed Mask!” Daebak.
SH: You know “The Cursed Mask”?

This is also cute. We know how this feels: when you meet somebody who shares your odd passion, you suddenly feel like you’ve met a soulmate. You’re no longer alone.

JK: That’s what got me into horror comics. I’ve a signed copy of the first edition.
SH: You have that?
JK: Yes. Why?
SH: I’ve been looking for two years to find the first edition of “The Cursed Mask” and you have one?
JK: (bragging) I’ve been a long-time fan in the horror division.

He wanted to buy it from her, and she bargained with him. She got him to sign the contract, buy her three drinks and two bowls of ramyun. This deal was pretty cheap, if you ask me.

SH: You said you’d hand over “The Cursed Mask” with two bowls of ramyun.
JK: No. I’ll hand it over with one bowl. This is my bribe to you.
SH: A bribe?
JK: It’s for you to keep the secret well. Go ahead and eat.

He didn’t want to eat it but she threatened to withhold the book if he didn’t.

BTW, this is one of the things that I look forward to in all my kdramas: the ramen trope!!! Here instead of sharing one noodle dish ala-“Lady and the Tramp,”

she was making him unbend and relax his rigid personality. I like that she wasn’t any more self-conscious with him because she’s found his weakness. In fact, she thought he was a pushover.

JK: How is it? Isn’t it good?
SH: It’s good considering it’s the first meal of my birthday.
JK: It’s your birthday? Today? Then what are you doing here?
SH: (ignoring her questions) Do you like looking at people eat?

She choked and a noodle came out of her nose. They were both grossed out of course. But he was telling her what to do with the noodle. lol.

They walked out together after finishing their ramen.

JK: I’ll bring “The Cursed Mask” on Monday for sure.
SH: Okay.
JK: Here. (she gave him a sticker she’d placed in a comic book a long time ago)
H: Another bribe?

JK: No. It’s a present. This is a 20-year-old rare item. I found it but will grant it especially to you. You’re a friend I shared my secret with. Of course, I have to take good care of you. Happy birthday.

And with that, she left him.

Four quick takes here.

1. Loneliness and beauty aren’t correlated. She felt her ugly appearance made her an outcast. But his handsome appearance didn’t help him either to gain friends.

2. He liked her for who she was. He’d already seen her bare face, and he’d seen her bare face PLUS a disgusting noodle coming out of her nose. I don’t think she could do anything more to gross him out and scare him away.

3. This was their first date.

4. This moment is what “True Beauty” is all about. This is the direction that this writer will be going with this drama. Her true beauty is her character inside. She doesn’t worry about the way she looks when she feels confident that she’s been accepted just the way she is.

And we could see this the following day.

She approached Suho expecting him to be all friendly with her but he gave her the royal brush-off. He was annoyed when she casually approached him to hand him his favorite ginseng drink. Then he thought she was nuisance when she whispered in his ear (he had something against whispering?) to meet her at the rooftop, then winked at him. Clearly, he didn’t like girls flirting with him.

SH: What are you? An attention seeker?
JK: Hey, nobody is here. You can relax. I washed your uniform, and the thing that I told you I’d give. (taking the bag from her with his sweater and the “Cursed Mask.”)
SH: Or do you like me?
JK: No!
SH: Then why are you pretending to be close to me when we’ve never met?

Oh dear! What do we with this guy? After determining that comic book girl was 100% match with the rooftop girl and 0% match with the glamour girl at school, he totally shunned her in school. I guess we should be happy that he was a one-woman kind of guy and doesn’t have eyes for anyone else.

JK: We…met before. Why are you like this suddenly?
SH: I don’t care what you imagine by yourself, but you should properly differentiate what’s reality. Don’t make someone who isn’t doing anything angry. (leaving her)
JK: (tugging his arm) Excuse me. Then have you really never seen me outside before?
SH: It seems you want to grab my attention by doing this. But if you ever touch me again as you please, I won’t tolerate it.
JK: What? Then at the comic store, he didn’t recognize my bare face?

Realizing her mistake, she chased Suho to retrieve the bag with the uniform and the comic book.

But she was only delaying the inevitable. Later that night, he called her up and, cryptically, told her to bring the item to him. Since she didn’t know which item he wanted, she tried to wiggle out of a late-night meeting with him. She said she wasn’t feeling well. He countered that he’d drop by her house instead, leaving her no choice but to go out.

Note: He arranged to meet her at 9 pm at a popular outdoor café.

I was in stitches when she arrived in her bike wearing a helmet. I don’t know how he managed to keep a straight face. If I were the guy, (and I knew her secret), I would have burst out laughing at the sight of her ridiculous get-up and her valiant effort to protect her secret.

JK: I’m not late, right?
SH: What’s with the helmet?
JK: Doesn’t everybody use this when they ride a bike? My face will be all shredded if I fall the wrong way. It’s as dangerous as a motorcycle.
SH: (showing concern) You said you weren’t well. So why the dangerous bike?
JK: (pretending to cough) My body isn’t well, but I rode it to quickly give you this so I can rest at home.

Note: This is the start of her “drive-by” rendezvous with him. All her appointments with him, she’d do posthaste out of fear of spending more time than necessary with him. This was cute because he was obviously inventing all these excuses to meet with her so he could spend time with her.

SH: Then give it to me quickly.
JK: Where is it? I wonder where it is…

She was stalling because she didn’t know which item he wanted: the sweater or the comic book.

SH: Is it that hard to find in there? The comic book. Give it to me.
JK: (laughing) It was the comic book! You know this is a very generous offer? You got to know that. (standing up to leave) Then goodbye.
SH: (detaining her) I ordered you a warm drink. Drink it before you go.
JK: No, it’s okay. I don’t have to drink it.
SH: Then should I throw it away?
JK: (sitting down again) It’s really okay, though. I wonder why you did this.
SH: You’re going to drink it with that helmet on?
JK: I can drink it with a straw!

Wait a second! Didn’t he drink from that straw already? Ewww!!!

Game over! This qualifies as “indirect kiss” in comic books.  

SH: Must you? It looks hot.

At this point, we know that he was just messing around with her. He wanted to see her remove the helmet. To me, this was important. It told me that he wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with her ugly bare face in public. Some strollers were commenting on his good looks, wondering if he was a celebrity.

JK: It’s cold sweat. So I can get better. (sipping under the helmet)
SH: Everybody is staring.
JK: Then, they can stare.
SH: You’re a bit weird today.

Meaning, he knew that typically she would be self-conscious if strangers were gawking.

JK: (standing up) I’ll go to the restroom to take it off and then come back.

She not only removed her helmet, but she also removed her make-up. There were traces of her make-up on her face. SuHo didn’t comment. I guess after seeing a noodle coming out of her nose, remnants of BB cream was nothing.

She asked him how he got her number. He said Mr. Prince the comic book shop owner gave it to him. She thought he was that desperate to ready the book. She wasn’t to know that he wanted to see her.

She wanted to know what secret he was talking about with her the other night. By now, both them knew by now that they had a misunderstanding about her secret. But neither wanted to talk about it openly.

JK: By the way, you know the secret of mine that you promised to keep?
SH: Yes?
JK: Would it seem weird if I ask you what that secret is?
SH: Yes.
JK: (changing tactics) How about we ask questions to learn more about each other?
SH: (looking at her oddly)
JK: (chickening out) Never mind. Let’s not do it.

Two points here:

One, the comic book he’s reading is “The Cursed Mask.” Jokyung’s made-up face, and her secret, are the real cursed mask.

Two, it’s clear to me that he likes her. When he’s sitting there, pretending to read, while all along waiting for her — not for her pretty face, okay? but for her ugly face, then this can only one thing in dramaland.

He’s there for her no matter what.