Naughty KISS

Episode : 9

Seung-jo and Ha-ni lose the gangsters (dudes, it’s just a suit!). Although Seung-jo comments that this is typical of her, he ain’t fooling us — we all saw you smiling as you ran! Ha-ni hangs her head and apologizes for the trouble, and also for following him — she couldn’t help herself. She concedes that if he likes He-ra, there’s nothing she can do about it…

To her surprise, Seung-jo asks what she wants to do next. As in, a fun activity. As in, a date?

This leads to a boat ride, and Ha-ni thinks giddily that this is like a dream. She’s happy to point out that they’re the only people who “look like a couple,” but Seung-jo never passes up a moment to burst Ha-ni’s bubbles, and he tells her that there’s a saying that couples who come here break up within six months. But that shouldn’t matter, since they’re not even dating, right?

Not wanting to jinx herself, Ha-ni wants to leave immediately and stands up in the boat. Yeah, she’s not bright. On the other hand, she gets the immediate exit she was looking for, and takes Seung-jo with her as she topples into the lake.

Seung-jo buys cheap shirts for them to change into, and Ha-ni realizes excitedly that they happen to match. Like couple tees! And may I point out that HE’S TOTALLY LOVING IT? Oh, he pretends Ha-ni’s being silly, but it’s an excuse for him to have his cake and eat it too — he can enjoy her reaction but still saves face by acting cool. I’ll even bet he chose matching shirts on purpose.

Seung-jo explains that he’d never faced difficulties, but after meeting her, it’s like he’s come into a whole new world. (The real one, perchance?) He compares her to a problem he has to solve, musing that perhaps this is like a test — he has to face it, rather than avoiding it like he used to: “I won’t run away anymore… because the answer is there.” How like Seung-jo the (former?) Robot Wonder Boy to equate human emotions to math.

Ha-ni gapes: Is this a… proposal? He chides her for jumping to conclusions, then clarifies, “I’m saying I don’t dislike you.” Coming from him, that’s downright romantic. “Being with you isn’t easy, but I don’t dislike it.”

Overcome with excitement, Ha-ni hugs his arm and thanks him, because she thought he hated her. He already knows she likes him, but there’s something admirable in the way Ha-ni makes a full-on confession anyway. She promises that although she doesn’t know Sartre and can’t cook, she’ll try to be better.

For once Seung-jo doesn’t snark back and says he’ll look forward to it. In fact, midterms are approaching — he’ll confirm her confession with the test results. (If she really likes him, she’ll try hard and improve.) HOW LIKE HIM.

As they walk off, she notes that his smile is a little different today; she feels closer to him than when they kissed.

The other twosome have a much less successful outing, as Kyung-soo tries to work up the nerve to confess his feelings to He-ra. He’s prepared a speech, but her presence makes him stutter and He-ra, sensing what’s coming, excuses herself before he gets to the point.

Hearing that Kyung-soo’s attempt went bust, Ha-ni gives him advice on how to confess effectively and coaches him with some role-playing.

Remembering her kiss with Seung-jo, Ha-ni makes a similar suggestion, replete with the line “Try to forget me if you can.” As they work out the timing of the moment, the other members see Ha-ni faking the kiss part — only, they assume it’s real.

Seung-jo arrives at practice to hear everyone buzzing about Ha-ni giving up on him and kissing Kyung-soo. The bumbling duo are still oblivious to the rumors and happen to be engaged in a wrestling match when Seung-jo sees them. Yeah, that’s the look of a guy who totally doesn’t care, right? (Ha-ni is trying to stop Kyung-soo from approaching He-ra with racquet in hand, because that turns him into a raving meanie.)