'True Beauty' Episode 2: Hwang In-yeop as Seo-jun enters earlier than in manhwa; Ju-kyung tries to dodge Soo-ho
'True Beauty' Episode 1 ended with Soo-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young) meeting at the comic store. Ju-kyung without makeup is the girl that Soo-ho had saved and Soo-ho is the classmate of the new girl in school which is also Ju-kyung, but only with makeup on. To add to the confusion, because Ju-kyung did not have her glasses on, she is unable to recognize Soo-ho as the one who had saved her. So instead, all that she sees in him is the rude jerk that she had met in school. So in 'True Beauty' Episode 2, we will see how the two of them will come to terms with the new development.
The post-credit promo shows how Ju-kyung continues to dodge Soo-ho after the incident at the comic store but we are not sure how the comic store encounter pans out either. For one, in the manhwa, Soo-ho and Ju-kyung's first meeting was at the comic store and it was really a coincidence that the two of them even met. However, in the show, the connection between Soo-ho and Ju-kyung is presented as if it is destiny and that is why we are sure that Soo-ho would be the one to end up with Ju-kyung. However, so far, while the show has kept up with the spirit of the original manhwa that it has adapted, there are scenes in the show that are much better than the manhwa.
Case in point is the scene where Ju-kyung decides that she is worth it, that giving up her life was just not the point and that realization is something that young people who are watching the show would find inspiring and hopeful. It is less about makeup helping a girl lie to her friends about who she is and more about a girl finding the confidence to be herself without being apologetic. This is more of what we want to see in the show going forward and the love triangle between Soo-ho, Ju-kyung and Seo-jun is definitely an added benefit.
Now, the promo also hints that the upcoming episode will be the one where Soo-ho finds out the truth behind Ju-kyung and her look in school vs the one at the comic store. Will he blackmail Ju-kyung like in the comics or will we see the creators of the show take a different route? We cannot wait to see how the dynamics between Ju-kyung and her new friend Soo-jin (Park Yoo-na) will pan out as well. For now, Soo-jin doesn't seem to have the same characteristics as the character in the webtoon and that is definitely a good thing, which leaves us curious about how this character will be fleshed out going forward.
'True Beauty' episodes will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 pm on tvN in Seoul and can be streamed on Viki in the US.
