Am I the only one that loved the first episode of True Beauty? It had all those adorable scenes we love from Kdramas (even the poop stuff) all wrapped up in an adorable package that had a couple poignant moments to boot.
I, for one, am rooting for Ju-kyung to win and take down all the bullies. Or at least move past them all. You are a light, Ju-kyung, just shine!
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Caution: Be wary of typos
How to Watch: Viki
How we do this: This live recap will be in two parts and we segment each post around every 10 minutes. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later depending on the scene. There will be typos which we have fantasies of fixing once the episode finishes airing. Also, if there is a preview then we will try and translate it. Look for that at the bottom or on a separate post!
KOREAN DRAMA RECAP
TRUE BEAUTY EPISODE 2 – PART 1
——-dramamilk.com——-
#1
VO – Me, Im Ju-kyung. I am a goddess, until I remove my makeup.
She removes her makeup at home and hangs out on her bed happily hanging out with her phone. But her phone does not recognize her so it won’t let her log in. She thinks her brother messed up her cell phone again.
She has to put on all her makeup so that her phone will recognize her and open.
VO – It is tiring living with two faces.
BOOK CAFE
Ju-kyung happily goes into her old stomping ground book cafe. She happily extends her arms and says no place is more dilapidated. Then she goes to grab the newest graphic novel.
But Soo-ho picks it up before her. They tussle a bit for the book and then end with her falling on top of him. Her eyes grow wide, he recognizes her.
She hops up quickly and is about to run away. He stops her and sys he picked up the comic first. She gives it back but looks way far away as she does and starts to hurry out.
But the owner brings in a ramen for her. She says he doesn’t want it. He tells her that she is back after a long time so it is on the house. I especially gave you organic eggs so you would eat it. So eat it.
She wants him to eat it. He says he is on a diet.
he gives it to her and walks away. She reluctantly takes it. super fast. Soo ho sits on the couch to her left and starts to read. She drinks a ginseng juice. he tells her thats his. She coughs it up and apologizes.
He gives her the comic and says that she can read it. She says he can read it, its okay. But he says no, you can read it. We even had physical contact for you to read it, so read it.
He sits back and starts to read another one. She swallows a mouthful of noodles and starts to read the book. Though she sneaks peaks at hime while she reads it. She looks at his hand and his arm and his cheek and his nose and everything about him.
JK – (maybe he doesn’t recognize me at all?) Do you live close?
SH – *ignores her*
JK – I am not background checking you, you just look so noticeable and I haven’t seen you around here.
SH – I have a noticeable look but you haven’t seen me so of course that means I don’t live here.
JK – *whispers* Then why did you crawl all the way here!
SH – I walked after I was 11 months old. I didn’t crawl up here.
JK – Ah, okay….
SH – I am 18.
JK – What?
SH – It seems like you are about my age but you are using super jongdaemal so it bothers me. How old are you?
JK – I am 15 in middle school *giggles*
SH – You don’t look like you are younger than me – ajumma.
JK – I am joking, I am 25, I look young.
SH – You are the same age as me.
JK – Hahahaha (ah, #1 guy in school)
She flips through the entire book quickly and puts it down.
JK – Ah, I am done!
SH – Already?
JK – I am a fast reader. *hops up*
SH – Not about that, about this. *points at ramen*
JK – (eating slow is my specialty)
She says bye or something like that and takes off. But her sandal falls off so she has to go back and get it. She grabs it and then takes off again all the while grumbling about why she has to see him over here!
HOME
She throws the snack at her brother. He asks where the comic is. She yells something. He asks if she went to the comic cafe without makeup and saw the handsomest classmate? This is not a drama, you should not have that kind of coincidence.
He smiles at her then asks, did that really happen? I didn’t release the photo and your goddess life ended already?
JK – He did not recognize me!
JY – Not today, but maybe tomorrow. He will say, ah, you are the pimple girl in the comic cafe.
JK – Really? Really? What should I do?
JY – Be honest. Noona, just open yourself. The goddess thing is a con job. How long do you think you can hide your real face.
JK – Hey, you said you had a some person at your hogwon.
JY – yeah, she is super pretty.
JK – Her face without makeup will be the same as mine!
She runs off. He yells, NOOOOO, Not at all!!!
CAFE
Soo-ho thinks about the girl from the rooftop while he still sits in the cafe. He remembers carrying her down the steps but wonders how he saw her here and why did she ignore me after giving me that hard of a time?
the owner comes back in and says, ah, Ju-ball did not even leave any soup.
SH – Is her name Ju-ball?
Owner – Don’t you know pandora shop’s daughter Ju-ball? You come here often but haven’t seen her? Are you interested in her?
SH – No *but he looks interested*
MORNING
Ju-kyung puts on her foundation like she is in Platoon or Rambo, getting ready for war. She tells herself that her luck from yesterday might not last today. The perfect disguise is the only way.
She starts to rub in her foundation and then puts on her makeup to disguise herself perfectly.
But that makes her late for school so she asks her sister if she can drop her off, hurry! She pushes her outside.
#2
OUTSIDE
Elsewhere, Hyun-sook hangs out outside with one of her friends or patrons. Her patron is staring at her husband cleaning windows. Hyun-soo tells her that her husband is only good for looking good. You can have him.
She sees her daughters leaving and waves goodbye. The other woman does not recognize Ju-kyung and asks if she had another daughter? Ju-kyung smiles and thinks her disguise worked.
Her sister takes her to school but tells her that her teacher will be upset that she put that much makeup on. Wen I was in school I couldn’t even wear bb cream. Ju-kyung tells her not to talk like “In my time….and order a latte” or people will call her a boomer. Her sister tells her to study hard and that she is a cool person, she drinks iced americano!
Ju-kyung takes a deep breath and goes inside. But when she turns around in the hallway she bumps right into Soo-ho. This causes her to fall backwards almost like she did in the cafe. But she is able to pop back up like she’s a vampire.
Soo-jin comes up so Ju-won tells her hi. They both watch Soo-ho go to another girl and tell her to erase everything that she took of him. Soo-jin scoffs at Soo-ho’s temper but also says that those girls should know that he does not like his photo taken.
Outside somewhere, Eunnie gets an iced americano, showing just how much like a boomer she is, and sits happily to drink it.
A little kid by her says that she does not want to go to school. Then Ju-kyung’s teacher hops in front of the kid to make her happy about going to school. He starts to jump around and tells her to come come this way.
Hee-kyung looks at this with romantic bubbly music playing. She watches the teacher hop across the street with the kid in slow motion. Then the girl gets on the school bus and goes to school.
Hee-kyung’s iced Americano is ready so she stands to get it. The owner asks if she wants a coupon stamp? Hee-kyung says yes, I think I will be here often.
MAKEUP SHOP
After school, Ju-kyung goes to a makeup shop to get the best foundation. But while there, she sees the four bullies from her previous school walking in like they owned the place. (Oh nooooos).
Ju-kyung looks at them, stunned. She thinks about all the mean things they did to her at school. Like fump water over her head in the bathroom (they used the other ugly duckling to do it) but then told her that it was a joke.
She stares at them but then avoids them when the head bully looks at her. The head bully does not recognize her at all. Ju-kyung runs out of the makeup shop, tears in her eyes.
Suddenly, several motorcyclists show up on the screen. They are driving like crazy men through the small alley streets in this shopping district. One of them might be on the run from the others because he hides behind a truck and then takes off in the opposite direction.
Which is when he almost runs into Ju-kyung!
He crashes his bike instead of hitting her. She asks if he is okay? He takes off his helmet and swings his perfect hair around. But then the other motorists come back and yell for him to stop! So he takes off running.
Chase scene on foot y’all!
But Han Seo-joon is corned. The other guys stop him and says that they heard he studied abroad. Seo-joon tells him he is sorry, jaeshik ah.
The guy punches him in the gut and talks about him betraying him by not showing up. Seo-joon tells him that he is not going to let him punch him in the face.
A police siren goes off. It is actually an alarm that Ju-kyung pulled so that those guys will leave him alone. It worked becuase they run off.
But Seo-joon stops her. She tries to point to something OTHER THERE. But he does not fall for it. So she turns to run away and almost falls (this girl is always falling). He holds her bag so she doesn’t fall and asks what she is doing.
She looks at him and then runs away.
He sees her school uniform and reads what high school she goes to. He starts to yell after her but she is long gone.
#3
She runs all the way around the corner and thinks to herself that to avoid those bullies she ran into thugs. But she still has his helmet.
her brother shows up suddenly and asks her if she is the comic cafe pimple girl. She tells him no! and hides her face. Then her brother asks if she is timid. She sees that he is her brother and chases him to beat him up.
She catches him at home and puts him in a head lock. he breaks free. In the living room, their parents are watching Lee Joo-hun on the TV screen. It is his comeback to dramas after a long break.
Hyun-sook thinks this is good for their daughter to work under that handsome man. Her husband says it is not good for her at all. He gives his wife the apple skin to eat instead of the apple part.
The interviewer asks Joo-hun how it was to come back. He says he could not spend that much time with his son while he was away so he wants to spend a lot of time with him. I am a bad appa.
JUJITSU
Cut to Joo-hun plesantly showing up at the jujitsu studio to talk to Soo-ho. Soo-ho is less than thrilled to see him.
SH – Why are you coming back all of a sudden?
JH – Well, the company was busy and after merging a lot of things happened. I thought I would be forgotten if I only work overseas.
SH – You are super detailed about your fans.
JH – I am saying that I am worried about being forgotten by you. *pats his back*
SH – *shakes him off and walks off*
JH – Are you already leaving? I wanted to warm up a little bit.
SH – Then warm up and go home.
His father quickly spins him around making Soo-ho fall.
JH – Hey, you shouldn’t fall down that easily.
Soo-ho looks like he is ready to challenge him.
Cut to a montage of them fighting with jujitsu. Soo-ho thinks about his mother in the hospital getting CPR. He uses the strength of that to push his father off of him. Then he thinks about his father drunk at home with another woman. He spins around and pulls his father into an arm bar.
His father taps.
JH – Hey, you are a man now. I am old. I am not a match to you at all. Tomorrow is your birthday, would you like to go somewhere nice to eat dinner together.
SH – No.
JH – Do you need anything?
SH – Nothing.
JH – Did you consider coming back to appa’s house?
SH – I told you I don’t want to.
JH – But when you became a high school senior–
SH – Abogi, don’t you also feel uncomfortable living with me? You should date. Don’t show up without notice next time. I don’t want people to know I am your son.
He leaves. His father looks at him walk away. He looks sad.
HOME
Soo-ho goes home and broods in bed.
Meanwhile, Ju-kyung is also at home relaxing and talking to Soo-ah via text. She asks which one is better for her boyfriend, Yoo Tae-hoon’s, 100 day gift. She sends a photo of two shoes.
Ju-kyung likes the left one. Soo-jin asks, 100 days? You two are likek you are married.
SH: When I had my 100 day born celebration (baek-il) I was also overacting. So you should understand.
JK: hey friends, I like you guys so much
SH: I am so happy that I have a goddess friend like you
JK: I am not a goddess. If I am a goddess then you are a fairy.
SH: You are so pretty and say pretty things.
SJ: Ugh, I am leaving.
Ju-kyung giggles, but then she looks at her look online and sees that she has a negative reaction from the makeup. So she puts on three patches to make her skin less red and splotchy.
her brother comes in and tells her to return something. She asks why she has to return it. He says he did not erase her makeup.
A girl comes in in super rocker makeup (that might be the main actress? lol) then Ju-kyung comes in hiding her face. She asks if Soo-ho came here today yet?
The owner asks who? Ju-kyung starts to describe Soo-ho. He looks like he came out of a cartoon! The owner asks, me? She tries to describe him again. The owner gets it and says that guy doesn’t come in on the weekend.
He asks if she has some time to take care of the store a bit? My condition is not good, ahhhh. He runs off to poop.
She goes to the book section and sees a book that she used to read. it is a pretty old book. This book has her sticker in it that she put in there awhile ago. But then Soo-ho shows up. He says hi or something like that.
She turns around, sees him, then immediately hides her face. He asks why she isn’t coming down. She says she can get the book he wants, so while still hiding her face she points at differnet books and asks if it is the one.
He finally asks her why she is ignoring him. He knows she is that girl. This makes her nervous so she falls off the stool – and right into his arms. they stare at each other.
The owner comes back and tells her thank you, Ju-ball.
Soo-ho pushes her off of himand tell shr that whenever he sees her she needs to be held. You need to maintain your balance! Ah, your clumsiness. People without athleticism shouldn’t use stools ever.
JK – I was surprised because you noticed me.
SH – My acting is not that great to pretend like I don’t know you.
JK – But you noticed me when you saw me here?
SH – At least you have a good memory.
JK – it is not about a good memory. DO you have hawk eyes? This face and that face are very differnet.
SH – *confused* Would you like to try and play find what’s missing?
JK – it is totally differnet!
She imagines herself and her make up self. He imagines her and her rooftop self without glasses. He thinks she looks the same.
He asks, am I wrong in revognizing you? She shakes her head and says she can’t believe this reality. Are you going to tell that I am like this?
SH – What about it?
JK – You saw that I am all messed up. If people know then I wouldn’t be able to walk around with my head up.
SH – (Maybe she is talking about almost jumping off the rooftop) What about it?
JK – it is important to me. Can you just ignore it. I ask you, please. (ah, he is sociopath Lee Soo-ho)
SH – Okay.
JK – Yes of course you won’t ignore…wait, really?
SH – *reading* Do you think I don’t have that much time to talk to you.
JK – Not that, its just, how can I trust you?
SH – What are you going to do if you don’t trust me?
*Time Jump*
JK – *passes him a secret contract oath*
SH – Do we have to do this?
JK – This is how desperate I am. Sign here.
SH – I do not want to. You are desperate but you copied everything from a scary comic.
JK – I was in a hurry to write it but– do you know that cartoon? that is a classic of classics, not that many people know about it.
SH – Of course I know abut it. It is still stylish after 30 years. The first awkward plus sci-fi in Korea. The best in the 20th century.
JK – Wow, that is strange that someone knows about it. Well, to me, not that comic but the previous one from the same writer–
Both – [they say the same name, its like Cursed Family or Cursed Mask or something]
JK – Daebak! I was into horror comics after that. I also have the first signed edition.
SH – Do you?!
JK – yes, why?
SH – I was looking for the first edition of Cursed Mask for two years. And you have it?
JK – I am a big fan of horror for awhile.
SH – How much?
JK – I don’t want to. But if you are that desperate *holds up contract* do you only want to use money for it.
SH – *grabs it and signs it* Okay, what do you need more?
JK – He is very different than how he looks at school. He is, unexpectedly, a dummy. *clears throat* I am thirsty.
He grabs her lots of drinks from the vending machine in the cafe.
JK – I am hungry.
SH – So what do you want?
JK – Are you really that desperate? (Back then, I shouldn’t have done it)
He buys her lots of snack food and ramen, they sit at the cafe to eat it.
SH – You wouldn’t dare behave like this if you saw me at school.
JK – *gives him a ramen* This is my bribe to you so eat. I just want you to behave well at school.
She starts eating and thinks to herself that eating comic cafe ramen with Lee Soo-ho is crazy. If the school kids know then they would be really surprised.
SH – (I wondered why comics were always soaked with ramen juice)
JK – The ramen in this comic sauce is so great, you won’t regret it! hey, don’t you want to read my cursed mask?
He starts to eat it. He dryly says it tastes good for the first meal of his birthday.
JK – Your birthday is today? Then why are you here?
He keeps eating.
SH -Do you have a hobby of looking at someone eating?
She coughs, ramen comes out of her nose.
SH – Hey, you!
JK – Don’t look at me!
He hides his face with a pillow and tells her to take it out!
SH – Ah, my nose, my spicy nose!
AFTER THE RAMEN INCIDENT
They both leave the cafe. It is dark out now. She tells him that she will give him the book Cursed Mask. Then she gives him the card from the book.
SH – Is this a bribe?
JK – No, this is a 20 year old rare item. I found it so I will give it to you as a present since we have a rare secret. Happy birthday.
She smiles in that cute way she does and walks off. He looks at the note and looks at her walking off.
Then he goes home and looks at the card. Her voice echoes in his head, happy birthday. He pulls the sticker off the card. It is of two skeletons in love and is a heart. He puts it on his lamp and looks at it.
END PART ONE
SPONSORED BY HELLO DRAMA BOX
When Hee-kyung looks at the teacher the song Hush by Lasse Lindh from the Goblin OST is playing and I can’t figure out for the life of me what (or if) it’s reenacting!
As soon as the song started, I was transported back to Goblin and man.. still such a great show…
Author
I bet they did it on purpose, they have done a few spoofs on famous shows!