Crash Course in Romance: Episodes 1-2
by mistyisles
What’s the sum of one bundle-of-nerves top-rated math instructor, one ex-athlete/banchan shop owner/single mom, and a handful of less than ideal chance meetings? Heaping portions of heart and sympathy, a dash of humor, and a side of intrigue, apparently.
EPISODES 1-2 WEECAP
These first couple of episodes are mostly dedicated to introducing our major characters and what makes them tick — but less in a giant-info-dump kind of way, and more following them throughout their days and slowly showing us how they got to where they are now. By the end of it, not only do I feel I know the major characters pretty well, but I also really like them and am already rooting for them to find happiness and fulfillment, both individually and together.
First we have banchan shop owner NAM HAENG-SUN (Jeon Do-yeon), who gives us the rundown on her neighborhood’s morning rush hour: determined moms lining up for hours to get a good spot at hagwon for their kids, some going so far as to hire people to stand in line for them. Haeng-sun’s own daughter, NAM HAE-YI (Roh Yoon-seo), has never expressed interest in attending hagwon, and Haeng-sun juggles way too many other responsibilities to pay it much thought.
Not only does she run the banchan shop as a single mom, but she’s also the sole caretaker for her autistic brother, NAM JAE-WOO (Oh Eui-shik), who has a heart condition that lands him in the hospital from time to time.
Eventually, we learn that Hae-yi isn’t technically her daughter, but her niece. One day when Hae-yi was still a small child, Haeng-sun’s sister dropped her off at their mother’s restaurant and never came back. Haeng-sun’s mother ran after her and (it’s implied) was hit by a car. At the time, Haeng-sun was on the national handball team, but kept having to ask for time off to take care of her brother and niece. Annoyed, the coach told her to choose between the team and her family, and Haeng-sun walked out without a second thought. It wasn’t long before Hae-yi asked to call her “Mom” instead of “Aunt,” and it stuck.
Like any family, the two have their rough patches — like when Hae-yi gets frustrated with Haeng-sun’s ignorance about school matters and runs off — but they’re both trying their best to do right by each other in their own way. After a disappointing mock exam, Hae-yi takes her best friend’s advice and asks to enroll in just one hagwon class: that of superstar math instructor CHOI CHI-YEOL (Jung Kyung-ho). That means Haeng-sun will have to close the shop for one morning and plunge into unfamiliar territory amongst the other (very intense) mothers, but she does so with gusto and secures Hae-yi the very last spot in Chi-yeol’s class.
As for Chi-yeol himself, it’s easy to see why the students and their parents are so enamored with him. In class, he’s passionate and charismatic, known for punctuating motivational pep talks with his signature high kick. When the occasional student-turned-stalker shows up at his house, he can’t bring himself to just kick them out, and inevitably someone photographs him calling them a taxi, sparking rumors that soon fizzle out because the public has so much faith in him.
Behind the scenes, though, he’s brusque and particular — he’ll gladly film an impromptu dance for his ad campaign, but he won’t stay a second later than the allotted timeslot. And in private, he’s terribly insecure, often asking his devoted assistant, JI DONG-HEE (Shin Jae-ha) to repeat words of assurance three times over. Due to some mysterious, traumatic incident involving a past (now deceased) student, Chi-yeol also suffers from insomnia and a stress-induced eating disorder that makes him physically unable to eat without getting sick.
But then one day Dong-hee picks up a lunchbox from Haeng-sun’s shop for him, and Chi-yeol forces himself to take a few bites, resigning himself to the inevitable… only to realize he doesn’t feel the least bit sick. He finishes the whole thing, crying from relief that he’s finally found food he can keep down.
Understandably, he goes to the shop himself the very next day, but there’s a problem: he and Haeng-sun have met, and not under very amicable circumstances. See, for publicity’s sake, his health condition is kept very carefully under wraps. So when someone snaps his photo at the hospital, Chi-yeol panics and swipes the person’s phone to delete said photo and prevent any rumors from spreading.
Except the phone’s owner is Jae-woo — who simply admired the tiger embroidered on Chi-yeol’s jacket — and Haeng-sun jumps to her brother’s defense. Still panicking, Chi-yeol makes a run for it. Haeng-sun, of course, gives chase. He can’t shake her off even by taking refuge in the men’s room, so he throws the phone at her and escapes, leaving her with a shattered phone screen and a grudge.
Still, Chi-yeol is desperate and hungry, so he dons a hat and a pair of sunglasses and does his best to remain inconspicuous as he peruses her shop. He’s very bad at it — Haeng-sun’s friend and employee, KIM YOUNG-JOO (Lee Bong-ryun), immediately cottons on that he can’t keep his eyes off Haeng-sun, though she assumes it’s because he likes Haeng-sun and not because he’s terrified of her. Chi-yeol unintentionally strengthens Young-joo’s argument by buying a replacement phone and fibbing that his friend owns a phone store and happened to have an extra that he didn’t know what to do with.
Even if she didn’t suspect he might be romantically interested in her, that’s a weird gift to accept from a customer, so Haeng-sun returns it the next time he stops by. Unfortunately for Chi-yeol, Jae-woo is present this time, and sees through his disguise. Now Haeng-sun is even more offended by the “gift,” and Chi-yeol digs his hole even deeper by trying to smooth the whole thing over with a quick Okay, fine, I’m sorry. Happy? (She is not.)
That’s when things take an ominous turn. (Sorry everyone who hoped the word ominous wouldn’t come anywhere near this rom-com!) We’ve already seen glimpses of some shadowy figure hiding in bushes and shooting metal pellets at Chi-yeol’s stalker, and right in the middle of Chi-yeol and Haeng-sun’s confrontation, another pellet bursts through the shop window. Everyone drops to the floor in fear.
Overall, I was surprised that this first week of Crash Course in Romance wasn’t as overtly comedic as I expected — and that I didn’t mind. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of humor, but it also deals with some pretty heavy themes and emotions, and the cast does a great job of maneuvering between the serious moments and the lighthearted ones without veering too far in either direction.
Given the hints that Chi-yeol was the guy Haeng-sun’s mother fed after his father died, I’m guessing he’s able to eat Haeng-sun’s food because she uses her mother’s recipes and he subconsciously associates that food with comfort and safety. If so, that’s a past connection I can get behind — it makes her food less of a magical cure for his eating disorder, and more of a signal that he’s starting on a journey toward recovery and healing. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but I look forward to where that journey will take him — and us.
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Crash Course in Romance: Episodes 1-2
Source: Buzz Pinay Daily
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