The Midnight Romance in Hagwon 졸업 [Current]

[abs-oluteM]

Ep 5 and 6

So when nobody except Si Woo (the top kid from the other academy) responded to the free trial for the joint classes , the bosses wrote this off immediately as a failure. But I think what was shocking was that the blame was indirectly put on Hye Jin's shoulders - so much so the bosses were thinking of giving some of her classes to JunHo and Miss Nam on the pretext that she would be sent to help open a branch in some unfamiliar location. That was rubbish of course as HyeJin knew she was being cold storaged for something that wasn't her fault. 

 

Meanwhile White Hair lady , Director Choi from the rival academy spoke to Si Woo. And to her surprise Si Woo had commented how much he enjoyed the class. It wasn't exam centric as in just about spotting exam questions but HyeJin got him to appreciate the subject which he had not before.  Basically I feel the drama is trying to address the issue here about what education in SK has become - that all they are concerned with is getting top marks to enter the best university  when that isn't what learning is about.

 

Anyhow, Dir Choi feeling threatened and worried decided to offer Hye Jin the position of Vice President in her academy with lots of perks. Considering the treatment of her boss, I would have told her to just take up the offer. But of course, Hye Jin isn't the ungrateful sort and she was also warry about how sincere this offer is. HJ didn't turn it down immediately but decided to think about it.

 

HJ did tell Jun Ho about it when he asked her where she went. He didn't want her to go saying he still needed her to by his side but of course it's because he likes her. Anyhow he will come to feel bad about this since he realises later that HJ has even given up her advertising spot for him to help promote his classes etc. He does tell her later that he was sorry for asking her to stay because he realises that her decision should be based on what is in her best interest. 

 

But things took a positive turn as Si Woo ended up joining the academy. Other students also decided to join and JH was able to start a small class. Of course everyone was excited. JH is indeed the rising star for the academy and the bosses can see that .

 

At this point HJ already felt the betrayal from her boss despite him trying to brush things aside. The boss called her out for lunch and "apologised" for throwing her under the bus just for one setback. She didn't accept it , something I was so happy about because that man was just such a coward. I feel the apology only came about because the trial thing worked. Considering how loyal HJ has been to him , and how much she's made for his academy, he will need to beg and grovel. Which he did towards the end of ep 6 in a terribly drunken state. Personally, I don't think I would be able to go back to before if I were HyeJin. She practically help him build his academy when they were both nobodies. 

 

On the romantic front , I do appreciate how there has been nice build up to the kiss at the end of eps 6. Hye Jin and Jun Ho have very open conversations. But I think part of the problem is that she still sees him as her student. And he knows that too. This is where it is frustrating for him - he wants to be seen as her peer and ultimately as a man. I get it though. After a slight disagreement between them in eps 6, HJ realises that too and I felt very happy when she changed his phone contact from "My Pride" to "Instructor LJH" . That for me shows that she's changed the way she sees him. 

 

The kiss came towards the end of eps 6 after the drunken apology her boss. The entire scene was hilarious - the boss had called her out to speak to her in the middle of a stream. JH decided to accompany her realising it would be dangerous for her to go alone. Long story short, drunken boss beg & cried, fell into the stream pulling JH along. After sending the old man home, the leads went back to the academy for JH to warm up as he was freezing cold. The moment came where he just couldn't hold himself any longer and confessed his feeling for her.

Spoiler

 

 

 

I liked it when he said there was no way she didn't notice his true feelings and hers. That is true. Even Hye Jin knows that ever since JH came, everything in her life has changed . He is that variability that has come into her previously predictable & somewhat mundane life. 10 years ago when he became her 1st student to succeed the way he did, that made her a household name & the academy benefitted as as result. A decade later , he joins her and things are shaken up. He pushes her to do things she would not normally have done. I believe, the trajectory of her life is gonna change. 

[abs-oluteM]

I love their chemistry 

 

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Ep 7 focused on Hye Jin's decision about leaving Daechi for Choisun Academy. As I had expected she rejected JunHo's decision to date. I think it all came too suddenly for her in the middle of a career crisis. Also, IMO there's still that slight hurdle about how she views him - a former student & a junior colleague.

 

Anyway the next morning after the drunken apology by Director Kim, the latter didn't show up to work since he wasn't well. Worried, Hye Jin and Mr Yoon went to check out on him. After he was feeling better and sober, he apologised once again to HyeJin. But I think by then HJ had already decided to move to Choisun. Logically the offer from Choisun was too good to pass up. Though I felt that she would have stayed in Daechi had her boss not betrayed her trust.

 

She told Jun Ho who felt was fine with it. He too felt it was a great offer. But what he wanted to know was what she felt about him. He knew deep down she had feelings for him too - she did kiss him back. Anyhow she kept avoiding the discussion and said that they were a no go.

 

The smart kid Si Woo came to see Jun Ho to pass him his notes . Here he met Hye Jin and told her how  her trial class changed his view of the subject and how much he enjoyed it. I think that triggered guilt in Hye Jin because SiWoo had decided to leave Choisun ( along with the scholarship he got from there) for Daechi because of her. She told Jun Ho that she felt so bad & embarrassed that they would lure Si Woo over , only for her to leave & go to Choisun.  I think she realised too that why she  loved teaching was for students like Jun Ho and Si Woo. Choisun which was extremely exam focused may not be a good fit for her . The rest of the episode was about her pondering over her decision - she finally decided not to go over to Choisun .

 

At the end of the episode, she was relieved and at peace once she rejected the offer - and she was very happy to see Jun Ho to tell him her decision. With career conflict sorted, she'd be able to think clearly about the romance. JH too has made it clear to his parents that he'd be moving. I think that is reasonable - he's almost 30 and it's not a bad idea to have some independence. 

 

 

[abs-oluteM]

 Ep 8 - the moment when Hye Jin realised JH has always been special to her was when he sent her all the post it notes she sent him when she was his tutor. Age wise, they are really just a few years apart - she was a college student. She had taken the year off because she felt depressed and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of needing to help her family pay off debt. So JH was her first student and the only one where she tutored this way. After JH, the academy took off and we have those classes we see now. So in that sense, JH has been that source of comfort for her at a time when she needed something to take her mind off things. For JH , he felt that he wasted too many years waiting to tell her how he felt since because of that invisible barrier that she was his teacher. He only realised much later that she then was a student herself.

 

Anyway the romance finally took off - though for now they know it's not a good idea for anyone in the academy to know about this. 

 

Preview....lots of sweet moments ahead