True Beauty – K-Drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

The Triangle Begins

We begin episode 2 of True Beauty with Ju-Kyung bemoaning her dual life and how exhausting it can be sometimes. This catches us up to the moments from last episode as she falls on Soo-Ho at the bookstore. He tells her he had the book first but when Ju-Kyung looks set to bolt, the owner of Prince Comics brings her a load of food to eat.

As she sits and quickly starts eating, Soo-Ho encourages her to read the book first and then he’ll have it. As Soo-Ho presses Ju-Kyung about her age, she dodges the question and eventually heads home. When she does, a curious Soo-Ho questions the owner over her age and name – which he tells him is Ju-Bal.

Meanwhile, Hyun-Sook sits with her friend who ogles over Ju-Kyung’s husband, calling him good looking. Hyun-Sook scoffs at that notion, asking her friend “What good are looks when he’s completely useless?” And just like that, Jae-Pil doubles over clutching his shoulder from doing too much manual labour.

At school, Hee-Kyung sees a teacher outside who catches her eye, jumping over the white squares on the zebra crossing to the other side with a young child. This, as it turns out, is a bit of a Goblin reference – especially given the “Endless Daydream” song playing in the background.

Out buying makeup, Ju-Kyung spies her old bullies with Hye-Min. Unable to even look at them, she quickly leaves and struggles to hold back tears. In the alleyway, she runs into a strange man named Seo-Joon who happens to be chased by a group of thugs sent by a man named Cho Rang. When they’re gone, Ju-Kyung appears with the guy’s motorcycle helmet but becomes flustered and hurries away.

While she heads home, Soo-Ho’s father returns and the two begin fighting in the dojo. There’s no love lost between them though, especially given Soo-Ho’s Father cheated on his Mother in the past. He refuses to live with his Father and after besting him on the ground, Soo-Ho tells him never to return like this again.

As fate would have it, Ju-Kyung and Soo-Ho bump into each other in the comic book but she refuses to show her face… until she falls off a stool like she did on the rooftop. Soo-Ho shoves her away after catching her, commenting how she always falls in his arms.

Eventually the pair start to hit it off – over a confidentiality agreement no less. He signs it but comments how it’s been ripped right from his favourite comic book…. which also happens to be her favourite too!

In order to give him The Cursed Mask book back, he makes her noodles and eventually the pair eat together. It turns out this is actually Soo-Ho’s birthday as well. Dense Ju-Kyung believes the confidentiality agreement is actually about her true identity at school without make-up on but that’s obviously not true.

Anyway, Ju-Kyung shows up at school with the book after super Soo-Jin shows her skills after chasing a pervert down the street. Soo-Ho isn’t the only one there. It turns out Seo-Joon also goes to this school and all the girls seem to gravitate around these two studs. They used to be best friends but something happened in the past that’s made them worst enemies.

In class, Seo-Joon settles in while Ju-Kyung flashes a smile Soo-Ho’s way, which completely catches him off-guard. As he leaves and heads to the office, Cho-Rong and the other boys appear and confront Seo-Joon. He pokes fun at them but it seems he still needs to pay.

Meanwhile, Ju-Kyung heads to the rooftop with Soo-Ho and hands the book back. Only, within the book is the note about her true looks so she quickly heads back and tells him sanitary pads are inside – which causes Soo-Ho to quickly drop the bag into her hands.

Later that evening, Soo-Ho manages to get Ju-Kyung’s number and asks for “it” back. He texts her the address and tells her to be there by 9. Only… Ju-Kyung isn’t sure whether he means the jacket or book so deliberates over which style to wear. Instead, she chooses neither and rocks up with a motorcycle helmet on.

It turns out he wants the Ju-Kyung without make-up, prompting Ju-Kyung to hurry away from the table and wipe the make-up off. After handing over the comic book, she takes her leave and heads home.

At school, Ju-Kyung heads in with make-up and gives Soo-Ho back his jacket. At the same time, Tae-Hoon conducts a lavish display of affection for Soo-A, singing and telling her he loves her.

Only, the cake ends up all over Ju-Kyung’s face in the midst of all this but she realizes that if it’s wiped off, it’s going to expose her true looks. As Ju-Kyung hurries down the hallway, she jumps over Seo-Joon’s back before deliberating what to do. Thankfully, Soo-Ho shows up and covers her face with his jacket, leading her away from the crowd.

The Episode Review

With the introduction of Seo-Joon, we’ve now got the makings of our love triangle but the series certainly hasn’t stopped with the comedy. There’s some wonderfully funny moments here, especially those including the comic book store and the motorcycle helmet.

Interestingly, it looks like Soo-Ho is going to fall for the Ju-Kyung without make-up on which would be a nice touch, especially backing up that notion that True Beauty lies within. And that is absolutely true of course – personality trumps looks every day of the week.

This show gives off serious Extraordinary You vibes too and given how good that show was, True Beauty looks like it could be one of the brighter k-drama sparks going into 2021!