True Beauty – K-Drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

The Kiss

Episode 8 of True Beauty begins with Soo-Ho deciding to make a grand gesture and confess his feelings to Ju-Kyung. At the same time, Seo-Joon convinces his family that it’s not a sin to fall in love.

The next day, Hee-Kyung drives Ju-Kyung to school with the hope of seeing Joon-Woo again. While she catches up with the teacher, Ju-Kyung prepares for her school trip. On the bus, she’s stuck sitting next to Seo-Joon while Soo-Ho sits with Soo-Jin.

When they arrive in the woods, the girls all set up their tent as the conversation quickly turns to Soo-Ho and who he likes. The others are convinced it’s Soo-Jin, especially as they “make a great couple” and tease her about it. Ju-Kyung is understandably quiet.

During the group games, Seo-Joon and Ju-Kyung are teamed up together while Soo-Ho and Soo-Jin are placed in the same team. However, Soo-Ho can’t help but stare at Ju-Kyung. This game, which sees everyone getting as close as they can, ends with Seo-Joon holding Ju-Kyung and Soo-Ho holding Soo-Jin. When Seo-Joon falls, the other team win.

Well, it doesn’t stop Soo-Ho from staring at Ju-Kyung, which continues all through the day. That is, until later on in the afternoon when a local appears and begins talking about a mysterious ghost, one that steals faces and walks around with an ugly face. The kids huddle together closely, hanging on every word, before deciding to conduct a ghost hunt later that day.

Hee-Kyung stays late at work and reflects on the memorial album she’s planning to try and release in Se-Yeon’s memory. In the past, she had a meeting with Seo-Joon, asking if he was a man named Leo who was featured on the album. He claims not to be, but does tell her that he won’t allow the album to be released if he has anything to do with it. Hee-Kyung is determined to follow through though, and so too is the CEO who tasks his associate with speeding up plans to get the album released. That involves moving Hee-Kyung to the PR team.

The next day on the school trip, the kids play with a micro lie detector machine. Placing their hand down on the device, this machine pings when you tell the truth. Chaos inevitably breaks out while playing as a group but privately, Ju-Kyung uses it and hears a ping when she says she likes someone. That someone is, of course, Soo-Ho, who shows up behind her.

Together, they go for a walk and wind up on a rowing boat. In the tranquility of it all, they end up in the middle of the lake, it’s the perfect time for Soo-Ho to confess his true feelings. As they sit together, Soo-Ho is nervous and struggles to get the words out. Eventually he asks to take a picture with Ju-Kyung. However, a fly buzzes around her and she immediately falls in the water, subsequently removing all her make-up.

Unbeknownst to them though, at the same time Seo-Joon and the others head out to try and catch a glimpse of the ghost they heard about earlier. As they start investigating, the group bump into Ju-Kyung and mistake her for the ghost, scrambling away in fear.

With Soo-Ho and Ju-Kyung’s date a bust, the field trip comes to a disappointing close. On the bus, Ju-Kyung sleeps thanks to Seo-Joon comforting her but when Soo-Ho shows up, Seo-Joon gently moves Ju-Kyung’s head onto his shoulder. Given the bracelet he’s placed on her, Soo-Ho is angry and tells him to get off the bus. As he does, Soo-Hoo and Seo-Joon begin trading blows before eventually collapsing in the field.

Later that day, Yoo Tae-Hoon convinces Soo-Ho to confess his feelings to Ju-Kyung rather than messing around. Ju-Kyung overhears this though and believes he’s discussing Soo-Jin. Well, that night the group take it in turns to showcase their talents before heading home. Seo-Joon gets up and sings, but his song is directed toward Ju-Kyung… who in turn can’t stop looking at Soo-Ho. When Soo-Jin sits next to him though, Ju-Kyung quickly gets up and walks away.

Tae-Hoon follows and does Soo-Ho a big favour, telling Ju-Kyung to head south-east. Only, what should be a romantic meeting between Soo-Ho and Ju-Kyung is crushed when she bumps into Soo-Jin instead. Ju-Kyung sobs in defeat, telling Seo-Joon that she likes Soo-Ho but wants him to keep it a secret. Soo-Ho appears in the distance though and notices her crying.

Eventually Soo-Ho catches up with Ju-Kyung and tells her it’s a misunderstanding that he likes Soo-Jin. Before he can elaborate on exactly who he does like, they’re both forced to leave when the ghost hunting group return and chase them.

Anyway, they FINALLY get a moment together where Soo-Ho admits that the person he likes is actually Ju-Kyung. He kisses her tenderly as the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

I wasn’t sure whether Soo-Ho was going to get his confession out there but I’m so happy he did. In fact, it’s telling that he did this while Ju-Kyung wasn’t wearing any make-up.

On the surface, it would be easy to write this show off for portraying a vain message that you need to wear make-up to be at your prettiest. However, if the romance between Soo-Ho and Ju-Kyung has taught us anything, true beauty lies within. After all, looks really aren’t that important compared to personality.

The triangles continue to bubble up though, with Soo-Jin entering the fray and starting to like Soo-Ho. This will almost certainly cause issues going forward, especially with Seo-Joon determined to complicate matters with his growing affection for Ju-Kyung.

True Beauty continues to deliver the goods though and this Weds/Thurs K-drama is shaping up to be one of the better offerings this year.