Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / True Beauty (2020)

Go To

This is the character sheet for True Beauty (2020).

Beware of unmarked spoilers!

    open/close all folders 

Main Characters

    Im Jugyeong 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jugyeong_2.jpg
Click here to see her bare face 

Portrayed by: Moon Gayoung

"Things are different now that I'm pretty. Including the way they look at me."

The main character of True Beauty. She is a bright 18-year-old who likes horror comics and metal music but has developed a complex about her appearance as she was bullied at her previous school due to having acne, red cheeks and thick eyebrows. She masters the art of makeup and transfers to Saebom high school where she is treated way too differently thanks to the makeup hiding her bare face and becomes a student in Class 2-5. Jugyeong is immediately considered a goddess in Saebom High on her first day there. She is also a middle daughter between two siblings; her older sister, Heegyeong, and her younger brother, Juyeong, who goes to the same school as her.

  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The drama adaptation seems to go out of its way to make Jugyeong's life pre-makeup miserable; her whole family ridicules her for being the ugly one of the family, she's bullied by the popular kids in her old high school to the point of nearly committing suicide and even gets rejected rather harshly by a senior she liked (granted, he too was manipulated by the popular crowd but still).
  • And Call Him "George": Downplayed but she gives Suho a very strong hug that he tells her he cannot breathe and coughs a little after they pull apart.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Suho was the first one to tell her she looks good with or without makeup.
  • Beautiful All Along: The entire plot of True Beauty is Jugyeong looking ugly with her acne, red cheeks, thick glasses and eyebrows but the instant she irons her hair, trims those eyebrows and covers her acne she becomes unrecognizable and is suddenly considered a belle.
  • Black Sheep: Jugyeong is somehow the only ugly and academically inept one of her family while the rest are good-looking and smart.
  • Break the Cutie: Happens to her throughout episode 13 until she snaps at her mom, who was also harshly scolding her, and asks her if she isn't allowed to be happy while crying.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Jugyeong's relationship with Suho is the perfect example of this. She is the perky gentle girl to Suho's angsty loner boy. She even gives him a Cooldown Hug once and is very gentle with him in general.
  • Character Development: She decides to show up to school without makeup on after the whole fiasco that happened and defend herself from bullies and rumors spread about her and then announces that she is indeed dating Suho after repeatedly insisting on keeping it a secret. She is also significantly less insecure and clumsy than she was during her high school days.
  • Cosmetic Catastrophe: Jugyeong's first attempt at makeup before transferring schools was... disastrous to say the least. She even shaved a part of her eyebrows by mistake one time. Doubles as Makeover Fail, as well.
    Hyunsook: Makeup my butt! That is ghost makeup! Did you just come out of filming for "Korean Ghost Stories?"
  • Damsel in Distress: She gets kidnapped around episode 6 by the gang who are after Seojun as a way to lure him out and not only Seojun comes to save her.. but Suho and all of her friends also come as well and together they hilariously take down the gang one after the other. Talk about a dramatic rescue!
  • Determinator: Becomes one after her character development and gains more confidence shedding away her old awkward and anxious self.
  • Driven to Suicide: She comes very close to ending it all by jumping off a building after being harshly rejected by her crush and ruthlessly bullied by her peers, but ultimately changes her mind after seeing a commemorative billboard for idol singer Seyeon (who also killed himself and was the same age as her), just before Suho shows up on the roof and pulls her down to safety.
  • Embarrassing Rescue: Doubles as Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like. She is not happy when Seojun saves her from falling on the floor and possibly cracking her head open by awkwardly placing his hand behind her head and thus ending up falling on top of her in a compromising position that his nearby friends start teasing them about, so she headbutts him and tells him off for saving her.
  • Friend Versus Lover: She worries about having this dilemma after she starts dating Suho, but also realizes that her best friend Sujin also likes him. In the end, she decides to just be honest with Sujin and come forward about her relationship and her concerns with this trope. Sujin appears to reassure her that everything is fine and that nothing with change. Unfortunately, Sujin has other plans.
  • In-Universe Catharsis:
    • Has a powerful one where she finally snaps at Suho for making her do things for him in exchange for not revealing her secret to the whole school and tells him this:
      Jugyeong: What's the difference between you and those who made me a loner and a dumpling shuttle? It's not my fault that I'm ugly, so why is everyone hating on me? What's the point of wearing makeup and becoming pretty? I'm still the ugly Jugyeong!
    • She also has another one with her mom after her mom scolds her sternly for taking part-time jobs and planning to go to a makeup academy without telling her parents. See Break the Cutie above.
  • Genki Girl: She remains cheerful and kind to everyone around her despite the excessive bullying she went through.
  • The Glasses Gotta Go: She replaces her thick-framed unflattering glasses with clear lenses as part of her makeover.
  • Grew a Spine: She stops running away from confrontations and bravely faces her bullies alone and decides that she will only listen to people who love her as of episode 13. She also stands up to the bratty and annoying singer she was assigned to work with, in the final episode.
  • Heroic BSoD: Has one at the end of episode 12 when her worst fear is realized and her secret is revealed to everyone at her school.
  • Middle Child Syndrome: Jugyeong is a classic example of this trope. Even her struggles and interests are ignored by her family. Combined with The Un Favourite. Her mom clearly favors their eldest daughter and youngest son over her not so much now that her mom and siblings know of how badly she was treated at her previous school and stop giving her a hard time at home.
  • New Transfer Student: Starts the drama as a Saebom High transferee in which the majority of her life-changing events take place.
  • Not with Them for the Money: Jugyeong does not care about Suho's social status or fame but befriends and falls in love with him for how nice he is to her.
  • No, You Hang Up First: Has a brief exchange like this over the phone with Suho once they start dating.
  • Took a Level in Badass: She goes from being passive and non-confrontational in most of the series to someone who stands up for themselves and fights back at the end of it.
  • Uncanny Valley Makeup: Her first ever attempt at makeup results in this. She gets better though.
  • Was It Really Worth It?: She sometimes wonders if concealing her real face behind makeup in public has been worth all of the difficulties it entails, especially after her past begins to catch up with her when Hyemin transfers to Saebom High.
    Jugyeong: Yeah. Living with two faces is extremely exhausting, and it's continuously humiliating.
    Jugyeong (to herself after narrowly avoiding Hyemin in the bathroom): Until when will you live like this?
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: By the end of episode 12, everything appears to be looking up for Jugyeong, perhaps for the first time in her life. She has enrolled in a make-up academy to learn how to be a professional make-up artist, she and Suho appear to have worked out most of their relationship issues, she took first place in an Instagram goddess competition and even got selected to be her school's promotional model for the next year's enrollment sessions. And then pictures of her true face get leaked onto her school's message board...
  • You Don't Look Like You: In-universe, she looks so different in make-up that her phone's facial recognition login was unable to recognize her bare face!

    Lee Suho 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/suho_8.jpg
Portrayed by: Cha Eunwoo
"No matter how you look, makeup or no makeup, you are always you."

He is Saebom high school's ace and model student with an aloof personality and is also in Class 2-5. He is known and praised for his dashing looks, top grades and excellent basketball skills. However, he has a bad and dysfunctional relationship with his father, the CEO of move entertainment and a famous actor whom Suho is ashamed of. He suffers from great trauma due to a tragic past incident that turned him into a cold emotionless guy and made him resent his father. He is childhood friends with Kang Sujin. Naturally, Suho comes from a wealthy family and he used to be best friends with Han Seojun.

  • Adaptational Badass: Even though TV-Suho does jiujitsu too, he's still tougher than webtoon Suho, who despite having a good heart was physically a wimp until meeting Seyeon and Seojun made him toughen up. There are also his basketball skills and musicianship; webtoon Suho was mostly a cheerleader/moral support for Seyeon and Seojun making it big in the music industry.
  • Adaptational Early Appearance: In the drama, he first meets Jugyeong when he happens to see her standing on the edge of the roof of a building and rushes to pull her back to safety. However, because neither of them introduced themselves, and because Jugyeong lost her glasses when he yanked her down, they don't realize that they met here until much later. This is in contrast to the webtoon, where his first appearance and first meeting with Jugyeong was at the comic book store after Jugyeong had changed schools and completed her makeover.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: Oh boy. This is what basically happened to Suho. In the series, he shows little to no expressions, has a hot and cold attitude especially to Jugyeong, is always stalking and staring at her and even tells her to quit the part-time job she goes to with Seojun due to his jealousy. While in the webtoon, he was just a socially awkward and calm person who is way less creepy and detached than his drama version.
  • Academic Athlete: He does jiujitsu, plays basketball so well and is a diligent student.
  • Character Development: He is much warmer and more open to expressing emotions than he was at the beginning of the series and he improves his relationship with Seojun.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Combined with Armor-Piercing Response. He bombards his father with multiple brutal ones during his emotional burst in episode 11.
    Suho: "Saying you did not know makes it all right? Do you honestly think you are not responsible? I was not able to answer Seyeon's last call. Thinking that it led to his suicide... has been haunting me all this time. But... you were the reason why this happened. Why be afraid of some rumor with an actress? AS IF IT IS ANY BIG DEAL!"
  • Big "NO!": Screams out a dramatically hilarious NOOOO! with him falling down on his knees and everything when Jugyeong leaves him behind to go with Seojun in his dream.
  • Birds of a Feather: He and Jugyeong bond over their love for horror comics and go to a horror comics shop together from time to time.
  • But Now I Must Go: When Juheon unexpectedly experiences a brain aneurysm and faints while in America, Suho is forced to move to take care of him; just as he and Jugyeong were getting closer.
  • Chick Magnet: Given his pretty-boy looks and chic attitude this is an inevitable consequence that has earned him the nickname God Suho.
  • Comical Overreacting: Suho has a somewhat unexpected one in the pilot episode when he finds out that the first page of a comic book he came to borrow was torn. His reaction to the store owner telling him to skip that page is this as he goes on a long heated rant about how, following this logic, we should just start everything from the second half and disregard the first half. All of this just because the bookstore owner told him to overlook the torn page and start reading from the next one. And the shop keeper's reaction? He only points out how Suho has not changed one bit.
  • The Comically Serious: Offers Jugyeong a plastic cup to pee in while trapped in an elevator with her (and Seojun) in all seriousness with both Seojun and Jugyeong looking at him in absolute shock and disgust that he even merely suggested this. Also, him ignoring Taehoon's entire existence at the beginning counts as well.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: He is one towards Jugyeong as he constantly interrupts all of her interactions with Seojun and is taken up to eleven in episode 10 where he asks her to quit the part-time job she works at along with Seojun. Somewhat justified since he lost a close friend to suicide which made him scared of losing people he cares about. Though, he tones it down as part of his Character Development where he does not interfere with their interactions anymore and is actually pretty cool with it.
  • Defrosting Ice King: He is initially cold toward other people and anti-social, but begins to soften up after befriending Jugyeong and restoring his friendship with Seojun.
  • Failure-to-Save Murder: Seyeon is the child, Suho is the Hero and Seojun is the Fool. This is also the main reason behind Seojun and Suho's fallout, as Seojun relentlessly blames Seyeon's death on Suho's failure at answering his call before he attempts suicide, which further deteriorates Suho's mental state. Later, Suho is seen having a Heroic BSoD after he hears Seyeon's song, Starlight, for the first time since the incident.
    Suho: I know you think Seyeon died because of me.
    Seojun: It's not that I know. It's a fact.
    Suho: How long will you take it out on me, then?
    Seojun: Until you die... and meet Seyeon in the afterlife.
  • Just the Way You Are: He frequently assures Jugyeong that she is pretty with or without makeup, as seen in his quote above.
  • Hypocrite: Tells Jugyeong to quit her part-time job because he hates seeing her work with Seojun and says that guys and girls cannot be friends even though he himself is friends with Sujin. The irony of the situation does not go unnoticed by Jugyeong who calls him out on it by bringing up his friendship with Sujin.
  • Insecure Love Interest: He is scared of losing Jugyeong, the first person who genuinely got interested in him without caring about his status and fame, to someone else. He even urges Seojun to give up on his feelings for her and is ALWAYS present whenever she is with Seojun.
  • Hates Their Parent: His relationship with his father is so strained to the point that Suho would rather spend his birthday alone in a manhwa cafe than go to a nice restaurant with him.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: How he feels after not picking up Seyeon's (last) phone call that day.
  • It's All My Fault: Suho blames himself for Seyeon's death and, feeling extremely guilty, he does not object nor defend himself when Seojun calls him a murderer.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: He didn't have many friends growing up, aside from Sujin, and his mom died when he was still a kid. Plus, he doesn't have a good relationship with his father either which makes him even lonelier.
  • Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: After befriending Jugyeong and then Taehoon, whom he used to ignore all of his high-fives and his existence in general, Suho comes out of his shell little by little and acts nicer toward Jugyeong, returns Taehoon's high-fives and even lets him and Hyungyu play at his house.
  • Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: At the beginning of True Beauty, he is referred to as a sociopath by Soo-ah and has a distant and aloof outward personality to everyone but he just does not know how to communicate his feelings better and is actually a nice person once people get to befriend him for who he really and is not for his looks or money.
  • Not So Stoic: Toward episode 11 and 12 where he has an emotional burst and delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to his father, and him starting to smile and come out of his shell more after making up with Seojun.
  • Race Lift: Downplayed, but in the webtoon he's technically part Japanese due to his mother being a Japan-born Korean; a flashback in the webtoon showed he faced some discrimination for this and is even introduced leading the Japanese language study group. In the series, there's no mention of his Japanese nationality.
  • Secret-Keeper: He learns about Jugyeong's true face early on, but helps her keep it hidden from others. Not without some blackmailing at first, though.
  • The Stoic: He is usually expressionless and doesn't display a lot of emotions.
  • Stalker with a Crush: He is constantly stalking her whenever she is with Seojun and somehow follows them to the mall and almost everywhere else.. until he tones it significantly down in the second half of the series as part of his Character Development. It is very palpable that even Hyungyu, one of his classmates, jokingly calls him out on it.
    • Zigzagged, as he goes back to following her around in episode 15 and this time it is less justifiable since he was the one who broke up with her and ghosted her for 2 years and then decided to enter her life again like nothing happened when she clearly is still upset with him.
  • The Generic Guy: Taehoon and Hyungyu tease him by telling him that he seems like the "tiring boring type" after calling him out for stalking his now-girlfriend Jugyeong. He later has a Dream Sequence where she breaks up with him for being stodgy, then, out of nowhere, Seojun enters the scene on a motorcycle and tells Jugyeong that he is the opposite of that and asks her to ride with them which she accepts leaving Suho behind, who comically screams NO! and breaks down on the ground.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's effortlessly handsome, is 183cm tall, has black hair and a stoic personality.
  • Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Goes from being withdrawn and impassive to being a sweet and loving person who shows more emotions than he used to prior to episode 11.

    Han Seojun 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/seojun_2.jpg
Portrayed by: Hwang Inyeop
"How annoying."

Another student in class 2-5 of Saebom high school, who is equally as handsome and popular as Suho. Although he has a reputation for being a tough bad boy, he is actually sweet, kindly, and adores his family to no end. Known for his great singing skills, he is also a former idol trainee, but a horrifying incident leads him to give up on stardom and sever his friendship with his now ex-best friend Lee Suho. Seojun comes from a relatively poor family, so he takes on many part-time jobs including amateur modeling to financially aid his mother and sister, especially since his father is deceased.

  • Adaptational Early Appearance: Seojun didn't appear until chapter 18 of the webtoon (4 months and 2 weeks after the pilot chapter). Here, he shows up in episode 2.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: Although not as major as Suho's and Sujin's are but he is still dorkier, more selfless and much more badass than his original webtoon self. He is also more hostile toward Suho in the adaptation and is very opposed to pursuing a career in singing following Seyeon's death that it takes others' constant persuasion for him to even consider giving it another chance. His webtoon counterpart, however, did not particularly have any negative views on stardom and is extremely humble and less of a troublemaker than his drama version.
  • Adaptational Skill: Drama Seojun knows how to knit, play basketball, ride a bike and make dumplings which are all skills that he doesn't particularly have in the webtoon.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Chorong calls him "Jjunie".
  • Apathetic Student: He is always sleeping in class and does not care about studying or paying attention, and was even unaware that they had a literature exam one day. Somewhat justified, as he just came back from a break at the beginning of the show and was once preparing to debut as an idol.
  • Beautiful Singing Voice: He used to train to be an idol, so naturally, he has an amazing voice that he, albeit reluctantly, shows off from time to time. After some soul searching, encouragement from Suho and Heegyeong, and accidentally going viral he decides to give it a second shot under Move Entertainment and eventually debuts in a band.
  • Badass Biker: He is introduced into the story riding a motorcycle which eventually results in a Crash-Into Hello with Jugyeong, and is continuously riding it in the first half of the show. Subverted as he stops riding it in the remaining half of the series upon Jugyeong's request (who was asked by his mom to report to her if he ever rides it again).
  • "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Gives multiple ones to Jugyeong at various times when he wants to keep something a secret from his mother.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: While he might be all warm and affable with his loved ones, he will not hold back from teaching anyone, including girls, a very well-deserved lesson.
  • Big Brother Instinct: A downplayed example but he gets angry when he learns his little sister was being taunted at school and then stops a physical fight involving her to confront the girl who used to bully her himself.
  • Big Entrance: He has a quite dramatic first appearance where he is being chased by a Gang of Bullies on motorcycles. It also doubles as a character establishing moment for him.
  • Big "YES!": Has multiple of those throughout the show. He does a little celebratory "yes!" gesture he does when Jugyeong's mom chooses his dumplings over Suho's.
  • Boy Band: He is seen practicing with a boyband who are playing various instruments as he prepares to debut as an idol.
  • Broken Tears:
    • Is reduced to tears after finding out about Seyeon's death.
    • Breaks into tears after visiting Seyeon's grave.
    • Has another one in the final episode after Jugyeong officially rejects him and doubles as Running Away to Cry.
  • Bros Before Hoes: How the love triangle ends up. After he makes up with Suho and they go back to being friends again he gives up on his feelings for Jugyeong for his friend's sake and even looks at Suho funny when he asks him if he was gonna confess to her.
  • Bully Hunter: Becomes one all throughout episode 13. He first seeks out Semi, who is in a different school, then tells Sujin off for how she has been acting toward Jugeyong lately. Then, lastly, he confronts the girl who uploaded that demeaning video of Jugyeong and tells her to delete it, all one by one. He looked quite hot while doing it, too.
  • Butt-Monkey: A mild example. Let's see... Jugyeong spits out rice on his face, his friends do not take him seriously most of the time and never miss a chance at teasing him for his gigantic crush on Jugyeong and one time they even pretend that they saw her which makes Seojun stand up immediately, look for her and eagerly ask "where?", as they start laughing at how head over heels he is for her. Poor Seojun.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Gives a brief one to Suho's father upon witnessing his total ignorance about his own son firsthand.
  • Character Development: In the beginning, he shows interest in Jugyeong just to get under Suho's skin and generally acts like an asshole toward Suho every time he sees him, but he immediately feels bad around episodes 5-6 especially after witnessing Suho have a breakdown due to immense guilt, so he lets go of his anger and goes back to being friends with Suho, and starts genuinely caring for Jugyeong to the point where he prioritizes her feelings over his own. He also stops associating himself with the gang of bullies that he got involved with and grows out of his high school bad boy phase near the end.
  • Chick Magnet: Seojun has the entire school fangirling and gushing over him whenever he does as much as walk in the hallways to the point where Semi, the leader of Jugyeong's bullies, tries to hit on him and comes out to meet him all excitedly even after he aggressively threw her phone at a wall the other day. And even Sujin, who is not interested in any men other than Suho, is not blind to his good looks. He also has an (unwanted) admirer after graduation which is his Move Entertainment labelmate Chaenee.
  • Comedic Underwear Exposure: Combined with Goofy Print Underwear and in front of his crush, nonetheless. You can imagine his utter embarrassment and mortification afterward.
  • Cool Big Bro: Is this to Goeun. He attends her musical performance and brings her flowers, gets super pissed when he learns she got bullied at school and even scolds Juyeong for hitting on her.
  • Cool Helmet: Naturally comes with the Badass Biker and Cool Bike combo. It even plays a role in bringing Seojun and Jugyeong closer and thus driving the plot.
  • Crush Blush: He gets all blushy and shy when Jugyeong bends down to tie his shoelaces for him.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments sometimes
    Seojun: Are you going out with Suho?
    Jugyeong: (who has lipstick smeared on her philtrum) I am not.
    Seojun: Are you really not?
    Jugyeong: Definitely not. I am not.
    Seojun: (notices the smudge) Looking at you, I don't think you are either.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: Does not end up with Jugyeong after all.
  • Dissension Remorse: He immediately feels bad after he sees Suho have a breakdown due to feeling guilty over the death of their friend Seyeon, so Seojun slowly lets go of his hostility toward Suho and the two become friends again.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: Spends two years pining for Jugyeong where he decides to stay beside her, give her relationship advice regarding Suho, find her a part-time job and generally take care of her in other ways ALL without her reciprocating any of this.
  • The Dutiful Son: He took a break from school to support his family after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization off-screen then returns in episode 2.
  • Endearingly Dorky: He gets easily flustered around Jugyeong and goes into an adorable state of disbelief and distress upon realizing that he may have started developing feelings for her. His overall cute mannerisms and dorkiness make him qualify as one.
  • Establishing Character Moment:
    • His first Big Entrance appearance establishes most of his defining traits. The scene shows that he has gotten himself into some kind of trouble with a bunch of delinquents which implies that he is a troublemaker. Upon reaching a dead-end after a long chase, he faces the gang leader, throws a glove on his face and delivers his first words: "I'm sorry, you jerk''." And when the gang leader goes for his face, Seojun dodges it this time, then delivers another character establishing line: sae"I won't let you hit my face".
    • His scene with his hospitalized mom in episode 3 also counts. It cements Seojun as a doting son who is adored by his mom and also how full of himself he is.
      Seojun: Well, I look good in everything. You can put a rag on me and I'll still make it look good. A certain someone got lucky with her son.
  • Failures on Ice: Invoked by Seojun who lies to Jugyeong and pretends to be bad at skating just so she would hold his hand and help him but he quickly shows her that he is actually good at it afterward.
  • Faint in Shock: He faints upon seeing Jugyeong's dirt-covered face and mistaking her for a ghost.
  • Foil: He acts as the foil to Suho which is essential in any love triangle. While both are equally handsome and popular and each has a dead parent they still have extremely contrasting characters. Seojun is cool, funny, has low grades, and comes from a humble background but grew up in a loving environment, while Suho is serious, standoffish, has perfect grades and comes from a well-off family with a distant and neglectful father.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Seojun is a goofball while Goeun is the more serious one between them.
  • Good Is Not Soft: He might be sweet to the people he cherishes but he does not hesitate in confronting and putting people he dislikes or that piss him off in their own places as he did with Jugyeong's bullies.
  • Good-Times Montage: Has multiple ones of these consisting of his good times with Jugyeong. He has a final one in the last episode where he reminisces his (new and unseen) sweet moments with her.
  • Goofy Print Underwear: His ridiculous leopard print underwear became a Running Gag that is frequently brought up in the series.
  • Green-Eyed Epiphany: At first, when Suho asks him why he came to watch a baseball match, which is a sport he does not like, and a high school one at that, he insists that he really came for the match but, eventually, he admits to Suho that he came to the match just because he likes Jugyeong since a famous player who showed romantic interest in her was playing in that match.
  • Happy Dance: Is prone to doing a little random dance from one time to another emphasizing his cheerfulness.
  • Hopeless Suitor: Oh yeah. He still acts as a supportive friend for Jugyeong though. Could possibly be subverted now that she and Suho have officially broken up making way for him to confess his feelings which he did.
  • Jerkass to One: Begins the drama as a massive jerk only toward his former friend Suho, but mellows out noticeably as the show goes on, especially after resolving his issues with Suho and supposedly giving up his feelings for Jugyeong. He is pretty much nice to everyone -except bullies- now.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton: He generally has an amiable and selfless nature but can be really dumb sometimes that it gets lampshaded by Jugyeong, out of everyone, who claims that he is even dumber than her.
    Seojun: Are you my mom's mafia?
    Jugyeong: Pfft. Mafia? You mean spy!
    Seojun: Same difference. Aren't they both bad guys?
    Jugyeong: [Blank Stare]
  • Leitmotif: Has one that plays whenever he is doing something awesome, or even just when looking particularly badass. Listen here in the first part of this clip [1].
  • Longing Look: Is there even an episode where he is not looking sadly at Jugyeong from afar?.
  • Love Epiphany: Realizes he has feelings for Jugyeong after she puts some lip tint on his lips at the shopping mall in episode 7 cue a Heart Beat Sound Track in the background. Later, when he is inside an elevator with her he goes: "Her?", looks at her slurping her drink messily then continues, "Me? No way."
  • Love Hurts: Has a heartbreaking one-sided attraction to Jugyeong where he decides to stay beside her even as his efforts and feelings go painfully unnoticed by her and has to repeatedly watch her choose Suho over him.
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: This is his reaction when he learns that Juyeong has been hitting on his younger sister.
  • Momma's Boy: A positive example of this. He really cherishes his mother and has a loving healthy relationship with her, and she takes good care of him herself and vice versa.
  • Nice Guy: Probably the nicest character in the series. He puts Jugyeong's feelings before his even when he is hurting himself and doesn't get in the way of her relationship with Suho after he learns that she and Suho started dating. Plus, he bought Jugyeong medicine when she got sick and immediately ran to her workplace to check up on her after he heard that she got hurt.
  • Older and Wiser: After the Time Skip at the end of episode 14, he shows up wearing a long coat with his hair down instead of his usual bomber/leather jacket and parted-hair look to signal his maturity post-graduation.
  • Over-the-Shoulder Carry: He haphazardly puts Jugyeong on his shoulder when she gets too drunk that she starts staggering and doing weird stuff in the streets after the time skip.
  • Pitbull Dates Puppy: While he does not get to "date" her in the drama, he's first introduced as a bad boy who loves to initiate fights and is kind of feared by the other students because of this. But then after several encounters with Jugyeong, the soft full-of-life girl in his class, he catches feelings for her. She even describes him as "a real troublemaker" herself.
  • Pottery Barn Poor: It is heavily implied that Seojun and his family are struggling financially to the point where he had to take a break from school to do various jobs to pay for his mom's hospital fees and even his little sister is occasionally seen working at a comic book store. But then again, it isn't shown how exactly "poor" are they. They live in a very decent place and Seojun can afford to buy a motorcycle with not only one but two helmets for himself.
  • Pretty Boy: He's noted to be very attractive, tall, slender and has a boyish appearance to top it off.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red Oni to Suho's Blue Oni. Seojun is caring, dynamic, Book Dumb, has a lot of friends and loves his family dearly, while Suho has a poker face most of the time, is a straight-A student, has very few friends and hates his dad with a passion.
  • Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: The poor suitor to Suho's rich one. He takes on modeling and other part-time jobs to financially support his family.
  • Romantic Runner-Up: He has lots of ship tease with Jugyeong but it goes nowhere because she picks Suho over him.
  • Second Episode Introduction: He makes his first appearance in the second episode of True Beauty.
  • Stunned Silence: Sujin reduces him to one when he asks her if she knows that Jugyeong and Suho are dating and she replies that she does but he also likes Jugyeong even though he is aware of this too.
  • Supermodel Strut: Tends to do this a lot throughout the series, complete with his own soundtrack playing in the background and even a slo-mo sometimes and everything, just to highlight his coolness and popularity. Justified, since it is probably a habit he acquired from his modeling job.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Although Seojun is generally only unkind to Suho, he becomes affectionate with him after clearing up the misunderstandings between them and stops demonizing him for Seyeon's suicide. See Character Development above.
  • Troubled Backstory Flashback: He has one at the beginning of episode 4 that shows him crying at Seyeon's funeral after finding out about his suicide as a Freudian Excuse for his present-day feud with Suho.
  • Unwanted Harem: While Seojun would appreciate a herd of fangirls gushing over him any day, he just seems to attract the mean-spirited ones only who, for some reason, have it out for his true crush, Jugyeong, which is enough to turn him off from anyone.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Is his reaction when Jugyeong goes on a vague I Have This Friend rant about the puzzling love triangle between her, Suho and her friend Sujin and to make Seojun understand her question better she hypothetically uses the love triangle between her, Suho and him as a metaphor before Seojun interrupts her with an "Are you kidding me?".
  • Wall Pin of Love: He intimidatingly backs Jugyeong into a wall and leans down to ask her about his helmet which she promised to return it to him last time but forgot and warns her that if she does not bring it with her by tomorrow something bad will happen.
  • Will They or Won't They?: After so much ship tease between him and Jugyeong and some Unresolved Sexual Tension, they don't get together after all, much to Seojun's misery.

    Kang Sujin 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sujin_0.jpg
Portrayed by: Park Yoona
"I like focusing on one thing."

Classmate and close friend of Jugyeong and Soo-ah in Class 2-5 as well. She is regarded as the class "goddess" by Soo-ah and is also a model student from a high-class family as Suho. Despite having a seemingly perfect life, she is emotionally scarred due to being forced to excel at school and being physically abused by her father when she does not meet his standards. She was a childhood friend of Suho and harbors a romantic attraction toward him. She has a cool, girl crush and a no-nonsense personality at the beginning of the series.

  • Abusive Parents: Her father regularly hits her and verbally abuses her when her academic performance doesn't meet his expectations, which to him means anything less than first place in the class rankings.
  • Adaptational Early Appearance: Sujin didn't appear until chapter 9 of the webtoon (9 weeks after the pilot chapter). Here, she appears near the end of the very first episode of the drama, and Jugyeong meets her on the day she transfers to Saebom High.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Webtoon Sujin was a fairly one-dimensional character mostly defined by her looks and attention-seeking behavior, and was rarely seen to interact with anyone but Jugyeong. There were hints of a troubled home life and a past connection with Suho, and also of past troubles with a pair of girls she encounters one day while out with Jugyeong, but these were never elaborated on, and Sujin eventually just quietly disappeared from the story (though she would eventually reappear much later after the TV series had finished, and receive closure to her character arc). In the drama, she is given a larger role and more screen time, and her connection with Suho has more importance to the story. She is also able to find out about Jugyeong's secrets in the drama, while in the webtoon she only suspected Jugyeong was hiding something behind the make-up but never confirmed it.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: Out of the four main characters, Sujin is by far the most different from her webtoon incarnation: In the webtoon she was narcissistic and an attention seeker, she only pretended to befriend Jugyeong to try and keep her apart from Suho (whom they both had feelings for), and would silently belittle Jugyeong. In the drama, she appears to be far more modest and humble, is a model student, and even goes out of her way to defend Jugyeong from bullies. However, once she figures out that Jugyeong and Suho are dating, she starts going to greater lengths to undermine their relationship than she ever did in the webtoon. Here in the drama adaptation, she becomes one of the main characters and goes through various Character Development and her character has more substance to it.
  • Back for the Finale: Makes an unexpected appearance in the last episodes where they show her Heel–Face Turn and Older and Wiser self post-high school.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Even though she was friends with Suho for 10 years, she only started developing feelings for him once he showed concern for her getting hit by her father and was the first (and only one) to notice this and one time he even saved her face from her dad's cutting remarks at a public dinner meeting.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: To a far greater extent than she was in the webtoon. For the first half of the drama, she appears to be true companions with Jugyeong and is a genuinely kind, likable, and trustworthy person. Starting in episode 10, however, she reveals that she can be a particularly nasty, manipulative, and spiteful person when Jugyeong starts dating Suho, and actively plots to either undermine their relationship or to hurt Jugyeong. Though, not anymore after her Heel–Face Turn in the finale.
  • Broken Ace: She is smart and beautiful but she has her own daddy issues that no one knows of except for Suho.
  • Broken Tears: Bursts into tears after she fails to make up with Jugyeong over the realization that she lost a close friend.
  • Character Development: At first she repeatedly refuses to apologize or show remorse for what she did with her best friend and screws up her bond with Jugyeong and Sooah during their school days. Come present and she apologizes to Jugyeong when she meets her and tries to rekindle her friendship with her.
  • Character Tics: She washes her hands excessively when she is stressed about something, to the point of abrading her skin.
  • Childhood Friends: With Suho for apparently 10 years.
  • Death Glare: Gives these A LOT starting at the end of episode 9. The episode 11 trailer could almost be a compilation of Sujin's death glares.
  • Evil All Along: She states this about herself after Soo-ah questions her sudden nasty and abrasive behavior toward Jugyeong and says that she turned out to be this kind of person. And it becomes quite a shock to the whole 2-5 class who never expected her to be this vile of a person. However, this is obviously Blatant Lies now.
  • False Friend: Turns out to be one for Soo-ah and Jugyeong and has no intention of fixing their broken friendship. Subverted now as she apologizes to Jugyeong after the time skip and hugs her and tries to mend their relationship.
  • Foreshadowing: She always appears to take a keen interest in Jugyeong's and Suho's interactions with each other, turns out she is a Green-Eyed Monster.
  • Friend Versus Lover: Sujin ultimately decides that if she can't have Suho because he is dating Jugyeong, then she can no longer be friends with Jugyeong, and even says this to Suho's face to try to get him to split up with Jugyeong.
  • Freudian Excuse: Her parents aren't exactly loving or supportive, causing her to rely almost entirely on Suho for any positive affection; which in turn made her fall for him.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Sujin goes from being nice at the beginning of the drama to turning evil to going back to being nice again and, eventually, redeeming herself.
  • Heel–Face Turn: She apologizes to Jugyeong post-time skip, and tearfully admits to regretting her terrible actions toward Jugyeong and even saves her from a rude manager.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: In the end, her attempt to destroy Jugyeong only causes everyone else to turn on her after someone reveals to the school that she was the one who uploaded the video of Jugyeong being bullied.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Basically what caused her Face–Heel Turn.
  • Older and Wiser: She grows out of her past childish and envious behavior toward Jugyeong during their school days and repents to her despite initial refusal at any reconciliation. (Managing to escape her father's abuse during the Time Skip helped her mature emotionally under less stress.) She is still as badass as always, though.
  • Only Friend: Starts out as Suho's only friend before he grows out of his distant character and makes new friends.
  • Roundhouse Kick: Is fond of giving them to those people who threaten her friends.
  • Secret-Keeper: She also becomes one after Jugyeong accidentally reveals her bare face when they were alone together. Subverted, as she eventually becomes the one to reveal it to the school to spite Jugyeong and after she begins dating Suho.
  • Shipper on Deck: It's very subtle, but there are hints that Sujin pushes Jugyeong towards Seojun; likely so she could keep Suho for herself.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Suho is the only man who will ever get her romantic love.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Sujin is sometimes spelled as Soojin.
  • The B Grade: She crumples the report card when she sees that she ranked in second place again.
  • The Unapologetic: Refuses to apologize to Jugyeong till the end and rejects all her attempts at reconciliation while showing no remorse for her actions. Subverted as of episode 16 where she reunites with Jugyeong and apologizes to her about everything she did and finally makes up with her.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: She starts off as a loveable and cool ass-kicker girl then takes a turn for the worse when she realizes Suho likes Jugyeong instead of her.
  • Trophy Child: Her dad treats her as if she is nothing but a report card who is always required to be on top of her class rather than a human being with feelings and limits and even makes it crystal clear that she is someone he is only investing in to see perfect scores.

Saebom High School

    Choi Sooah 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sooah.jpg
Portrayed by: Kang Min-ahJugyeong's and Sujin's best friend and classmate at Saebom high school.
"I guess we did not mean... anything to her."

  • Ascended Extra: She has a much more major role in the drama as Jugyeong's sidekick all throughout the drama adaptation and appears in almost all episodes.
  • Beauty Is Best: She is generally obsessed with looks and befriends Jugyeong just because of her supposed beauty. Yeah, you can already imagine how her initial reaction to seeing Jugyeong without makeup was... Subverted later when it turns out that she was actually mad at Jugyeong for keeping so many secrets from her, rather than about how she really looked. She is even offended that Jugyeong could ever think she was so shallow.
  • Fangirl: She is seen holding and cradling BTS's "Love Yourself: Her" album.
  • Genki Girl: She is very bright, bubbly and carefree most of the time.
  • Girly Girl: She loves makeup, dressing well and cares a lot about looks and appearances.
  • Gossipy Hens: Loves to gossip and spread rumors since she talks way too much.
  • Large Ham: Shows elements of this. Talks a lot and excitedly? Check. Uses dramatic metaphors and expressions? Check. Has exaggerated reactions to most things happening in their school? Check!
  • Motor Mouth: She loves to gossip a lot and does not know when to shut up, especially when she starts saying insensitive things without noticing.
  • Official Couple: Of Class 2-5, with Taehoon. They've broken up after high school. Though they get back together at Mr. Han and Heegyeong's wedding in the final episode.
  • Selfie Fiend: Occasionally shows elements of this alongside her obsession with Instagram.
  • Shipper on Deck: Is this for Jugyeong and Seojun as she mistakenly thinks that literally anything in common between Jugyeong and Seojun means they're a couple plus their intimate modeling photos that got spread in their class doesn't help at all either.
  • The Social Expert: Lampshaded by Sujin, who both praises her for her amazing social skills and teases her for trying to keep Jugyeong all for herself.

    Yoo Taehoon 
A student in Jugyeong's classroom and Soo-Ah's boyfriend. He is also the closest thing Suho has to a friend after Suho and Seojun's falling out.

  • Amusing Injuries: Soo-ah steps on his hand too harshly when the lie detector reveals that he lied about how he never once thought of breaking up with her and later that same hand is seen wrapped with gauze.
  • Canon Foreigner: In the drama adaptation, he is the closest thing Suho has to a friend ever since his falling out with Seojun and after losing Seyeon.
  • Class Clown: He loves to make jokes with the teachers and lessens the tension in the class.
  • Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: His friendship with Suho counts as this since Suho is a popular athletic model student while he is slow-witted, has no brains or talents and does not stand out in anything.
  • Extreme Doormat: Shows very subtle signs of this as he lets his girlfriend photoshop his face on a selfie they took together even though he was pouty about it and tries to cheer her up after she learns the truth about Jugyeong's bare face as if she is the one who got hurt and does not call her out on her shallowness/selfishness.
  • Gratuitous English: He spurts English words at random times.
  • High-Five Left Hanging: ALL of his high-fives with Suho are ignored till Suho warms up to him post-Character Development.
  • Pop-Cultural Osmosis: In episode 5, he quotes that with the top and second best students being in their group study, their academic power is practically like the Avengers....while doing the Wakanda salute.note 
  • Plucky Comic Relief: His only purpose in the show is to lighten up the mood and be funny.
  • Romantic Wingman: He is quick to notice that Suho is interested in Jugyeong and hilariously tries his best to help them get together... even when they already got together without his knowledge.

    Ahn Hyungyu 
Another guy in Class 2-5.

  • Dumbass Has a Point: He points out to Suho that he's being a bit stalkerish when it comes to Jugyeong doing anything without him. To his credit, Suho does listen and try to fix that behavior.
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: Played for laughs. He REALLY wants a girlfriend to no avail, though not for lack of trying. Although, the final episode implies he's gotten together with Seehyun, another girl from Class 2-5.
  • Nice Guy: He's not malicious at all and is very pleasant to be around.

    Kim Chorong 
One of Seojun's best friends at Saebom High.

  • Fat and Skinny: He's on the fat side while Seojun is skinnier and they're always hanging out together.
  • Fat Best Friend: Seojun's big-sized close friend who's there for comedy purposes.
  • Fat Comic Relief: Which is a given considering his Fat Idiot and Know-Nothing Know-It-All nature and him serving as Seojun's sidekick in the adaptation.
  • Fat Idiot: He misuses words and is a bit slow on catching things and he's a chunky dude.
  • Hidden Depths: He's one of the few Sebom students to NOT turn on Jugyeong when her secret is leaked courtesy of Sujin. He also defends Jugyeong, Sooah and Hyemin from Semi's posse and another Yongpa bully in episode 14.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Episode 15 hints at a romantic relationship between him and Hyemin who is generally tiny and short, but is especially tinier next to him.
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He throws big words to appear intimidating but he is always misusing them and gets corrected by others every. single. time.

    Han Joonwoo 
Portrayed by: Oh Eui-Sik

Class 2-5 homeroom teacher at Saebom high school as well as the class' Korean literature teacher.

"To me, you are all beautiful. Beautiful from afar. Even more up close. You all do not know how beautiful you are. Being at the age of 18 itself is beautiful and thrilling."

  • Ascended Extra: As the drama version focuses on the characters' school days, unlike the webtoon, he naturally got a lot of focus in the former as well.
  • Bad Date: Some of his dates with Heegyeong goes humorously bad because of his awkwardness. Not that it matters with her being head over heels for him anyway.
  • Cool Teacher: Mr. Han has a clear rapport with his students, who very much adore him and vice versa.
  • Disappointed in You: Gives a very needed one to his pupils in episode 13.
  • Endearingly Dorky: His awkward and easily flustered nature makes him one. This is also the reason why Heegyeong was instantly drawn to him in the first place.
  • Nice Guy: He is polite and kind to all of his students and even tries to stop one of the teachers from scolding Seojun too harshly. Plus, he chides his own students for not caring about Jugyeong's feelings and suffering after a video of her getting bullied was uploaded anonymously on their school page and expresses his disappointment and how much they scare him.
  • No Brows: At least at the beginning of the show till he gets them done at Mrs. Im's shop.
  • Spit Take: Spits out his food when Heegyeong merely extends her hand to wipe some sauce from his lips.

Jugyeong's Family

    Hong Hyunsook 
Jugyeong's mother and Jae-pil's wife. She runs a beauty shop called Pandora that is popular with older women.

    Im Jaepil 
Jungyeong's father and Hyunsook's husband. The plot is kicked of when he loses a large amount of money to an investment scam, forcing the family to move back to their old home and their two younger children to transfer schools.

    Im Heegyeong 
Portrayed by: Im Se-mi
"If you felt even a drop of guilt, then you should not have gone this far."

Jugyeong's older sister and an employee at Move entertainment, the company of Suho's father.

  • The Alcoholic: Though toned down, she is seen drunk from time to time in the show and Teacher Han makes a comment on how he notices her drinking a bit too much due to troubles at her work.
  • Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: She gets piss-drunk once that she starts blabbering about how good-looking Seojun and Suho are and how she will make sure they debut, she shoves her younger sister's head by mistake, and ends up puking on Suho's clothes.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: She delivers a good one to Suho's father who is also her boss, though not necessarily about his own son but about Seyeon who was used as a cover-up for the CEO's dating scandal and then later took his own life. However, she still tries to gain his sympathy by reminding him of the fact that Seyeon is just an 18-year-old kid like his son.
  • Energetic and Soft-Spoken Duo: She is straightforward and spunky, while Teacher Han is shy and mild-mannered.
  • Love at First Sight: She immediately starts hitting on him during their first meeting.
  • Romance-Inducing Smudge: She reaches out to wipe away some pasta sauce from Teacher Han's mouth... before he ruins it by spitting out his food in her face due to being flustered.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: The reason she fell for teacher Han is probably because of his cuteness and good nature.
  • Tomboy: Downplayed in that she dresses in a feminine manner, but her personality is said to be more like a dude.
  • Umbrella of Togetherness: Has a non-serious one with Teacher Han.
  • Workaholic: A mild example but her enthusiasm and sincerity to her job is noted by the CEO she works for. Regardless, she has no problem with possibly risking her job by calling out her boss for how he mishandled Seyeon's (an idol under the same company who took his own life) situation.

    Im Juyeong 
Portrayed by: Kim Min-gi
"My eyes can only see Goeun. My heart can only beat for Goeun. My feet can only run to Goeun."

  • Large Ham:He is usually hyperactive, is prone to boasting and narcissism, randomly bursts into crazy laughter and has over-the-top reactions, especially to anything to do with Goeun.
  • Love at First Note: He begins falling in love with Goeun after hearing her sing for the first time.
  • Mistaken for Romance: Juyeong thinks Seojun is Geoun's boyfriend.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the red Oni to Goeun's blue one. Juyeong is cocky, flashy, and petty and has a dumb look on his face most of the time, while Goeun is sensible, humble, and mature and has a very moderate personality, unlike him.
  • Rejection Affection: Does not back down even after Goeun rejects him multiple times and compares him to an annoying fly. However, he apparently gives up after asking her to step on him if she really has no feelings for him and Goeun, clearly exasperated, does step on him for real.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: He does not hold back when it comes to bragging about himself and especially his looks.
  • Smug Smiler: Is fond of doing this around Goeun.

Suho's Family

    Lee Juheon 

A famous Hallyu actor and Suho's father. He is also the CEO of Move Entertainment.

  • The Atoner: Once Juheon finds out how much Seyeon meant to his son, as well as his own lack of bonding with his family, he holds a press conference; confessing everything in regards to Seyeon's death, the song Starlight and concurrently announcing his retirement. He also promises Suho to eat dinner with him one day to make up for his negligence.
  • Doesn't Know Their Own Child: Did not know that Leo is Suho until Seojun tells him.
  • Fainting: He faints in episode 14, due to a brain aneurysm. Suho is forced to go to America to help take care of him.
  • Must Make Amends: After being on the receiving end of a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from his son, where he learns of the tragic consequences his actions and negligence had on Suho, he resigns from the company and leaves to the U.S.
  • Parental Neglect: He starts out as this but he still gets visibly concerned for Suho's health and wellbeing in the Injured Limb Episode.

Seojun's Family

    Han Goeun 
Portrayed by: Yeo Jooha

Seojun's younger sister who goes to the same high school as him. She is a talented singer but has similar issues with her appearance as Jugyeong.

"There's a saying that goes, "Not even a flower should be used as a weapon."

  • Actual Pacifist: Subverted. At first, she advises Juyeong to not resort to violence no matter what, but later she picks a fight [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer with Jugyeong's bullies herself. Juyeong calls her out on it before quickly joining the fight himself.]]
  • Beautiful Singing Voice: She has a pretty good singing voice and sings in school plays.
  • Cosmetic Catastrophe: She shows up at school with a terrible outfit and poorly-done makeup after enduring taunts at school for her looks just like Jugyeong, luckily to her, Jugyeong saves her from further humiliation and redoes her makeup for her.
  • Determinator: Doesn't give up on her musical performance role and does very well on it even after getting ruthlessly bullied and threatened to back out from the role because of her looks. Regardless, she still has no problems with going outside with her "ugly" bare face after that.
  • Ham and Deadpan Duo: She has a down-to-earth and no-nonsense personality compared to Juyeong's childish and hammy one.
  • Not My Type: Goeun rejects Juyeong by telling him he is not her type among many other things.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: She is coolheaded, smart, and hates violence, while her brother is the complete opposite; has bad grades, is hot-blooded and a troublemaker who solves everything with a fight. Regardless, they still have some things in common like their great singing skills and their tendency to work part-time jobs.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a non-malicious one to Juyeong where she lists almost all the reasons why she does not like, including how he's boring and scrawny.

    Lee Mihyang 
Seojun's and Goeun's mother, who happens to be acquainted with Jugyeong's mother.
  • Good Parents: Out of all the parents in the show, she is almost the only one who undoubtedly qualifies as a loving parent figure toward her two children. She particularly showers Seojun with affection and takes care of him and feeds him when he gets hospitalized in episode 11.
  • Innocently Insensitive: While watching a drama with her kids in episode 8, she points out how the second lead is the bad guy because both him and the male lead fell for the same girl but the other guy liked her first so the second lead should just give up. Seojun, who's in the exact same position, doesn't take it too well. Not that she or Geoun is aware of why he suddenly got so defensive.
  • Out of Focus: She falls out of focus in the second half of the drama and is not brought back until the Grand Finale to attend Teacher Han and Heegyeong's wedding. Given that her whole purpose in the story is to bring Seojun and Jugyeong closer and to add to the list of differences between Seojun and Suho this is not unexpected.

Yongpa High School

    Park Semi 

The "goddess" of Yongpa High School, who along with her Girl Posse mercilessly bullied Jugyeong when they were classmates.

  • Abhorrent Admirer: Well, she is a classic bully after all she had no chance from the start.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Her counterparts in the webtoon are never seen or mentioned again after chapter 2, while in the drama she continues to appear and remain a part of the plot after Jugyeong transfers schools. She also ends up playing a role in exposing Jugyeong's past and her true face, an event that never happened during the high school portion of the webtoon.
  • Attractiveness Discrimination: The reason why she always harasses Jugyeong is that she thinks Jugyeong is ugly.
  • Composite Character: She is essentially a combination of webtoon characters Lee Semi, the "goddess" of Jugyeong's previous school, and of Jeonghye and Minah, the two girls who bullied Jugyeong into being their errand girl. She is also given some of webtoon Sujin's negative qualities, namely being a narcissistic attention seeker who looks down on those less pretty than she is.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She apparently doesn't believe anyone, especially a very attractive boy like Seojun, could have any attraction toward someone as ugly as Jugyeong. Because of this, she and her gang are completely thrown off when Seojun's reaction to her showing him a picture of Jugyeong's bare face is to first question why she is bothering to show it to him and then defend Jugyeong by claiming that to him, Jugyeong is prettier than someone like Semi.
  • Gang of Bullies: She is seen hanging out with the same two girls all the time and the three of them together constantly bully Jugyeong and later Hyemin.
  • Not Me This Time: When a video of her bullying Jugyeong is uploaded to Saebom High's message board to reveal Jugyeong's true appearance, Seojun immediately suspects Semi is responsible and goes to her school to confront her about it. However, Semi is completely ignorant of this before Seojun arrives, and also throws back at Seojun by asking him why she would go to the trouble of uploading something to another school's message board.
  • Villainous Crush: She has a crush on Seojun and makes a point to tell him that she broke up with Sunyeong. Unfortunately for her, Seojun isn't interested and when he finds out that she bullied Jugyeong at her previous school, Seojun becomes so furious he smashes her phone and threatens her to back off from Jugyeong or else she will face consequences. Still, she happily comes out to meet him when he shows up at her school even after all of this.

    Ju Hyemin 
Jugyeong's classmate at Yongpa High School, and the only person Jugyeong was able to talk to there. She is meek and rather weak-willed and was forced by Semi to help bully Jugyeong. She too eventually transfers to Saebom High in episode 11 after also being bullied by Semi.

  • Extreme Doormat: Her meek nature, unfortunately, made it easy for Semi to force her to help in bullying Jugyeong. Though, she gains confidence and grows out of it by the end of the show.
  • Grew a Spine: Fights back her and Jugyeong's bullies in episode 15.
  • Official Couple: She started dating Chorong at some point during episode 15.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: Although Jugyeong helps rescue her from Semi, Jugyeong makes it clear that she still has not forgiven Hyemin for helping Semi bully her in the past. While Hyemin apologizes right then, Jugyeong still asks Hyemin not to speak to her, as Jugyeong still does not want her classmates at Saebom high to know about her past self.
  • Not Afraid of You Anymore: Defends herself from Semi and her posse and finally stops yielding to them then announces that she is not scared of them anymore.
  • Peer-Pressured Bully: She is a victim who was forced to participate in bullying.
  • The Quiet One: She doesn't talk much and prefers to be quiet.

    Lee Sungyong 
A student at Yongpa High School and Semi's (ex-)boyfriend at one time. He is a troublemaker who has an unspecified ax to grind with Han Seojun.
  • Gang of Bullies: He is always seen with at least two other guys next to him.
  • I Have Your Wife: He and his gang of delinquents kidnap Jugyeong to get Seojun to confront them so they can settle an unspecified score.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He is on the receiving end of this when Suho, Seojun, Sujin, Sooah, and Taehoon all come to rescue Jugyeong.
  • Noodle Incident: We never do find out what happened between him and Seojun that caused their on-screen conflict, only that it involved Seojun not showing up for something, which resulted in Sungyong losing all his money.

Other Characters

    Jung Seyeon 
Suho and Seojun's best friend who was apart of a boy group under Move Entertainment but ended up committing suicide by jumping off a building as a result of cyberbullying and fake scandals.

  • The Baby of the Bunch: Despite the three of them being the same age, Seyeon still receives the most affection from Suho and Seojun due to his tiny and skinny physique (compared to them).
  • The Cutie: He was cheerful, bright, and innocent.
  • Death by Origin Story: Without his death, Seojun and Suho would have never fought each other and Suho wouldn't have become this closed-off and icy.
  • Idol Singer: Debuted as one but Was Driven To Suicide as he faced harsh criticism from the public not too long after.
  • Driven to Suicide: He took his own life due to the unbearable and unfair backlash he got during his career as a kpop idol.
  • Frameup: He gets falsely accused of perpetrating violence at his school on countless online articles which subjects him to endless public scrutiny. It is revealed later that he was just used a coverup and distraction from Suho's father dating scandal...
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Seyeon's suicide fractured Suho and Seojun's friendship and is implied to be the reason Suho became a bit... possessive regarding friends and lovers. His death would also haunt Move Entertainment, regarding his song "Starlight." Even posthumously and without his friendships with Suho and Seojun, he ends up becoming a part of Jugyeong's life by way of his memorial poster stopping her from jumping off the building in the pilot episode.
  • Special Guest: He's played by Chani of the boy band SF9.

    Selena Lee 
A famous makeup artist whom Jugyeong idolizes.

  • Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the webtoon, she was revealed post-Time Skip to be Suho's older sister, but the two characters are unrelated in the drama.
  • Demoted to Extra: While always a minor character even in the webtoon, she gains a bit more significance post time skip, when it gets revealed that she is Suho's older sister and plays a major role in convincing him to return to Korea. In the live-action adaptation, Selena only appears in-person in three episodes, and very briefly at that.
  • Special Guest: She is played by Go Woori, a former member of the girl group Rainbow.

    Chaenee 
A recent singer under Move Entertainment, who has a huge crush on Seojun. After high school, Jugyeong ends up working for her as an assistant makeup artist.

  • Abhorrent Admirer: While she is far from ugly, she is so obnoxious and fake that Seojun refuses to go on a date with her because of her personality (besides his gigantic crush on Jugyeong of course).
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems cheerful and lovely on the outside, but it is all an act, as she is just a self-centered and manipulative person on the inside especially towards Jugyeong, her makeup assistant, whom she is always bothering because she wants Jugyeong to set up a date for her with Seojun.
  • The Prima Donna: She is very full of herself and frequently holds Jugyeong's employment over her head to score a date with Seojun.
  • Special Guest: She is played by Dayoung of the girl group WJSN (Cosmic Girls).
  • Villainous Crush: A milder example in terms of evilness but she gives Jugyeong a hard time and is attracted to Seojun.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Combined with Crocodile Tears, Chaenee suddenly starts crying the minute her male manager shows up to make it seem like Jugyeong was the one who is harassing her and not the other way around.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top