Crushology 101: Episodes 5-6 » Dramabeans

KDramaHQ AdminApril 28, 2025

Crushology 101: Episodes 5-6

by Unit

We’re halfway through our campus romance, and gears are shifting from friendship to romance. In the meantime, a long-lost lover returns to town to shake things up in our love cycle.

EPISODES 5-6

Post Jae-yeol’s confession, Hee-jin has a ~~dream~~ nightmare where Jae-yeol proposes to her, they get married — and then she gets arrested for her wild imaginations. Lol. The following morning, she waves off his confession as drunken talk, but he clarifies that it wasn’t a mistake. Trauma response from Jae-yeol’s earlier antics makes Hee-jin assume this is a new style of bullying, so she does her best to avoid him. But when a safety inspection forces the students to evacuate the library, she ends up in his studio to continue studying for the upcoming midterms.

The study session grows in size when Jae-yeol’s bestie, LEE DONG-AH (Kim Min-chul) invites Hee-jin’s bestie, KWON BO-BAE (Nam Kyu-hee) — who he has a crush on — to join them. Ji-won also gets an invite since he’s one of the girls. Heh. Dong-ah sets up a BBQ party — because Bo-bae’s ideal type is someone who grills meat while showing off his forearm muscles — and smoke from the grill sets off the sprinklers. While Hee-jin is worried about the cameras and other rented equipment, Jae-yeol is more worried that she might have gotten hurt in the frenzy. Even the blind can see at this point that Jae-yeol likes Hee-jin, but my girl is still in doubt.

In the meantime, Hee-jin has more important issues to worry about. Her professor’s feedback on a project is not encouraging, her grades are slipping, and she’s under pressure to maintain her scholarship. Because as much as her parents are trying their best, tuition is no joke. Ji-won takes Hee-jin on a nighttime drive to cheer her up, and her dad gives him the green light when he drops her off at home. Hee-jin’s vehement denial of a romantic relationship with Ji-won makes her dad suspicious that she has a crush on someone else. And when she catches herself smiling like a fool while glancing at the pack of cold medications Jae-yeol got for her earlier, she realizes that she has a crush on him.

Before Hee-jin acts on her newly realized crush, a stumbling block rolls in, in the person of HAN YEO-REUM (Jeon So-young). Yeo-reum is a university alumni, the MC at their upcoming school festival, and Jae-yeol’s ex-girlfriend. Two years ago, she ambushed Jae-yeol with the “we need a break” line before leaving for an exchange program abroad. News spreads around campus that Yeo-reum and Jae-yeol were once an item, and Hee-jin seats herself at the insecurity table. While all of this is going on, Jae-yeol is also dealing with the bombshell that his mom is dating a professor in the school.

Seeking a distraction, Hee-jin hangs out with Ji-won and his younger sister. Ever the gentleman, Ji-won’s attentiveness to his sister makes Hee-jin wish she had an older brother like him. Oops! From sister to brother zone. Hee-jin’s ~~brothers~~ love interests have a little clash after their attempt to shield her from a stray basketball shot. And she’s too busy being the PB&J to their bread slices, to notice Handsome Guy #4 JIN HYUN-OH (Hong Min-ki, finally!) when he comes to retrieve his ball. Sadly, we only get this one Hyun-oh scene for now.

For extra cash, Hee-jin takes a part-time job as a production extra, and Jae-yeol begs Bo-bae for her slot on the set. As they mill around in the background, Jae-yeol makes it clear that Yeo-reum is past tense. Then our extra duo stand in the middle of the set with main character vibes, while a sudden rain showers on them to add some razzle dazzle. Smh. Later on, Jae-yeol asks Hee-jin out on a pasta date and she says yes.

Now that Jae-yeol and Hee-jin are close to a turning point in their relationship, Jae-yeol draws the line with Ji-won by telling him not to confuse Hee-jin. Up until now, Ji-won has maintained that he and Hee-jin are just friends — and it was more about not knowing how he felt about her than about denying what he felt. But if that picture of them in his wallet is any indication, Jae-yeol is also realizing that he might like Hee-jin more than as just a friend.

Hee-jin is excited about her upcoming date with Jae-yeol, and she even starts calling him oppa. Of course, Jae-yeol about dies of happiness because he has graduated from sunbae to oppa. Heh. On his way to the date, Yeo-reum ask him to have dinner with her, and he reminds her that she ghosted him. She replies that she never said she wanted to break up with him, she just said she wanted a break. But potato, potahto. Yeo-reum follows up with some BS “I missed you” and “You’re angry because you still have feelings for me,” and Hee-jin witnesses the audaciously delulu outburst. Hee-jin walks away heartbroken, and Jae-yeol runs after her to declare that she’s the one he likes — with a dead fish kiss. How unromantic!

I’m all for romance and relationships, but at this point, everybody needs to chill. Jae-yeol needs a break from juggling his relationship with a mom who only wanted custody because of child support, his ex who returned after ghosting him, and his romantic pursuit of Hee-jin. I still think Hee-jin might need some time to completely heal from her string of past heartbreaks before jumping into a relationship with Jae-yeol. However, Ji-won doesn’t need any more time to at least declare his intentions as Hee-jin’s potential suitor. The heart wants what it wants, and it’s ultimately Hee-jin’s choice that matters most. But putting aside my Jae-yeol bias, I think Ji-won is the better option of the guys, and it’s hard to root for him while he continues to love in silence.