Crushology 101: Episodes 7-8 » Dramabeans

KDramaHQ AdminMay 5, 2025

Crushology 101: Episodes 7-8

by Unit

The second half of our campus romance kicks off with misunderstandings, jealousy, and insecurity. Our love square navigates unrequited feelings, cold feet and stolen confessions, as the truth about a two-year old breakup comes to light.

EPISODES 7-8

After last week’s dead fish kiss, Hee-jin calls Jae-yeol out for kissing her on purpose in front of Yeo-reum. “Does it mean we’re dating now?” She asks him, but a cat holds his tongue hostage and he can’t find the words to explain his intention for kissing her. Hee-jin is upset that Jae-yeol used her to make Yeo-reum jealous, and she tells him he is no different from other guys. Hee-jin lies to Ji-won that something came up and Jae-yeol couldn’t make it to their date — but Ji-won knows this is a lie because he dropped her off on the date and saw the kiss. Now it’s his turn to tell Jae-yeol not to mislead Hee-jin with his insincerity.

Dong-ha is crushed when he finds out Bo-bae has a boyfriend, and he calls for a pity party with Jae-yeol — who is also down in the dumps because Hee-jin is upset with him. While both guys drown their sorrows in alcohol, Ji-won hosts an after-party with the girls to celebrate the wrap-up of Bo-bae’s school play. Hee-jin tells her friends that Jae-yeol still has feelings for his ex, and Ji-won says she deserves someone better. Ji-won’s “someone like me” is said in silence, so Hee-jin pushes him deeper into the friend zone when she remarks that his gentlemanly behavior might cause other girls — but definitely not her — to misunderstand his intentions. Lool.

Moving on, we learn that Jae-yeol’s mom’s professor boyfriend is married when his wife embarrasses her in school for having an affair. Jae-yeol apologizes to the wife and drags his mom away. But Mom insists that she’s the victim because she didn’t know Prof was married, and Jae-yeol shouldn’t have apologized. Jeez, maybe you shouldn’t have put your son in that position in the first place!

Jae-yeol is even more embarrassed that Hee-jin witnessed the whole drama — but it ends up being a good (?) thing because Hee-jin goes from not talking to him to cheering him up. Jae-yeol tells Hee-jin it’s not the first time his mom has gotten mixed up in that kinda situation. But while he’s disappointed with her, he can’t judge her since he also disappointed Hee-jin. He acknowledges that what he did to Hee-jin was wrong and he apologizes. But a security guard comes to interrupt them and the moment passes.

Speaking of parents, Hee-jin learns that her mom — a volleyball player (now coach) — used to date a hotshot athlete and they were dubbed “the sports star couple of the century.” Everyone said her dad stood no chance with her mom, but Dad never gave up because “love is only reserved for the brave.” Hee-jin’s parents’ love story parallels the triangle between her, Jae-yeol and Yeo-reum, and Hee-jin figures she has to put aside her Yeo-reum-induced insecurity if she really likes Jae-yeol. But when Jae-yeol comes down with a cold and his friends dispatch Hee-jin to bring him porridge at home, Yeo-reum answers the door and her insecurity strikes again. Aish!

But the truth is, Jae-yeol was really asleep and he had no idea Little Miss “your passcode was still the same” Yeo-reum was in his house. Yeo-reum doesn’t mention that Hee-jin dropped by, and Jae-yeol finds out much later at the school festival. But he has been stationed to man the camera, and he doesn’t get a chance to explain Yeo-reum’s presence in his house to Hee-jin. It also doesn’t help that while Yeo-reum and Jae-yeol are a few paces away from each other onstage as MC and cameraman respectively, Ji-won and Hee-jin are together in the crowd since they attended the festival together. And while everyone else is having fun, the quartet is burning looks at each other from their different spots across the room. Pfft.

The main attraction of the festival is the confession tree — where students anonymously write out their confessions for Yeo-reum to read aloud and pair them with their crushes. One of the confessions is a wish to be with Hee-jin on Christmas, and Hee-jin is called to the stage. A nervous Yeo-reum calls for the anonymous confessor to step forward, and just like Yeo-reum, Hee-jin expects Jae-yeol to come out. But nobody does. Hee-jin is left onstage by herself for quite the number of embarrassing minutes, before Ji-won steps forward to claim the confession. Phew! Yeo-reum is relieved at the turn of events, but Hee-jin and Jae-yeol stew further in their misery.

Surprisingly, Ji-won is not the author of the confession note — although he doubles down when Hee-jin tries to confirm if he really wrote it. No way! When Jae-yeol confronts Ji-won afterwards, Ji-won replies that he saw Jae-yeol struggling to make up his mind to come out, and he cannot let Hee-jin date someone like that. Side eyes at Ji-won for stealing the confession, but he has a point. Hee-jin deserves better than a man with cold feet. Ji-won declares his intention to pursue Hee-jin romantically, and now Jae-yeol has officially got competition. *Chews popcorn*

Speaking of competition, Yeo-reum tells Hee-jin that she will get back together with Jae-yeol. Hee-jin acts unfazed, but her anxiety deepens when Jae-yeol sweeps in like Prince Charming to wrist-grab Yeo-reum away in public — after news breaks that her mother was accused of fraud. Whut? It turns out that Yeo-reum’s greedy mom had money problems two years ago and she even tried to borrow from Jae-yeol’s mom. Yeo-reum broke up with Jae-yeol to prevent him from finding out, and she used the exchange program as an excuse to leave Seoul and get a part-time job. Great! Now I feel semi-bad for her.

In the present, Jae-yeol asks why Yeo-reum didn’t tell him the truth, and she replies that she didn’t want to look pathetic. I feel her, but breaking his heart to protect her pride wasn’t the best of moves. Yeo-reum promises she won’t leave Jae-yeol this time even if things blow up in her face again, but it’s two years too late. Jae-yeol has feelings for someone else — and she knows this, but she still drags him to hang out with her. Ji-won is in the same shoes as he ramps up the romantic gestures towards Hee-jin, but Hee-jin is totally unaffected for obvious reasons.

Due to a reservation mistake, the love square ends up dining at the same table in a restaurant. While one half of the quartet brims with jealousy and unspoken feelings, the other half is anxious because the first two are clearly in love with each other. After Ji-won and Hee-jin leave, Jae-yeol apologizes to Yeo-reum for his two-year hatred when she was going through a hard time, but he reiterates that it’s really over between them. Jae-yeol races out of the restaurant and calls out to Hee-jin, but Ji-won holds on to her and tells her not to go. Too late. Hee-jin goes to Jae-yeol and he tells her he likes her. Then they kiss for real this time.

I’m happy for the happy couple, but what’s up with that love confession note that Yeo-reum saw with Jae-yeol? If that note was truly his and Ji-won didn’t write any, then who wrote the one that was read during the festival? We saw Hyun-oh making his weekly one scene appearance beside the confession tree, so maybe the note was from him. I have to say, I do not appreciate how Show keeps teasing and dangling Hong Min-ki in my face like this. I don’t have any expectations, but still, Show had better be reserving his character for something good. He deserves better and so do I.