Don’t Go Devastated by the drama festival debacle, episode 6 of A Love So Beautiful begins with Sol-I spending the rest of the weekend in bed, surrounded by tissues. She doesn’t stop thinking about Heon calling her a loser. Her parents worry and wonder what happened. Heon can’t seem to forget walking in on Dae-Sung and a tearful Sol-I. On Monday, she gets up for school, dreading it. Sol-I observes Heon getting his bike and falters at the doorway, hiding away until he leaves. She drags herself to school, arriving late, and is immediately caught by the Dean, who gives her a hard time. Ms Moon shows up to run interference. In class Se-Hyeong can’t resist diving straight in to tease her, repeating every line from the festival. Ha-Young tries to shut him up but Dae-Sung solves it, putting Se-Hyeong into a headlock until he apologises. He tells Sol-I to call on him if anyone else gives her a hard time. As soon as Dae-Sung leaves for practice, another student starts on her but Ha-Young and Jin-Hwan jump to her defence. Heon says nothing but he’s listening. Sol-I thanks her friends but then escapes the classroom. At the library, Mi-Nyeo calls Sol-I to join her and Heon at a study table. She reluctantly joins and gets right to work, head down. Mi-Nyeo asks her if she really does have a crush on someone and Sol-I denies it, then heads back to the classroom to finish her work. Heon walks his bike home and it looks like he’s waiting for Sol-I to catch up with him, as she normally would. But she’s not following behind. He arrives home to a big surprise – his mother and younger brother Geon are home with gifts and hugs. They eat dinner together, his brother putting treats in his bowl. Studying in his room, he listens to the sounds of his mother and brother. He considers texting Sol-I but deletes each one, not hitting the right note. Sol-I’s parents mention a call from Ms Moon who’s noticed she’s struggling to focus in class. Saying she’s not academic enough, Sol-I suggests that maybe she should transfer schools. The next morning, Dae-Sung pulls up to give Sol-I a ride and asks if she’s ok. He suggests going out after school to eat or sing karaoke but she’s not up for it. She asks how he’d feel if she transferred and he immediately panics, asking if her school accepts swim students. She backtracks, saying she’s kidding. In the classroom, she’s drawing an image of herself saying goodbye to the class and Heon spots it. Dae-Sung calls Sol-I and she slips out, meeting him at the pool. ‘Welcome to Hawaii’ he shouts as she enters and he offers her a pineapple-shaped float, promising she’ll feel better if she gets on. Changed into her sports kit, Sol-I gets on the inflatable and Dae-Sung pushes her around a pool filled with balls, ducks and floaties. They splash and laugh until his coach shows up, throwing a fit. At Heon’s house, his mother is chatting with Sol-I’s mother. He overhears that Sol-I is considering transferring and her parents have already found a boarding school. Heon drafts a text to Sol-I but he doesn’t send it. Dae-Sung does push-ups at the pool while getting further scolded. He’s told to do another 500 as penance. In the classroom, Se-Hyeong tells Sol-I to report to Ms Moon in the staff room. After she leaves, her friends wonder what’s up. Se-Hyeong confirms that her parents are there as well. Heon tells them she may transfer schools. Sol-I’s parents speak to Ms Moon about considering a transfer and Ms Moon tries to dissuade them. They ask Sol-I if she wants to leave and another teacher is mouthing to her to ‘say no’ as she stutters. Before she can get the words out, Heon bursts in with an excuse about picking up assessments. The other teacher cottons on right away and suggests he’ll need assistance carrying the booklets, proposing that Sol-I help out and shooing them out of the room before anyone can object. In the hallway, Heon tells Sol-I not to go. She is completely and utterly awed. The episode’s typical rewind is replaced with a fast-forward to a few days later. Sol-I looks a lot like her smiling old self as she catches Heon hanging around outside the building. He denies that he’s waiting for her but she’s not buying that anymore – not after he told her not to go. He asks her ‘Don’t you have any self-respect?’ and her priceless reply is – ‘No, I gave it all to you.’ And with that, she jumps on the back of his bike.
The Episode Review
Do you think Heon realizes what he’s done? The penny will drop shortly, I fear. Whether he intended to or not, in asking Sol-I not to transfer schools, he’s tossed her a giant ball of hope. Did you notice her face in the final scene? Different from previous rewind shots, episode 6 shows us a fast forward, giving us a glimpse of exactly how Sol-I has interpreted Heon’s move. Think he’s ready for it? Dae-Sung meanwhile, is paying the price for supporting Sol-I through her sadness. What a sweet-heart – ‘Welcome to Hawaii.’ How adorable is that? His coach didn’t agree. From someone who struggles with one proper push-up (no judgement, please) – 500? What the heck?! I’m hoping that was a translation mistake but suspect not. Still, I bet Dae-Sung doesn’t regret a minute of making Sol-I smile. Ha-Young and Jin-Hwan didn’t have much to say in this episode, except to defend Sol-I. I imagine they too were feeling a little down for their friend. Meanwhile, deskmate Mi-Nyeo is just completely oblivious. However, her lack of awareness show-cased reality for Heon, as Sol-I sneaked away to avoid further discussion. Heon’s mother and brother showing up was a pleasant surprise. He looked like he struggled to adjust a bit – like he’d gotten used to living in isolation. Imagine that. Was it their presence and his brother Geon’s idolizing gaze that softened him up a bit? Or maybe, having considered the potential absence of Sol-I, he’s simply starting to turn towards the sun.
