#ji-na my poor girl both of your boys are stupid

[tears-of-xion]

The longer I watch this drama the more my attention is drawn from the main couple (they are still cute) to stare in utter fascination at the absolute train-wreck of a love triangle that's happening among the secondary characters.

[enzie-ki]

OOC|| UNCANNY COUNTER S2E7 THOUGHTS

(the last one was s2e6 sorry)

BUT LET'S GET INTO IT

HANA NOOO YOUR STOMACH

THIS IS SO BAD BECAUSE SEEING AN EVIL SPIRIT IN THE FACE OF SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS LIKE WAAA

WHY IS OILY MR MA SO STRONG

MUN YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THIS

SUMMON THE TERRITORY BRO

OILY MA IS STRANGER THINGS-ING U RN

GELLY YOU PRRRRRRRRRRRRICK

HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH THE SCENARIO

HOW IS OILY MA NOT KNOCKED OUT YET

WAIT R U DEAD

U BETTER NOT BE DEAD

BRO REMOVE THE SPIRIT ALREADY

IT LOOKS LIKE MR MA BUT HE'S FILLED WITH OIL

OK HE'S REMOVING IT GOOD

WHY IS OILY MA CRYING

IT'S FAKE MUN DONT BELIVE IT

oh damnit Mr Hwang is here

get your sexy bastard self OUT

HANA IS BLEEDING OUT BRO

GELLY IF YOU TOUCH MY BABY I WILL KILL YOU

MUN WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU WHY DID U BECOME WEAK

HER AND GELLY IS GIVING GWI NAM AND CHEONG SAN FROM AOUAD

MO TAK IS GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF U

MHM SO MUN MORE LIKE GO MUN

GET GELLY AWAY

wait did Mr Hwang betray Gelly?

OIL DEMON PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE

OH NO MS CHU AND HANA

MY BABY GIRLS

wigen what R u on about

OHHHHH SHI-

WHY R THESE GUYS SO POWERFUL SINCE WHEN COULD THEY DO THAT

JI CHEONG-SIN COULDN'T DO THAT WHY CAN OIL DEMON??

MY POOR HA-NA

MO-TAK BE NICE

mun I wanna hug you so bad you've gone thru so much

bro MR HWANGGGG

IS EVERYONE GOOD AT MANIPULATION OR IS IT A HOT PERSON THING????

Leave Mr ma alone!!! >>>:(((

WHY IS HIS FACE SO TRUSTWORTHY BUT UNTRUSTWORTHY

this weird looking president guy dresses exactly like takeru danma(Hatter) from alice in borderland

MHM YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED MR HWANG AND ALSO GELLY

Wait there's TENSIONNNNNN

HE DID ABANDON HER AAAA

GELLY'S

aaa Mo-Tak my beloved

bro detective captain chill the heck OUTTT

Mo-Tak just sitting there brooding

why is he so hot why did they have to do that

AAA han-ul my baby

Mr detective captain man, you are a detective, you gotta be ready to face👏 the👏facts👏

ohohohooooo motak putting this man in his place

BRO THE LIGHT REFLECTING OFF THE BALD HEAD BRO IT'S GIVING

HAHAAAAAA

ooh it's number 37 the guy ms chu saved 9 years ago

Gelly what are you wearing you look like an anime character, but you're also rocking it

WAIT SHE CAN MODIFY MEMORIES TOO?

AHHH IT'S WONG THE VAMPIRE BOY IS BACK

THAT WAS THE BEST WORST PICKUP LINE

GELLY STOP WITH YOUR FURRY BS

EXCUSE ME!????????

MY BOY NOOOOOO

Mr Hwang you sexy bastardious beast leave right now

YOU DESERVED THOSE NECK STABS MHM

I DISLIKE THE BOTH OF YOU BUT I KINDA GET YOU

AYO????

STOP HARASSING GELLY

ok good

STOP MANIPULATING

you think she believes you??? nahhhh

Ooh now you're in trouble Mr hwangg

Ah yes, displays of affection to throw someone off guard, it's giving wattpad bad boy but better

And Gelly you're giving hard to get that doesn't want to get got

HA-NA AAAA YOU'RE OKAY YESSS

wait where you is girlie

ok in the warehouse

awww ms chu my beloved

Mun I feel so bad for you

HE'S SO CHIVALROUS I LOVE HIM

MS CHU I LOVE YOU

AHH CHAIRMAN CHOI COMING IN CLUTCH WITH THE FFOOS

jeok Bong where you at

AHHH HE'S WITH MO-TAK GOOD

Jeok Bong don't be stupid

your face is so helpless puppy I love it

WAIT DONT TELL ME HE'S FALLING FOR IT

ok good they're back

Mo-Tak you didn't have to do him like that

MS Chu when are you gonna recognise the guy

So Mun you're doing the anime character speech

OHHH THESE YUNG PEOPLE YUNG THIS YUNG THAT I'M GOING TO YUNG FU PANDA KICK Y'ALL OUT OF YOUR IKEA-LOOKIN AHH ROOM

THEY BETTER NOT

Oh my gosh the WINKING

THAT AIN'T EVEN WINKING THAT'S TRINKING BRO

YOU'RE ALL SO BAD AT LYING ESPECIALLY YOU JEOK-BONG

Oh it's this guy that's in love with hana

R u gonna take her to the fair or something???

FAIR??? BRO THEY IS LOCKING YOU IN

HANA YOU A BOSS BABE

bro who r these stanky stinky yoinky sploinky lookin-ahh ppl

bro stop spitting liquid out of ur mouth did you forget how to swallow or something

Ohhhhh these evil scammers

not only are you kicking people out of their houses, you're kicking old ppl out!!!

OLD PEOPLE

EVIL

THE POOR OLD PEOPLE

MHM MMM GO COUNTERS

bro why are you asking him if e works out he aboutta show you he works out

NAHH THEY BEATING THEM WITH BADMINTON RACKETS

get the elderly ppl out I'm glad they're ok

MO-TAK WHY YOU KUNG-FU PANDA-ING THE RACKET

DAMN GOOD SHOT DA I MEAN MO-TAK WOOO GOOD SHOT

BRO'S JUST SPANKING THEM WITH THE BADMINTON RACKETS

(do that to me😏)

SORRY WHAT WAS I SAYING

MHM NEVER MIND

MUN'S REALLY HITTING THEM WITH THE WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOURSELF

BRO YOU'RE CRUSHING THEIR BALLS BRO THAT'S CRUEL CANT YOU FEEL THAT EVEN I CAN FEEL THAT AN I'M A GIRL

MUN IS THIS YOUR VILLAIN ARC OR WHAT

MS CHU GET HIM

FINALLY YOU RECOGNISE HIM

AT LASTTTT

BRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING BOY WHO'S SIMPING FOR HANA

CHOI'S SHIPPING THEM ALREADY

BUT I WANT MUN TO GET WITH HER BUT I GUESS THEY'RE MORE LIKE SIBLINGS

NOT THE FAMILY LINE YOU KNOW JEOK-BONG IS IN LOVE WITH HER

HE'S HEARTBROKEN LOOK

WHY R U ALL LAUGHING

nooo baby

jeok bong I know you're in love with her but why r u being dramatic

HIS NAME IS DO-HWI I KNOW THAT NOW

CHAIRMAN CHOI U R DRUNK GO SIT DOWN

DONT LEAVE HANA ALONE NOOO

EITHER GELLYS GONNA GET HER OR LOVE IS GONNA GET HER

IT WAS LOVE OK

hmm im beginning to ship them

Ooooo bubbles

AAA SHE SMILING

THIS IS SO WHOLESOMEEEEE

imma use that tactic for hiccups

ok I ship them now

GELLY YOU BASTARD LEAVE THEM BE

YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH DO-HWI

AAAA A SU-HO

WHY DID 37 HAVE TO TURN BAD

oop this mofo on the toilet

he really pushin

BRO ARE YOU OKAY LEAVE YOUR SECURITY ALONE

OK so 37 is jae-youl got it

Imma just call him 37 tho

You better remember ms chu

Awww ms chu you're so sweet

EXCUSE ME SHE MAY BE OLD-ISH BUT SHE SLAPS

SHE'S LIKE MY GRANDMA I LOVE HER

he reminds her of su-ho that's so sweet

ope it's back to oily ma again

rich people annoy me so much sometimes

YOU

I WILL RIP YOU APART WITH MY BARE HANDS HOW DARE YOU SPIT ON HER

I HOPE OILY MA GETS YOU

I HOPE YOUR PILLOW IS PERPETUALLY WARM ON BOTH SIDES

I HOPE YOUR TOAST FALLS SPREAD-SIDE DOWN

LEAVE MIN JI ALONE

HOW CAN YOU BE SO DISRESPECTFUL

I'M GONNA RIP YOUR EYE BROWS OFF

OHH IT'S REGULAR ME BCUS THIS IS A FLASHBACK

HER NAME IS MIN-JI GOOD

I FEEL SO BAD

OILY MA IS GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE YOU KNOW

NAHH HE VIBRATIN

just wanna say, kang ki young( the guy who plays Mr Hwang) you have very expressive eyes and it adds a whole lot to your character

BRO U GOOD? UR VIBRATING SO MUCH

MS CHU UR SO KIND

AHHH MO-TAK I LOVE YOU

TY FOR REMEMBERING

AYO DID YOU STALK THIS GUY OR SUM

oh wait you're a detective :/

they can do that imma remember that

excuse me you rude bastard

why u walk like that

LEAVE 37 ALONE

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

MS CHU COMING IN CLUTCH

MHM LEAVE 37 AND MY MS CHU ALONE

bro so much is happening at once damnnn

BRO GOT SNATCHED DAMN

ok Mr ma you popped his eye veins

That's misdirected aggression damn

your blood is slowly becoming oilier and oiler

OH NO DO-HWI

GELLY'S GONNA GETCHA BRO BE CAREFUL

Y'ALL I'M TEARING UP

THEY'RE SO SWEET

He's so lovely noooooo

I feel so BADDDDDD—

IT'S SO POETIC BUT WHY SO SAD

WAIT

I AM PREDICTING SOMETHING

GELLY'S GONNA GET DO-HWI AND HANA OR JEOK BONG IS GONNA HAVE TO SAVE HIM

NOOOO IT'S NO SAD

HOLY SHIZWIZZLE I WAS RIGHT

i'm ✨magjc✨

i'm ✨spec-tac-u-larrrr✨

mhm

yuh go me

but also NOOO DO-HWI IG YOU DIE I WILL CRY

GELLY BERHERD YOU FURRY PRICK

BRO YOU FLYING WTH

TELL ME SOMETHING RIGHT

CHAIRMAN CHOI BOUGHT YOU WEAPONS PLS USE THEM

I'll say it once and I'll say it again, it's giving Gwi-nam coming for cheongs-san's eye in aouad

Hana just because you can sense her movements doesn't mean you should e OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE THEM

DO-HWI

AHFFSOFIDGJDGJZFKDGJXKFFHKXMDK

THAT WOMAN THREW YOU LIKE 15 FEET

I KNOW YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HANA BUT LIKE

ACTUALLY NO HE HAD GOOD INTENTIONS

JUST NOW YOU WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY DIE

AND I WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY CRY

YUP THERE IT IS

wait a second holup

those spikes aren't nearly enough to kill someone

what furry wizardry bullcrap have you got going on here gelly berherd

OK GELLY YOU HAVE A POINT HANA SHOULDN'T HAVE CLOSED HER EYES

OK DO HWI IS ALIVE

AY YO???????????

OF COURSE SHE GETS TELEKINESIS AT THE MOST VITAL MOMENT

WAIT BUT THIS MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO WIPE DO-HWI'S MEMORY NOOOO

WAIT HE'S DYING NO

GET MS CHU OVER HERE RIGHT NOW

GELLY SHE'S GONNA KILL YOU DEAD

DONT YOU SMILE SHE'S GONNA RIP OUT UR OTHER EYE

THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD EPISODE WHAT THE FRICK

SO MUCH HAPPENED AND IT WAS ALL SO WELL WRITTEN AND ACTED

WAIT THERE'S A BIT AFTER ALL THE SPLIT SCREEN STUFF?

EXCUUUUUSE ME WHAT THE FRICK

NAH

WELL THAT'S IT FOR NOW FOLKS IMMA GO WATCH EPISODE 8

OOC || UNCANNY COUNTER S2E4 THOUGHTS

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

glad we've got another furry lady (Gelly) to replace hyang-hui

If she hurts my baby I will break her acrylics

and also her spine

Pil Kwang and Mun are really just stranger things-ing it right now and I'm all here for it

It's giving eleven vs one but better because I like this show

Ah yes the power of a promise made you stronger good

how dare that man try and shoot chairman Choi if I snatch your weave this second

Gelly please stop with the scratching

So many problems would be stopped if people used their teeth as weapons

Getting choked? Bite. Getting held down? Bite. Jeok Bong I know you're new but please just bite her

MS SO IS BACK WOOHOO AND WONG IS GONE BOY GETCHA VAMPIRE LOOKIN-AHH OUT OF HERE

(he was kinda cool though)

oh damnit I forgot about the other Chinese counters

WAHOO MS CHU AND MS SO APPRECIATION

Chairman Choi you better thank Mun for saving you from that bullet

mo tak coming in with the tango disc pop off king

MS CHU WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU

CHAIRMAN CHOI IS SIMPING REAL HARD RN

DAMN ARE THEY GOOD AT DANCE

oh no jeok-Bong are you good

my poor baby noo

GELLY YOU DESERVED THAT I DIDN'T EVEN REALISE YOUR EYE WAS GONE BUT HELL IF YOU DESERVED IT

Pil Kwang why are you naked Pil Kwang why are you naked I don't care you just got out of the bath WHY ARE YOU NAKED PIL KWANG WHY ARE YOU

excuse me what is this wet monkey looking thing

you look like you smell of bin juice and petrol

STOP CORRUPTING MY MR. MA

STOP BREATHING IN HIS FACE TOO YOU'LL GIVE HIM BLACK LUNG

oh I really hope he doesn't get possessed but I have a very bad feeling he will

JEOK BONG WHERE ARE YOU

YOU BETTER NOT LEAVE ME NOOOO

GELLY YOU FURRY BASTARD YOU SCARED HIM

NOW HE FEELS WORTHLESS ASDAGFJGKGASHKHF

HE BETTER COME BACK

I swear if its because his pores are clogged that his power stopped working or because he got punched I will cry

Jeok-Bong's dad stop comparing your son, that happened to me and it was BAD

My poor baby UnU

SEONG-SIK YOU BASTARD

HOW DARE YOU PUT MY BABY IN DANGER

LEAVE HIM ALONE

LEAVE THE DAD ALONE TOO

ayo why does this man have so much blood in his nose

AHH HIS POWER CAME BACK

HE JUST HAD TO GET GUT IN THE NOSE AGAIN

HELL YEAH GET WRECKED YOU STINKY BASTARD

GET HIM BABY WAHOO

PUT COW DUNG ON THAT MAN

MMMMM Y'ALL IN YUNG BETTER BE CHEERING

WELL DONE JEOK-BONG

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

TO ETERNAL OIL HELL WITH YOU EVIL SPIRIT

AWWW JONG-GUK ISNT MAD GOOD

WAIT HE'S 21?

I SMELL MORE BS IN THAT STATEMENT THAN JEOK-BONG DOES AT WORK GOSH DAMN

THE BIG BROTHER STATEMENT

Aww him and his dad are bonding again finally

This is so wholesome I'm going to cry

MHM UR MAKING YOUR DAD PROUD JEOK-BONG

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

No because tell me why Mun has such a good fashion sense

And Mo-Tak too

And Ha Na

All of them actually

Gelly I regret to tell you but that steak is raw

I hope you get food poisoning

STOP MAKING CONNECTIONS DAMNIT

LEAVE MR MA ALONE

NOO IT'S THE EVIL OIL DEMON THING

LEAVE HIM ALONE

YOU AND YOUR MONKEY SOUNDING VOICE BETTER SINK BACK INTO THE OIL OCEAN

Mo-Tak please relax you're like three 9 year-olds in a trench coat

KWANG AND GELLY

YOU BASTARDS

EVIL OIL DEMON STUPID

LEAVE MY MR. MA OUT OF THIS

HOW DARE THE EPISODE END THERE

[illuminatedquill]

Extracurricular, An Analysis

Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as it’s accomplice.”  - Tom Robbins 

You know the story. You’ve heard it before, right? 

Boy meets girl. 

Girl finds out that boy is running a side protection business for prostitutes. 

Girl decides to blackmail boy into letting her join his business. 

Classic high school criminal shenanigans ensue leading them into more dangerous situations where they are forced to make desperate decisions to stay alive. 

Oh, and they fall in love along the way. 

Oh? You haven’t heard this one before? Then let me introduce you to this delightful kdrama called Extracurricular. 

I watched this one while waiting for the newest Hometown Cha Cha Cha episodes to drop and ended up binging the whole series in two days. There are many remarkable parts of this series: it’s a crime drama, first and foremost, that showcases high school teenagers caught in a cycle of violence and crime, abandoned by the society and adults that are supposed to be protecting them. There are no clear good guys and bad guys in this drama; everyone is cast in shades of grey. Our main leads, Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri, run the prostitution business, and are both from broken family backgrounds. Their actions are morally questionable at best, but the top tier performances from Kim Dong Hee (you might remember him from Itaewon Class) and Park Ju Hyun make you cheer for them anyway. You want them to have a happy ending, despite the horrible things they do. The audience is always reminded that despite how clever they are in staying ahead, their actions have consequences, and they’re just high school kids. The drama never pulls it punches. 

But, weirdly enough, it’s also a love story. And that’s the part the really sticks with me until now. (The chemistry between the main leads is absolute dynamite and I could watch ten episodes of them just verbally sparring with each other. They don’t even kiss. They’re that fantastic when together on screen.)

I’m writing this because this is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite kdramas and I have a lot of feelings about our main pairing, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri. I can’t call them a couple (wait, didn’t I just say they fall in love) because their relationship can’t be labelled simply as that. Think of it as something similar to the main leads in My Ahjussi. Two people who should have become soulmates, yet met at the wrong time. 

This kdrama is not particularly happy, and while I do encourage people to watch this, I am warning that the subject matter is extremely dark. If you’re sensitive to scenes depicting sexual assault, graphic violence, or anything in that zip code you’ll want to steer clear. 

Also, I’ll be diving into spoiler territory in this analysis. So if you want to go in clean, then stop reading here. 

Still here? Awesome. Let’s dive deep into the messy, amazing pairing that is Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri. First, let’s do a brief character background on our two main leads, starting with Ji-soo. 

Oh Ji-soo is one half of our main pairing and this story starts with him. He lives by himself and has been essentially abandoned by his only parents; his father is a failed businessman who gambles whatever money he acquires on scams and his mother ran away. His apartment is small, sparse, but functional. He owns only a few outfits aside from his school uniform. The only unique item he owns is a pet hermit crab that he takes care of. His life outside of school is non-existent; he has no friends, no one to hang out with and do typical high school teenager activities with. He takes care of himself and lives only for himself and his “dream”: to graduate, attend college, get married, and have kids like a normal person. 

But to do that, he needs a large amount of money. He has no other financial means to do so (his father is largely absent, as is his mother), so he decides, at some point, to start up this protection business for prostitutes. The drama doesn’t go into detail about the how and why he came to this conclusion that this was the best way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief from the get go. Considering the themes of the story (how youths abandoned by society tend to act out in extreme ways to make it in this world), it’s not hard to believe his desperation would drive him to make such a decision. 

Ji-soo, despite his shady business, is actually a decent person. There’s a streak of humanity that exists inside him that refuses to go out, despite the increasingly dark and bleak events that start to overtake his life. He’s attached to his hermit crab, cares for his “employees” outside of them being tools to make him money, and doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He goes above and beyond what’s required to help out people at the risk of his own life (in particular, Gyu-ri, and we’ll get into that shortly). 

What we learn from the first few episodes is that Oh Ji-soo is extremely smart and methodical in how he approaches his life. At school, he is known as a model student - quiet, top of the class in terms of grades, doesn’t draw any attention to himself, always follows along with what the teachers ask of him. Only his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho, seems to consider his quiet style of existence to be concerning and tries to make him less socially awkward by pairing him up with another student in a new extracurricular club. This leads to the introduction of Bae Gyu-ri, Ji-soo’s longtime crush and future partner-in-crime. 

Meet Bae Gyu-ri, the other half of our dynamic duo. Her introduction into the story kickstarts the entire plot, as one of her earliest actions leads to a domino effect that spells increasing doom and tragedy for our main leads. She messes with Ji-soo’s operation at a critical moment and she spends the rest of the drama doing her best to make up for the consequences that follow. 

In my personal opinion, she is probably the best main female lead I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. Hands down, no other character exists (currently) that rivals her sheer cunning, wit, and badassery. Gyu-ri is Crazy, capital C, and is the chaos to Ji-soo’s control; the fire to his ice. Despite being the direct cause of half the events that happen to Ji-soo in the drama, he can’t help but need her because of what she offers. They make an incredible team. Her competitiveness, her need to win no matter the odds, helps them survive time and time again. 

Gyu-ri is from the opposite end of the spectrum of Ji-soo; he’s dirt poor and she’s insanely rich (always nice to see a reversal of typical kdrama tropes). Her mother and father run a successful entertainment company. Gyu-ri is popular at school, friends with seemingly everybody, pretty, cheerful and gets along well with her teachers. Ji-soo, and the audience, believe from the beginning that she has the perfect life. It’s not hard to believe that she’s just involving herself in Ji-soo’s business because she’s bored and needs an outlet, at first. 

We soon learn otherwise. Gyu-ri has more in common with Ji-soo than he initially realizes, in that they’re both trapped in circumstances beyond their control - it’s just that Gyu-ri’s cage is gilded, whereas his is not. Her parents are strict and have her life planned out for her, all without her consent or input, leaving her feeling frustrated and powerless despite her rich lifestyle. A suicide attempt hasn’t done much to change her parents attitude towards her, only serving to further their control over her life. 

So, when she learns of Ji-soo’s operation she immediately seeks to angle her way into it. First, she tries to rip him off, believing that he’s an evil “pimp” and thus deserves it. But after spending some time with him, she changes her mind last second and decides to help him out instead. 

And, now, let’s get into their relationship, which is one of the best (if not the best) aspect in the entire series. 

I need to be upfront about something: the relationship between Ji-soo and Gyu-ri is not exactly healthy. I wouldn’t describe it as toxic - the circumstances surrounding them aren’t exactly the best environment to encourage open and honest communication - but it’s definitely not what should be considered ideal, especially for young adults, and especially for young adults who are dabbling in crime instead of studying. 

So, why do I love them so much? If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I loathe toxic relationships in kdramas, so I understand if you think I’m coming off as hypocritical here. Why do I like Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri when I didn’t like, for example from recent history, (oh boy, here I go again on my Nevertheless BS) Park Jae-eon and Yu Na-bi?

First, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are way cooler than Jae-eon and Na-bi ever could be. They run a criminal enterprise that involves having a high amount of intelligence, cunning, and daring to do so. Do Jae-eon and Na-bi run a criminal enterprise as a side business? No, they don’t, because they’re boring art students. 

Secondly, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri actually progress in their relationship and change their views as they learn from each other. Now, granted, that progress isn’t towards becoming better versions of each other - quite the opposite. But at least they have progress. Jae-eon and Na-bi stayed in the same stupid cycle for the whole series and then decided that it was better staying that way as opposed to trying for something else. 

Last, but certainly not least, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are actually interesting to watch for me. The chemistry between Park Ju Hyun and Kim Dong Hee is explosive and they way they spar, exchange looks, and just generally exist around each other on screen is something I can watch forever. I’ve said this before but Han So Hee and Song Kang’s on screen chemistry, outside of their intimate scenes, really didn’t impress me. 

Okay, back to Extracurricular. This relationship, man. It’s all I can think about (other than HomeCha’s Du-sik and Hye-jin, but that’s another post). Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are so good together. 

I’ve noted before that Ji-soo is methodical in how he approaches his life; he plans out everything ahead, and rigs any situation as much as he can in his favor. It’s brilliant, but when a crisis happens, he doesn’t know how to deal with it effectively. He panics and flounders; becomes indecisive at a time when clear, decisive action is required. 

Enter Gyu-ri. She quickly becomes the partner he never knew he needed. When there’s a situation, she becomes invaluable in her quick thinking and wit, coming up with solutions on the fly. It’s not perfect, but it keeps them just one small step ahead of whatever is coming their way. 

The only thing preventing them from becoming unstoppable is the lack of communication and trust they have with each other. A lot of that has to do with how Gyu-ri entered Ji-soo’s business - she blackmailed him first, and, when that failed, she strong armed her way into getting him to accept her help. It’s implied in the drama that Ji-soo has had a crush on Gyu-ri for a while (since ninth grade, I believe) and in the first episode he actually gets the chance to spend time with her outside of school on a sort of quasi-date. 

It goes sideways pretty quickly because of some shenanigans from his business, but not before she gets to know him and says some pretty touching words regarding his situation. Poor guy is head over heels - even after finding out that she’s the one blackmailing him, his feelings are only dampened, not extinguished. When he catches a glimpse of her family’s situation, he gains a deeper understanding of her and why she acts the way she does. Even more importantly, Ji-soo treats her the same after finding out this information which, to someone like Gyu-ri, means more than if he comforted her about it. 

If you want to see a physical representation of how he feels, other than paying attention to his actions, you can see it in him keeping mementos from Gyu-ri. She has an interesting habit of folding bags into origami shapes and giving it to him. Even after the blackmail reveal, you can see that he continues to keep these in a container on his desk. It’s really cute that he keeps these, when it probably doesn’t even matter that much to Gyu-ri. 

Towards the end of the drama, Ji-soo prepares to turn himself in to prevent Gyu-ri from being implicated in the crimes they committed. And it costs him almost everything to protect her. Ji-soo, the quiet, nerdy kid, puts himself on the line time and time again to protect Gyu-ri, knowing that it puts his life and his dream at risk to do so. And all for what? For some girl that he thinks doesn’t even like him in return? 

Well, let’s talk about that. Because I’ve seen some comments that Gyu-ri was only using Ji-soo for her own selfish gain. And I can agree that was how it was at the beginning for her; she definitely was only interested in acquiring money, like Ji-soo was, in order to achieve her own goal of being free from her parents. 

But, oh man, that is not what is motivating her at the end. 

It’s actually pointed out relatively early by some of her friends that it’s obvious that she likes Ji-soo more than he likes her. Understandably Ji-soo is keeping her at arms length from him given the whole recent blackmailing, so it would make sense that it looks that way. 

Further questioning reveals what she likes the most about him: 

“It’s not like I’m crazy about him. He’s fun. And amusing. He’s smart. And there’s a certain charm he has. He also has a wolfish side to him. But he thinks he’s a puppy.” 

- Bae Gyu-ri

But, as she gets to know Ji-soo better, you can certainly see that she starts to fall hard for him. As a cover story for why they hang out so much together during and after school, Gyu-ri states to everyone that they’re dating. The reactions across the school definitely imply that this is a shocking development, which means that Gyu-ri hasn’t dated anyone before. So why Ji-soo other than the reasons she herself states? 

He challenges her, just as she challenges him. Gyu-ri may be the more dynamic, quick thinking of the pair but Ji-soo is every inch her intellectual equal - just in different ways. She doesn’t seem to be the type to be easily impressed, but you can tell that she’s definitely impressed by Ji-soo’s operation and how thoroughly set up it is. When Ji-soo is frustrated at the beginning by his setbacks, he blows up at another student (knocks him out in a crazy punch) and immediately walks over to Gyu-ri afterwards (who saw the whole thing) to inform her that she is now his partner in crime. 

The look in her eyes, and the small smirk she has speaks volumes about her attraction to him in that scene. Smoldering. 

And, oh yes, she’s prone to jealousy. Another classmate, Min-hee, gives Ji-soo a present out of the blue (it was supposed to be for her boyfriend, Ki-tae, but that’s another sub-plot) - all within view of Gyu-ri. It’s hilarious how she tries to brush it off. Later, for plot reasons, Ji-soo has to spend more time with Min-hee which only furthers Gyu-ri’s annoyance. 

And her motivations stop being entirely about the money and more towards helping preserve the dream that she and Ji-soo share about being free. There’s a scene in episode 8 where it’s revealed that, due to a business partnership with a local gang (set up by none other than Gyu-ri herself in a desperate move), Ji-soo would have to drop out of school permanently to work on their behalf. Gyu-ri overhears this and, despite badly needing the gang’s help in sustaining their own business, immediately terminates the partnership. 

All because it would interfere with Ji-soo’s dream. 

Man, if that isn’t love. 

In the following episode, Gyu-ri, and later on Ji-soo, is kidnapped by the same gang in retaliation for terminating their partnership. Ji-soo comes to her rescue but Gyu-ri is already almost free (again, she’s really, really badass) and is demanding that they bring Ji-soo to her instead of running for her life. 

Surviving this latest attempt puts the two in a reflective, vulnerable mood and Gyu-ri asks Ji-soo why he keeps saving her. Ji-soo asks later on why she keeps risking her life to be with him. They don’t say the answer in words but in an almost kiss (yeah, you read that right - almost). 

And then, if you aren’t already convinced, Ji-soo crosses his one last remaining line in an effort to keep Gyu-ri safe; he accidentally pushes a fellow classmate down some steps and, instead of helping her, leaves her to die after grabbing the evidence she has on him and Gyu-ri. 

Extracurricular pulls off quite the magic trick here, hiding this well done love story in the middle of a serious crime drama. 

The real tragedy is that Ji-soo thinks that Gyu-ri views this whole business, and by extension his life, as one big game. It’s something that she takes offense at, visibly becoming upset when he says that. 

But even if that were true, he should be assured since Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. 

As they hurtle towards the end and face up to the consequences of their actions, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri undoubtedly lose sight of their original goals and dreams. They do some fairly horrible things to stay alive and ahead of the police who are close on their trail. You can’t really blame them for doing what they did; in the face of a society that has abandoned them, what they’re doing is a logical outcome to gain what they want so desperately and deserve so much: the chance to be free to live like normal, care-free people. 

I can’t say for certain that they achieve that. The drama is serious in consequences and, at the end, the net around them is drawing tighter and tighter. I won’t spoil the ending scene for you, because I highly encourage you watch this drama yourself but I will say this: Ji-soo and Gyu-ri seem stuck in an impossible situation with nowhere to go, and no one to help them, with a clock ticking down towards either death or discovery by the police. 

But, all the same, I’m always the optimist. They’ve gotten through situations like this before and they can certainly do so again. Maybe not as bad as this one, but not too far out of their league. And, like I mentioned before, Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to Ji-soo. 

Their relationship is truly dangerous, as Ji-soo himself notes. Them being together is the source of their problems; they’re too much alike now, as opposed to the beginning of the drama where he stated that they’re too different. Their love is the kind of love where both of them are willing to burn the whole world down if it means keeping each other safe. 

I’m a real sucker for those kind of love stories. No one’s a hero here. They’re just kids in high school, doing the best with what they know. 

Who are we to judge what is right and wrong? Especially when the one committing the acts are high school kids who don’t know any better and just want to save each other? 

Do we have that right? 

Do they really deserve that punishment? Shouldn’t we be pointing fingers at the society that forced them to act this way? 

Extracurricular really makes you think about that. Is it really so outlandish and terrible what Ji-soo and Gyu-ri do to survive when the adults who are supposed to be protecting them, teaching them better, have failed in their duty? 

Maybe they really did win at the end. Not so much in succeeding in their goals but in gaining something that not even regular people are likely to find - a partner, a soulmate, someone who will stand by you no matter what. 

If you do watch the ending, and are not an optimist like I am, then all I can say is this: whatever happened, they were together at the end. 

They were together.