True Beauty- Prince Charming, The Knight and the Ugly Duckling
Okay, let’s get into it. First, I think the discourse has begun even more fiercely with the love triangle. I can see so many people complaining and crying about the treatment of Seo Jun in the show. Now I just want to say first of all that I haven’t read the webtoon, it must be very upsetting to see a favourite of yours be so different and changed in an adaptation and all his good moments are given to the other guy just to make him a better lead. I get that frustration, but what can I do but analyse what the show is showing. Right now, the discourse about how toxic and creepy Suho is isn’t making sense to me. I do think he is getting more hate than needed; it’s fine if you’re upset and hurt by how they have twisted the characters but don’t come in and put all the blame on one character who isn’t doing anything horrifying as everyone keeps on making it out to be. Nevertheless, I’m here to analyse the love triangle in these two episodes. I’m here to discuss more about the psychological basis of the characters, their masks, and how they show love and deal with these emotions. So without further or do let’s get into this analysis, shall we?
Feelings and Emotions
First of all, episode 7 and 8 was very focused on the love square building. It makes sense because all our characters are going through feelings and emotions for people who show up and be some kind of happiness and safe space to them. This is not just Ju Kyung, Suho, Seojun but also we have an addition to Soo Jin who questions her feelings and emotions as well. In my opinion, this love square can go either way; both couples in the square all have different ways they impact or change each other. Both Seojun and Suho are great matches for Ju Kyung especially, but we also have to look at it more in-depth. Why is it that at the end of these two episodes, it was always going to be Ju Kyung and Suho who ended up together, for now, no matter what? It doesn’t mean SeoJun is out of the game, in fact, I think he’s more closer to having a chance with her in terms of storytelling, and how it bodes for Soojin is quite foreshadowing to be negative and worrying. So let’s look deeper into the love square situation and break down what is going on so far. Who are the end game couples, who’s meant to be, and who’s provided more evidence they should stay together. Answer no one.
Let’s get to it. First of all, as much as some people want to avoid the truth about this. Suho is Kyung’s, Prince Charming. She even has a fantasy about him being exactly just this to her. I mean it makes sense; everything he’s done and been to her so far has been exactly what a typical fairy tale prince charming does to a girl. Let’s look at all he did in episode 7 and 8 first.
Protection and Care
We start off with episode 7, seeing just how protective Suho gets. Now don’t get me wrong, it could be seen as possessive and invasive but as someone who has watched Kyung and her past instances with men, Suho is actually a great person to her. Not only does he protect her at the karaoke place along with Seojun and others, not only is her safety his number one priority (as he always shows in the show) but he also ensures that her self-esteem, her emotions, and her respect are taken into consideration. He goes so far to lose sleep (he doesn’t have to do this it’s just what he does for her) just to make sure that she is apologised to by the bullies who frightened her. He knows she’s probably still shaken up about it, probably still thinking and fearful about them showing up again and that she has had an extensive experience and trauma with bullies before. So for her to see the bully show up and offer her a peace of mind that he’s not coming for her again is so great to see. Now Seojun doesn’t have to do this, but when the bullying happened because of her connection to him, he kind of pushed it off and moved forward like it didn’t matter. But to Kyung, it probably still mattered because it was a moment she was scared about and Suho couldn’t sleep right if she didn’t feel safe. That’s goals, in my opinion of what a boyfriend is. It’s sweet that even in the car he saw that she was shaken up after the events, he showed her warmth and care just by holding onto her hands, he may be cold sometimes and tsundere but that’s only because he’s been forced to become that way because of his family life and environment. Which brings me to…
Power and Reputation
Like a Prince, Suho has a lot of power and reputation. It’s how he protects Kyung he uses his powers, his talents, his abilities to ensure the bully apologises and shows her respect. He wants to make sure she knows she deserves to be treated right because she hasn’t let herself feel like she’s worthy of respect for most of her life. After all, people made her feel like her looks made her lower than that. I’ve mentioned in my previous analysis that Suho’s reputation and power is both a gift and a curse. It’s the mask he had to use to push people away when he thought he caused people to get hurt by being near him.
Again the teachers treat him differently because of the power he holds, due to his family background, this might be seen as a positive but it’s actually a burden to him; there’s a lot he had to go through because of this reputation, there’s a lot of pressure for him to be this great person for people; like Seoyeon for example who Seojun blames him for not using his power and reputation to save his life, not just that he’s also had his privacy invaded, we see in episode 8 when he and Kyung have the boat ride that he’s been also traumatised by paparazzi when he was younger. He’s always been seen just for his name and status and not who he really is. But what’s great about prince charming here is that he uses this power and reputation each time to save Ju Kyung and show her the same devotion and respect that other people show him.
The Disguise
Now the issue with episode 7 when it comes to both Suho and SeoJun is that they do this in disguise. They care for her all the time in secret, and as much as both their actions are sweet and caring and important as boyfriend material, it’s quite annoying that they don’t come to her and show her that they care.
Episode 7 is full of hesitation from Seojun who’s coming to terms and realisation with his feelings, and episode 7 is full of misunderstandings with Suho. Suho is still slowly breaking down his walls, and his coldness has been a way to protect himself from people. So it makes sense that as much as he wants to show her, he cares he struggles with knowing how to do so. Both Seojun and Suho don’t have relationship experience on how to treat the girl they like. And you see in episode 7 and 8 that Suho struggles to know how to ask her out and by the time he wants to show up and tell her, he cares he gets misunderstood and is pushed back yet again. What I like about both Seojun and Suho is that immediately they know how they feel for Kyung they try to tell her and show her. That’s why I think as much as Suho is the one who was more likely to be with her at this moment, Seojun isn’t far behind in taking her heart if something goes wrong.
What matters is although he first tried to be Tsundere with her, Suho changed and started to try and find her and show her he cared. He wanted to ask her out, to make her know he liked her, he stopped being cold to her after episode 7 and 8. So people crying about how cold he was to her makes no sense to me. He was cold before because that’s who he is, and how he’s grown up to be, but once he recognised he wanted her, he didn’t do anything toxic or mean to her anymore. Instead, he stood by her side, waiting for an opportunity to show her he cared. He went lengths to protect, and show her warmth, and show her support each time she cried and needed him to. Seo Jun does that too, which brings me to analysing these two scenes where SeoJun and Suho both are Prince Charming and the Knight in shining armour for Ju Kyung. As I keep repeating, both are reasonable boyfriend goals.
Comfort and Support
One of my favourite moments this two episodes is both the crying scenes of Jukyung with the respective guy. Suho sees Kyung crying over her mum, throwing away her makeup and he also sees her beating her self up over her grades. What he does again makes me like him even more as her boyfriend, he knows she worked hard, so he makes her know that, he doesn’t want her to lose her self esteem again because of what people say to her. Suho is always protecting Kyung’s self-esteem; he wants her to value her self as important and useful. She scolds her self because of being dumb and ugly or whatnot and how people perceive her, and he’s always on her side, making sure she knows that he doesn’t see her like that. He commends her effort, and he likes her for who she is. That’s why she falls for him.
Not only is he the one who takes care of her in her most vulnerable moments when she feels broken and worthless being ugly but he’s also there to show her support when she feels dumb and stupid. He makes her know that she’s not that, and he knows she’s okay being her self. It’s sweet. This is different with Seo Jun who probably makes her feel comfortable with who she is because they can bicker and be themselves with each other, but he also insults her and joins in the mocking (not meanly) of her grades and her looks. Suho always in her mind shows her unconditional support and care. He gets her ramen, and he even offers to buy her new makeup to make her stop crying. And she doesn’t think she deserves him to do so because she can’t fathom that he could like her. However, she still has hopes that he could because of all his actions and how much she wants him to despite situations.
Now with Seojun, he has his own moment to show her that care. She cries to him about being upset because Suho doesn’t like her. He probably was going to confess to her when he met up with her, but he patiently takes care of her and wipes her tears and let’s her go selflessly. It was also sweet. But it doesn’t hold the same weight to Kyung the way Suho’s actions does to her. Right now, Seojun is on the losing side because he doesn’t know who she really is without her mask. Suho does, and he’s had opportunities to show her he likes, respects and wants her without it. This is why he was always going to be the one who she gave her heart to.
Friendship and Comfort
But the basis of the love triangle is friendship. Kyung and Suho not only have this need to protect and care and be there for each other, but he also knows what she likes, reads and is obsessed with even when she tries to hide it from others. She doesn’t want people to know she reads the comics she does, listens to the music she does, because it doesn’t match her mask of beauty and gentleness, but Suho knows all that about her because they both like the same stuff. So it’s not just forced romantic feelings out of the blue that these two have had moments for, but they’ve been building a friendship with each other from the start, the moment he saw her and helped her when she almost jumped off the ledge in her most broken state. He’s always been the person who’s seen her for who she is, and the most comfortable person to speak to and be with. Now with Seojun, there’s also friendship and comfort, like siblings he’s also the kind of person that brings out her louder self, and she feels normal with him and comfortable because she doesn’t care how he views her. So again, he still has a chance to win her heart because he also is a friend she cherishes and notices.
Soojin and Suho
And it’s weird and sad because everything Suho does for Kyung that I’ve mentioned he also does that for Soojin. He offers her the same friendship and support and comfort and warmth. He’s also seen her and known her in her most broken times without her mask. It’s sad to know that he probably is one of the happiest places for her to be, amidst all the trauma and abuse she receives in her life, he’s probably someone she wants to latch to, to stay happy but she can’t have him now because of JuKyung. This is why I feel we’re foreboding a bit of a villain back story with her; I hope not because I don’t want girl hate, but it does make sense if she does end up feeling she has to do something to ensure Suho doesn’t leave her side. Because he’s one of the most important sources of comfort to her, he makes her feel good. It’s just sad that he didn’t see her as that way.
Before I continue with the analysis, I want to bring up a mirror character for the couples in the show; JuKyung’s mum and her dad.
The problem with Kyung’s mum
JuKyung’s mum is a very frustrating character, and like all the adults in the show, she’s lacking and also a negative person. She is callous and mean to people, especially her daughter, who she refuses to open her mind to listen to. She’s not a monster, and she does love her daughter as shown when she is talking to her husband about wanting what’s best for her and not seeing her as ugly, but her surface interactions with Kyung is a different story. It’s ironic because her mum should be her most significant support and person to make her feel worthy since she went through the same thing her daughter went through. She’s seen like Kyung as ugly, and people tell her this all the time. She managed to get a handsome husband which is something she holds on to but is insecure about. She keeps trying to control her husband by belittling all he does so that he doesn’t feel above her or get distracted by other women.
It’s why she’s so adamant about kicking him out of her shop when he’s selling candles because she noticed how women interact with him. I think the thing with her is that she used her grades to enter university, and that’s where she met her husband and found her job, which she is known as the best. She wants Kyung to focus on her studies, not on how people perceive her because she thinks it’s the way to secure a better life and way to be seen as worthy by others. Because she also struggled and didn’t have belief in her self either. This is why she probably has built up this anger and need to criticise and put people down because they did that to her as they do to Kyung. It’s her own mask and her own cover of trying to seem strong and worthy. Why I’m seeing mirroring with them, and Kyung and Suho are because her husband dotes on her as shown in episode 8, he’s just as protective and loving to her, but also he was a singer (we all know Suho is Leo). The same unconditional, supportive and caring love that her dad shows her mum is the same Suho shows Kyung. I think that’s why we saw their interaction in episode 8.
Another couple that brings up the same themes in reverse is Hee Kyung and the teacher. Hee Kyung has decided the teacher is who she wants, she appreciates him and shows him that she sees him as hardworking and necessary despite him feeling worthless because he’s in debt. He tries to push her away because of his lack of self-esteem (something I think Kyung will end up doing to Suho, she’ll try to hide their relationship because she doesn’t feel worthy being his girlfriend etc.) but Hee Kyung proceeds to keep on showing him (same steps that Suho was told to do to show Kyung how he feels) that she’s there for him and loves him for who he is.
Prince Charming and The Ugly Duckling
That’s why episode 8 is focused on the ugly duckling. People probably brushed it off, but clues were pointing to it. Kyung calls her self the ugly duckling, and there’s an ugly vengeful ghost who wasn’t loved because of her looks by her husband that is out to find a new face to cover up her ugliness. It’s not the fairytale of the ugly duckling that matters, but just the mental anguish in the tale the ugly duckling suffered from because of being seen as different and ugly. It’s the same fears and pain that Kyung goes through this episode. She regresses from believing that Suho could possibly view her as a love interest because of Soo Jin being in his life. Soo-Jin is the pretty one, is the worthy one because she’s just as smart, rich and good looking as Suho. She ends up going through the same anguish that both the ghost, ugly duckling go through feeling disappointed, hurt, frustrated with the people around them because of how they view themselves. Both the ghost who ends her life because she’s felt rejected and brutally treated because of how she was born, and the ugly duckling who gets rejected, hurt, bullied and pushed away almost to his own mental death are symbols of how Kyung views her self, and what she was the most frustrated about when she cried to Suho.
It broke her to realise that she couldn’t be with someone like him because she was less than Soo Jin even though he and her had something. It probably was all she thought was the reason she couldn’t chase after and let him know how she felt. Plus the idea of losing this new friendship blooming with Soojin and Suho, when she didn’t used to have people like them in her life before. Kyung broke down because of the realisation about how unfair she felt life was to her because of how she was born. She was going lengths to cover up who she was the whole trip, and Suho had been there protecting her and caring for her and seeing her for who she is but at the end of the day he was always going to be more in love with Soo Jin because she was the better person.
Which is why again Suho without knowing or meaning to shows up to show Kyung he cares for her, for who she is, and he sees her the opposite of how she’s been made to feel about her self. He buys her the swan necklace. And something touched my heart when I saw it. Like it’s just like him to do that when focusing on Kyung feeling and telling her self she’s the ugly duckling worthless, and below others, actually, Suho sees her as the swan, he knows who she really is, he likes he for who she really is, and he’s there to remind her that the ugly duckling wasn’t ugly at all but was a different species and was beautiful once he matured. He was always meant to be a swan.
And Suho buying that necklace symbolises his thoughts towards Kyung, what he does for her is just remind her that even without makeup she’s still worthy and she’s above the rest to him. It’s the same things he’s done the whole episode 7-8; he fights to show her she’s meant to be respected, meant to be loved (when her mum doesn’t show her that), meant to be valued and meant to be seen for who she is. That’s why he was always going to be the one to end up with her by the end of this episode.
Boyfriend Material
Like I said Seojun’s bracelet is sweet because it’s all he can give and so it’s also good because he’s just again being himself and being authentic towards her. For him and Kyung, it’s always authenticity, comfort and warmth. But when it comes to Suho it’s more than that, he sees her. He makes her love her self, not because he likes her don’t get me wrong she doesn’t need a guy to make her love her self, but he’s the person who shows up as a reminder, the person behind the scenes who’s always making her realise that she’s just okay being her self. That’s why she calls him a fairytale. In the end it’s nice to have a prince who’s rich (the necklace was expensive), powerful, and protective but Suho is more than just that to Kyung, he’s her strength, her support and the one person who makes her feel good about being her self. That’s enough for her.
So as much as Seojun is a great boyfriend material he doesn’t have the same impact on JuKyung right now. He doesn’t know the real her, even though he is great and caring and warm with her. He is just as sweet and protecting as Suho, but he’s just a little bit too late. From the first time, Suho and Kyung met on that rooftop they meant more to each other. It’s not just Suho who is Kyung’s safe space, warmth, support etc., Kyung does the same thing for him it’s vice versa, she makes him break down his walls, be vulnerable, also feel worthy (because remember he hated himself because of Seoyeon’s loss). She also makes him feel seen and reminds him; he’s also okay as his true self. They both do this for each other. That’s why this hate towards Suho for his possessive, creepy, obsessive nature (as people call it), is uncalled for.
Suho has been made to be the cold tsundere lead because he struggles with PTSD. Yes, he needs therapy, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a good impact on Kyung, he’s not toxic to her, he’s actually good for her, and he is the only person after everything we’ve seen her go through this whole show that makes sense to be the one that she loves. There’s still a lot of things they still have to heal from and deal with to get to the end, and perhaps Seojun would find a way to do more for her than Suho has done so far, but for now, Suho and Kyung are written to be each other’s person so let’s see what happens next.
I really mean it when I say I don’t care about this love triangle. I’m only following what the show writer and director is showing, what they are making me see. Could it be different in the webtoon and I’d support Seojun more yes, but webtoon readers; it’s clear that the writers have made Suho the person they think is for Kyung, and they’ve stolen Seojun’s moments because of this, is it right? No, of course not. But it doesn’t mean the show isn’t good or that Suho is a monster or whatnot. It just means you have to decide if the show is worth watching if you can’t deal with what they did with it. The amount of hate Suho receives in the tags is just hypocritical in my opinion, when Seojun and Suho do the same thing with Kyung. They’re both as possessive and as protective and they both have their flaws. They’re both sweet to her, and caring. No one is wrong, or right as the end game. But don’t be too irrational when it comes to your bias. That’s all I’m saying. Anyways apart from the love triangle, True Beauty continues to be a light watch that I love and enjoy, I love the relationships and the psychological conversations that can be derived from the show. I’ve been through what Kyung has gone through, and I’ve gone through moments of seeing my self as worthless and meaningless because of how society views me or has made me think about my self. That’s why I appreciate her relationship with Suho and Seojun. I really relate to her dramatics and her break downs, and I like this show for being not just light at times but also serious when it talks about what the characters are dealing with psychologically. Anway that’s my analysis. Let’s see what next episode brings.
