This is gonna be a long comment… oh, and SPOILERS!!!!! (reveals final ships) Ready? ...

This is gonna be a long comment… oh, and SPOILERS!!!!! (reveals final ships)




Ready?


Alright, the gist of the spoilers is that Dani ends up with Jiho. Surprise! Jiho (white hair) is the true ML of the story, not Chunyeong (black hair). Ch 75 just felt like a huge bomb had been dropped. If anything, the story thus far seemed to push Chunyeong as the ML. I honestly thought that the ships were going to be Chunyeong x Dani and Jiho x Yoryeong. It makes sense, doesn’t it? The back and forth banter between Jiho and Yoryeong, the way he looks out for her, their natural chemistry… Same with Chunyeong and Dani. I mean, prior to ch 75, the readers never really realized that Jiho had romantic feelings for her… or did we? (⊙…⊙ )

Prior to my reading the spoilers, I always felt that the dynamic between Jiho and Dani to be… odd. There were small and subtle moments and just the way they interacted that made me question if Jiho had a crush on her. Of course, these moments are not as blatantly obvious as Chunyeong’s with Dani… but they were there. I had to re-read the early chapters to check it again for accuracy. I’m not gonna lie, there’s an abundance of Chunyeong’s moments that easily overshadow Jiho’s, but there are flags nonetheless. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Ch 7: The story begins when they are in middle school to quickly establish the relationships they have, which also shows Dani meeting Chunyeong first by literally bumping into him (a classic shoujo trope). The story quickly time-skips to when they are about to start freshman year in high school. This time, the first boy that we see interact with her is Jinho. If Chunyeong was the true ML then he should've also been the 1st guy we see her with after the time-skip.

Ch 8: Ju-in happily hugs Dani. Jiho is about to reach out to touch Dani, but Yoryeong cuts in which causes Jiho to look annoyed. These 2-3 panels are overshadowed by the eye contact between Dani and Chunyeong which leads the readers to think about them and not about the small interaction earlier with Jiho.

Ch 21: Chunyeong’s visit to Dani turned sour. Jiho, after hearing from Yoryeong at how depressed she is feeling, calls Dani and offers to hang out with her. He treats her to a café and has an important conversation with her but feels annoyed that Chunyeong went to visit Dani alone and that Dani wanted to know if Chunyeong likes her, which she had to clarify was in terms of friendship. (jealous, much?)

Ch 22: The important conversation continues! Jiho sees through Dani’s doubts but she cannot bring herself to be truthful to him. Instead, she asks that they pretend to be strangers once school starts.

Ch 25: We get a flashback of when Dani went “missing” for a day. After getting her blisters treated by Yoryeong, Dani gets up but loses her balance. She crashes on to or gets caught by Jiho. See, in typical shoujo fashion, it’d be the ML who would play this part so I wondered why it was Jiho instead of Chunyeong.

Ch 28: HK boys and Yoryeong ends up eating samgyupsal with Dani and her parents. Chunyeong suggests staying with Dani until the end of the day so that they won’t disappear. Jiho notices Dani’s tensed expression and suggests to continue the conversation inside. After hearing the story, he concludes this is the reason why she requested that they act like strangers in school. He also looks visibly disturbed when Dani starts crying. It's his reaction that gets screentime, not the others'.

Ch 29: The conversation continues! Jiho realizes the painful situation that Dani would be left in if they all forget her again.

Ch 31: Jiho stands in between Dani and Yoryeong and deliberately teases Dani, only to be stopped by Eunhyung.

Ch 36: Yoryeong calls Dani on her cellphone to interrogate her about the blond-haired boy she saw him with. Ju-in tells Dani that he doesn’t want a new “dad”, but interestingly enough, Jiho is also curious. He snatches Yoryeong’s phone and tells Dani he “wants to see his (blond-haired boy) face”. (jealous?)

Ch 37: Jiho expresses interest again regarding Ruda (blond-haired boy). Dani asks him why he is so curious about Ruda. Jiho hesitates with his answer but then says his question isn’t about Ruda, it’s about whether or not Dani is okay since he heard they were holding hands and stuff. He feels relieved when Dani says she is okay. Dani is perplexed when Yoryeong says that boys who dye their hair can’t be trusted since the HK boys also have sparkling hair in varying colors. There is a panel that specifically shows Jiho’s reaction, showing he is confused as to why Dani is looking at them oddly. I always found it strange that it was his reaction that mattered the most, hence the only one getting a panel drawn while the other HK boys did not.

Ch 42: Jiho arrives at school and notices Yoryeong’s gloomy mood, which he correctly guesses to have something to do with Dani. He has friendly banter with her to presumably cheer her up. But his demeanor changes after he leaves the classroom. He looks for Dani and finds her with Ruda just as the latter blurted out a passionate confession of wanting to become friends. His attitude for the most part is like a boyfriend who just caught his girlfriend meeting with another guy (at least that’s how it looked to me) but then regains his composure by rejecting Ruda on behalf of Dani. He tells Ruda that Dani isn’t attracted to boys whose eyes and hair aren’t black or brown, revealing to Dani that he is aware of her preferences.

Ch 43: Jiho escorts Dani back to her classroom and notices her lack of sleep. His expression throughout this exchange is… unreadable. He is concerned about her but it felt like there was something else. This was another situation that made me ask, “If Cheonyong is the ML, then shouldn’t he be the one in this scene? Why is it Jiho?”

Ch 45: Ah, yes. The first time Jiho brings up the confession. He tells Dani that she was already confessed to in the past but she doesn’t remember. Jiho looks upset and then flustered that she doesn’t remember (it’s only in ch 75 that we find out it’s actually him who confessed). However, this scene is completely overshadowed by Jiho stepping in to protect Yeoryong from an aggressive suitor.

Ch 46: On the train ride home, Jiho sits next to Dani and he teases her about her love life. This is after Dani got her fortune told about the car accident so I guess Jiho was trying to lighten the mood. But, again, it’s Jiho who is doing this, not Chunyeong. He even opens the conversation by referencing Eunhyung’s earlier phone conversation with Dani about how his mom died in a car accident. I know they’re all friends, but the closest friend Eunhyung has among the HK is Chunyeong so it would make sense for Chunyeong to open this topic, not Jiho.

Ch 47: Jiho takes Dani and Yeoryong home by car since Yeoryong’s aggressive suitor is waiting by the school gate while the rest of the HK deals with the suitor and his goons. He makes it a point to Dani that the car-accident fortune didn’t apply to him so she’ll be safe if he rides with him. He sternly warns Dani to be careful in the future. He glances every now and then at her while in the car. See? It’s these meaningful glances that he gives her that always made me question his feelings for her; whether it was just friendship or something else.

Ch 49: More interactions between Dani and Jiho… this time, because of an espresso machine. Chunyeong also wants a cup, but Jiho teases him since he doesn’t like bitter things. He is dumbfounded when not only does Chunyeong take a sip of coffee but he does so from Dani’s cup. (jealousy?)

Ch 51: Jiho is worried that Dani and Eunhyung aren’t back yet from their errand. He is so worried that he decides to go out to look for them but disguises it as a simple walk so as not to worry Yeoryong and Ju-in.

Ch 55: Yoryeong and the HK boys each send a text message to Dani, but it is Jiho’s message that is given emphasis (even tho the text message is played for laughs)

Ch 56: Jiho, Chunyeong, and Yoryeong make their way to Dani’s classroom. Jiho gives Dani text updates on how close they are getting to her classroom.

Ch 57: Dani and Ruda hide in one of the unused classrooms. They are of course found by the HK group but it is Jiho who reveals himself first.

Ch 60: Jiho questions Dani specifically why she was hugging Ruda in the corridor. This topic is quickly forgotten as they hear about Chunyeong who has gotten into a fight with Ruda in the men’s room.

Ch 63: Jiho escorts Dani home while the rest of HK group deal with the aggressive suitor and goons that caused Dani’s near-death by truck-kun.

Ch 66: Jiho refers to Dani’s house as “his” house too. It’s also been established in earlier chapters that Jiho maintains a friendly relationship with Dani’s parents. They watch a video of their middle school days, and everyone points out that Jiho had changed so much since then (ch 75 reveals he changed because of Dani). They continue to watch the video but are surprised by something. We see the group stunned to silence but, again, it is Jiho’s expression that is given importance by showing it in a solo panel.

Ch 67: The video continues! Dani walked in on Jiho as he was changing. Jiho is flustered while Dani is unfazed. He asked Dani, “Do you even see me as a man?” Dani replies, “Since when did was have a man and woman relationship?” (ouch) Σ( ￣□￣||) The video ends with Yoryeong calling Jiho a pervert.

Ch 68: No Jiho moment here, but a case of misdirection from the author and the FL just not getting it. Dani continues to watch the video on her own and sees the “something” that surprised the group earlier. It’s basically Cheonyong smiling at her. His expression is very sweet. While Dani thinks it’s nice that he can make that kind of expression, she isn’t convinced that it is romantic because of how novels or otome games usually go. The takeaway here is that she became conscious of Chunyeong but still didn’t find Jiho’s question (Do you see me as a man?) worth noticing. Poor Jiho… ╥﹏╥

Ch 69: Dani’s class pressures her into finding out what the HK’s class is doing for the retreat. Out of the group, she picks to call Jiho. His response to her is short and simple. After the call ends, he looks troubled at the notion of treating Dani like a stranger.

Ch 70: The freshmen are assembling for the school retreat. Jiho is obviously the first to spot her. He is worried that she might topple over unless she properly wakes up and then annoyed that Ruda came to support her. He then sends her a flurry of text messages telling her to wake up. He's about to send another text message but deletes it instead and asks Eunhyung if Dani would possibly sit next to Ruda on the bus. Eunhyung notices the expression he has so Jiho dismisses it as annoyance at how they had to go through 3 years for Dani to open up to them while Ruda easily got close to her. Eunhyung accepts this response but thinks to himself about how Jiho’s expression now is similar to the expression he had in the video (when he asked Dani the question). He also notes that while Jiho and Chunyeong had different expressions in the video, both of them gave off the same feeling. In other words, Eunhyung noticed that it’s not only Chunyeong who is harboring a crush on Dani. (≧∀≦)

Ch 74: The confession is teased again but this time implied that it is Dani who rejected Jiho’s confession. Of course, this is fully revealed in ch 75.

So, these are all the moments or subtle hints that I found. These moments are, again, greatly overshadowed by the amount of screen time Chunyeong and Dani have together. However, I think they are enough to plant that seed of doubt in the reader. “Are Jiho’s feelings towards Dani really just friendship?” That was the question I kept asking whenever those subtle moments happened. The important conversations he would have with her, the complexity of his expressions, the meaningful glances he gives her… It was all there, we just didn’t see it right away.

Perhaps the most obvious "evidence" we had but never realized was in ch 7. After Dani comes to the conclusion that she is in a novel and recognizes Yeoryong as the heroine, she picks out Jiho as the ML among the HK. There you go! Jiho was always the ML!

I understand why there’s a ship for Jiho and Yeoryong. They banter like cats and dogs, they’re competitive with each other, Jiho has on more than one occasion come to Yeoryong’s defense. He even calls himself her boyfriend in ch 72 to get rid of a persistent guy that’s pestering her. But it’s plain to see that they never saw each other romantically and only had a platonic relationship.

On that note, I also noticed the other ship of Eunhyung x Yeoryong also forming in the background. Think about it. Sure, Jiho was the first to step in to protect Yeoryong from the aggressive suitor in ch 45, but when the guy starts to get violent, it’s Eunhyung who steps in to defend her. Although Jiho pretended to be Yeoryong’s boyfriend in ch 72 to get rid of a persistent guy, it is Eunhyung who suggests that Yeoryong give out his own number if she is met by another guy who persistently asks for her number. I thought that it was just him being the protective friend until it dawned on me just how much of trouble he’s invited by doing this. Yup, he loves her. (≧∀≦)

Anyway, I haven’t read the rest of the spoilers other than the final ships. I kind of wish I didn’t because it somehow robbed me of naturally liking Jiho. I was already intrigued by his character but I had also fallen into the “Chunyeong is ML” trap, and I heard that the novel does let you naturally see Jiho’s struggle and love for Dani. What should have been a natural progression felt like a bucket of ice thrown at me because of one single spoiler. I’ve accepted it. I’ve gotten over it. I’ll continue to read it because, well, even without the spoiler I already felt that Jiho had a crush on Dani, I only wish I’d gotten there when the story was ready to take me there.

P.S. I didn’t read the spoilers here. It was on another site. The comment didn’t come with a spoiler tag. It was just “FL ends up with white hair. MC ends up with red hair. This is a spoiler.” I mean, who puts a spoiler warning after the actual spoiler??? (╬￣皿￣)凸


Anyway, thanks for reading this uber long post. (￣∇￣")