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Kyung-seok and Mi-rae continue to sort their feelings for each other out in ways that they’ve never done before. Are they in love or are they just merely friends? How do they feel about each other? There are many questions that Mi-rae in particular has about Kyung-seok, but more so than answers with words, she’ll come to learning that it’s her feelings and thoughts that will answer these many questions confusing her.

My ID is Gangnam Beauty Episode 10: I Can Be Your Boyfriend

Mi-rae and Kyung-seok wait at the bus stop together. Before entering the bus to get to school, Kyung-seok voices his thoughts on Mi-rae’s drinking habits and expresses that he doesn’t want her to ever drink without him around. He doesn’t want any other man to carry Mi-rae on their back like how he did with her.

When they get on the bus, a young teenage boy greets Mi-rae. It’s the same boy that stalked Mi-rae a while back because he mistook her as a celebrity. The young boy asks Mi-rae if Kyung-seok’s her boyfriend in which Kyung-seok answers yes while Mi-rae answers no. Kyung-seok firmly positions himself as Mi-rae’s boyfriend which confuses the young man. When the little boy leaves, Kyung-seok explains that establishing himself as Mi-rae’s boyfriend will discourage other boys from making their moves on Mi-rae.

During lab class, Mi-rae gets distracted with all of the comments that Kyung-seok’s made towards her. Does he possibly have feelings for her? Later on after class, Kyung-seok, Mi-rae, and Soo-Ah meet with the other group members to discuss about their group lab report. Unfortunately, Soo-Ah’s lost the report so they’ll have to start from scratch all over again. However, Kyung-seok comes to the rescue and writes the report within just a few minutes.

While Kyung-seok and Soo-Ah head together to Woo-young’s office to drop it off, Soo-Ah addresses the confrontation between them that happened the day before. Soo-Ah just wanted to offer her support and help to Kyung-seok, but he misunderstood and took it the wrong way. Kyung-seok doesn’t listen to Soo-Ah much as he becomes distracted by Woo-young instead who they meet in the hallway. He listens in on Woo-young’s phone conversation before dropping off the report.

Woo-young meets with Mi-rae to have some lunch together. He gives her some words of encouragement while hearing about the challenges of her part-time job and then goes on to ask her about dating. Is she interested in anyone? Mi-rae starts to feel inferior and answers that no one would want to date her. She’s not that pretty nor would anyone want to date someone who’s gotten plastic surgery. Woo-young cheers her up though and reassures Mi-rae that she’s the prettiest girl in their department and that there’s nothing wrong with having gotten plastic surgery.

Meanwhile, Soo-Ah and Kyung-seok’s lunch conversation steers in a different direction. Soo-Ah expresses envy in how strong-minded and careless Kyung-seok are towards comments about his looks; she wishes she didn’t care so much about what others think about her. She also asks him about relationships and dating, but he doesn’t respond.

Woo-young and Mi-rae head back to campus together. Kyung-seok and Soo-Ah witness the two bid farewell with each other which causes Kyung-seok to be jealous. When asked by Soo-Ah what her relationship with Woo-young is, Mi-rae simply responds that they’re just neighbors. She also informs them both about an interview she has for a part-time job that she applied for. Kyung-seok wants to join Mi-rae and accompany her to the interview just in case the company needs more part-timers. When Soo-Ah bids farewell with the pair, Kyung-seok grows jealous of Woo-young and his relationship with Mi-rae. Since Woo-young’s close with Mi-rae as a neighbor, that means Kyung-seok himself must also be close with her too. Lol, someone’s jealousss.

Soo-Ah sits alone to process the interaction between Kyung-seok and Mi-rae that just happened right in front of her. None of it seems to make any sense to her. Won-ho witnesses her sitting alone so he takes photos of her without her permission. She becomes disappointed with his actions.

Mi-rae and Kyung-seok head to the interview together. Though Kyung-seok doesn’t have much work experience, he and Mi-rae are both hired. Employees nearby can’t help but already notice their looks and faces.

Tae-young and Tae-hee have some snacks with each other in the department club room. Tae-young worries about passerby’s who might witness the two together, but Tae-hee reassures him not to worry. As the two feed each other some spicy rice cakes, Chan-woo notices the two eating together so he interrupts them. He assumes they must be a couple, but they both deny it.

As Woo-young prepares to sleep, Kyung-seok’s busy reading an employment manual for his new part-time job at an interior design store. He also gives Kyung-hee a call to check up on her. She wants to meet with him to talk, but Kyung-seok is unable to due to his new job. Meanwhile, Hyun-jung and Mi-rae discuss different things they can do for winter break. Hyun-jung also asks Mi-rae about her skincare routine. Why is Mi-rae wearing a face mask when she’s only going to her part-time job?

Kyung-seok prepares to head to his part-time job the next morning. When Woo-young discovers that Kyung-seok will be working with Mi-rae, he grows jealous and comes up with excuses to get Kyung-seok to come home early from work. Kyung-seok still has to do some laundry and wash the blankets since it’s written in the contract. At that moment, Kyung-seok’s Mom enters the apartment to gift the boys some groceries and food as a housewarming gift. There’s some things that should never be separated and food is one of them. She encourages Woo-young and Kyung-seok to cook and eat together even if it’s stated otherwise in their contract. Lol. Kyung-seok teases Woo-young and also adds that he has other things in the contract that he has to do such as washing the blankets. This embarrasses Woo-young and he tries to brush it off.

Mi-rae douses herself with some perfume before heading off to work. Mom drops Mi-rae and Kyung-seok off to their part-time job. After a short and brief meeting with their supervisor, all the employees head to their designated spots within the store. Kyung-seok encounters Kyung-hee along the way who stops by the store to visit her brother.

Kyung-seok’s Mom holds a meeting with the Chief Director at a cafe. One of the barista’s reminds Mom of Kyung-seok so she asks for the meeting to end early so that she can meet with him later on. Meanwhile, Kyung-hee and Mi-rae exchange introductions during their lunch break. Mi-rae watches in awe as Kyung-seok cares for his sister and gives her words of encouragement. If Kyung-hee doesn’t want to study abroad, she won’t have to. Kyung-seok will try to talk Dad out of it.

After her meeting, Mom heads to Mi-rae and Kyung-seok’s workplace. Upon arriving, she hides from Kyung-seok and Mi-rae who also enter the building shortly afterwards with Kyung-hee. Kyung-hee bids farewell with the two and walks to the bus stop all by herself. Mom follows Kyung-hee after finally seeing her again after so many years. She approaches her daughter at the bus stop who finally recognizes her after Mom calls her name.

After their lunch break, Mi-rae and Kyung-seok resume to working. Meanwhile, Mom and Kyung-hee catch up over some coffee. However, Kyung-hee still resents Mom after all these years and refuses to talk to her or forgive her for her actions.

When work is finished, Mi-rae and Kyung-seok head to the bus stop to wait for their bus. Woo-young contacts Kyung-seok to rush him home, but Kyung-seok makes an excuse to spend more time with Mi-rae. He’ll buy them some pork belly to eat later on. So the two go grocery shopping together and basically goes shopping for a BBQ party. They can all eat together later on.

Kyung-seok’s mom confronts Kyung-seok’s dad about his lies and deceitful behavior. Unlike what he told Kyung-seok and Kyung-hee, Mom did not abandon her family and have an affair with another man. She warns him to tell Kyung-hee and Kyung-seok the truth or else she’ll ruin his career by telling her truth to the public.

Meanwhile, our four neighbors all convene to eat some pork belly together. It’s obvious Kyung-seok and Woo-young are in a friendly competition to impress Mi-rae. When Kyung-seok embarrasses Woo-young by calling out the time he fell asleep after two shots of soju, Woo-young takes revenge by agreeing to an arm wrestling challenge against Kyung-seok. Though the two are strong and the match is neck to neck, Woo-young eventually defeats Kyung-seok.

Dad visits Kyung-hee to reveal the truth about Mom. After listening to Dad, Kyung-hee grows enraged and upset. How could he keep such important information from her all these years? Kyung-hee feels regretful for having resented her mom for so long.

Mi-rae and Hyun-jung leave after the BBQ party. Outside of a convenience store, they discuss about ideal types and dating. It seems like Kyung-seok has a crush on Mi-rae, but Mi-rae doesn’t think about it too much. He’s probably just excited he finally has a friend. When they discuss about ideal types, Hyun-jung shares that her ideal type is someone like Woo-young. Meanwhile, Mi-rae hopes to find someone who’s average-looking and accepting of Mi-rae’s plastic surgery. At that moment, she receives a phone call from Soo-Ah who wants to talk to Mi-rae when they return to school. Mi-rae finds it a bit suspicious but she tries not to think about it too much.

Just like Kyung-seok, Kyung-hee’s run away from home. Their dad orders his assistant to search for her.

Meanwhile, Kyung-seok waits for Mi-rae so they can head to their part-time job together. At work, Mi-rae’s parents drop by to visit her. It’s not too long until Kyung-seok introduces himself to them as Mi-rae’s friend which catches them off-guard. Just like every other person, Mom and Dad are struck by Kyung-seok’s beauty (“Shouldn’t he be an actor?”). While exiting from the store, Mom and Dad overhear two young ladies commenting on Mi-rae’s face. They describe her face as the typical Gangnam beauty which confuses Mom and Dad. They assume it’s a good thing and believes that letting Mi-rae undergo plastic surgery wasn’t a bad choice after all. Lol, noooo.

Kyung-seok waits for Mi-rae so they can get off of work together. She’s once again approached by her co-worker who continues to express interest in her. Later on that night, Kyung-seok meets with Mom who wants to clarify some misunderstandings with him. She never had an affair this entire time unlike what he and Kyung-hee was told. They must have been in so much pain growing up thinking that though. Kyung-seok admits that he was in pain and he did resent Mom, but he no longer wants to be in pain anymore. He wants to be happy. Kyung-seok hands Mom a napkin so that she can wipe off her tears of joy.

Kyung-seok and Mi-rae walk home together after his meeting with his mom. He comments how he’s never cried tears of joy before, but he sure is happy having reunited with Mi-rae again after many years. Mi-rae grows confused as to whether he has feelings for her or not.

Mi-rae and Soo-Ah meet as planned. Soo-Ah first asks Mi-rae about any vacancies at her new part-time job. Soo-Ah confesses to having feelings for Kyung-seok so she wants to work with him. She also wants Mi-rae to help her since Mi-rae’s close friends with Kyung-seok. Mi-rae is clearly uncomfortable with Soo-Ah’s request and makes an excuse, but Soo-Ah doesn’t believe in her. Does Mi-rae also possibly like Kyung-seok too? When Mi-rae comments that Soo-Ah won’t need her help because she’s pretty, Soo-Ah intervenes that Mi-rae is pretty too. That’s the thing about plastic surgery: she now looks beautiful which leaves those who are natural at a disadvantage.

Mi-rae becomes wary and offended with Soo-Ah’s harsh words. She finally expresses what she had been assuming all along but wasn’t too entirely sure about: Soo-Ah never liked her from the beginning. Now Mi-rae is certain that Soo-Ah is the cold and cunning person Mi-rae thought she wasn’t but really is.

My Thoughts:

OOOOOH, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

Just kidding. We’re all about the love and not about the hate, but there clearly is no love between Mi-rae and Soo-Ah. There never was love between them in the first place and there definitely won’t be any now. Mi-rae’s always gave Soo-Ah the benefit of the doubt and trusted her. Just like everyone else, she was deceived by Soo-Ah’s youthful and innocent looks. However, Mi-rae is now aware of Soo-Ah’s true colors and real personality and I’m really loving the confrontation that went down in the ending of this episode. It’s about time that Mi-rae stepped up to call Soo-Ah out and to advocate for herself. She felt attacked for the comments about her and felt protective of her crush towards Kyung-seok. Mi-rae’s reasons in attacking Soo-Ah are so valid and intense and I’m loving this side of Mi-rae. You go girl!

I’m really curious to see where the drama takes the feud between Mi-rae and Soo-Ah. I wonder if there’s any chances of redemption between the two or if they will eventually go their own ways and never make-up. I’ll be fine with the latter if it happens, but considering how we still have six more episodes left, I wouldn’t be surprised if the drama decided to have the two make up in the end. Granted, it won’t be easy and Soo-Ah’s going to have to do a lot of maturing to get there, but the potential is there.

I’m really enjoying the jealousy that Kyung-seok and Mi-rae express towards each other. He’s jealous of Woo-young and his co-worker while Mi-rae is jealous towards every female that interacts with Kyung-seok (Soo-Ah included). While he’s certain about his feelings for Mi-rae, I think Mi-rae herself is still a bit confused on what she feels towards Kyung-seok. She thinks she likes him, but she’s not too sure if he likes her back and she’s not entirely sure if she wants to keep liking him. I love seeing just how confused and conflicted Mi-rae feels about Kyung-seok though. That’s the beauty of her character and their relationship and I love how it’s not so straight-forward. She overthinks every single little thing and detail and she easily becomes confused with his actions. Watching all of this unfold is so funny but adorable and I’m loving that we see Mi-rae struggle with her crush towards Kyung-seok.

I also love observing Kyung-seok one-up Woo-young or anyone else he comes across (like the little kid on the bus for example! Lol). He wants to remain superior to everyone else to win Mi-rae’s heart and so he can impress her. While his jealousy for now is adorable and comedic, I’m also a little concerned that his jealousy will be a bit overboard and controlling. Granted, I doubt that will happen with Kyung-seok as he seems like the type of guy who’s considerate of Mi-rae and listens to her or wants the best for her. However, jealousy is always a complex and interesting trope in dramaland that we have to tread carefully around as there’s been plenty of characters who uses their jealousy to control their love interests. It’s an iffy and shaky topic to walk around, but I think Kyung-seok will be fine. Hopefully he’ll continue to respect Mi-rae as he acts upon his feelings for her. He’s already been doing that so he should be fine this time around as well.

It was going to happen sooner or later when Kyung-hee would also learn the truth about the past. Just like Kyung-seok, she also reacted similarly to him and escaped. I wonder where she’s gone and if she too will forgive Mom just like Kyung-seok’s done. Watching him overcome the struggles in his relationship with his Mom and express that he no longer wants to live in pain was probably the most touching moment in this episode for me. It was then that I could tell just how much Kyung-seok’s grown from the first interaction he had with his mom and how matured he’s become. Sure, he might not have liked his mom in the past, but now that he knows the truth, he’s put the past behind and is focused on the present. He’s become a changed person and it’s so relieving and satisfying to see him reconnect with Mom. You can tell that Mom herself has doubts about her relationship with Kyung-seok as well. Her crying publicly in the restaurant was proof of that. Although she’s reunited with Kyung-seok, she’s still uncertain if he’s forgiven her or if she’s good enough for him. However, she no longer has to worry as Kyung-seok’s accepted her for her past and in the present. Hopefully Kyung-hee will also turn around and do the same.

Other scenes that stood out to me in this drama was Mi-rae’s parents and their reaction to hearing the comment about Mi-rae’s face being a typical Gangnam beauty. The comment was actually said in a demeaning and degrading manner, but Mom and Dad misunderstood being the OG’s that they are. Lol. A part of me shouldn’t laugh because it’s actually not funny that Mi-rae is being teased for having gotten plastic surgery, but Mom and Dad’s reactions were way too funny to not laugh. They’ll probably be hurt once they realize and understand the Gangnam beauty comment, but let’s hope they never find out or if they do, just learn to brush it off. Chan-woo’s return in this drama is irritating me like he did when he first appeared. He kind of reminds me of the male version of Soo-Ah except no one’s deceived by his looks nor does anyone like him. The drama was so much better without him and I actually miss the times when he wasn’t present. Now that he’s back, it’s become so frustrating watching him I kind of want him to disappear again. Is that too harsh of me to say?

Also, I already knew Lim Soo-hyang and Cha Eun-woo were very pretty and beautiful people in general, but I finally came to realizing how extra beautiful they looked upon seeing them work at their part-time job. They looked so nice and good in the professional work outfits! Their looks are truly worthy of noting.

Kyung-seok and Mi-rae have gotten close to each other within a short amount of time. Having the same part-time job and working together at the same time will inarguably help them become much closer. Not only are they making money that they can use to support themselves, but they’re also bonding with each other in the process. Maybe this will serve as the catalyst that will eventually confirm Mi-rae’s feelings for Kyung-seok and compel Kyung-seok to confess to Mi-rae first. They’ve already been thinking about it this entire time. Someone just needs to say it out loud to the other first. I don’t want to pressure anyone or to jump to any conclusions, but Kyung-seok, I’m depending on you!