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They say that good things come to those who wait and that patience is a great virtue to practice. Kyung-seok’s patience is certainly tested as he waits for Mi-rae to reciprocate the same feelings back to him. But how much longer can he wait and will it be worth it?

My ID is Gangnam Beauty Episode 13: It’s My First Love

On his way home, Kyung-seok witnesses Woo-young consoling a guilty Mi-rae for rejecting him. Upset and angry, he turns around and heads to Woo-jin’s bar. Hyun-jung too witnesses Woo-young and Mi-rae walking back to their apartment together and becomes saddened by the scene. Kyung-seok relieves himself of his stress by drinking some soju with Woo-jin who offers him some advice about his feelings for Mi-rae. That night, all of our characters have a difficult time sleeping. Woo-young drinks some alcohol himself and Mi-rae continues to relish over the fact that Woo-young wished her luck in pursing her relationship with Kyung-seok. That was the first time anyone’s ever cheered for her. Meanwhile, Kyung-seok sleeps over at the bar instead of returning back to the apartment.

The next morning, Kyung-seok arrives at the company laboratory hung over and still smelling like alcohol. He gets some rest at the company’s medical office. Meanwhile, everyone else resumes with the lab and then joins one another for lunch. There, Soo-Ah expresses her concern for Kyung-seok which arouses everyone’s suspicion. Does Soo-Ah possibly like Kyung-seok? Why is she so worried about him? Soo-Ah admits to everyone that yes indeed, she does like Kyung-seok. Won-ho and Dong-won are upset by the sudden confession. They were deceived by Soo-Ah all along, lol.

Mom is notified about Kyung-seok’s condition so she hurries over to the medical office where he’s resting. Upon finding out about his hangover, she nags at him to never drink so much again or else there might be consequences. She heads out to grab him some hangover medicine. Kyung-seok feels thankful and happy during this interaction with Mom. It feels like they’re finally mother and son again.

During a break, Mi-rae panics over Soo-Ah’s confession. Soo-Ah admitted that she only liked him, but why does it feel like she and Kyung-seok are already a couple? At that moment, Tae-hee enters the building in a sullen and depressed mood. She broke up with Tae-young. Meanwhile, Mi-rae receives a phone call from Woo-young who called her to check up on Kyung-seok. Since he didn’t return home last night, Woo-young just wanted to know how he was doing. Mi-rae answers that he’s fine, but is shocked upon discovering that Kyung-seok didn’t return to the apartment last night.

Tae-hee confides in Ye-na details about her break-up with Tae-young. Speculations about their break-up spread throughout, but Yoo-eun is aware of why they broke up. She recounts the night when she witnessed Tae-young dropping Soo-Ah off in her neighborhood after spending some time with each other. Soo-Ah shares the news about the break-up to Mi-rae and relates it back to her and Kyung-seok. She’s also afraid of how people will react if they were to find out that she and Kyung-seok were dating. In her mind, Mi-rae is aware of how Kyung-seok feels about Soo-Ah. He clearly doesn’t like her and Soo-Ah knows this too.

After their conversation ends, Soo-Ah enters the restroom. Mi-rae follows after her in an effort to advocate for herself, but stops when she overhears Soo-Ah puking in her restroom stall. She checks up on Soo-Ah, but Soo-Ah reassures Mi-rae that she’s fine. She just felt sick so she puked a little in the restroom. Mi-rae doesn’t buy her excuse though.

Sung-woon stops by the medical office to visit Kyung-seok. He shares with Kyung-seok the lunch incident in which Soo-Ah announced to everyone about her feelings for Kyung-seok. Angry, Kyung-seok leaves to confront Soo-Ah. He wants to talk to her later. Meanwhile, Mi-rae can’t stop thinking about the restroom incident in which Soo-Ah was puking. She recalls the moments back in middle school when she would also commit the same act.

Back at the laboratory, Kyung-seok has a talk with Soo-Ah. Just like how she confessed to everyone about her feelings for him, should he also do the same and tell everyone who he likes? It’s obvious Soo-Ah’s only doing this because she wants to maintain her reputation as the most popular girl at school. Soo-Ah warns Kyung-seok that he can go ahead and tell everyone about his crush on Mi-rae, but all the gossip and rumors that ensue won’t benefit her. At the bus stop, Mi-rae grows concerned about Kyung-seok and Soo-Ah. It’s obvious he doesn’t like her and he’ll reject her, but why did she tell everyone that she liked Kyung-seok when she actually doesn’t? Mi-rae finally realizes Soo-Ah’s ill intentions and rushes back to the building to interrupt the two. She asks to talk to Soo-Ah alone.

Kyung-seok leaves the room so the two ladies can talk. Mi-rae confronts Soo-Ah about her plans and is aware of what she’s trying to do. Whether it was with Kyung-seok, Yong-chul, or Chan-woo, Soo-Ah tried to ruin Mi-rae’s life. Though Soo-Ah might think she’s different from girls like Mi-rae who get plastic surgery to become beautiful, they’re really no different. Just like Mi-rae when she was younger, Soo-Ah also has her own ways to maintain her beauty such as puking in the restroom after every meal. Soo-Ah raises her voice at Mi-rae for the first time which throws the both of them off. Mi-rae has finally seen Soo-Ah’s true colors.

When Mi-rae finishes talking to Soo-Ah, she exits the room only to find Kyung-seok waiting for her in the hallway. She checks up on his condition while he asks her if she’s eaten. Lol. So much for having important things to say to each other!

Mom stresses over the fact that people referred to Mi-rae as a gangnam beauty. She blames herself for Mi-rae’s new face and regrets having allowed her to undergo surgery. However, Dad cheers her up and reminds Mom of how popular Mi-rae was at orientation. She’s well-liked by people.

Kyung-seok and Mi-rae eat some lunch together. She asks him about last night and his reasoning for not returning to the apartment. Did he possibly fight with Woo-young about something? However, Kyung-seok claims that they didn’t fight and that rather he just didn’t want to see Woo-young. Kyung-seok then questions Mi-rae and asks why she interrupted his private talk with Soo-Ah earlier. What was so urgent that she needed to talk to Soo-Ah alone? Was it because she was worried that something was going to happen between him and Soo-Ah? Mi-rae denies his assumptions, but thinks to herself the reason as to why she intervened their conversation. She just didn’t want Soo-Ah to say anything that would anger the man she liked. AHHHHHH.

Meanwhile, Woo-young has some drinks with Tae-young and a few other colleagues. Tae-young remains silent about his relationship with Tae-hee while Woo-young continues to drink his heartbreak away. Aww.

Soo-Ah returns home that night angry and upset over everything that happened that day. She receives a phone call from a drunk Tae-young, but she hangs up on him quickly. Meanwhile, Woo-young returns home thanks to his two colleagues. Kyung-seok looks after him and even helps him brush his teeth. LOL. Before falling asleep, Woo-young reveals to Kyung-seok why he’s been drinking so much lately. His rejection from Mi-rae is more difficult to handle and manage than he originally thought.

Back in their apartment, Hyun-jung asks Mi-rae about blind dates and if they should go on any more. However, Mi-rae receives a phone call from Kyung-seok at that moment to meet up outside. At a small bench near their apartment, Mi-rae and Kyung-seok have a talk about her rejection of Woo-young. Why did she reject him? Mi-rae gathers all her courage to confess to Kyung-seok. She rejected Woo-young because she likes Kyung-seok. Though she feels foolish at first for finally confessing so late, Kyung-seok is relieved and happy. He did say he would wait for her. With the confession, the two are in an official relationship and they even hold hands on the way back to Mi-rae’s apartment. EEEEK. They bid each other farewell, this time as lovers. (I’m gonna cryyy).

When Mi-rae returns home, Hyun-jung asks her about her feelings for Kyung-seok. Does she still like him? Feelings can change so she just wants to know how Mi-rae feels about Kyung-seok. Mi-rae reassures Hyun-jung that she doesn’t like anyone else and heads to the restroom to process everything. Mi-rae’s still nervous from the confession and hand-holding with Kyung-seok. Aww.

When Woo-young wakes up the next morning, he finds Kyung-seok in the kitchen cooking some breakfast for the both of them. He assumes he must have done or said something wrong the night before and grows worried. Woo-young then breaks it to Kyung-seok and reveals to him about Mi-rae’s rejection. He’s aware that the two like each other so he wishes Kyung-seok good luck in pursuing a relationship with Mi-rae.

Mi-rae also awakens to a good morning text from Kyung-seok. EEEK. She gets ready to meet up with him at the bus stop. Once she arrives, they warmly and timidly greet each other and ride the bus together to the company building. On the bus ride there, Mi-rae requests that Kyung-seok not inform Woo-young about their relationship just yet. She also asks that he not tell anyone about their relationship as she’s worried about how others will feel about them. Mi-rae is free to act however she wants, but Kyung-seok is careless about what others think. They hold hands on the bus until they reach the company building. Cuuute!

News about Kyung-seok’s rejection of Soo-Ah spread throughout the group. Meanwhile, Yoo-eun finds Mi-rae and Kyung-seok together outside of the building which arouses her suspicions. However, she’s not too shocked and enters the building with Mi-rae only to find Soo-Ah talking to Kyung-seok. Soo-Ah wants to make up with Kyung-seok and be on good terms with him again. Kyung-seok is willing to only if Soo-Ah doesn’t commit any more ridiculous and harmful acts.

Soo-Ah then proceeds to follow-up on Kyung-seok and Mi-rae’s relationship with each other. Did he confess to her? Are they dating? At that moment, Mi-rae interrupts the two once again and answers Soo-Ah’s questions for her. Yes, she and Kyung-seok are dating indeed.

My Thoughts:

Talk about character development! I’m loving how much braver and stronger Mi-rae has become. Whereas before she was shy, timid, and insecure, she’s now transformed into this fierce and confident lady and advocates for herself and her relationship. There are many good aspects that this drama is keeping up with and Mi-rae’s character development is just merely one of them.

I honestly wasn’t even aware of how slow and meticulous Kyung-seok and Mi-rae’s relationship development was in this drama because I enjoyed watching their interactions as friends and almost lovers. Leads in other dramas usually start liking each other and dating eight or nine episodes in, but our leads in this drama finally started dating in this episode. Even though their relationship might have bloomed a little later, I absolutely enjoyed watching them fret around each other or deny their feelings at first only to acknowledge them later on. I absolutely loved watching Kyung-seok respect Mi-rae’s feelings and time and wait for her patiently instead of pushing himself onto her (as compared to Soo-Ah who wants to rush things with Kyung-seok and doesn’t give him the time and space he needs away from her). We might not receive as many lovey-dovey moments between our leads as they barely acknowledged their feelings and started dating in this episode, but that just makes every single moment between them from now on even more worth it!

It’s this slow build-up in showcasing the relationship between Mi-rae and Kyung-seok that I think was one of the drama’s biggest strengths. Never for a second did I want to see more of Kyung-seok and Mi-rae as lovers because I was wholeheartedly enjoying them awkwardly navigate their relationship with each other as friends. The drama did a great job in keeping us busy and occupied with the two as friends and almost lovers that when they finally did start dating in this episode, you were satisfied and happy with how things turned out and how things wrapped up. Like I mentioned earlier, there’s only three episodes left which means we might not receive as many scenes of the two as a couple, but everything that lead up to this moment was worth the long wait.

We received a bit more insight and context about Soo-Ah’s struggle with her body and I’m a little sad that the drama finally focused on this this late into the drama. I wished they had focused on it earlier so that we could have learned or seen a different side of Soo-Ah other than the typical second female lead character that the drama was painting her out to be. More so than that, Soo-Ah could have been a redeemable character had the drama focused on this issue of hers earlier in the drama. Just like Mi-rae and her surgery, Soo-Ah has her own ways of maintaining her body and beauty and sure, maybe it might not be getting plastic surgery per se, but she’s also practicing her own methods to ensure that she remains beautiful. This common characteristic between Mi-rae and Soo-Ah could have been what bonded and connected them to each other and therefore allow Soo-Ah to be redeemable, but I’m sad that the drama didn’t follow this direction. Instead, it chose to just make Soo-Ah that cunning, frustrating, and irritating second female lead which was disappointing because there was potential to make her so much more than that. Regardless, her persistency and determination in being the most well-liked and popular girl at school has its consequences and Soo-Ah won’t be able to escape from them sooner or later.

We were already aware that Woo-young wasn’t going to get into a relationship with Mi-rae, but why did it still hurt seeing him deal with the aftermath of the rejection? The rejection was expected, but it was still sad to see him so heart-broken and depressed. Just like Mi-rae is Kyung-seok’s first love, Mi-rae might have also been someone who Woo-young genuinely liked in a very long time which is why it was so difficult for him to move on. It was bittersweet witnessing him handle the rejection though because rejections are a thing in life and it was realistic in that aspect. Not all confessions go well and Woo-young (as well as Soo-Ah) experienced and realized that firsthand.

Kyung-seok and Mi-rae first had to learn to navigate their awkward friendship with each other. Now that they’ve overcome that and are in an official relationship with each other, their next step together is to navigate their time as a couple. This might mean facing Mi-rae’s biggest fears of gossip, judgements, and rumors. How will the couple overcome these challenges and will this cause any conflict between Kyung-seok and Mi-rae themselves? What will people think of them? What will Kyung-seok and Mi-rae do themselves in regards to people’s responses?