Another fantastic week with Itaewon Class, nothing about how this drama flows or the stories it tells fails. The character I was most excited to meet on-screen and interested in when I first saw the trailers of this drama was Jo Yi Seo (Kim Da Mi). And she, too, does not disappoint. I liked everything about her and especially her not being an atypical k-drama character.
I found myself consciously or unconsciously falling in love with the person she was and despising Soo-Ah for the friend she wasn't. It's official, I hate her, and I very much doubt time or any character development will change how I feel about her. Nothing much has changed about her in seven years; she is even worse than President Jang Dae Hee. At least, he does not disguise himself, nor does he pretend to be anything he is not. Even the way Sae Royi and Yi Seo first meet first cross path was interesting.
On the other hand, Soo-Ah acts like a friend dolled up in sheep's clothing but inwardly is a ravening wolf. Sae Royi is very much a man's man, he's the real class act. While he is polite, he is not a pushover, and most importantly, he has no issue admitting his faults and errors because that is what real men do. I knew Sae Royi had a plan. What I did know nor imagined was that he had a 15-year plan. I am in awe of him. I admire his perseverance and consistency, and regardless of what comes next, I was instinctively found myself rooting for him. With Jo Yi Seo and his Danbam team Ma Hyun Yi (Lee Joo Young) and Choi Seung Kwon (Ryu Kyung Soo) by his side, he was already a winner.
There is so much to like about Jo Yi-Seo, from the way she talks to her unfiltered mannerism to how she handles confrontation and specifically how she handled the annoying guy who kept following her, trying to hook up with her. It’s quite interesting how so very opposite Yi-Seo and Soo-Ah are but what's even more interesting is how quickly Yi-Seo caught on to Soo-Ah. I understand it’s too early to expect Sae Royi to see Soo-Ah for what she is and not what he's made her be; ten years is an investment, one he's decided to value no matter the circumstances, at least for now.
One thing was for sure, though, as I kept watching this second episode, I could see that Yi-Seo had already started to make a dent in Sae Royi's lifelong investment of becoming the best restauranter. It was also quite evident that it would be Jo Yi-Seo vs. Soo-Ah starting from this week onwards, and I don't mean just romantically, but business-wise. Waiting on the next episode is torture, but what choice do we have but to wait! Like Yi-Seo said, life is a series of choices producing results that match one's values. And when it comes to Sae Royi, they've both chosen according to how much they each value themselves and him.