The Midnight Romance in Hagwon Episode 13

sticks the landing for the eternal conflict in noona romances

Once again, solid episode. The previous episodes did very well to build up the kind of culture and environment the hagwon life is, so while it's completely ridiculous that Hye Jin's career is being threatened by her relationship with Jun Ho, it also makes sense. We know how the culture works. Even as an audience, we learned about how two other instructors ruined their academy by getting romantically involved. The stakes are indeed high, and the show did a good job in establishing that.

I was shocked that it was the White-Haired Witch who dropped the bomb that Hye Jin and Jun Ho were involved. I'm glad it was her and not the Vice Director. Also, liked how we got the Director back and how you can tell that he is in Hye Jin's corner, compared to how he tried to abandon her earlier in the drama. Him saying that he already knew they'd get together was the sole comedic point in this episode.

What I really liked was that Hye Jin at no point says the words "we should break up". I think this is always the quintessential line that comes with age-gap, noona romances, when a partner either can't endure the gossip or doesn't want their loved one to have to put up with it. And that's why I really expected Hye Jin to say it at the end, but instead we get her confession of love to Jun Ho which was very sweetly done. I feel for Hye Jin so much. I feel less of that for Jun Ho, who as a character is very good, but he's basically the reason as to why everything is crumbling down now. And even though he's the reason, I didn't get the sense that he was truly suffering from what was going on. Yes, he was concerned for Hye Jin's sake, but you never get the sense that he's concerned for his own sake. Which is nice, but it makes him less complex compared to Hye Jin. Maybe the next episode will introduce more of his own struggles with this situation.

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