True Beauty (2020)
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The drama adaptation seems to go out of its way to make Jugyeong's life pre-makeup miserable; her whole family ridicules her for being the ugly one of the family, she's bullied by the popular kids in her old high school to the point of nearly committing suicide and even gets rejected rather harshly by a senior she liked (granted, he too was manipulated by the popular crowd but still).
And Call Him "George": Downplayed but she gives Suho a very strong hug that he tells her he cannot breathe and coughs a little after they pull apart.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Suho was the first one to tell her she looks good with or without makeup.
Beautiful All Along: The entire plot of True Beauty is Jugyeong looking ugly with her acne, red cheeks, thick glasses and eyebrows but the instant she irons her hair, trims those eyebrows and covers her acne she becomes unrecognizable and is suddenly considered a belle.
Black Sheep: Jugyeong is somehow the only ugly and academically inept one of her family while the rest are good-looking and smart.
Break the Cutie: Happens to her throughout episode 13 until she snaps at her mom, who was also harshly scolding her, and asks her if she isn't allowed to be happy while crying.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Jugyeong's relationship with Suho is the perfect example of this. She is the perky gentle girl to Suho's angsty loner boy. She even gives him a Cooldown Hug once and is very gentle with him in general.
Character Development: She decides to show up to school without makeup on after the whole fiasco that happened and defend herself from bullies and rumors spread about her and then announces that she is indeed dating Suho after repeatedly insisting on keeping it a secret. She is also significantly less insecure and clumsy than she was during her high school days.
Cosmetic Catastrophe: Jugyeong's first attempt at makeup before transferring schools was... disastrous to say the least. She even shaved a part of her eyebrows by mistake one time. Doubles as Makeover Fail, as well.Hyunsook: Makeup my butt! That is ghost makeup! Did you just come out of filming for "Korean Ghost Stories?"
Damsel in Distress: She gets kidnapped around episode 6 by the gang who are after Seojun as a way to lure him out and not only Seojun comes to save her.. but Suho and all of her friends also come as well and together they hilariously take down the gang one after the other. Talk about a dramatic rescue!
Determinator: Becomes one after her character development and gains more confidence shedding away her old awkward and anxious self.
Driven to Suicide: She comes very close to ending it all by jumping off a building after being harshly rejected by her crush and ruthlessly bullied by her peers, but ultimately changes her mind after seeing a commemorative billboard for idol singer Seyeon (who also killed himself and was the same age as her), just before Suho shows up on the roof and pulls her down to safety.
Embarrassing Rescue: Doubles as Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like. She is not happy when Seojun saves her from falling on the floor and possibly cracking her head open by awkwardly placing his hand behind her head and thus ending up falling on top of her in a compromising position that his nearby friends start teasing them about, so she headbutts him and tells him off for saving her.
Friend Versus Lover: She worries about having this dilemma after she starts dating Suho, but also realizes that her best friend Sujin also likes him. In the end, she decides to just be honest with Sujin and come forward about her relationship and her concerns with this trope. Sujin appears to reassure her that everything is fine and that nothing with change. Unfortunately, Sujin has other plans.
In-Universe Catharsis: Has a powerful one where she finally snaps at Suho for making her do things for him in exchange for not revealing her secret to the whole school and tells him this:Jugyeong: What's the difference between you and those who made me a loner and a dumpling shuttle? It's not my fault that I'm ugly, so why is everyone hating on me? What's the point of wearing makeup and becoming pretty? I'm still the ugly Jugyeong!
She also has another one with her mom after her mom scolds her sternly for taking part-time jobs and planning to go to a makeup academy without telling her parents. See Break the Cutie above.
Genki Girl: She remains cheerful and kind to everyone around her despite the excessive bullying she went through.
The Glasses Gotta Go: She replaces her thick-framed unflattering glasses with clear lenses as part of her makeover.
Grew a Spine: She stops running away from confrontations and bravely faces her bullies alone and decides that she will only listen to people who love her as of episode 13. She also stands up to the bratty and annoying singer she was assigned to work with, in the final episode.
Heroic BSoD: Has one at the end of episode 12 when her worst fear is realized and her secret is revealed to everyone at her school.
Middle Child Syndrome: Jugyeong is a classic example of this trope. Even her struggles and interests are ignored by her family. Combined with The Un Favourite. Her mom clearly favors their eldest daughter and youngest son over her not so much now that her mom and siblings know of how badly she was treated at her previous school and stop giving her a hard time at home.
New Transfer Student: Starts the drama as a Saebom High transferee in which the majority of her life-changing events take place.
Not with Them for the Money: Jugyeong does not care about Suho's social status or fame but befriends and falls in love with him for how nice he is to her.
No, You Hang Up First: Has a brief exchange like this over the phone with Suho once they start dating.
Took a Level in Badass: She goes from being passive and non-confrontational in most of the series to someone who stands up for themselves and fights back at the end of it.
Uncanny Valley Makeup: Her first ever attempt at makeup results in this. She gets better though.
Was It Really Worth It?: She sometimes wonders if concealing her real face behind makeup in public has been worth all of the difficulties it entails, especially after her past begins to catch up with her when Hyemin transfers to Saebom High.Jugyeong: Yeah. Living with two faces is extremely exhausting, and it's continuously humiliating. Jugyeong (to herself after narrowly avoiding Hyemin in the bathroom): Until when will you live like this?
Yank the Dog's Chain: By the end of episode 12, everything appears to be looking up for Jugyeong, perhaps for the first time in her life. She has enrolled in a make-up academy to learn how to be a professional make-up artist, she and Suho appear to have worked out most of their relationship issues, she took first place in an Instagram goddess competition and even got selected to be her school's promotional model for the next year's enrollment sessions. And then pictures of her true face get leaked onto her school's message board...
You Don't Look Like You: In-universe, she looks so different in make-up that her phone's facial recognition login was unable to recognize her bare face!
True Beauty (2020)
Adaptational Badass: Even though TV-Suho does jiujitsu too, he's still tougher than webtoon Suho, who despite having a good heart was physically a wimp until meeting Seyeon and Seojun made him toughen up. There are also his basketball skills and musicianship; webtoon Suho was mostly a cheerleader/moral support for Seyeon and Seojun making it big in the music industry.
Adaptational Early Appearance: In the drama, he first meets Jugyeong when he happens to see her standing on the edge of the roof of a building and rushes to pull her back to safety. However, because neither of them introduced themselves, and because Jugyeong lost her glasses when he yanked her down, they don't realize that they met here until much later. This is in contrast to the webtoon, where his first appearance and first meeting with Jugyeong was at the comic book store after Jugyeong had changed schools and completed her makeover.
Adaptation Personality Change: Oh boy. This is what basically happened to Suho. In the series, he shows little to no expressions, has a hot and cold attitude especially to Jugyeong, is always stalking and staring at her and even tells her to quit the part-time job she goes to with Seojun due to his jealousy. While in the webtoon, he was just a socially awkward and calm person who is way less creepy and detached than his drama version.
Academic Athlete: He does jiujitsu, plays basketball so well and is a diligent student.
Character Development: He is much warmer and more open to expressing emotions than he was at the beginning of the series and he improves his relationship with Seojun.
Armor-Piercing Question: Combined with Armor-Piercing Response. He bombards his father with multiple brutal ones during his emotional burst in episode 11.Suho: "Saying you did not know makes it all right? Do you honestly think you are not responsible? I was not able to answer Seyeon's last call. Thinking that it led to his suicide... has been haunting me all this time. But... you were the reason why this happened. Why be afraid of some rumor with an actress? AS IF IT IS ANY BIG DEAL!"
Big "NO!": Screams out a dramatically hilarious NOOOO! with him falling down on his knees and everything when Jugyeong leaves him behind to go with Seojun in his dream.
Birds of a Feather: He and Jugyeong bond over their love for horror comics and go to a horror comics shop together from time to time.
But Now I Must Go: When Juheon unexpectedly experiences a brain aneurysm and faints while in America, Suho is forced to move to take care of him; just as he and Jugyeong were getting closer.
Chick Magnet: Given his pretty-boy looks and chic attitude this is an inevitable consequence that has earned him the nickname God Suho.
Comical Overreacting: Suho has a somewhat unexpected one in the pilot episode when he finds out that the first page of a comic book he came to borrow was torn. His reaction to the store owner telling him to skip that page is this as he goes on a long heated rant about how, following this logic, we should just start everything from the second half and disregard the first half. All of this just because the bookstore owner told him to overlook the torn page and start reading from the next one. And the shop keeper's reaction? He only points out how Suho has not changed one bit.
The Comically Serious: Offers Jugyeong a plastic cup to pee in while trapped in an elevator with her (and Seojun) in all seriousness with both Seojun and Jugyeong looking at him in absolute shock and disgust that he even merely suggested this. Also, him ignoring Taehoon's entire existence at the beginning counts as well.
Crazy Jealous Guy: He is one towards Jugyeong as he constantly interrupts all of her interactions with Seojun and is taken up to eleven in episode 10 where he asks her to quit the part-time job she works at along with Seojun. Somewhat justified since he lost a close friend to suicide which made him scared of losing people he cares about. Though, he tones it down as part of his Character Development where he does not interfere with their interactions anymore and is actually pretty cool with it.
Defrosting Ice King: He is initially cold toward other people and anti-social, but begins to soften up after befriending Jugyeong and restoring his friendship with Seojun.
Failure-to-Save Murder: Seyeon is the child, Suho is the Hero and Seojun is the Fool. This is also the main reason behind Seojun and Suho's fallout, as Seojun relentlessly blames Seyeon's death on Suho's failure at answering his call before he attempts suicide, which further deteriorates Suho's mental state. Later, Suho is seen having a Heroic BSoD after he hears Seyeon's song, Starlight, for the first time since the incident.Suho: I know you think Seyeon died because of me. Seojun: It's not that I know. It's a fact. Suho: How long will you take it out on me, then? Seojun: Until you die... and meet Seyeon in the afterlife.
Just the Way You Are: He frequently assures Jugyeong that she is pretty with or without makeup, as seen in his quote above.
Hypocrite: Tells Jugyeong to quit her part-time job because he hates seeing her work with Seojun and says that guys and girls cannot be friends even though he himself is friends with Sujin. The irony of the situation does not go unnoticed by Jugyeong who calls him out on it by bringing up his friendship with Sujin.
Insecure Love Interest: He is scared of losing Jugyeong, the first person who genuinely got interested in him without caring about his status and fame, to someone else. He even urges Seojun to give up on his feelings for her and is ALWAYS present whenever she is with Seojun.
Hates Their Parent: His relationship with his father is so strained to the point that Suho would rather spend his birthday alone in a manhwa cafe than go to a nice restaurant with him.
I Let Gwen Stacy Die: How he feels after not picking up Seyeon's (last) phone call that day.
It's All My Fault: Suho blames himself for Seyeon's death and, feeling extremely guilty, he does not object nor defend himself when Seojun calls him a murderer.
Lonely Rich Kid: He didn't have many friends growing up, aside from Sujin, and his mom died when he was still a kid. Plus, he doesn't have a good relationship with his father either which makes him even lonelier.
Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: After befriending Jugyeong and then Taehoon, whom he used to ignore all of his high-fives and his existence in general, Suho comes out of his shell little by little and acts nicer toward Jugyeong, returns Taehoon's high-fives and even lets him and Hyungyu play at his house.
Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: At the beginning of True Beauty, he is referred to as a sociopath by Soo-ah and has a distant and aloof outward personality to everyone but he just does not know how to communicate his feelings better and is actually a nice person once people get to befriend him for who he really and is not for his looks or money.
Not So Stoic: Toward episode 11 and 12 where he has an emotional burst and delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to his father, and him starting to smile and come out of his shell more after making up with Seojun.
Race Lift: Downplayed, but in the webtoon he's technically part Japanese due to his mother being a Japan-born Korean; a flashback in the webtoon showed he faced some discrimination for this and is even introduced leading the Japanese language study group. In the series, there's no mention of his Japanese nationality.
Secret-Keeper: He learns about Jugyeong's true face early on, but helps her keep it hidden from others. Not without some blackmailing at first, though.
The Stoic: He is usually expressionless and doesn't display a lot of emotions.
Stalker with a Crush: He is constantly stalking her whenever she is with Seojun and somehow follows them to the mall and almost everywhere else.. until he tones it significantly down in the second half of the series as part of his Character Development. It is very palpable that even Hyungyu, one of his classmates, jokingly calls him out on it. Zigzagged, as he goes back to following her around in episode 15 and this time it is less justifiable since he was the one who broke up with her and ghosted her for 2 years and then decided to enter her life again like nothing happened when she clearly is still upset with him.
The Generic Guy: Taehoon and Hyungyu tease him by telling him that he seems like the "tiring boring type" after calling him out for stalking his now-girlfriend Jugyeong. He later has a Dream Sequence where she breaks up with him for being stodgy, then, out of nowhere, Seojun enters the scene on a motorcycle and tells Jugyeong that he is the opposite of that and asks her to ride with them which she accepts leaving Suho behind, who comically screams NO! and breaks down on the ground.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's effortlessly handsome, is 183cm tall, has black hair and a stoic personality.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Goes from being withdrawn and impassive to being a sweet and loving person who shows more emotions than he used to prior to episode 11.
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