Crash Course in Romance deals with a love triangle between three of its characters who mostly spend time in the periphery of the central characters and their storylines.
While it mainly focuses on the ups and downs of Haeng-Seon and Chi-Yeol’s relationship and banter, Crash Course in Romance also has a love triangle that starts brewing between three of its characters midway through the story.
The vertices of this love triangle are Nam Hae-e, Lee Sun-Jae, and Seo Geon-Hu, all of whom become part of this situation coming with different expectations and levels of determination.
Nam Hae-e
Hae-e is a studious girl of sincerity and strong willpower. She feels the gravity of the situation that her family has been through and is going through. She is very much aware of the struggles that Haeng-Seon, her aunt, has to endure to provide her education among other things.
And hence, Hae-e is very mindful of the work she needs to put in, to be able to one day achieve her dreams, to excel in her exams and academics so her aunt’s efforts and sacrifices can bear fruit. This is why she’s always so preoccupied with her studies over anything else.
As far as her romantic life is concerned, she isn’t really that attentive to matters of love and crushes. Even when Geon-Hu puts up such outstanding displays of affection and asks her out on many occasions, she’s only flustered by the public nature of it.
She does care for Sun-Jae, though, perhaps most among all her friends as she has always been able to share everything with him. The only boy she seems to be truly concerned about is Sun-Jae, but she can’t prioritize her CSAT over him.
It takes her two years after the CSAT exams to give Sun-Jae the answer he’s waiting for patiently for so long.
Lee Sun-Jae
Sun-Jae is the real romantic in this love triangle and the only one who seems to harbor the most serious and intense romantic feelings for his crush. He’s been a quiet kid who’s also troubled by the tumultuous household that he hails from.
However, he’s at his best and most jovial when he’s around Hae-e, who he’s had a crush on for a long time. However, he takes a long time to confess his feelings to her. There are some legitimate fears that hold him back from doing so, the most understandable being that confessing might end up ruining the friendship that he shares with Hae-e, something he values a great deal.
He does end up confessing his feelings for Hae-e to her, but his timing could have been better. As expected, Hae-e needs time to tell him, which is until she clears her CSAT exams.
However, she ends up taking a lot longer than that, and Sun-Jae waits through all that time, before demanding an answer from her. Hae-e’s kiss in response seals the deal and the two start dating as the show comes to its conclusion.
Seo Geon-Hu
An explosive athlete who has to start attending classes after an injury ruins his game and the future prospect, Geon-Hu instantly shoots his shot at the classroom rep, Hae-e.
From asking her to teach him the basics, to eating from her lunch, and generally just hanging around her, Geon-Hu constantly hits on Hae-e throughout his screentime on Crash Course in Romance.
However, he soon realizes that Hae-e isn’t really into him and that her connection and bond with Sun-Jae seems to be really strong and special. In the end, he still playfully says that there might still be a chance for him, however, he’s shown to be developing a romantic dynamic with Bang Su-A, as Hae-e and Sun-Jae start dating each other.
Also Read: Lee Sun-Jae: Crash Course in Romance character explained