Name: Crash Course in Romance season 1 episode 9
Director: Yoo Je-Won
Released: 2023-02-11T20:00:00

In Crash Course in Romance season 1 episode 9, Haeng-Seon and Chi-Yeol contend with the secret of the latter’s private tutoring being exposed, followed by a smear campaign that antagonizes the two figures in society’s eyes.

Recap

The Pride Academy moms confront Chi-Yeol about his unfair tutoring of Hae-e. Chi-Yeol takes matters into his own hand and argues he’s done nothing wrong since he charges her nothing and that he’s doing so since he felt her expelling from the All Care program was unfair.

Haeng-Seon runs off to take the blame on herself, but Chi-Yeol stops her. Later, he remains stern in his stance against the moms in front of the director as well. Su-Hui then posts a defamatory article about Chi-Yeol and Haeng-Seon’s affair online.

Chi-Yeol can’t stand that Haeng-Seon’s getting blamed for providing sexual favors to him in exchange for Hae-e’s tutoring. Meanwhile, the post takes effect and Haeng-Seon begins registering fewer and fewer customers.

The online post fires up gossip and rumors which eventually reach Hae-e’s school as well, even leading to Sun-Jae and Geon-Hu fighting other students who pass disparaging remarks about Hae-e.

A streamer by the name of Mr. Popular sneaks into Haeng-Seon’s shop and exposes her face to hundreds of thousands of people. What transpires gives Jae-Woo a panic attack and he’s hospitalized as a result of it. When Chi-Yeol hears about it, he rushes off to see him.

Meanwhile, Hae-e stops herself just as she’s about to publish an online post about her real relationship with Haeng-Seon. It’s revealed that a student had once betrayed her trust in the past when she revealed this secret to her.

As she beats herself up for not being courageous enough, Chi-Yeol and Haeng-Seon share a romantic moment before Chi-Yeol kind of grows cold feet and tells her that he would not be tutoring Hae-e anymore.

Later on, the other moms celebrate as Haeng-Seon and Chi-Yeol’s romance seems to have ended before it could even start. When Haeng-Seon attends a talk show later on, unaware that it’s hosted by Chi-Yeol himself, the questions from women regarding his fresh scandal target her.

As a heartbroken Haeng-Seon leaves the building, Chi-Yeol notices her, before cutting the woman off by announcing that it was he who had a crush on Haeng-Seon and that he didn’t deserve her, before Crash Course in Romance episode 9 rolls the credits.

Review

Crash Course in Romance finally drops Chi-Yeol’s confession, and in quite a significant manner as well. The repercussions of his announcing his feelings for Haeng-Seon will definitely be inflicted upon his career and reputation.
However, seeing him finally confess his feelings is a heartwarming affair, leading only to more anticipation regarding what transpires next between these two love birds.
Meanwhile, Hui-Jae’s arc takes an interesting albeit expected turn, as he’s shown to be reeling with the traumatic events that he’s recently been a part of.
It’s always painted as if he’s the prime instigator and the culprit in all of this, but his panic and anxieties are more likely to stem from witnessing a morbid event, not causing it.