Lovely Rivals 2004

On the first day of the new elementary school year in Korea, Ms. Yeo Mi-ok Yum Jung-ah is a stern figure who lays down the law in the classroom. She is strict and demanding, setting a high bar for her students from the outset. When her new student Go Mi-nam Lee Se-young arrives late and calmly takes her seat, Mi-ok ignores Mi-nam, choosing to keep the focus on discipline rather than welcome. For a punishment, Mi-nam is assigned bathroom cleaning duty, but her response is forceful: she defends herself against taunts by beating the girls who tease her and makes them clean as well. At home, Mi-nam’s life is one of quiet, lonely moments, as she shares a cramped space with her mother who works long hours at the food and alcohol tent she owns, leaving little time for her child.

Back at school, the newest male teacher Mr. Kwon Sang-min [Lee Ji-hoon] is drawing attention with his good looks, and soon many female teachers and students are drawn to him. Mi-nam tries to apologize and unburden herself to Ms. Yeo, who remains cool and distracted by her own interest in Mr. Kwon. The teacher and the student push a tense rivalry to a breaking point, culminating when Ms. Yeo slaps Mi-nam in class—and the scene is recorded on a student’s cellphone camera. She resigns from the school but, in time, makes amends with Mi-nam and returns to teach.