My Tutor Friend 2003

Ji-hoon [Kwon Sang-woo] and Su-wan [Kim Ha-neul] are two twenty-one-year-olds whose lives collide in a story that threads ambition, loyalty, and the push–pull of young love. Su-wan works hard in the family fried-chicken business, but to help fund her education she also takes on tutoring jobs for neighborhood kids. Her methods are blunt and occasionally lead to trouble, yet she keeps at it because the pay can cover an entire college semester. Her mother, Su-wan’s mother, keeps a steady eye on the family’s finances while navigating her own circle of friends and expectations, and one particularly wealthy friend with a son in need of tutoring becomes the turning point that drags Su-wan toward Ji-hoon.

Ji-hoon, newly transferred to Surim High School, instantly stands out for more than his appearance—he has a knack for drawing attention, partly through his willingness to fight when provoked. Among the rivals at Surim is Lee Jong-soo, the school’s king of the punch and a magnet for trouble, and Jong-soo’s girlfriend Ho-kyung [Kim Ji-woo] keeps her own eye on the situation. Despite the rough surface, Ji-hoon is not merely a troublemaker; he’s a well-rounded kid who once studied in the United States, a background that strains his relationship with his parents. His father, Ji-hoon’s Father [Baek Il-seob], tenses at the idea that Ji-hoon could slip further from the path of responsibility, especially as grades dip. The family fear is practical: Ji-hoon must bring his mid-term score up to at least fifty percent to avoid a return to the United States, a pressure that shapes every choice he makes.

From their first tense encounters, Su-wan and Ji-hoon collide and clash, yet the tutoring arrangement gradually becomes the quiet engine that moves their feelings forward. Su-wan, stubborn but sincere, refuses to quit on Ji-hoon, and her persistence slowly loosens his rough edges. The dynamic is charged; Ji-hoon’s bravado softens, and Su-wan’s guarded warmth begins to show. The two begin to understand one another beyond the push-pull of their initial dynamic, and the term’s end becomes a hinge point for every future choice they will make together.

When the term wraps, Ji-hoon barely passes with a 50.1, a result that triggers the next bet between them. Su-wan agrees to dance in front of a college festival crowd, a moment that exposes vulnerability as she moves from embarrassment to genuine exhilaration. The crowd’s cheer becomes a tangible sign that their budding bond might survive the rough roads ahead. Ji-hoon’s jealousy begins to surface as he watches other guys approach Su-wan, and he finds himself unable to ignore the fact that his feelings aren’t being dismissed as simply infatuation.

The tension intensifies when Su-wan’s world collides with that of her past, as the man she has feelings for seems torn between loyalty and heartbreak. A confrontation at a friend’s house reveals a break with a former partner, and Ji-hoon’s protective instincts surge to the front. What follows is a charged exchange of honor and fear, a moment that catalyzes Ji-hoon to step up in a way that surprises both of them. Afterward, they take a symbolic ride into the sky, a sky-sailing moment that becomes inseparable from Ji-hoon’s confession of his feelings. Su-wan, still unsure how to respond, lets the moment pass as she pretends not to hear him through the earpiece, a small but telling barrier between fear and longing.

Their next adventure takes them to an amusement park, where innocent laughter competes with the weight of their complicated connection. A chance encounter with a college friend who shares a private concern about Su-wan’s tutoring adds a layer of tension: the friend misreads the situation and accuses Ji-hoon of romantic involvement, which Ji-hoon bitterly disputes. In a moment of frustration, he discards a present into a fountain and walks away, a symbolic gesture that signals the end of a chapter and the uncertain opening of another.

Yet the consequences of Ji-hoon’s past actions catch up with him. An escalation of violence follows, drawing in Ho-kyung and her group, Jong-soo and his gang, and real gang members who drag Su-wan into danger. The couple retreat only to be cornered on a beach, where Ji-hoon must confront a mounting wall of attackers. In a climactic exchange, Ji-hoon faces the mafia’s best fighter with the odds stacked against him. The moment’s turning point arrives when Su-wan shatters the impending danger with a bold kick to the groin, a decisive act that frees them both. They escape on Su-wan’s chicken-delivery scooter, the necklace he once gave her now worn by her as a sign of their bond.

What follows is a nuanced coda about trust, resilience, and partnership. The pair are no longer strangers to each other’s lives; they’re a couple who have learned to navigate the rough edges of loyalty, danger, and desire. Su-wan continues to tutor Ji-hoon’s younger brother, Se-hoon, cementing a new family dynamic built on support and mutual respect. The story closes with a sense of quiet hope: two twenty-somethings who started at odds discover that their strongest bond comes from standing together when the world is loud, unkind, or uncertain.

• Ji-hoon [Kwon Sang-woo] and Su-wan [Kim Ha-neul] are the central pairing, whose evolving relationship anchors the narrative.

• Jong-soo [Gong Yoo] and Ho-kyung [Kim Ji-woo] frame the social and romantic turbulence around Ji-hoon.

• Ji-hoon’s Father [Baek Il-seob] and Su-wan’s Mother [Kim Ja-ok] appear as the familial pressures that shape decisions.

• The story threads through high school rivalries, college-life expectations, and a late-blooming bravery that lets two people grow together.