The new K-drama Head Over Heels, now airing on Prime, is a cute mix of romance and all things ghosts and shamans. Having seen the first two episodes, I’m reminded of the show Let’s Fight Ghost from back in the day. In this case, both lead characters are human, but one of them is a shaman and the other is permanently cursed. Additionally, it’s a high school drama, so we’re going to see the usual themes of bullying, etc., without fail. The first two episodes introduce us to the characters, and already it looks like there’s a second lead who might be grappling with jealousy issues, but we’ll have to wait and watch. If things turn out differently, I’ll be delighted. The show is based on a Chinese drama that goes by the same name, but I’m spoiler-free because I haven’t seen that one. With that said, let’s jump straight into episodes 1 and 2.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Seong-A Agree To Save Gyeon-U?
Head Over Heels begins with Seong-A, a high school student, performing a shamanic ritual overnight to summon a spirit out of a man. Seong-A is called a fairy because of how good she is at the job. I mean, she’s actually a really good shaman who also sees and communicates with real spirits. There’s nothing fake in what she does, unlike so many frauds we’ve seen in dramaland before. In Seong-A’s childhood, she was abandoned because she claimed she could see ghosts. She was then adopted by a shaman who let her practice under her as she grew-up. But the thing is, as a high schooler, Seong-A is happy; she feels like she’s living an ordinary life because everybody treats her like a regular student. It looks like Seong-A doesn’t necessarily want to lead the life of a shaman, but she doesn’t hate it either. She does like to help people, but on the other hand, she doesn’t want to be an outcast; she wants to enjoy the things regular teens enjoy and have a whirlwind romance with a handsome man. Each night after school, Seong-A helps people get over their problems as a shaman.
Most of the time, the people who show up are only looking for answers to regular problems. Seong-A doesn’t have to talk to ghosts, spirits, or whatever other supernatural thing that is expected, because it’s just therapy she needs to be giving out. This is not to say giving therapy isn’t hard, but instead of spirits, she’s looking at human problems. Seong-A is terrible at schoolwork because she often doesn’t get enough sleep, and she’s also got no time to study. But she has a friend, Ji-Ho, who is very sweet and secretly always cares for Seong-A, even though she doesn’t really pay him any heed. I’m pretty sure he’s the second lead, and things are going to get messy.
One fine day, a really handsome man appears to Seong-A during her evening sessions. This guy is Gyeon-U, and his grandmother has brought him because he has a cursed life. Gyeon-U is a pessimist and doesn’t think he can be protected. He’s ready to give in to his fated early death, but after seeing his face, Seong-A agrees to help him avoid his fate within the next 3 weeks. Additionally, he appeared to her upside down, something that was foreshadowed from a previous experience with a child holding a doll upside down in front of Seong-A. I think this makes her convinced that Gyeon-U is the love of her life. She’s fallen in love at first sight. While working, Seong-A always has a piece of fabric covering her nose and mouth, kind of like a traditional mask.
At school, Seong-A gets over-excited when she sees Gyeon-U is the new student, and everyone makes fun of her, but Gyeon-U saves her by claiming that they might’ve met before and that he remembers her. Also, if Seong-A really wants to save this boy, she has to risk her own life, some sort of strange rule in this life-and-death situation.
In the first episode, there’s a Moaning Myrtle kind of ghost in the boys’ toilets, and at first, nobody believes one of the boys in class. But after Gyeon-U comes to school, Seong-A realizes he’s at risk because of his misfortune. She goes to the boys’ toilets and finds this ghost. She uses a talisman to get through to the ghost, but she’s interrupted when some boys come in despite the maintenance sign outside. Seong-A somehow manages to escape when Gyeon-U walks in. Immediately, the ghost takes hold of him, and he feels like he’s being drowned in a pool of water. But Seong-A uses a talisman and the water hose to get the ghost away, but in turn drenches not only Gyeon-U, but also the other boys, who are basically bullies. Because of Seong-A, the whole lot gets punished for messing up the washroom.
What Happens At The Fire?
In Head Over Heels episode 2, Seong-A (and Ji-Ho, because they’re joined at the hip) try to make friends with Gyeon-U. The boy definitely finds Seong-A fascinating, but it’s not enough for him to change his worldview. Seong-A gets some talismans made for Gyeon-U, and she gets Ji-Ho to steal his phone to put one in it. But when they’re outside and trying to fiddle with Gyeon-U’s phone, his grandmother shows up. She doesn’t tell them that she saw what they were doing, but now she knows that Seong-A is the “fairy.” Meanwhile, they lie to her, saying that they found Gyeon-U’s phone, and walk her out of school. She’d come with sweets for the whole class, a bribe to get them to be nice to her grandson. Throughout the episode, Gyeon-U’s grandmother looks somewhat sickly, but anyway, Seong-A tells Gyeon-U that she wants to be close with him in front of his grandmother, asking for a home-cooked meal. This is so that she can put more of the talismans in his house.
Gyeon-U’s life hasn’t been easy at all. He was thrown out of his old school for being an arsonist. We see flashes of this fire, and a girl named Hui-Na telling Gyeon-U that he should’ve been the one to die. I think Hui-Na is a dead girl whose memories are haunting Gyeon-U because he couldn’t save her. He took the blame for the fire and also quit the archery team despite being the best kid on it. Gyeon-U later tells the coach at the new school that he won’t join the team because he can’t bear to see his grandmother feel bad because everyone hates him.
At the home lunch, Seong-A confesses that she was adopted and that she’s never had such delicious food before. It seems like Ji-Ho didn’t like that she shared something like that so casually. Later, after dinner, Seong-A realizes she needs to run to work, but Gyeon-U’s grandmother stops her and calls her “fairy,” letting her know that she knows her true identity. But, a few days later, when Gyeon-U’s grandma brings noodles for the shaman, the kid follows her and gets furious because he thinks it’s payment for his “treatment.” He doesn’t learn Seong-A’s true identity, and I don’t think he will either. Rumors spread across the school about Gyeon-U’s past, but Seong-A and Ji-Ho still sit with him at lunch and act like friends, fulfilling his grandmother’s wishes.
There’s a vengeful spirit in the school that died of burn wounds, and he sets the storage room on fire while Gyeon-U’s in it. Seong-A tries to save him with her shamanic ways, but it’s not enough. Finally, Ji-Ho using an extinguisher is what saves everybody. Seong-A puts her hand out, and it seems like, for the first time, Gyeon-U takes it.
At the end of Head Over Heels episode 2, Gyeon-U’s grandmother comes to see Seong-A, even though it’s her day off. They sit down to have a conversation, and Gyeon-U’s grandmother tells Seong-A that her grandson was always treated badly by the people around him, even his own parents. As a kid, he got hurt so much that it felt like everyone was telling him to die. She says it’s humans who kill other humans. Seong-A tells her that she will protect Gyeon-U and help him, but when she places her hand on his grandmother’s, it goes through, making it clear that Gyeon-U’s grandmother has died. She has one last request for Seong-A: to go and hold Gyeon-U’s hand because he’s truly alone now. Seong-A runs to the funeral home, which seems to be very far away, but she’s in her shaman wear. When she gets there, Gyeon-U stops her from entering, telling her to get out, but Seong-A stays firm, telling him that she’s there to see his grandmother, not him. I don’t know yet if it would be worse for her to admit who she really is, but for the time being she’s not going to.
