The K-drama Weak Hero: Class 1 made waves globally back in 2022 for its powerful message about bullying and the long-term consequences of all the small things that might affect a person’s psyche. Based on a Webtoon by the same name, the show tells the story of Si-Eun, a high schooler who just cares about studying and doesn’t have any friends. Typically, the “nerd” character of such shows gets brutally bullied. Si-Eun is unique in that he uses his knowledge to fight back and show the bullies who is truly weak. Hence the title of the show. So, before the second season of the highly anticipated TV show comes out on Netflix on the 25th of April, let’s dive straight into a recap of the first season.
Spoiler Alert
How Does Si-Eun Make Friends?
Weak Hero: Class 1 begins with a dramatic scene where Si-Eun blows his top, picks up a book, and rushes to slam it in someone’s face. Then we go back a few days to find out what really made him act so violently. Si-Eun’s the kind of boy who always minds his own business and doesn’t get in anyone’s way, but when one of the bullies in his class crashes into his desk while he’s studying for an exam, all Si-Eun does is request the guy not to do it again. Somehow, this one small comment makes the bully Young-Bin’s blood boil, but before he can do anything to Si-Eun, a bunch of seniors from the basketball team show up to talk to a kid named Su-Ho. Apparently, Su-Ho’s been hitting on some girl one of the boys is interested in, but in truth, she’s the one who has been trying to talk to him. Su-Ho tries to send the kids away quietly, but they decide to act violently. Ironically, Su-Ho is trained in MMA and doesn’t even break a sweat fighting them off one by one like he’s swatting flies. Just as he’s about done, Su-Ho accidentally drops Si-Eun’s pencil pouch to the floor. The latter looks at him almost begrudgingly, but all Su-Ho does is pick it up and apologize.
On the other hand, a new student named Beom-Seok joins the class, and he’s the booksmart type too. Beom-Seok wants to make friends, but he doesn’t know how. He also hides the fact that he’s the son of an assemblyman because he’ll get bullied for it. But it seems, just by existing, he becomes a target, because Young-Bin decides to mess with Si-Eun. Young-Bin and his gang are typical bad seeds that bully their classmates, do drugs, and go to bars underage. Young-Bin’s cousin Seok-Dae sells drugs, so Young-Bin asks what’d happen if he placed a fentanyl patch on someone’s neck. Seok-Dae tells him that it’d make the person drowsy, unable to focus, and unruly.
Young-Bin gets Beom-Seok to put the patch on Si-Eun’s neck on the day of their mock test. Si-Eun realizes what’s happened and starts slapping himself in class to wake up, but it doesn’t work. When he learns he’s made mistakes in the test, Si-Eun’s anger rises. Normally, when Si-Eun is angry, he clicks his pen to calm himself down. But this time, he smashes Young-Bin’s face in with the book and stabs the pen through one of the other guy’s hands. Si-Eun continues hurting Young-Bin until Su-Ho stops him from “crossing the line.” But in the state he’s in, Si-Eun can’t see good from bad; he’s ready to beat up Su-Ho too, until a teacher shows up.
Si-Eun shows Young-Bin’s angry mother the fentanyl patch to make sure he doesn’t get in trouble. He doesn’t even bring his parents along because they’re divorced and he believes they don’t care about him. The plan works, but Young-Bin’s ego is hurt, so he decides to get his cousin and his gang to beat up Si-Eun after he’s transferred to another school. Beom-Seok, feeling guilty for having put the patch on Si-Eun (because he was threatened), begs Su-Ho to come help Si-Eun. Su-Ho says he has to go to his part-time job, so Beom-Seok says he’ll pay him double, which Su-Ho is immediately ready to accept. Si-Eun uses his brain to figure out how to escape again, but he is alone, and there are like 5 of the other guys, some of them grown adults. Su-Ho takes on Seok-Dae when he shows up, and while they’re fighting, Young-Bin gets his friends to hold onto Si-Eun so he can beat him up. Just when he picks up a bottle to really hurt Si-Eun, Beom-Seok intervenes by using a helmet to push Young-Bin, crashing him to the floor. Seok-Dae leaves, feeling too embarrassed about being beaten up by some “nerdy” high school kids, and this is how the trio become friends. Together, they also get Gil-Soo, the ringleader, i.e., Seok-Dae’s boss, who is getting kids to gamble, arrested.
Why Does Beom-Seok Turn?
Initially, it almost feels as if Beom-Seok is obsessed with Su-Ho, and though it’s clear this is the first time he’s made friends, he starts to get a little bit possessive. This becomes really apparent when Young-I, the girl from Seok-Dae’s gang, becomes friends with the other two boys, and Beom-Seok feels like she’s replaced him. Instead of talking it out with his friends, Beom-Seok starts to wallow in it, and gets it in his head that Su-Ho thinks of him as a lackey and not a friend. Beom-Seok is an orphan, publicly adopted by the assemblyman for sympathy. But the assemblyman is a terrible person who beats the boy up and calls him a good-for-nothing.
Seeing Beom-Seok making friends and possibly getting in trouble with them makes the assemblyman angry, and he beats him up even more. At the same time, Beom-Seok’s old bullies from his previous school show up, making him feel worse. He doesn’t go to school for a bit, but Su-Ho promises him that he’ll get an apology out of the bullies. But when the time comes and Beom-Seok beats the guy up even after an apology, Su-Ho stops him from getting too violent. This makes Beom-Seok angrier because it makes him feel like Su-Ho just wants to boss him around. The combination of feeling lonely and being hated by his adoptive father turns Beom-Seok sour, and he ends up siding with Young-Bin’s friends in school, now led by Jung-Chan.
Due to his overthinking, Beom-Seok eventually gets so overwhelmed with anger and loneliness that he decides Su-Ho thinks he’s the king of the world (also that he’s dating Young-I; I think there’s some sort of homoerotic hinting here, but I’m not sure), so he has to have him beaten to near death. Beom-Seok then joins hands with Young-Bin again, and this time they’ve got another friend, who is an MMA champion named Woo-Young. They know Woo-Young can defeat Su-Ho, so Beom-Seok makes a plan.
What Happens to Su-Ho?
During Su-Ho’s birthday celebration, Beom-Seok calls him a dozen times, but the guy doesn’t pick up. Beom-Seok then tells Young-I to come see him without telling Su-Ho because he wants to give him a surprise present. But when Young-I doesn’t return for a while, Si-Eun wonders if something is wrong. He sees the messages from Beom-Seok on Su-Ho’s phone and sees that he’s basically kidnapped Young-I so Su-Ho will come to save her. Si-Eun deletes the messages, hides Su-Ho’s phone, and tells him he’s going to the convenience store. Next thing you know, he gets beaten up by Young-Bin, who wanted revenge for everything that went down between them. Young-I calls the cops, but by the time they come, Beom-Seok’s walked away, and Si-Eun’s arm is broken. When in the ambulance, Si-Eun tells the cops that he was alone and then later calls Beom-Seok, telling him to stop going after Su-Ho.
However, Su-Ho goes after the bullies after realizing something’s happened to Si-Eun. When Beom-Seok calls him to a boxing ring, Su-Ho shows up voluntarily to fight Woo-Young. Woo-Young’s a bit of a social media star, so he wants to live-stream the whole thing. At first, it looks like Su-Ho’s winning, but Tae-Hoon, one of the other boys, cheats by pulling his leg and making him fall in the ring. While he’s on the floor, he gets pummelled by Woo-Young, but Beom-Seok takes this opportunity and starts to kick Su-Ho hard. Suddenly, Jung-Chan realizes that Su-Ho isn’t breathing. Beom-Seok can’t believe what he’s done, finally coming to his senses a bit. But he’s pulled away by his dad’s men, who plan on “handling” the situation.
Fortunately, Su-Ho’s been taken to the hospital, but he’s unconscious in a coma. On the other hand, Beom-Seok’s dad plans on sending his son off to Vietnam and having him killed there. Meanwhile, Si-Eun notices Su-Ho’s not in school, and after his exam, he finds out from Young-I that he’s in the hospital. After seeing Su-Ho in his near-death condition, Si-Eun feels awful, because if Su-Ho hadn’t been friends with him, he’d never have been involved in all of this. If Si-Eun had done something after realizing that Beom-Seok was lonely, it may have helped him, but ultimately, it led to Su-Ho getting hurt.
At the end of Weak Hero: Class 1, Si-Eun ticks off all the bullies one by one and gives them a brutal beating, starting with Young-Bin and then Woo-Min. But when it comes time to get Beom-Seok, he’s unable to do it because they’ve been friends. Si-Eun simply asks the guy why he did such a thing, to which Beom-Seok has no answer, so he says he doesn’t know why. In the end, because of all the violence, there’s only one school that accepts Si-Eun, and that is Eunjang High School, which, judging by appearances, looks like it’s notorious for having only bad apples. Si-Eun gets dropped off at his new school by his parents, who seem to be doing better than before because they want to help their son. But for what seems like the first time, Si-Eun’s dad understands his boy and tells him he did the right thing before he goes off to school.
The ending of the first season sets up Si-Eun in the new school, where, as usual, there will be more bullies. But this time around, we’re talking gang wars and more high school violence (I’m not sure how that’s possible, but okay). At the end of the day, Si-Eun is a good kid, so he will choose to side with what’s right, but if things get bad, he won’t just let people walk all over him. While we always condemn violence, this story is important because of how prevalent violence and bullying are in Korean high schools. Si-Eun might be a comfort character for kids who are in the same position as him and Beom-Seok. I’m very curious to see what themes season 2 will cover, but unfortunately, we won’t be seeing the return of Su-Ho and Beom-Seok (for his redemption arc).
