As long as they get their way, the tiger mothers have no problem crossing red lines, even if it means ruining someone else’s life through the so-called scandal of the nation. We may have seen it coming, but watching it play hits really hard. Who knows? It may be a cloud with a silver lining, bringing our leads together after shifting them apart.

Picking up where we left off, Haeng-soon and Chi-yeol are ambushed by a bunch of angry tiger mothers who have come at this hour to confront our leads about the private tutoring. For sure, those mothers have much time on their hands, being so nosy in other people’s lives, all while ignoring their not-at-all-perfect lives.

Crash Course in Romance episode 9: Standing up to the mothers’ squad

Chi-yeol is unfazed, telling Haeng-soon to stay put until he sorts it out. If the mothers want to talk, let’s head to his office. They might have no problem catching a cold, but will they take responsibility if something happens to Chi-yeol?

Yeah, Chi-yeol tutors Hae-Yi in secret, but what is the problem with that? Also, there is no legal issue as Chi-yeol doesn’t receive any money in return. If they can report him, then be his guest. What is wrong with helping a student who got kicked out unfairly no thanks to their schemes? As for the materials, Chi-yeol has the copyrights, so he can do as he sees fit with them.

Seeing how cool as a cucumber Chi-yeol is, refusing to let their words get to him, the helicopter mothers are taken aback. Why is he not remorseful and begging for forgiveness? Our star instructor is for sure different. 

However, it is only that much that Haeng-soon can stay still. Just as Chi-yeol is about to send the mothers away, Haeng-soon meddles in, arguing she is the one who begged Chi-yeol and made a scene to get him to tutor Hae-Yi.

For someone used to offense, shifting suddenly to defense is not easy, so staying put may be something other than what Haeng-soon is capable of. Luckily, Chi-yeol takes her out of the room before things get worse. 

Haeng-soon might think she is sacrificing herself to keep Chi-yeol safe, but she is causing more trouble. No wonder Chi-yeol correctly assumes that Haeng-soon had got lots of red cards for her mediocre teamwork skills. 

Chi-yeol may think it is okay to tutor Hae-Yi in his free time. Still, if the mothers’ squad views it as a problem, they will go all out to have their way, threatening to boycott Chi-yeol if he doesn’t quit tutoring Hae-Yi. To their surprise, Chi-yeol doesn’t budge an inch. If they want him out of the All-care program, so be it. It isn’t like they are the warriors of justice and morals; they are just jealous that Hae-Yi came first in the mock exam.

Crash Course in Romance episode 9: Staging a scandal to get our leads

Worried about Chi-yeol, Haeng-soon suggests they put off the tutoring sessions, but Chi-yeol refuses. It isn’t like they did anything wrong. Since the boycotting won’t work on Chi-yeol, why not go so far as staging a scandal between the top star instructor and a student’s mother who, despite being married, seduced that instructor into tutoring her daughter?

As far as snooping around is concerned, Su-ah’s mother is the worst best, so getting pictures of Haeng-soon going in and out of Chi-yeol’s apartment is a piece of cake. The next step is writing a provoking post and peppering it up with thoughts about how the so-called husband will feel when he finds out that his wife is having an affair with their daughter’s teacher. 

Hence, it doesn’t take long for the post to go viral, and the nation’s scandal becomes the talk of the town. Even if their names have yet to be revealed. People have already guessed it is Chi-yeol. 

Haeng-soon offers to write an explanation post, but Chi-yeol turns her down. Writing an explanation post may get things to backfire more, which is the opposite of what they need right now. The only thing Haeng-soon can do is keep Hae-Yi from using social media.

Crash Course in Romance episode 9: Hae-Yi is torn between telling the truth or protecting herself

But it is too late, as Hae-Yi has already read the post. To make matters worse, after a relentless search, a despicable influencer finds out the identity of the mother mentioned in the post, capturing Haeng-soon and the side dishes stored on his live stream. 

No thanks to him, Haeng-soon’s photos are now plastered on social media, and everyone is gossiping about her, which leads to Jae-woo getting scared and passing out. 

While Hae-Yi gets bullied by obnoxious boys at school, luckily for her, Seon-jae and Gun-hoo come to rescue, which leads to them getting into a fight with the bullies. The homeroom teacher asks them to write apology letters, but Seon-Jae writes both letters since Gun-hoo’s spelling sucks.

Hae-Yi is now in a tight corner. Yet again, she feels that her mere existence is a nuisance. If she tells everyone the truth about Haeng-soon being her aunt, people will stop criticizing Haeng-soon, and Chi-yeol will no longer suffer. But it is easier said than done, as Hae-Yi can’t bring herself to muster up the courage to tell everyone the truth. And who can blame her? 

I mean, the onetime Hae-Yi confided in anyone enough to tell them about her secret, that so-called friend not only told everyone about it but also cut off Hae-Yi. As a result, Hae-Yi had to move schools, and her whole family had to move. But as Young-Joo says, it isn’t Hae-Yi’s fault but the grown-ups’ fault—the ones who have no problem trampling on others to get their way.

Crash Course in Romance episode 9: Our star instructor facing his feelings for our heroine:

Although he has a lot on his plate because of the scandal, that doesn’t stop Chi-yeol from dropping by the store to check on Haeng-soon. Hearing about Jae-woo passing out and getting taken to the hospital, Chi-yeol, worried, hurries there. He also makes sure Haeng-soon eats something.

Since their faces might be recognized, they stay in Chi-yeol’s car, which, as Haeng-soon says, feels like a date with a celebrity. Except, our leads have yet to reach that phase. Seeing that Haeng-soon falls asleep in the car, Chi-yeol adjusts her seat and covers her with his jacket. This time Chi-yeol gives in to his feelings, caressing her cheeks. It can’t be denied anymore. Chi-yeol is in love with Haeng-soon.

Now that he gets aware of his feelings, everything gets complicated. As much as I wanted to reach that stage where Chi-yeol admitted to falling in love with Haeng-soon, a little thing slipped my mind. According to Chi-yeol’s personality, he would go with the 

staying-away-to-protect-the-woman-he-loves trope. After that swoony moment in the car (Chi-yeol’s gaze is full of love), Chi-yeol tells Haeng-soon that he will quit tutoring Hae-Yi.

Haeng-soon pretends to be okay, saying that she understands his decision, but her teary eyes say something else. 

Before she gets off, Haeng-soon thanks Chi-yeol for everything he has done for them till now and wishes him happiness. But can Chi-yeol be truly happy when he is away from her? Haeng-soon goes into the hospital, and, for a moment, my hopes get up when Chi-yeol follows her there. But it isn’t to hold on to her but to give her some supplies for Jae-woo. 

Crash Course in Romance episode 9: Back to square one again

For the next few days, everything returns to how it was before our leads met each other. But for sure, something is missing. Chi-yeol agrees to return to the All-care program in return for Su-ah’s mother taking down the post. 

The tiger mothers gather to celebrate their success, complimenting Su-ah’s mother’s strategic skills as if they were fighting injustice. Dong-hee drops by the store to hand over some workbooks from Chi-yeol since that is all he can do for Hae-Yi. Jae-woo is sad he can’t see Chi-yeol anymore. 

Haeng-soon and Hae-Yi pretend to be doing fine, though they aren’t. Since the workbooks alone aren’t enough, Haeng-soon sets to look for another academy for Hae-Yi. Thus, she stumbles on a talk show announcement. Unaware of Chi-yeol being the guest on the talk show, Haeng-soon plans to attend the talk show. It is the first time Haeng-soon runs into Chi-yeol after parting ways, and she can’t hide her longing feelings.

Although it was notified that questions about the scandal aren’t allowed, an obnoxious mother asks Chi-yeol to explain his stance on the scandal for them to understand. Another obnoxious one argues that it isn’t Chi-yeol’s fault. He was only helping out a student. But it is the student’s mother who should explain why she tried to make a move on someone out of her league. Hearing that, Haeng-soon gets hurt and decides to get out.

Before Haeng-soon leaves the room, though, Chi-yeol spots her, and for probably the first time in his life, Chi-yeol speaks up about his real feelings in public. It isn’t the mother’s fault. He is the one who developed feelings for her. She is a kind-hearted woman who shines brightly, but he is the one who doesn’t deserve her.

What a way to end the episode. I am now experiencing mixed feelings. I am elated that Chi-yeol finally voiced his feelings for Haeng-soon. Still, I am worried that Haeng-soon might go with the noble idiocy trope and turn him down out of worry for him. Also, what if Chi-yeol pretends that nothing happened and asks Haeng-soon to dismiss everything he said?