EDIDIONG'S PUBLIC DIARY

In this world, Shinhwa Group (“shinhwa”
meaning “legend”) is the most powerful
corporation in Korea, perhaps best compared
to real-life Samsung, only bigger and more
powerful. Shinhwa makes cars, owns
department stores, and is virtually
everywhere — its empire even includes an
elite school. At the beautiful Shinhwa
campus, pampered students flaunt their
wealth and band together in cliques.
Unfortunately, just being rich isn’t enough to
survive the teen tyranny at Shinhwa —
outsiders or loners are often marked as
targets by the bored uber-clique F4. Once a
student is delivered F4’s “red card,” it
signals the rest of the school to go all out in
harassment and bullying.
This guy, having just received the dreaded
red card, is immediately chased by students
and beaten. He’s cornered into a bathroom,
puts up a good fight, and manages to
escape.
Geum Jan-di (actress Gu Hye-sun ) arrives at
the school bearing a dry-cleaning delivery,
amazed at all the splendor. Students talk
excitedly about the newest F4 victim, joking
that they’d known he wouldn’t last long.
Recognizing the boy’s name, Jan-di follows
the crowd outside, where they all look up at
the rooftop, where the battered guy stands
poised to jump off the building.
The guy shouts to his audience, “This what
you want, isn’t it? Fine, I’ll give you what you
want.” He starts to step off the ledge — but
Jan-di bursts on the scene, yelling to get his
attention. She’s got his dry-cleaning! That’ll
be $30, please!
Jan-di isn’t too quick on the uptake, because
she doesn’t grasp the severity of the
moment until the boy tells her to get the
money from his family after he dies. At this,
Jan-di gasps in horror: “Are you about to
die? Why? You go to such a nice school.” He
tells her, “This isn’t school, it’s hell.” Jan-di
corrects him, saying, “Excuse me, but the
real hell is outside.”
He asks if she knows what F4 is (she
doesn’t), and explains that their red card
makes you a hunted man. Finally realizing
that this mysterious F4 is why he’s all
bloody and ready to jump off a building, Jan-
di indignantly asks, “And you’re going to let
them get away with that?” If this was her
school, she’d show them who was boss. The
guy tells her that her friends are lucky to
have a friend like her — and then jumps.