The Eighth Sense 2023 Episode 2

Episode 2 of The Eighth Sense starts with Ji-hyun falling asleep on Jae-won’s shoulder on their bus ride to the ocean as part of the first surf club trip. Jae-won smiles to himself but pretends to be in pain from Ji-hyun’s weight once the latter wakes up. He jokes that Ji-hyun should have some time to rest as he keeps himself busy with work every day.

Jae-won asks Ji-hyun to be prepared to drink a lot as part of the initiation ceremony by the surf club seniors. Ji-hyun is sure he will be able to handle it, but Jae-won seems disappointed that Ji-hyun is located in a different room with other juniors while the senior boys bunk in the same room.

After freshening up, the group meets by the ocean and the freshmen start introducing themselves.

The female freshmen, Bit-na and Ae-ri get loud cheers from the surf club members who are mostly men. Ji-hyun awkwardly introduces himself but Yoon-won and Jae-won are the only two people cheering for him. Jae-won asks to be paired with Ji-hyun as he tells Yoon-won that training a male surfer would be better for him than training the female freshmen.

Jae-won takes Ji-hyun to the local shop and picks wetsuits for the newbie. Jae-won helps Ji-hyun get into the suit and there is an awkward silence between the two from time to time. Jae-won takes Ji-hyun to the ocean where he learns that Ji-hyun did not swim often. He is shocked that Ji-hyun would enrol in the surf club out of all the other clubs. Ji-hyun claims that he wanted to try something out that would help him overcome his fear.

The duo chat by the ocean and Jae-won starts training Ji-hyun on how to use the surfboard. Jae-won helps Ji-hyun practice surfing first on land before taking the board into the ocean. Once inside, Ji-hyun tries his best to follow Jae-won’s instructions but ends up falling off the board often. The boys are having fun and Eun-ji notices Jae-won taking care of Ji-hyun.

Since he is cold, Jae-won gets Ji-hyun a hot bowl of ramen to eat before they could hit the showers. Eun-ji tells Yoon-won that Ji-hyun really bothered her but does not mention why.

Meanwhile, Jae-won gives Ji-hyun a hangover drink before asking him to hit the showers together. Ji-hyun is flustered but agrees to join Jae-won as he has to return the wet suit.

While at the shower, Jae-won has no issues showering naked but Ji-hyun keeps his suit on. Jae-won tells Ji-hyun that he needn’t bother as it’s the men’s room but Ji-hyun claims that he has never showered with another person around. Both boys sneak glances at each other before Jae-won leaves to prep for dinner.

At dinner, Ji-hyun joins Jae-won as he grills the meat as he was not able to bond with the rest of the group. Ji-hyun joins the table with Jae-won and the group starts a drinking game. Yoon-won leads the club members to the ocean for a campfire where the group plays another drinking game. One after the other, members of the circle name the person they like while the person mentioned has to accept or reject the proposal.

Yoon-won mentions that she likes Jae-won and Jae-won claims that he likes Ji-hyun. However, Ji-hyun avoids responding. Tae-hyung asks both boys to take one shot of the alcohol. There is an awkward silence again but the group continues to enjoy the night with some singing.

Later that night, Ji-hyun is sitting at the beach by himself. He calls Joon-pyo, hoping to chat with his friend.

Joon-pyo avoids talking to him as he had called his girlfriend to spend the night at the dorms since Ji-hyun was away. Ji-hyun is upset and puts in his AirPods to listen to some music. Eun-ji finds Jae-won and confronts him about his coldness towards her. She claims that Jae-won had broken up with her over a misunderstanding involving another guy.

Jae-won tells her that it’s over between them and asks her to stop pushing him. Their conversation is heard by Ji-hyun who is sitting closeby. Jae-won spots Ji-hyun on the beach and ignores Eun-ji once his eyes meet with Ji-hyun. Eun-ji leaves in shock as Jae-won makes it to Ji-hyun and sits down beside the freshman.

Ji-hyun swears that he didn’t hear a thing as he had music playing. Jae-won claims that he’s jealous of Ji-hyun. The freshman claims that he’s jealous of Jae-won because he seems like he is someone that does not fear anything. Ji-hyun calls Jae-won ‘hyung’ while the latter pulls Ji-hyun close to him as the episode ends.

The Episode Review

This episode was really intense and I blame the shower scene for it. While there is limited dialogue to address the chemistry between the characters, the nuances speak for Ji-hyun and Jae-won.

There is so much left unsaid on purpose and it says a lot about the two men finding comfort in one another.

There are some moments that really showcase this, from Jae-won sitting next to Ji-hyun on the bus to Ji-hyun choosing to grill meat with Jae-won instead of having drinks with the group; the eye contact while they are both in the shower or Jae-won holding Ji-hyun by the chest as he taught him to work the surfboard.

The ending to this episode proves that this show is different from other Korean BLs because of the way Jae-won reacted to seeing Ji-hyun at the beach.

While Eun-ji, his ex ,was standing right in front of him, Jae-won chose to ignore her and blatantly stare at Ji-hyun which makes the sexual tension between the two boys 10 times more palpable. It seems like the cameras don’t exist for these characters and they are just doing their own thing as they fall in love with each other.