Team Minho or Team Yuri? That is the question that's been plaguing the minds of the fans of Netflix's latest hit teen show 'XO, Kitty.' The new series takes place in the same universe as the 'All The Boys I've Loved Before' trilogy, and it follows the life and journey of the youngest Covey sibling, Kitty.
For fans of the 'All The Boys I've Loved Before' movies, you may remember that Kitty met a guy named Dae when they visited South Korea to see their mother's family members and immerse themselves in Korean culture. It was their way to connect to their mother and the home country where she grew up in.
Throughout the movie, it was shown that Kitty and Dae remained in contact, and they constantly Facetimed and chatted as both teenagers were committed to their long-distance relationship, waiting for the day they could finally travel to see each other in person.
In 'XO, Kitty,' that plan finally came true, as Kitty got a scholarship at the Korean Independent School of Seoul or K.I.S.S. She asked her father's permission to continue her junior year in Seoul, South Korea, and her dad reluctantly agreed.
We saw her struggles to fly to Seoul and how she managed to travel alone. She was left by the bus that was supposed to take her to the campus, so she used the complicated public transportation in the city. Luckily, or unluckily, she bumped into Yuri Han, a wealthy hotel heiress at K.I.S.S, and offered her a ride after almost hitting her with her car.
Little did Kitty know that Yuri was "dating" her boyfriend, Dae. She was left to believe that Dae cheated on her while they were long-distance, but the truth was Dae only agreed to fake date Yuri because he needed the money to continue another semester at K.I.S.S.
We also got to see Dae's loyal friend Minho, a conceited yet charming boy who did not like Kitty from the get-go (for God knows what reason.) We also got to meet Quincy, or Q, a friendly jock who is openly gay. He immediately hit it off with Kitty, and he became one of her closest friends in school.
All four of them were forced to live in the same dorm as Kitty was accidentally assigned to the boy's quarters because of her name, and even though she was moved to live with a female roommate, the said roommate turned out to be insufferable and would livestream her sleeping for the whole internet to see.
Kitty living with the boys was not easy, not only because she was the only girl there, but because she had to see Dae every day, the boy who dumped her after he realized that she could not keep secrets and may sabotage his fake relationship with Yuri. This relationship would help him pay his tuition fees.
In the end, Kitty figured out that Yuri and Dae were not real and that her father was not her mother's first love. But those are not the only plot twists worth noting, as there were things that none of us saw coming.
Unexpected Plot Twists
Kitty's attempt to get to know her mother more by attending K.I.S.S led her to open a 1993 Pandora's box where she discovered just how good of a friend her mother was. Her mother helped cover Principal Lim's teen pregnancy after her then-boyfriend, Professor Lee, knocked her up.
Professor Lee did not know that Principal Lim was pregnant when he left South Korea to study abroad, and he did not even know that Principal Lim had given the child up for adoption.
Fast forward to the present times, Principal Lim, Professor Lee, and teacher Alex were reunited at K.I.S.S, where Kitty helped them uncover the truth about their connection, all thanks to her mother's diary.
But that is not the only highlight in this series, as fans of the show were shocked that Kitty has a sexual awakening, and the recipient of her feelings was none other than her rival, Yuri.
This revelation came as a surprise to all fans because a lot of them were rooting for Minho and Kitty to be together, KDrama style. However, the hints of Kitty and Yuri happening have always been there.
The two of them had the classic meet-cute moment when Yuri almost hit Kitty with her car, with Kitty admitting that she finds Yuri fascinating. Yuri also did not see Kitty as an enemy since she only used Dae to convince her mother to let Juliana (Yuri's girlfriend) back at school and not ship her elsewhere.
Kitty also noticed how kind Yuri was, and she even said so herself when Yuri looked after her when she got drunk at Minho's party. However, what really caught her off-guard was when Yuri winked at her while she was DJing on stage, and that was when it hit her. She caught feelings for Yuri and knew it wouldn't go away anytime soon.
There were a lot of adorable moments between the two ladies, with Kitty having a sex dream about Yuri, the two sharing a tent at the school outing, and practicing the Korean traditional dance together. There were a lot of scenes showing us just how hard Kitty tried to suppress her feelings.
Yet many viewers still found the Yuri and Kitty connection random, and here's why.
Yuri vs. Minho
The 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' trilogy are movies that cater to the straight audience. Everything about those movies consists of clichés and tired tropes that we've seen time and time again, and yet the masses still supported it as they were pretty decent films to watch, and they reminded a lot of us of the cheesy yet romantic movies of the 2000s.
If the same old clichés and tropes were applied to 'XO, Kitty' and if they only had their straight audience in mind, it would have made more sense to have a Kitty, Dae, and Minho love angle, and yet Jenny Han, the author, and producer of the show took a risk and explored Kitty's bisexuality.
As I mentioned, Kitty falling in love with Yuri was the plot twist that no one saw coming, as people were already dead-set on the idea of Minho being the new love of Kitty's life. As you all can imagine, many viewers were pleasantly surprised by this, but others are blatantly hating it, calling the twist "unnecessary."
However, all of the things that happened between Kitty and Yuri (the sex dream, being enemies at first, meet-cute moments, etc.) also happened to Minho and Kitty, but why is it that only one pairing is getting the heat while the other is being celebrated?
Everything that Minho went through that made him realize that he's in love with Kitty is the exact same thing that Kitty went through that made her realize that she's in love with Yuri, but only one of them was called out for being "random."
I know that most of the viewers fall for the typical arrogant, bad boy type, and it has caused what is called in the KDrama world as the "second-lead syndrome," but the homophobia and erasure of bisexuality in the 'XO, Kitty' fandom is very disheartening to see.
Personally, I would love Kitty and Yuri to be endgame, but I won't mind if Kitty and Minho end up together since, at the end of the day, it is just a TV show that wants to depict what it is like to be a teenager that is trying to find herself and is slowly discovering different sides of herself.
I just wish that if Miho and Kitty do become a couple, we will not see the hurtful homophobic and biphobic comments that we see today.
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