boys over flowers

When delivering a Shinhwa student's dry cleaning, Geum Jan Di saves the life of her customer himself. Lee Min Ha, Jan Di's customer, was shown to be a heavily bullied student at the most prestigious school in South Korea, Shinhwa School. Jan Di saves Min Ha from committing suicide. Her actions soon became public and exposed the harsh bullying within the school, therefore enraging the public. To end the outrage of the public, Jan Di is offered a swimming scholarship to Shinhwa High School which she declines but her family forces her to attend.

During her first day at Shinhwa, Jan Di learns of the famous F4 and of the other students' adoration and fixation of/on the boys in the group. Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jeong, and Song Woo Bin are the richest and most powerful kids within Shinhwa and South Korea. Subsequently, they use their power to terrorize the weaker students or those they do not like. Jan Di, instead of being impressed, becomes enraged and fantasizes about confronting Gu Jun Pyo, the leader and initiator of many of the bullying acts. She gains courage to confront him when a friend, Oh Min Ji, accidentally drops ice cream on his shoes and he demands her to lick it off. Jan Di defends her friend and attempts to reason with Jun Pyo's tyrannical demand. He refuses to relent and demands her to lick it herself. Feigning licking it, she bends down but shoves her own ice cream in his face. Enraged by this, Gu Jun Pyo declares war on Jan Di and encourages the other students to bully her, by putting a Red Card in her locker. Jan Di however, is resistant, refusing to apologize to Gu Jun Pyo, and stands by her decision to fight him.

Ironically, Gu Jun Pyo, having never been confronted by anyone, begins to develop feelings for her. He tries unsuccessfully to woo her as she slowly begins to spend more time with Jun Pyo and his friends. Jan Di teaches Jun Pyo that money cannot buy everything and in order to have real friends, he himself must use his heart, but Gu Jun Pyo still does not understand why someone like Jan Di should dislike him. At first, it seems that Jan Di perhaps could have had feelings for Yoon Ji Hoo, the F4 who secretly helped her when the rest of the F4 were bullying her. But, as the story progresses, Jun Pyo falls deeper in love with Jan Di and it is obvious that she loves him as well, though she does not generally show it.

Jan Di's best friend, Ga Eul, often found herself in the same place with Yi Jeong. Though she finds him attractive, but she is initially annoyed by his arrogance. One day, Yi Jeong finds Ga Eul crying after she is dumped by her boyfriend. He advises her to let him go, and later, to make her feel better, the two show up to a club in which he is attending. Yi Jeong pretends to be in love with Ga Eul to make her ex at the club jealous. He gives her his scarf and walks her home. After this, Ga Eul finds herself smitten with Yi Jeong. On Valentine's Day, she waits outside his house, planning to give him chocolates. He shows up with two other girls and on his table, he already has dozens of chocolates from others. When Ga Eul became upset, Yi Jeong reminds her that their night at the club was only an act, and it's not his fault if she took it too seriously. Yi Jeong feels bad, and gives Ga Eul a cake and flowers, when he mistakenly thinks it's her birthday. The two become friendly again.

As love begins to blossom between Jan Di and Jun Pyo, Jun Pyo's mother discovers her son's love and deems it unsuitable. She does everything in her power to keep the two apart, even arranging a marriage for Jun Pyo with Ha Jae Kyung, the girl Jan Di meets in Macau. The other F4 members and Ga Eul tried to bring Jan Di and Jun Pyo back together after their break-up in Macau, since Jae Kyung was separating them, even though Jun Pyo had no feelings for Jae Kyung. So Yi Jeong and Ga Eul tried to get Jan Di and Jun Pyo back together after their split-up in Macau. They pretended to go on a date, which upsets Jan Di because she did not consider Yi Jeong good enough for her friend. She follows the two around with Jun Pyo by her side, making sure Yi Jeong is treating Ga Eul appropriately. At first their plan was successful but because of Jun Pyo's mother, their relationship became strained again. In the end, Jae Kyung refused the arranged marriage for Jan Di's and Jun Pyo's sake, even though she fell in love with him.

After their date, Ga Eul finds herself falling for Yi Jeong again. Yi Jeong feels the same way, but he can't bring himself to admit it, due to his doubt in true love. After a talk with Eun Jae, Yi Jeong's first love, Ga Eul admits to Yi Jeong how she feels about him and asks if he'll go on a real date with her. He rejects her, saying he does not date nice girls, foolish girls, or girls connected to his friends. He later changes his mind, and takes her out, though he spends all his time ignoring Ga Eul, and talking to other women. Moreover, Yi Jeong takes Ga Eul to his father and tells him to date her. Their date ends with Ga Eul throwing water in Yi Jeong's face, but Ga Eul still helps Yi Jeong to get safely home when he is too drunk to do it himself.

On Jan Di's graduation, Jun Pyo proposes to her on the cable car at the NamSan Tower where their first date was held. Jun Pyo told Jan Di that he needs to study abroad to fix problems regarding Shinhwa. Jun Pyo asks Jan Di to accompany him as his wife but Jan Di refuses because she has also plans for her future becoming a doctor. The two agreed but Jan Di told Jun Pyo that she will be waiting for 4 years on one condition--if Jun Pyo comes back as a "really amazing man."

After Ga Eul helps Yi Jeong find the message of his first love's confession(Eun Jae) that she tried to send him, three years before on Valentine's Day. Yi Jeong then has a change of heart about their relationship. At his home, Yi Jeong warns Ga Eul that he is a cool guy but he's not a nice guy, and Ga Eul tells him that not every nice girl wants a nice guy. The two almost kiss, though they get interrupted. Later, Yi Jeong visits Ga Eul to talk about their relationship. Before Yi Jeong can confess how he feels for Ga Eul, she cuts him off, thanking him for giving her the chance to not have any regrets about the two of them, since she gave it her all. She leaves him before he ever gets the chance to say he loves her. After several days, Yi Jeong tells Ga Eul that he is leaving to Sweden for four years. In his way of 'confessing' to her, he promises that she will be the first person he'll see when he comes back.

The story ends four years later and reveals what happened to the main cast - Yi Jeong comes back from Sweden, where he was studying for four years, and visits Ga Eul, who became a Kindergarten teacher. Ji Hoo is in the last year of medical school and reopens his Grandfather's clinic. Woo Bin is shown as being happy, but his career is never mentioned in the story. Lastly, Geum Jan Di goes to the beach near the university she was attending to see Jun Pyo. He then proposed to Jan Di for the second time but the answer is still a question among viewers because when Jan Di was about to answer, Ji Hoo, Yi Jung, and Woo Bin arrive saying that they object to the proposal because Jun Pyo and Jan Di didn't ask for their permission first... and they live peacefully.

Soulmate Vs Husband Boys Over Flowers also focuses on the concept of "soul mate vs husband". Throughout the show, it is never clear who Jan Di is closest to. Even though she loves Jun Pyo, she spends all her deepest sorrows, fears and happiness with Ji Hoo, and has the deepest connection with him. Only at the end during the farewell dance it is revealed that Jan Di truly considers Ji Hoo her soul mate, even though the love of her life is Jun Pyo. The show also hints that both Jun Pyo and Jan Di always need Ji Hoo by their side for a smooth sail in their life, as he is close to both of them and understands them very well. The relationship between these three is one of the most well presented relationships of love and friendship in the show.

Due to public demand, KBS added after stories about the F4 members 5 years after the series

Episode 1 is So Yi Jung's Story In this episode Yi Jung discovers a bouquet of purple flowers in a chair. He takes some polaroids and attaches them to the bouquet, then heads outside, thinking about Ga Eul (these are flashbacks). Once Yi Jung arrives at a door, it opens and a female voice calls out to him, "Sunbae, I'm a little late, right?" He holds out the flower bouquet and asks, "Will you be my flower forever?"

Episode 2 is Song Woo Bin's Story In this episode we see a frustrated Woo Bin confronting a girl despite of the good weather, the girl actually turns him down and he throws the flower to the ground. Later he is surprised by Jun Pyo and Yi Jung at his table. They give Woo Bin a birthday cake.

Episode 3 is Yoon Ji Hoo's Story In this episode there are just flashbacks scenes of Ji Hoo connected to one another. Also, only Ji Hoo was missing when the F4 had the meeting in their classroom. The background music is "Sometime" by the actor himself, Kim Hyun Joong.

Episode 4 is Gu Jun Pyo's Story In this episode Jun Pyo sneaks inside the Shinhwa University kitchen, where, after remembering the cookies that Jan Di made with his face on them, decides to bake cookies with Jan Di faces for her. Woo Bin spots him in the middle of the process, and Jun Pyo, wearing a frilly apron, shoos Woo Bin out. The background song is "My Everything" by the actor himself, Lee Min Ho.

[edit] Cast

• Goo Hye Sun: Geum Jan Di is the first girl to challenge and stand up to the F4. She was given the scholarship to study for shinhwa.
• Lee Min Ho: Gu Jun Pyo is the one of the most richest youngmasters. He is the leader of the F4.
• Kim Hyun Joong: Yoon Ji Hoo is a calm and soft-spoken boy who is deeply involved with music. He is shown playing the violin, guitar, and the piano. When he was just five years old, he was involved in a car accident where both of his parents died. His grandpa, who was the president that time, left him during the burial of his parents; who then returned after 15 years asking for forgiveness. He is Jan Di's soulmate.
• Kim Bum: So Yi Jeong is one of the F4's biggest playboys. He came from a family well-known for artistry.
• Kim Joon: Song Woo Bin is from a family that runs a large construction company but has important connection to an underground organization, hinted to be the mafia.
• Kim So Eun: Chu Ga Eul is Jan Di's best friend, and has been since Kindergarten. She is in love with Yi Jeong.

[edit] Extended cast

• Lee Shi Young: Oh Min Ji is Jan Di's first friend when she transfers to Shinhwa High, secretly manipulating her to destroy Jun Pyo. She only appears during the first part of the series. She leaves Shinhwa High when she realizes what she did to Jan Di. Although Min Ji did a lot of bad things to Jan Di, she did show that she was a good person when she gave the a stuff animal to Jan Di saying sorry before she left Shinhwa High.
• Han Chae Young: Min Seo Hyun is Ji Hoo's first love and a famous Korean model. She left after a couple of episodes when she said that she was going to France and wasn't going to ever come back.
• Kim Hyun Joo:Gu Jun Hee is Jun Pyo's elder sister.
• Jung Eui Chul: Lee Min Ha/Lee Ji Ha are two characters played by the same actor, first as the student that is saved by Jan Di, and later as his vengeful twin brother.
• Lee Min Jeong: Ha Jae Kyung is Jun Pyo's arranged fiancee in the later part of the series who makes her first appearance when she runs into Jan Di in Macau. She started to develop feelings for Jun Pyo, but later chooses not to marry Jun Pyo so he can be with Jan Di.
• Im Joo Hwan: So II Hyun is Yi Jung's estranged older brother who threw away his family name in order to live a normal life. He carried a heavy burden for abandoning Yi Jung.
• Park Soo Jin: Cha Eun Jae is Yi Jung's first love, and childhood friend. She is a teacher at a pottery class where that Ga Eul started attending, causing her and Yi Jung to cross paths after 3 years apart.
• Kim Min Ji: Jang Yu Mi is a girl at the same hospital where Jun Pyo was confined who takes advantage of his amnesia.