Head Over Heels- Episodes 1-2
Head Over Heels: Shamans, School Exams, and a Boy Marked by Death
Head Over Heels kicks off with a bang—literally, the sound of a drum from a shamanic ritual. Meet Park Seong-ah: high schooler by day, shaman by birthright, sprinting away from a spirit ceremony just to make it to her exam. She barely sneaks into class thanks to her loyal friend Ji-ho, but her mind is elsewhere. Spirits don’t care about finals, and Seong-ah can’t juggle both lives forever.
Desperate to catch up on her studies, she decides to crash overnight at school for some quiet revision time. But the moment she steps back into her home, she’s reminded who’s really in charge—her spiritual “mother,” a powerful entity who pushes Seong-ah to focus less on school and more on channeling the divine. But Seong-ah? She wants college, freedom, and maybe even a normal life.
Her shaman practice doesn’t wait. One client after another comes knocking, including Gyeon-woo—a walking bad-luck magnet dragged in by his determined grandmother. Seong-ah immediately clocks him from a haunting dream she’d had: Gyeon-woo, walking upside down, a shamanic omen of imminent death. Despite the warning—and perhaps because he’s absurdly good-looking—Seong-ah decides she’ll save him.
But there's a catch. Saving someone fated to die means risking your own life. She’s been burned before—literally and figuratively. The last time she tried, the man died anyway, and Seong-ah nearly paid the ultimate price.
Back at school, Seong-ah is a loner. Her classmates freeze her out, leaving Ji-ho as her only lifeline. So when Gyeon-woo shows up as a transfer student in her class, it's like fate just doubled down.
That same day, she sees him almost get hit by a car. She steps in without thinking. Her instincts are screaming: protect him. She even goes so far as to visit a top shaman for high-level protection charms.
But her plan hits a snag. Exhausted and sleep-deprived, Seong-ah faints in class. By the time she recovers, it’s too late to hand off the charms. So she pulls out the shaman persona—full outfit and all—and calls Gyeon-woo’s grandmother to get him back to her.
Only, it backfires. Gyeon-woo doesn’t believe in ghosts, charms, or any of it. He storms out, accusing her of being a con artist. Before he’s even out the door, Seong-ah has another chilling vision—Gyeon-woo, drowning.
Meanwhile, the school has its own supernatural drama. A student is hospitalized after a run-in with a water ghost in the restroom. When Seong-ah finds water stains on the wall, she enters the boy’s restroom, confronts the ghost, and tries to help her move on.
Bad timing. Gyeon-woo and a few guys walk in. The ghost flips out and attacks him. Seong-ah acts fast, splashing the ghost with charmed water. She saves him—again. But Gyeon-woo isn’t grateful. He’s furious.
Episode 1 closes on tension: a skeptical boy who doesn’t want saving, a shaman girl determined to cheat death, and a ghost who’s just the beginning of the chaos. Buckle up—Head Over Heels isn’t playing it safe.
Ghosts, Fire, and a Heartbreaking Twist
Episode 2 picks up in the smoky aftermath of last episode’s ghost attack. After the chaos in the boys' bathroom, Seong-ah, Gyeon-woo, and the rest of the unlucky witnesses are hit with cleaning duty. But it’s Gyeon-woo who’s more suspicious than ever—especially of Seong-ah, who stumbles through half-baked excuses about what really happened.
While scrubbing out classrooms, Seong-ah stumbles across another spirit—this one lurking in the school’s storage room. Something darker. More dangerous.
Back at home, Seong-ah’s spirit mother hands her a fresh batch of protection charms, replacements from the same shaman Seong-ah had visited earlier. She’ll need them—badly. Gyeon-woo’s still marked by death, and now, her only plan is to keep the charms close to him.
So what does she do? Steal his phone. With Ji-ho as backup, Seong-ah sneaks one of the charms into Gyeon-woo’s phone case. Just as they’re caught red-handed by his visiting grandmother, Seong-ah smoothly suggests they all sit down for a meal—classic distraction. Over steaming plates, we get a glimpse into Gyeon-woo’s quiet pain: life without parents, a heavy silence in his heart. Seong-ah relates—her parents left too, and she was raised by her spirit mother.
After dinner, the two break into Gyeon-woo’s room (again) to plant more charms and accidentally discover his stash of archery medals. Turns out, he used to be a star athlete—until he quit. When he walks in on them, he shuts it all down. He doesn’t want friends. Doesn’t want pity. Doesn’t want anyone.
But Seong-ah isn’t giving up. She manages to finish hiding the charms, and before she leaves, Gyeon-woo’s grandmother quietly thanks her—revealing that she knows exactly who Seong-ah is, and she’s grateful her grandson has someone looking out for him.
The next day, everything spirals. Word gets out that Gyeon-woo was involved in an arson incident at his last school. Students start whispering, avoiding him. His already lonely school life turns colder. Seong-ah, though, digs in her heels. She knows there’s more to his story.
Later, Gyeon-woo follows his grandmother when she leaves the house—only to find out she was delivering food to Seong-ah. He snaps, assuming Seong-ah’s exploiting her. But then it happens: Seong-ah sees him again, upside down and engulfed in flames. Fire. That’s how he’s going to die.
The next day, Gyeon-woo ends up alone in the storeroom—the same place where Seong-ah sensed a spirit. A fire breaks out. Seong-ah rushes in, only to discover the so-called protective charms had been sabotaged by the jealous shaman from earlier. And the fire? Not an accident. The storeroom ghost had been waiting.
Inside, Gyeon-woo is frozen in trauma, reliving a past blaze that hurt someone close to him. But this time, Seong-ah breaks through. Ji-ho crashes in with a fire extinguisher, and they barely escape. But the school isn’t convinced. Whispers return. Suspicion lingers.
Before he leaves, the archery coach—someone who knows exactly who Gyeon-woo is—asks him to join the team. He knows about the fire. About the rumors. About how his former teammates threw him under the bus. But the coach sees his potential. Still, Gyeon-woo refuses. He doesn’t want his grandmother watching him be hated all over again.
Only… she’s not watching anymore.
In a devastating twist, her spirit visits Seong-ah. She’s already passed. Quietly, gently, she asks Seong-ah to stay by Gyeon-woo’s side now that he’s truly alone.
Seong-ah runs to the funeral home in full shaman robes, ready to fulfill that promise—but Gyeon-woo stops her at the gate. And the episode ends there: just the two of them, standing still in the weight of grief, secrets, and something slowly becoming love.
DramaZen's Opinion
Okay, Head Over Heels is officially my latest obsession. Two episodes in and this show already has more plot, charm, and supernatural drama than most series manage in an entire season.
Let’s talk about Seong-ah. A teenage shaman just trying to pass her exams and not get possessed in the process? Absolute legend. She’s juggling angry spirits, final exams, and a disapproving spirit mom, all while trying to live a halfway normal high school life. Spoiler: it’s not working out. But watching her try? Addictive.
And then there’s Gyeon-woo. Poor guy walks into the series radiating bad luck and trauma. He’s skeptical, standoffish, and very much Not Here For Spiritual Shenanigans. So naturally, Seong-ah sees a literal death omen hanging over him and decides she’s going to save him—even if it kills her. Which it literally could.
Their dynamic is gold. He's all denial and brooding mystery, while she’s like, “Cool story, but you're cursed and I’m not letting you die on my watch.” The scene where she plants charms in his room like she’s hiding spy cameras? Hilarious and somehow really touching. And don’t get me started on the surprise twist at the end of episode 2. I did not see that coming, and it hit hard.
The supernatural elements are genuinely creepy in the best way—water ghosts, storeroom spirits, flaming visions of death—and the school setting keeps things grounded. But underneath all the exorcisms and near-death experiences, this show is really about two lonely people circling each other, neither of them ready to admit how badly they need connection.
Episodes 1 and 2 were packed, fast-paced, and somehow balanced heart, horror, and humor without dropping a beat. If the rest of the season keeps this up, we’re in for something seriously special.
10/10 would let a shaman plant charms in my phone case.
