If you’re reading this, you’re probably like the rest of us—still recovering from that airport confession at the end of XO, Kitty Season 1, and definitely still screaming about the Season 2 finale.
Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart), the youngest and most chaotic Covey sister, has officially taken over the rom-com world. She left Portland to find love in Seoul, and instead found a secret half-brother, a fake relationship scheme, and a love life more complicated than any of Lara Jean’s old letters. With Season 3 dropping on April 2 , it’s time to dust off your fan dance fans and prep for the return of the KISS gang.
Whether you need a quick refresher or you’re a newbie wanting to understand the hype, this is your super-fan guide to everything that happened at the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS).
Season 1 Recap: The Portland Stalker Arrives
The Grand Plan (and Immediate Crash)
Kitty Song Covey is a hopeless romantic. In the Season 1 premiere, she’s desperate to close the distance with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-yeong). When she gets a scholarship to KISS—the elite school her late mother attended in Seoul—she jumps at the chance . But her arrival is a disaster. She gets hit by a car (don’t worry, she’s fine), and at the welcome party, she watches in horror as Dae kisses the school’s “it” girl, Yuri Han (Gia Kim), leading to a dramatic fall into a dessert tower. Humiliated, Kitty becomes known as the “Portland Stalker” .
The Fake Relationship & The NDA
Here’s the twist: Dae and Yuri’s romance is a cover. Yuri is gay and secretly dating Juliana (Regan Aliyah). To hide this from her mother—the school principal—Yuri pays Dae’s tuition to pose as her boyfriend . Dae is forced to sign an NDA, leaving Kitty in the dark. Even when Kitty starts to suspect the relationship is fake, Yuri threatens Dae to keep the real reason (the Juliana secret) hidden.
Uncovering the Song Family Secrets
While navigating the drama, Kitty discovers her mother’s old diary. A hospital bracelet falls out, revealing that Kitty has a secret half-brother who was adopted in Australia . She suspects her professor, Alex Finnerty (Peter Thurnwald), and later discovers that Yuri’s mother, Jina, was actually the one who gave birth to the baby—Alex—using Kitty’s mom’s name to hide it. This secret connects Kitty and Yuri in a way neither expected.
The First Feelings
As Kitty gets closer to the truth about her mother, she also gets closer to Yuri. The rivalry turns into an unexpected attraction, culminating in a dream where Kitty realizes she has feelings for Yuri. Meanwhile, Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee)—Dae’s rich, snobby roommate—goes from hating Kitty to having his own feelings for her after she crashes his party and exposes his “Poopy Baby” commercial past .
The Season 1 Finale: Fire, Confessions, and a Plane Ride
The season ends in chaos. At a talent show, Yuri discovers Kitty knew about her half-brother and confronts her mid-performance. Kitty’s costume catches fire, and Min Ho is the one who jumps in to save her.
The Breakups: Kitty tells Dae she has feelings for someone else (he assumes Min Ho), but she later reveals it’s Yuri. They break up.
The Expulsion: Kitty is caught living in the boys’ dorm and gets expelled .
The Airport: At the airport, Kitty tries to confess to Yuri, but Juliana returns, so she stays silent.
The Confession: On the plane home, Kitty finds Min Ho sitting next to her. He confesses his love for her, leaving her stunned .
Season 2 Recap: Back to KISS (With a Vengeance)
A New Roommate Nightmare
Season 2 opens with Kitty returning to KISS, thanks to Yuri pulling strings with her mom. She’s determined to be “Kitty 2.0″—focused and drama-free . That plan fails immediately. Her new roommates are Yuri and Yuri’s girlfriend, Juliana, who are now openly together. Forced to watch her crush be lovey-dovey 24/7, Kitty realizes she’s in for a long semester.
The “Mooncovey” Slow Burn
Min Ho is cold and distant after his rejected plane confession. He starts dating a new student, Stella (Audrey Huynh), to get over Kitty. But the more they try to avoid each other, the closer they get. When a skiing trip goes wrong—Yuri and Kitty kiss, leading to a disastrous chain of events—Min Ho is the one who finds Kitty crying in a hot tub and comforts her .
The Rise of Stella (and the Leaks)
Stella isn’t who she seems. She’s actually Esther Shim, a girl whose dreams were crushed by Min Ho’s talent-manager father . She’s been manipulating everyone to get revenge. She steals Kitty’s private letter confessing her feelings to Yuri and leaks it, destroying Yuri and Juliana’s relationship. She also frames Kitty for a gossip account called “MoonLeaks” to destroy Min Ho’s family.
Peter Kavinsky’s Wisdom & The Family Reunion
In a fun cameo, Noah Centineo reprises his role as Peter Kavinsky, visiting Korea for a lacrosse game. He gives Kitty the pep talk she needs, reminding her that her meddling heart is what brought him and Lara Jean together . Meanwhile, Kitty uncovers the truth about “Simon”—her mother’s first love wasn’t a boyfriend but a cousin who helped her try to reunite her estranged family.
The Setup: Stella’s Endgame
By the time the talent show arrives, Stella’s manipulation is in full swing. Min Ho has finally realized Kitty was right about her—Stella is actually Esther Shim, a girl whose dreams of stardom were publicly crushed by Min Ho’s father years ago on a reality show. Now, she’s blackmailing Min Ho: if she doesn’t win the competition and secure a contract with his father’s company, she’ll expose a scandal involving his older half-brother, Joon Ho, who got a dancer pregnant. To make matters worse, she’s already framed Kitty for the “MoonLeaks” gossip account by planting evidence on her laptop, setting the stage for Kitty to take the fall if anyone digs too deep.
The Sabotage: Taking Down Dae
Stella doesn’t just want to win; she wants to destroy anyone connected to the Moon family. Her primary target is Dae, who is competing for the cash prize to help his financially struggling father.
The Spiked Drinks: Before his performance, Stella arranges for Dae’s backup dancers to be served spiked drinks, leaving them incapacitated and unable to perform.
The Sabotaged Soundtrack: She corrupts his music track, ensuring that even if he finds dancers, the audio will fail.
Eunice’s Broken Heels: As a secondary move, she sabotages Eunice’s performance by breaking the heels of her shoes, hoping to eliminate any competition that could upstage her own act.
Dae is left backstage, devastated. He had poured everything into this performance, hoping to win for his family. With his dancers gone, his music corrupted, and his father watching from the audience, he’s ready to give up.
The Rally: Kitty and the KISS Family
This is the moment where Kitty Song Covey’s chaotic, meddling nature transforms into her greatest strength. She refuses to let Stella win.
The Guitar: Kitty spots Principal Lee (Professor Finnerty’s father) in the audience with his guitar. She rushes over and convinces him to lend it to Dae. In a moment of pure heart, she reminds Lee that Dae is a student who deserves a chance, and Lee—moved by the chaos and the stakes—agrees.
The Backup Crew: Kitty rallies the entire KISS gang. Q, Min Ho, Jin, and even Yuri—despite the unresolved tension between them—scramble backstage. They don’t have choreography; they don’t have practice. They’re just friends willing to stand on stage together.
The Performance: Dae steps onto the stage with nothing but his guitar and his friends. He performs an emotional, stripped-down song that isn’t flashy but is deeply heartfelt. It’s not the grand spectacle he planned, but it’s authentic. The audience feels it, and more importantly, his father sees his son fighting for him. It becomes the emotional core of the entire competition.
The Exposure: Stella’s Downfall
While Dae’s performance is winning hearts, Min Ho confronts Stella. With encouragement from Kitty, he finally tells his father the full truth: Stella’s real identity, her blackmail, and her plan to ruin Joon Ho’s reputation. Just as Stella is about to take the stage, her performance is canceled.
In a final act of desperation, Stella tries to flee. But she’s stopped by Mr. Moon, who publicly apologizes to her—not for her win, but for the way the industry failed her years ago. It’s a moment of unexpected grace, but it doesn’t change the outcome. Stella is escorted out and sent back to Ohio.
Before she leaves, Min Ho asks her one final question: “Were your feelings for me ever real?”
Her answer is heartbreakingly honest: “At first, they weren’t. But then they became real. I just knew you were never fully committed to me. Your heart was always with her.” She glances at Kitty. It’s a rare moment of vulnerability that adds complexity to a character who could have been a simple villain.
The Aftermath: New Beginnings
Eunice Wins: With Stella disqualified, Eunice is declared the winner. She gets the contract and the opening slot for Joon Ho’s tour.
Dae’s Silver Lining: Dae doesn’t win the money, but his father embraces him, assuring him that the family will be okay. The real victory is their relationship mending.
Praveena and Juliana: In a twist that breaks Yuri’s heart, Praveena and Juliana are now officially a couple. Yuri is left to process not only the loss of Juliana but also the news that her family is now facing a class-action lawsuit, leaving her effectively broke.
Kitty’s Scholarship: Because of the viral support the school received after the concert—thanks largely to Kitty’s rally—her heritage scholarship is renewed. She’ll be able to return for her senior year.
The Family Reunion: Healing a Decades-Old Wound
While the talent show chaos is unfolding, Kitty is simultaneously working on her most personal mission yet: reuniting her grandmother with her long-lost sister.
Throughout Season 2, Kitty discovered that the rift in her family started when her grandmother refused an arranged marriage, leading her sister to betray her to their parents. The sisters hadn’t spoken in over 50 years. Kitty’s mother, Eve, had planned to bring them back together before her untimely death.
In the finale’s most emotionally resonant subplot, Kitty’s older sister Margot calls with incredible news: their grandmother has agreed to make amends and is flying to Korea. However, their flight gets canceled at the last minute.
Enter Min Ho. In a move that shows how much he’s grown, he offers his family’s private jet to fly Margot and Kitty’s grandmother to Seoul. When they arrive, Kitty brings her grandmother to a local market where her great-aunt works.
The reunion is quiet, understated, and devastatingly beautiful. No grand gestures. Just two elderly sisters seeing each other for the first time in half a century. They embrace, and in Korean, Kitty’s great-aunt whispers, “I thought I would never see you again.” It’s the closure Kitty’s mother never got to have, and Kitty gets to witness it. Later, Margot pulls Kitty aside and tells her, “You’re just like Mom. She would be so proud of you.”
The Choice: Kitty and Min Ho’s Season 2 Ending
With the family drama resolved and Stella gone, Kitty finally has a moment to breathe. She’s been running on adrenaline, but now she allows herself to sit with her emotions. She realizes what the audience has known for half a season: she’s fallen for Min Ho.
She finds him backstage after the show. She’s nervous, fidgeting, trying to find the right words to finally confess. But before she can, Min Ho speaks first—not to reject her, but to share his own news. His older brother, Joon Ho, is going on tour, and Min Ho has been invited to join him. He’s leaving Seoul. For the summer. Maybe longer. The moment hangs in the air. Kitty’s confession dies on her lips. You can see her processing the possibility of losing him just as she’s found him. But this is Kitty Song Covey. She doesn’t let the people she loves go without a fight.
Instead of pouring her heart out in a grand speech, she looks at him with a small, hopeful smile and asks, “Can I come with you? Min Ho’s face shifts from surprise to something softer. He doesn’t hesitate. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, you can.” It’s not a confession of love. It’s something arguably more meaningful for their journey: a choice. Kitty chooses Min Ho. Min Ho chooses Kitty. And together, they choose the adventure. The screen fades to black on their smiles, leaving audiences everywhere screaming for Season 3.
The Top Burning Questions for Season 3
As we wait for Season 3, these are the questions dominating the fandom:
Will “Kinho” (Kitty + Min Ho) Officially Happen?
It seems highly likely. The Season 2 ending was a massive setup for their romance. However, don’t expect it to be smooth sailing. In a recent interview, Anna Cathcart hinted that Min Ho becomes the manager for Eunice (the winner of the talent show), which triggers Kitty’s jealousy. Miscommunication appears to be a major hurdle for them .
What About Yuri and Juliana?
Yuri and Juliana are officially over, and Juliana is now dating Praveena (Sasha Bhasin) . Yuri ends the season broke and heartbroken after her father faces a class-action lawsuit. The show has hinted at Yuri finding herself, but a reunion seems unlikely for now.
When In The Season Will Lara Jean Appear?
The Season 3 trailer confirmed that Lara Jean (Lana Condor) is coming to Seoul to “rescue Kitty’s love life” . This is the moment fans of the original movies have been waiting for.
What is the “Senior Sunset” List?
Kitty loves making lists. As she heads into her senior year, fans are speculating she’ll create a new list—possibly called the “Senior Sunset List”—to achieve her academic and romantic goals before the school year ends.
Why We Can’t Wait for April 2
From fake dating and family secrets to bisexual awakenings and a slow-burn romance that rivals Lara Jean and Peter’s, XO, Kitty has given us everything. Kitty Song Covey has proven she is more than just the meddling little sister; she is the heart of her own epic love story. With Season 3 promising a trip down memory lane with Lara Jean and the potential culmination of the “Mooncovey” journey, the stakes have never been higher.
What do you think? Are you Team Min Ho or still holding out hope for Yuri? Let us know in the comments below!
XO, Kitty Season 3 premieres Thursday, April 2, only on Netflix.
