Sang Heon Lee Proves To Be The Ultimate Heartthrob In ‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2 – But He Won’t “Ship” Kitty And Min Ho: “I Want To Wish The Best For Her”

It can be difficult for fans to imagine how well a spin-off series can successfully continue a beloved story set by an original film or movie. But when To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before spin-off XO, Kitty was announced in 2023, it only made sense that scene stealer Anna Cathcart was going to strike out on her own quest for love. Season 1 introduced viewers to a new band of characters who would soon become the subjects of Kitty’s matchmaking services (and chaos). But Season 2 only further proves the teen K-drama could achieve that same level of passion and chemistry that Lana Condor and Noah Centineo reached time and time again in the trilogy — all thanks to Cathcart and Sang Heon Lee.

Lee’s Min Ho Moon emerged in Season 1 as an unexpected love interest for Kitty. Their friendship was seemingly discordant and incompatible in every single way, but it can be easy to forget that some of the best romances begin on the wrong foot. Season 1 ends with Min Ho confessing his feelings for Kitty soon after she and her boyfriend break up. Shocked and overwhelmed, Kitty rejects him, sparking the start of an arc in Season 2 that sees Min Ho turn from a bratty school boy to a young man willing to put his heart on the line for the people he loves.

Lee recently told Decider over a Zoom call that he had pride in how Min Ho juggled his struggling relationship with his father and the drama of his personal life this season.

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for the ending of XO, Kitty Season 2.

“There’s Kitty with the old relationship where he had to try to ignore the embarrassing past interaction that he had on the plane with her, and at the same time, somehow, surprisingly, he had to face his family.” he said. “I feel like he really tackled each of them pretty well, and I think I’m most proud of him for how he got a really healthy relationship with his father, because It’s not something so easy to do. And I’m glad that he did it now.”

Kitty and Min Ho’s love story sits on the back burner for most of the season as Kitty focuses her efforts on connecting with her estranged family, all while exploring her sexuality and fighting her hidden feelings for Yuri Han (Gia Kim). But XO, Kitty Season 2 does everything in its power to let viewers know the chemistry is still there, even if Min Ho claims his confession to Kitty was a moment of “temporary insanity.”

And Min Ho proves to be the perfect heartthrob to fill the Peter Kavinsky-shaped hole left behind by the films. Suave and confident, he keeps his cool sensibility while helping Kitty “Chaos Queen” Song Covey with her schemes.

Season 2, Episode 5, pulls out all the stops for one touching scene in particular that shows Min Ho comforting Kitty in the pouring rain, which Lee admitted was actually “quite challenging” to film. “Now I have a different eye, or the way how I see people. Now, if they film something in the rain, I’m like, how does it not hurt your eyes? Does the makeup not hurt your eyes? I don’t know. How does he do that?” he asked with a laugh.

The feelings are undeniably still there, at least for Min Ho. The scene hints at a possible kiss as he brushes her hair away, but there are more important matters at hand that force the friends to step away from each other and focus on themselves once again.

Min Ho even goes toe-to-toe with Peter in Episode 6 when he visits from Stanford University for a lacrosse tournament. Peter may be Lara Jean’s boyfriend — and practically Kitty’s brother-in-law, at this point — but Min Ho clearly takes him as a romantic threat to Kitty.

“Despite him knowing that Kitty’s sister is already in a relationship with him, he sort of got protective. He sort of got like, ‘Wait, I need to be more masculine in front of him,’” Lee explained over Zoom. “He tried to square up on him and he tried to undermine him by saying, ‘What is this you’re here for like, a ping pong tournament?’”

Lee admitted it was “very cute of Min Ho to do that,” adding that it’s ultimately Peter who rises above Min Ho’s digs to let him know there’s “no beef” between them.

“It just shows age as well, you know, he’s in university, and he’s going through different stuff… There’s a sort of chemistry we played, and I think it was quite fun. We didn’t really talk about it, that’s the thing, but it just naturally happened,” he said.

The Secret Ingredient star said he enjoyed sharing scenes with Centineo. “He’s a cool dude. We had some similarities as well. We both collect art and, yeah, we were just chatting,” Lee recalled.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention that Lee’s sister plays Kitty’s other love interest on the show, Yuri. But Lee denies that there’s any Team Edward/Team Jacob-style beef at home about who is the better choice for Kitty.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve ever talked about this, really,” he said. “I just hope the best for Kitty. If had to say this more bluntly, I would say I’m not exactly the person where I ship so much because, you know, at the end of the day, it’s a relationship… I feel like I sort of want to wish the best for [Kitty], regardless of her connection with Min Ho or Yuri.”

By the end of Season 2, Min Ho has seemingly given up on love after the whole Stella debacle and is swearing off love, until Kitty finally comes to her senses.

“I don’t think he closed his mind for Kitty,” he said of Min Ho’s ending. “He only just tried to tell himself and sort of let her know that despite anyone liking me or me liking that other person, I’m going to try to find myself as well.”

Lee said he was “surprised” that Kitty asked to tag along on Min Ho’s summer abroad with his family. “It shows also quite a bit of a courage for her side, where she has his mixed feelings, where she is okay to even ask,” he said, later adding, “But she literally went for it. She rolled the dice and see how the game plays. So again, great for her and growth from Min Ho’s side. And I’m really excited to see how it progresses in Season 3, if there is a Season 3.”

Stella may have been double-crossing Min Ho and his family all along, but her schemes unexpectedly left the Moon family in a stronger place in the end that positioned him to become an even better partner for Kitty in the long run.

In the end, XO, Kitty Season 2 thrives by placing an intense focus on its characters, played by Lee and the rest of its captivating ensemble. It’s them who Kitty turns to as she flails through adolescence and family drama, making her all the better.

But the show’s not over yet. Let’s hope we get to see the love birds in action again in XO, Kitty Season 3.

XO, Kitty Seasons 1-2 are now streaming on Netflix.