If you have watched episodes 06 and 07 of 《Undercover High School》 (《언더커버하이스쿨》), you were probably confused why Haeseong's father laughed when he said he wants to be called 「Haeseong」. Or, why Sua told him there is a 「y」 in 「he」.

Allow me to explain the beauty of Haeseong's name.

What's in a name?

In episode 07, Haeseong the kid told his father he wanted 「Haeseong」 as his other name which means comet or meteor. His father asked, 「what?」 And the kid explained by writing it down: 「해성」. His father laughed and asked him, 「Are you sure? You won't regret it?」

There are two reasons why his father reacted that way.

Written form

When little kid Haeseong wrote his name, it was 「해성」 (Romanization: haeseong). 「해성」 (haeseong) means "sea castle" but he told his father he likes it because it means "comet" or "meteor".

However, this is how the word "comet" is written: 「혜성」 (hyeseong).

Pronunciation

Haeseong, even as an adult, was and is pronouncing his name as 해성 (haeseong). His father was confused because it means "sea castle" and not "comet".

The pronunciation of 해 (hae) is different from 혜 (hye) and 헤 (he). If one is new to the Korean language (or any language for that matter) like kids, pronunciations and spellings are often wrong and sometimes we grow up with it.

This was the case with him. He knew the word but he kept on pronouncing it incorrectly and because of it he was writing the word "comet" incorrectly too. Basically, he was writing based on the pronunciation he thought was correct.

Summary

To summarize:

• 해성 (haeseong): means "sea castle"; this is his pronunciation and spelling

• 혜성 (hyeseong): means "comet"; this is what he actually wanted

Bonus!

Here is a bonus. In episode 06, Oh Sua (오수아) corrected Haeseong's spelling when they were still kids. The translation was, 「There is a 『y』 in 『he』」. It will not make sense if one is not familiar with Hangeul (the Korean Alphabet).

They did not show what Haeseong wrote but we can deduce based on what Sua said. He wrote: 「헤성」 (heseong).

While 헤성 (heseong) is acceptable today as a variant of 혜성 (hyeseong), (1) it more likely was not when they were kids; and (2) they were in school and thus "wrong spelling is wrong".

This was why in the translation Sua told him angrily, 「There is a 『y』 in 『he』」. It was the best way to translate the dialogue.

But wait! There's more!

This play on word was actually brilliant.

Haeseong wanted to be a "comet". Something that is firm. But his mispronunciation and incorrect spelling gave him instead a pseudonym that means "sea castle", fluid yet strong.

• 해성 (haeseong) means "sea castle": fluid yet strong, dependable, a safe haven

• 혜성 (hyeseong) or 헤성 (heseong) means "comet": raging with fire when close to the sun but frozen when far from it

As an NIS agent, he is like a comet. He is susceptible to his raging emotions whenever he sees evil, like how a comet starts to burn the closer it gets to the sun. However, he is stiff and cold when nothing is happening, like a frozen comet when it is in deep space.

But deep inside, he is a sea castle. He can easily adapt to the situation like water. He is dependable and protects those who matters to him, like a castle. This was what Oh Sua (오수아) saw in him during the photoshoot; and what his sister saw when he apologized to her.

In the end, Haeseong absorbed the essence of two words: 해성 (haeseong) and 혜성 (hyeseong). He is both a comet and a sea castle. Regardless whichever spelling and pronunciation he use, both represents his character.

Cover image: 《Undercover High School》, used under the Fair Use doctrine.

This article was first published on WhiteWind platform on 2025-03-15 at 10:55:14 UTC+8.

〈《Undercover High School》: What's in Haeseong's name?〉 © 2025 Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA-4.0), except where noted.