SeokRona

"I missed you too, Rona"

- Seok Hoon to Rona in Season 2, Episode 5/6

SeokRona is the het ship between Bae Rona and Joo Seok Hoon from the The Penthouse: War in Life fandom.

Season One
Seok Hoon and Rona saw each other for the first time when she finally got to attend Cheong-A Arts School and off the waiting list, the students there start taunting her with insults but in Italian, so she wouldn't get what they are saying, but Seok Hoon on the other hand calls her pretty which makes the other students question his taste.

Their first actual interaction was when Rona was late to school and didn't want to be caught by the teacher who was watching outside because she would get penalty points resulting in her having community helping hours. Seok Hoon was also late and saw that she was late too so he offered to help her up the gate but for some reason, he didn't get up the gate himself. We later found out that his twin sister Seok Kyung made him hit on Rona to make Eunbyeol mad/jealous, who is also Rona's love rival later in the series.

Students at Cheong A Arts School, decides to take all the seats on purpose. So Rona wouldn't have anywhere to sit, but Seok Hoon offers the seat beside him to her.

On a further date, the rumor of her living in Min Seol A's house spread around the school fast and this time he seemed angry and he yells at her which seems to make her even more scared and nervous than she already was. Although, there was no scene of them making up she still seems fond of him because he was the first person to ever show kindness to her. So. she gives him chocolate milk to show her gratitude by leaving it on his desk and he thanks her. It's later shown that he genuinely likes her and not just hitting on her for a bet like Seok-Kyung planned as we can see him smiling at her fondly as he watches her from afar.

The Hera Palace kids arrive at Rona's house unannounced to supposedly visit her cause she's their new neighbor, after being served food from Rona´s mom they make fun of the food she eats after her mom leaves but Seok Hoon does the opposite, he eats the food to show his appreciation which provokes everyone to try out the food then they state it tastes delicious and Seok Hoon and Rona smile at each other.

At school, Rona was accused of smoking because she was caught with cigarettes in her pencil case (it was Eunbyeol's doing) and not one person believed her when she said it wasn't hers. So, Seok Hoon chooses to take the blame and said that he placed those cigarettes in there for the fun of it (because he believes his twin sister Seok Kyung did it). This brings Rona in disbelief, she starts to question him which sounded more like she wanted him to say he did not do it because but he still sticks to his claim which puts a tiny strain on their relationship. Their relationship was later patched up when she witnessed that he was injured by a teacher. So, she gives him pain relief patches to help ease the pain, He starts taking off his shirt and Rona quickly turns around nervously "Why are you taking off your shirt?" but he then clears up the misunderstanding and tells her to give him the pain relief patches so he can put them on. She gives it to him and she starts walking away but before she does, he wishes her luck on the audition and she replies with a smile, "Thanks, you too.".

Rona arrives at the penthouse where he lives to congratulate him and Seok Hoon for making the audition, she then looks at the gift in her hand but quickly hides it cause she thinks it's embarrassing if she gives him it. Seok Hoon who saw that she hid it asked her "When are you going to give me that?" she replies with "It's nothing expensive" as she gives it to him, Seok Hoon opens the gift box then turns to everyone for a few seconds and says "I like it." Rona smiles at the comment.

The Hera Palace kids gets a threatening message from someone who is impersonating Min Seol A, Eunbyeol was quick to suspect Rona because of her hatred for her but Seok Hoon tells her that it's just her speculation and she doesn't have any proof. Rona then receives a message from Seok Hoon so she dresses up nicely but it turns out it was just the Hera Palace kids (not including Seok Hoon) using Seok Hoon phone to send that message to trick her. Seok-Kyung, his twin sister then reveals that Seok Hoon was just hitting on her for a bet which seems to confuse Rona because she thought his feelings were genuine. After suspecting that something is wrong, Seok Hoon rushes out to save her but when he arrives to ask if she was all right Rona just glares at him and tells him to get out of her way.

Eunbyeol blackmails Rona with her mom being an adultress so she can quit school, Rona does exactly what she says and sends in her letter of withdrawal. Rona then walks away from the school with Seok Hoon chasing after her but doesn't make it in time.

Seok Hoon finally sees her again after a little while since she withdrew from school, but it's clear she is still mad at him. She tells him her reasoning for leaving the school (she lied) then walks away but as she walks away, he grabs her arm and tells her "Don't go." He then tries to motivate her to come back to school and tells her that it's not her fault, so she shouldn't give up but all she replies with is for him to let her go, as she yanks his hand away from her arm. She finally walks off.

After the situation with her mother, she finally has the courage to come back to school so she asks Seok Hoon for a favor while confessing she likes him, she says they should date because they both like each other and it would be fun if they did a surprise event. Seok Hoon walks into class and tells Rona to come in, so she follows what he says and walks in but once she set foot into the classroom, it shocks the Cheong-Ah Arts students by her sudden appearance after she withdrew from school but what comes next shocks them even more. Rona wraps her arm around Seok Hoon's arm then asks him where her seat is, he walks to an empty seat and pulls out the chair for her. Seok Hoon then turns to everyone and makes a shocking announcement "I'm going out with Bae Rona. So from now on, you better watch your mouths." This angers many including Eunbyeol and his twin sister Seok-Kyung.

Prior to the Shim Suryeon, his mother's death and Yoon Hee's arrest, Rona's mother. He returns the gift she gave him a while ago because her mother killed his mother and didn't want to be involved with her because of this. Rona see's the gift hanged on her home's doorknob and she starts crying.

Season Two
Due to insufficient evidence, Yoon Hee is acquitted. So, Seok Hoon runs over to where Yoon Hee is to see Rona, he sees them walking together happily. His face showing that he is longing for her and filled with guilt.

Yoon Hee now moves back into Hera Palace with Yoon Cheol and sees Seok Hoon peeking inside their house during their move in, he then runs away trying not to get caught but stops in his tracks when Yoon Hee speaks up "Are you looking for Rona." he then gulps in nervousness but finally he denies "No." then walks away but Yoon Hee clearly knows he is there for Rona cause he literally went from the 100th floor to the 45th floor just to peek in their house.

Final Season
In the first episode, Seok Hoon and Rona arrive to dinner together with Seok Kyung and Suryeon. Seok Hoon then pulls out a seat for Rona. Seok Kyung exposes that Rona decided not to go to college and Seok Hoon began to worry and asks her questions on why she did. After, the death of Logan Lee, they both comfort Suryeon at his funeral. At school. Rona finally arrives and tells everyone she turned it down because Seok Kyung was talking about it, so she confirmed it. Seok Hoon still worried, gives her his notes for the SNU finals.

Back at home, The Penthouse Rona sees Joo Dan Tae and starts tearing up, due to how he tried to kill her and almost succeeded in doing so. Seok Hoon brings her to the room where Seok Hoon and Seok Kyung usually studies at and he tries to calm her down by giving her some pills. Seok Kyung brings up that she has been calling Joo Dan Tae and says that Logan is the actual killer. Seok Hoon yells at her in anger and disbelief. Rona startled from this, decides to leave and Seok Hoon goes after her. "Why is he acting like an idiot for Rona?" Seok Kyung says as soon as they left. Seok Kyung then looks at the desk and sees that Seok Hoon and Rona are both deciding to go to the states and the same art school which angers Seok Kyung.

SBS: Fiction Drama of The Penthouse
SBS catch YouTube channel released the first episode of their extra content for The Penthouse called "If Seok Hoon and Rona start dating?!" it shows how they would be like if they could date comfortably without any obstacles. At the beginning of the video, we can see them happily playing Rock-Paper-Scissors on the stairs. If Seok Hoon wins, he gets to go up one step closer to Rona while Rona on the other hand can go up one step farther from Seok Hoon.

Now, they are in the classroom talking about their first date and deciding where should they go. Rona decides on something which is to get something delicious to eat and watch a movie she then puts her hands on Seok Hoon's, then Seok Hoon linked his hands with hers. He then says that there is something on her face, and she asks what is it, he then replies with "My heart."

They are now in the hallway walking together with their hands linked and he checks up on her if she ate anything.

Deleted Scenes
In one of the deleted scenes, we can see Minhyuk laughing at a video on his phone, Seok Hoon snatches the phone and realizes it's a video of them bullying Rona. Seok Hoon then punches him in anger then yells in a loud tone "Where is Rona?!". Another deleted scene showed the other students throwing trash at Rona, Seok Hoon got mad and poured all the garbage out from the trash on them. Eunbyeol gets jealous and asks "Seok Hoon why are you being so nice to her? Are you interested in Rona?" and he replied with "So what if I do?"

Prior to the situation in episode fourteen, Rona finds out that Seok Hoon bullied Min Seol A and they get into an argument, Rona gets even more pissed at him because she's also going through a similar situation like Min Seol A, so she doesn't understand how he could protect someone but then bully another.

Quotes
"I'm going out with Bae Rona. So from now on, you better watch your mouths"

- Seok Hoon about Rona to the Cheong-A Art Students: Season 1, Episode 17

"I saw the two together last night. Things were looking quite serious. It looked like Seokhoon is still not over Rona."

- Eunhoo about Seok Hoon and Rona: Season 2, Episode 5

Fanon
SeokRona is arguably the most loved ship in the Penthouse fandom due their angsty relationship, The ship began to gain more popularity rapidly especially when we see that he is actually starting to like her. It all began precisely because he called her pretty it, which made the fans happy that someone has taken quite an interest in her for the first time. SeokRona rivals ships like EunHoon but in the fandoms opinion, EunHoon can't even compete against SeokRona because for one, in their beliefs, EunHoon does not match well plus Eunbyeol love for him is a little too much.

In many SeokRona FMVs (Fan Music Video), fans use the song 'Arcade' by Duncan Laurence to portray Rona and Seok Hoon's storyline. This is mostly because Rona was in a near death situation, and had to undergo many brain surgeries with a low survival rate. Another song they use for the same exact reasoning is 'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry and they would use clips from the SBS fiction drama of The Penthouse video called 'If Rona and Seok Hoon actually start dating' cause it's like an alternate storyline where they are actually in a healthy relationship.

Due to the new teaser for season three, Fans are freaking out on twitter because we just might get a SeokRona kiss finally! Fans can't help but express their excitement on their tweets. The fandom are also tweeting that they believe we will get SeokRona endgame! Fans after finding there was unreleased scenes and they possibly deleted the SeokRona kiss scene are now expressing their disappointment. Fans now state their opinion and says SBS is just using SeokRona for extra viewers!

Fans of The Penthouse are expressing their angerment about Seok Hoon being a little controlling due to the fact Rona didn't want to attend college but he keeps trying to tempt her. Fans also think that the Juilliard applications were forged by Seok Hoon but SeokRona shippers were fast to state that they think he just wants to be with her and is just preparing if she changes her mind. A deleted scene of episode one releases and fans are quick to change their opinion!

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Trivia

 * Seok Hoon was one of the first people to know she was alive even before her mom.
 * Seok Hoon took care of her while she in the hospital.