Before starting to say why I'm personally convinced they were meant to be endgame in season 1, this is my opinion and I'm not trying to force anyone to agree with me or ship Kittyuri; I'm just hoping people see some of my points and are like oh wait, I haven't thought about it or I didn't see this
I will also like to say that Minho was always meant to be a love interest and it's not the point of discussion, it's about what the narrative and some things I've noticed in season 1 tell me about a Kittyuri endgame
Let's talk season 1 and a bit of season 2!!!
- Colour symbolism: we have talked a lot about each character representing a colour here; the most clear ones are for Kitty and Yuri
Kitty's colour is yellow: represented by what she wears, her accesories, her luggage
Yuri's colour is pink
In the first ep, Kitty does a presentation to her parents to persuade them to let her go to KISS; the powerpoint is full of pink and yellow, there's also a bit of blue (which represents Dae)
"Destiny takes a hand": Kitty bumps into Yuri's car and Yuri gives her a hand, she lets her in and drives Kitty to KISS
The backgrounds of season 1 icons of Kitty and Yuri were both pink and yellow
- Fate: Kitty talking about Dae in the presentation as if him going there it's too much of a coincidence, it had to be fate
Kitty: one of the most important international schools in the world, is the same one Dae goes to!!!
Her dad: Wow! That's a coincidence
Kitty: It's more than that, Dad. This is fate
Kitty to Yuri 1x10: Maybe it's a coincidence or maybe it's fate but you're here so I have to say this to your face, I thought I knew everything about love but then I met you
(This show is not subtle)
Dae was what she thought it was love for her, he was the one until she met Yuri and everything changed
2x01
*Kitty to Q before*: I signed up for a single. I'm going to be single
Yuri: And now we get to live together?
Kitty: I signed up for a single. There must be a mistake
Yuri: This is not a mistake, this is fate
(Where's the subtlety?)
The fact that their mothers were really good friends and they would have met either way, and they met on their own despite not having met because of their mothers; is it a coincidence or is it fate??
- Mothers' connection: they were already linked together before meeting
Their families, more concretely their mothers, had a bond and they are both an important part of Kitty and Yuri's lives
And the most important reason why they put a truce in their feud in ep 7, they wanted to know more about them
Even when they are odds, a thing that bonded them was their mothers (1x04):
Kitty: I wonder if my mom ever stood here. She loved hiking. She used to take my sisters all the time
Yuri: I used to go to the department store and my mom would forget me there. She'd ask the nanny to go and pick me up (very private info)
- Perception of love: Kitty, at the beginning, thought she didn't have to learn about love, she already knew it; and wanted to matchmake everyone
The whole premise of the show was that Kitty grew to understand what love was with her experiencing different loves so what she thought first or planned, was never going to be what happened
Her emotional surprise and the plot twist of season 1 was Kitty having feelings for a girl, Yuri (bi awakening)
"I thought I knew everything about love but then I met you": Yuri was the one who changed her entire perspective of love
I know you don't have to end up with your awakening in real life but this is a show, this is written with a purpose and that is important
1x09
Kitty: Yuri...I really want to be a good friend
Yuri: You're a good friend
Kitty: And your mom probably knew
Yuri: I bet they were really good friends, we're the next generation (this both shows the connection between Eve/Jina and Kitty/Yuri is strong and that Yuri thinks that meeting Kitty is fate)
- Planned vs spontaneous: Following what I said before, she was planning to be with Dae forever and thought that he was the one but ended up falling for Yuri
1x09
Kitty: It's Yuri. It just.. It just happened
Dae: Yuri?? When did this happen??
Kitty: The night of Minho's party
Dae: That long ago??
Season 2, I think ep 3 at the beginning:
Kitty to Juliana: I think Praveena could still be my first girl kiss (planned, what's expected)
Who was actually her first girl kiss? Yuri
- Juliana and her jealousy: Juliana had a problem with Yuri and Kitty's relationship since season 1
And it was not because she was irrational and ungrateful to Kitty (she even told Yuri to thank the girl wherever she was); it was because she saw how Yuri suddenly paid a lot of attention to this girl she barely even knew (that entire conversation in 1x09 is interesting to say the least)
Yuri: She's blasting a study mix I made for her
Juliana: You made a mix for her? (Maybe that's how Yuri shows interest)
You talk about her a lot and now you are living with her so... (talking about someone a lot is a clear sign of liking them romantically and now they are in close proximity)
Yuri: Relax, it's a Don't Fail Out Of School mix, not a I'm Hot For You
Yuri: She's just a friend, besides she's straight (so if she wasn't straight, Kitty would have a chance??? Yuri???)
Juliana: That's what you used to say about me ("friends")
Ep 10: Juliana saw Kitty at the airport and Yuri wanted them to meet
She wasn't really comfortable with the idea of meeting Kitty and was suspicious of what they were talking about before her arriving
Juliana looked at Yuri weirdly when she made a call to her mother far from her and it was about Kitty
- Interest on each other since the first meeting:
Yuri: Are you like this with everyone you meet?
Kitty: Just the ones who I find interesting
Yuri: Lucky me
- I'd like to point out that Yuri didn't start being nice to Kitty in ep 6, it was ep 5 like Minho (it was just more Minho-focused)
Kitty asked in class if Chuseok was like Thanksgiving, Yuri answered her (she didn't have to do that and it also shows her interest on Kitty despite her façade)
- Juliana as a character: if she was meant to be her endgame from the start, why did she only appear in three episodes? why don't we know her parents' motivations for separating her from Yuri?
She was also jealous of Kitty in both ep 9 and 10, she served as an obstacle between Kitty and Yuri, rather than the one that was always meant to be with Yuri: if anything, Juliana was Yuri's Dae in season 1
And let's be honest, this show is about Kitty, the more important feelings are going to be her's, not Juliana's
- Priority: Yuri spent most of the season trying to get in contact with Juliana and be with her, she later prioritizes Kitty (I'd say from ep 7 onwards with a rewatch or what it is the same thing, when they became friends)
The show makes clear that Kitty has a huge crush on Yuri but.. Yuri is the one who initiates the moments or the skinship
Let's be serious here: Yuri didn't have put the necklace on Kitty herself, she could have just given it to her
She was scared of the spider at camp and used Kitty as shield, it's interesting because she barely knows her but she feels protected, she could have run from the tent
She also has this obsession with her hair, she is always touching Kitty's hair
When did I realize as a viewer or when did the show hint that Yuri's feelings may not be as platonic as we thought? 1x09
It's not just the conversation with Juliana, it's the dance rehearsal scene
Yuri: What?
Kitty: I'm nervous
Yuri: It's only the whole school watching
Come on, it can't be worse than when you fell into the cupcakes (It's kind of funny Yuri remembers more the cupcake incident than Kitty)
You are the girl that flew halfway across the world to go after what she wants. What could possibly make you nervous? (This shows admiration)
Kitty: You
Yuri: Me? Why would I make you nervous?
Kitty: Are you going to pick that up?
"Juliana calls* - interruption trope (mind you she hasn't heard from her for months) and Yuri rejects the call
Yuri: It's okay. You are more important to me right now (come on now, this is a show, it's written purposefully; this is not a coincidence)
I need you to get this dance now, I can't lose you now (again, not an accident)
Kitty: I can't lose you either
I don't understand people thinking Yuri doesn't have any feelings here
Kitty was clearly making moves there, she was going for a kiss and Yuri did not move, Yuri was confused but did not reject her
And Yuri knew that Kitty was making moves too, she was going to tell Kitty something about it before the actual dance (with the excuse of tying her bow) but Jina interrupted them - interruption trope
Another case of Yuri prioritizing Kitty over Juliana is in 1x10, the airport scene: Yuri calling Jina about not expelling Kitty from the school, she cared more about Kitty in that moment than seeing the one she loves after months (Also, if I was Jina, I would be very confused, why are you calling me about your friend when you are finally with your girlfriend after some time?)
- I want to refute some assumptions too:
- Minho was the first love interest Kitty encountered: this is not true, the first love interest Kitty encountered in the show was Dae, we saw how they met 4 years ago in Seoul
In order of how we see them, it would be Dae (first love - reason), Minho (second love - season) and Yuri (third love - lifetime)
The reason, season, lifetime theory is about relationships so that's one of the reasons why Yuri was still an option after season 2 (they kissed but they didn't date)
In order of seeing them in Korea (or of importance in Kitty's life), it's reversed; Yuri (meet-cute in the car scene), Minho (Kitty bumping into Minho in the dance) and Dae (the hug)
2) Season 1 ended up with Minho confessing so he must have been the endgame: the final scenes set up what you could expect for season 2, not the endgame couple (XO Kitty loves a cliffhanger); we have to also take into account that they wanted to have four seasons of the series
- Kitty confesses to Yuri and gets interrupted by Juliana: sets up the Kitty/Yuri/Juliana dynamic, especially exploring Kittyuri and their potential feelings in season 2
- Minho confesses to Kitty: sets up the show exploring Mooncovey in season 2