Kousuke Hirahara

> "*Makeup remover serves as a great woman repellent.*"
>
> ― Kousuke Hirahara
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>

**Kousuke Hirahara** (平原 こうすけ, *Hirahara Kōsuke*) (also known as "Q-Tip"by Shin-Ae) is the one of the main characters of *I Love Yoo*. He is the first son of Randulph Skuli Hirahara and Yui Hirahara and the half brother of Yeong-Gi.

He is currently working as the Director of Finance of the Hirahara Corporation, his family's business. His father currently sits as the chairman, and his mother manages the Health Facilities. His brother is currently working as an intern alongside Sang-Chul Kim.

When he first met Shin-Ae Yoo, he was cold and demeaning to her. After he met her again, and saw that she helped his brother, he apologized and told her that he 'owed her a favor'. He currently has hired her as his assistant, but due to her being "impolite", he placed her in etiquette class.

He is currently aiming towards becoming the new CFO of the Japan branch of Hirahara Corp.

## Background

Not much is shown about his past (relationships and such) but it is known that he was valedictorian of his class and that he was a “momma's boy”. It is shown that he had a poor relationship with his brother Yeong-Gi. Shin-Ae suspected Kousuke's age to be around 20 or 21.  In Episode 111, Hansuke confirmed that Kousuke is 24 years old.

Hansuke recalls Kousuke being reckless and a bit of a party animal when they were in college.

He also used to spend a lot of time with friends in his University days, including his cousin Hansuke Shishido and Yu Jing, but then he decided to focus more on the business side of his life, abandoning his friendships.

### Hirahara Masquerade Arc

Kousuke was in attendance of his family’s annual banquet. He was in a terrible mood because of an earlier event that occurred earlier that evening. To calm his nerves he found himself at the buffet. He spotted a piece of tiramisu, but before he could take it, a young woman in a maroon dress, Shin-Ae, grabbed it first. He tripped her on purpose, in order to get the tiramisu. Later, when he received a call from Nol's phone, from Shin-Ae informing him of Nol's condition, it can be heard that Meg was harassing him, and Soushi had to pull her away.

## Appearance

Kousuke's appearance primarily resembles that of his mother, Yui Hirahara. Due to their striking similarity, Shin-Ae mistook his mother for Kousuke in drag.

He can be described as a rich boy with a trendy luxurious style. He has dark brown hair that is styled into a bowl cut shape, paired with slightly slanted light blue eyes.

He almost always dons formal attire such as business suits or high-quality designer clothing.

He also has a piercing on his left ear.

He usually displays a serious facial expression.

Many people in the series have complimented him on his charming handsome looks. He is frequently sought after, with women agreeing in how they would "definitely hit that", and another lady calling him a "snacc."

## Personality

Kousuke, at first, seems like a cold and snobbish person but he has a soft side to him when people get to know him. He can be overprotective, especially towards his younger brother Yeong-Gi. However, he can also be condescending and blunt to people he sees as inferior to him, as demonstrated by his first few interactions with Shin-Ae, calling her a "fatass"and insulting her because of her lack of wealth.

He has a tendency to conceal his true emotions. He acts and talks sarcastically but his words often have deeper meanings. He seems to have quite a bit of sarcastic humor, which is occasionally shown during **'Kousuke's Corner**'.

He gives the excuse of being busy work to avoid dating questions. Kousuke also carries a makeup remover to scare girls away.

## Bonus Episodes

### Kousuke's Corner 1

Kousuke answered some fan questions like when are their birthdays, why he avoids women, etc. In the middle of this episode, the main trio drew themselves as babies, ending with Kousuke and Yeong-Gi fighting.

### Kousuke's Corner 2

Kousuke once again answered some fan questions like their ages (which he reluctantly revealed, since asking for people how old they are is rude), why he held Shin-Ae's hand and declining the readers' request to take his shirt off, which he refused and commented that the request was ill-mannered. This episode once again ended with Kousuke and Yeong-Gi fighting because the latter tried the take off his shirt.

### Kousuke's Corner 3

At the beginning of this episode, Yeong-Gi and Kousuke agreed that they will try not to beat each other up. As always, Kousuke answered questions like their Hogwarts Houses, his earring, and once again, taking his shirt off to see his abs, which he refused again and commented why are the readers obsessed with abs. He told the readers that if they want to see him shirtless, then they're going to have to wait and see if Quimchee (the creator) lets it happen. Like in the previous Kousuke's Corner, the brothers ended up beating each other up again because Yeong-Gi photo-shopped Kousuke's face to several bodies to see his abs.

## Relationships

### Yeong-Gi 'Nol'

Yeong-Gi is Kousuke's younger brother. Kousuke refers to his brother as "Nol", despite his younger brother's protests.  He and Kousuke appear to have a negative relationship, evidenced by their constant bickering. This is commented on by Shin-Ae, in Episode 26.

    After Shin-Ae gifted Kousuke a piece of Cheesecake, he reflects on his past birthdays of his childhood. It is shown that Yeong-Gi was attempting to give Kousuke gifts every year for several years, which Kousuke would discard. Eventually, Kousuke told his brother "Do us both a favor... and give it up already."

Character interactions:

* In Episode 9, Kousuke waits for him to wake up, however, Nol is not happy when he sees Kousuke at the hospital.
* In Episode 16, Kousuke tells Nol about his meeting with Shin-Ae.
* In Episode 17, Nol and Kousuke fight after Nol comes to Sunbucks
* In Episode 20, there is a flashback to when Nol and Kousuke were children.
* In Episode 23, Kousuke arrives at the arcade to take Nol to dinner, and Nol slaps his hand away. He then promises to be compliant for a week if Kousuke gets Shin-Ae food.
* In Episode 24, Kousuke takes Nol home after their family dinner and tells him he will be working at the company for the next week.
* In Episode 25, Kousuke takes Nol to work with him.
* In Episode 26 and Episode 27 Kousuke and Nol go to get lunch with Shin-Ae.
* In Episode 28 he drives home with Shin-Ae and Nol.
* In Episode 33 Nol tells Kousuke that he wants to continue work
* In Episode 42, Kousuke thinks back to when him and Nol were younger, and he rudely threw away all of the gifts Nol got him.
* In Episode 44, Nol confronts Kousuke about Shin-Ae's deleted application. It is revealed that Kousuke left it out to motivate Nol to work.
* In Episode 51, Kousuke talks to Nol for the first time at the formal, and their conversation gets tense.

Kousuke would supervise Yeong-Gi while he met up with his friends, which Dieter said in Episode 99, eventually stopped when Soushi begun to hang out with Yeong-Gi.

In Episode 47, Nol decides to continue work, to the annoyance of Kousuke.

During the formal arc, Kousuke and Yeong-Gi work together to help find Shin-Ae. Yeong-Gi agrees to be compliant for the rest of the year. When Nol drops Kousuke and Shin-Ae, Kousuke assumes it was on purpose, and out of vindictiveness.

In Episode 120, Nol is the first person Kousuke tells about his potential job as CFO, in Japan.

After Kousuke gets drunk at a club, he drunk dials Shin-Ae and Nol, in Episode 124.

### Shin-Ae Yoo

Shin-Ae and Kousuke currently have a business relationship, since she was hired as Kousuke's assistant. His personal feelings related to Shin-Ae are so far unconfirmed, but that may change in the future.

Shin-Ae and Kousuke got off to a rocky start, with Kousuke tripping her for a piece of tiramisu. However, once they meet again, they are on better, but still uncomfortable, terms. For the first part of the story, Kousuke is insistent that she allows him to repay

Character interactions:

* In Episode 3 he trips her for the last piece of tiramisu.
* In Episode 4, he insults her, causing her to throw a steak at him
* In Episode 7, they run into each other again in the hospital.
* In Episode 8, Kousuke questions Shin-Ae about her encounter with his brother.
* In Episode 10, Shin-Ae sees Kousuke at the Cafe, and hides from him.
* In Episode 13, Shin-Ae makes eye contact with Kousuke while leaving the cafe, and he is surprisingly polite to her, helping her remove the marker from her face and saying that he owes her a favor for taking his brother to the hospital.
* In Episode 16 Shin-Ae goes to meet him at the mall, as orchestrated by Min-Hyuk and Maya. She apologizes, and they end up getting acquainted, partially due to his brother's interest in her.
* In Episode 17 Shin-Ae witnesses Kousuke and Nol bicker.
* In Episode 19, it is revealed that Kousuke notified security in the mall about Shin-Ae's incident with the woman in Episode 17, and gives her a shirt and pack of Q-tips
* In Episode 22 Shin-Ae runs into Kousuke and Yui outside the arcade.
* In Episode 23 Kousuke buys Shin-Ae some food at a food truck, in exchange for Nol's compliance.
* In Episode 26 and Episode 27 they go to dinner with Nol and Kousuke talks to Shin-Ae about her job and her sister.
* In Episode 28 he drives home with Shin-Ae and Nol.
* In Episode 32 Kousuke stops Meg from aggressing towards Shin-Ae and texts her once she leaves.
* In Episode 40 Kousuke comes home from work to find that Yui has tricked Shin-Ae into coming to his house for his birthday, and she proceeds to humiliate both of them.
* In Episode 41, Kousuke takes Shin-Ae home and she buys him cake for his birthday.
* In Episode 46, Shin-Ae contacts Kousuke, attempting to use the 'favor'. However, in episode 47, her message is intercepted by Yui.
* In Episode 52, Kousuke steps on Shin-Ae's dress, causing her to fall, and in episode 53,

Kousuke talks to Nol, telling him that he needs to limit his interactions with Shin-Ae because it will look bad on him and Alyssa.

Shin-Ae thinks to herself that she better understands Kousuke and his intentions, than that of Nol, even though Kousuke many times says things better left unsaid.

Kousuke is the first person to find Shin-Ae after she is drugged. She does not recognize him at first, but then after he pulls back his hair she does. She is very upset, and falls, but Kousuke catches her. Nol catches Kousuke, but then drops them both. Nol then falls.

At the hospital, Kousuke waits in the room with Shin-Ae, and tells Nol to go home. He later witnesses Shin-Ae rip up the check in Yui's face. He is confused and asks her about what happened.

Later, they interact at Sunbucks, where they discuss the terms of her employment. They then go to Soo's store, where they buy appropriate work attire.

Shin-Ae has a terrible first day, and Kousuke signs her up for etiquette classes.

In the Mid-Season Recap, she mentions regarding Kousuke "I've been a victim of his hurtful words too often. But I've seen him act decent once in awhile. I get the feeling that he's out of the loop when it comes to certain things... Things that he's not used to...So I try to help...I'm sure that somewhere behind those awful words... there's a good person... misguided".

In Episode 90, Shin-Ae overhears Nol and Kousuke fighting over her, especially Kousuke saying she is unprofessional. She is very bothered by it. She decides to later invite Kousuke to Min-Hyuk's party, to a situation where he will be out of his element.

As of Episode 96, Kousuke is uneasy about what Yu Jing told Shin-Ae. He begins to act paranoid. This makes Shin-Ae uncomfortable.

In Episode 114, when Yu Jing interviews Shin-Ae, Shin-Ae admits to trusting Yu Jing because of her trust in Kousuke.

In Episode 124, Shin-Ae received drunk phone calls intended for Nol.

### Hansuke Shishido

Kousuke is Hansuke's cousin. He and Kousuke hung out a lot back when they were both still studying, but when Kousuke started working full-time, he became according to Hansuke, the epitome of "anti-fun". Hansuke admitted to him that he missed the times when they hung out together.

Kousuke often calls Hansuke when he is stressed.

Hansuke took Kousuke to a club at the end of Episode 120, where Kousuke get inebriated very quickly.

### Randulph Skuli Hirahara

Kousuke is Rand's first son. Kousuke was seen to look up to his father. He promised his father that he would take care of Nol. He is also the heir to the Hirahara Corp, and thus Rand's successor.

In Episode 120, Kousuke has a flashback to when he saw Rand at work, where he saw how impressive he was. He decidided then to become like his father. He said to Nol:

>
>
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> "The very first time I saw him in action...Everyone looked up to him. Respected him. Admired him. Everyone counted on him... I aspired to be like him at that moment."
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>
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*When a young Kousuke tells Rand he wants to be just like him, Rand says that he doesn't have to. He could be a chef, a musician, or a doctor. Kousuke tells him that he wants to be just like him, except much better.*

### Yui Hirahara

Yui is Kousuke's mother. Kousuke takes after her a lot appearance-wise. He appears to be very close with his mother. His mother always spends her sons birthday with him. She also gets involved in his personal life, much to his dismay. He became angry at her when he realized she gave Shin-Ae a job, and possibly was involved with the drugging of her.

* In Episode 22, Yui and Kousuke come to the arcade to pick up Nol.
* In Episode 24, Yui talks to Kousuke about the black and white formal.
* In Episode 32, Yui witnesses the confrontation between Meg, Kousuke, and Shin-Ae
* In Episodes 40 and 41, Yui brings Shin-Ae to celebrate Kousuke's birthday, and makes both very uncomfortable.
* In Episode 47, Yui visits Kousuke while he is getting voicemails from Meg. When he leaves the room, she texts Shin-Ae through his phone.
* In Episode 51, Yui breaks up the conversation between Nol and Kousuke, but mostly targets Nol.

### Megan Cho

Megan began to have a crush on Kousuke when she was struggling in college. He complimented her on being a woman in STEM, and it gave her the push to succeed. After that, she had a huge crush on him, which may have been encouraged by his mother, Yui. This was showcased when Yui accompanied her to meet Kousuke. Meg attempted to tell Kousuke about Shin-Ae's situation first, but he ignored her. After the formal, she got over her crush on him, and stopped bothering him.

Character Interactions:

* In Episode 6, Meg is bothering Kousuke at the party.
* In Episode 14 and 15, Meg bothers Kousuke as he is going into work.
* In Episode 30, Meg tries to visit Kousuke, but he sprays her with makeup remover.
* In Episode 32, Kousuke goes on a "date" with Meg.
* In Episode 46, Meg repeated calls Kousuke, attempting to get him to go to the formal with her.

### Yu Jing

Yu Jing and Kousuke have a strained relationship. They were friends in college, but an incident caused Kousuke to distance himself from his friend group. Yu Jing tends to be very

### Dieter Becker-Wulff

Dieter has had very few interactions with Kousuke. He did tell Kousuke that he would take care of Shin-Ae after they went as a group to the movies. Dieter noticed negativity between Shin-Ae and Kousuke, that he found similar to Kousuke and Yeong-Gi. Dieter said that Kousuke used to babysit Nol when they were freshman in high school, but eventually loosened up.

### Soushi Toyoshima

    Soushi is Yeong-Gi's close friend, so he accompanied Kousuke to the hospital after Yeong-Gi was drugged. Soushi, who was shamelessly teasing Kousuke, got on his nerves. Kousuke told him that he was lucky to be Yeong-Gi's close friend otherwise he would've been in big trouble.

Soushi commented on how Kousuke was always getting in trouble with 'the ladies', while they were at breakfast.

Character interactions:

* In episode 7 and 8 they go to the hospital together.
* In episode 9 they escort Nol out of the hospital when he wakes up

In Episode 70, Kousuke called Soushi, when he was looking for Yeong-Gi after their exams.

In Episode 96, Kousuke runs into Soushi at a Game store, he asks if Yeong-Gi is with him. He tells Kousuke that no, Yeong-Gi is not with him, he is just helping Dieter bu clothes for a party he was invited to. When pressed, Soushi apologizes for not mentioning it to him, and tells him Yeong-Gi is going as well. Kousuke and his cousin then accompany Soushi, Dieter, and Shin-Ae to the movies.

In Episode 98, Kousuke says he would want to go to the party, and asks Soushi to go as well.

In Episode 99, Dieter tells Shin-Ae that Kousuke stopped following or babysitting Yeong-Gi once Soushi joined their friend group. Dieter assumes it is because Kousuke dislikes Soushi, due to their opposite personalities.

### Min-Hyuk Park

    Kousuke was invited to Min-Hyuk's welcome party by Shin-Ae. He originally refused the offer, but upon hearing again about the party from Soushi, he changed his mind and in Episode 98, he told Shin-Ae he would attend.

In Episode 105, Min-Hyuk approached Kousuke after hearing who he was from Dieter. He complimented Kousuke's Wurberry Coat, and while Kousuke originally thanked him, he began to assume that Min-Hyuk was approaching him for money. Min-Hyuk was shocked by his assumption, and Kousuke continued to describe why he assumed Min-Hyuk was a homeless person or beggar. Kousuke tells him "Just an honest observation. I do not mean to offend." Kousuke begins to leave and Min-Hyuk tells Kousuke that his head reminds him of an egg, and when Kousuke turns back, Min-Hyuk mirrors his earlier words to him, telling him 'Just an honest observation. I do not mean to offend."

### Nessa Lochlainn

Nessa and Kousuke didn't have many interactions, however it is clear that Kousuke has very negative feelings towards her, as her face is scribbled out in all of his flashbacks (episodes 142, 143, and 212).

## Etymology

**Kousuke** is an alternate transcription of **Kōsuke**.

* The name **Kousuke** is written in hiragana (こうすけ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (康介, 孝介, 浩介 or 公介), it could possibly mean:
	+ 康介 - "peace" (康) (**kou**) and "help, assist" (介) (**suke**).
	+ 孝介 - "filial piety, obedience" (孝) (**kou**) and "help, assist" (介) (**suke**).
	+ 浩介 - "prosperous" (浩) (**kou**) and "help, assist" (介) (**suke**).
	+ 公介 - "public, duke, prince, lord, companion, open" (公) (**kou**) and "help, assist" (介) (**suke**).
* Kousuke's surname **Hirahara** means "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (**hira**) and "field, plain" (原) (**hara**).

## Trivia

* Kousuke Hirahara is 24 years old, which was confirmed by his cousin in Episode 111
* His MBTI type is ISTJ
* His favorite fruit is a banana
* His favorite food is Duck Confit with Crème Brulee
* His lucky number is 8
* Kousuke has 20/20 vision
* In the original I Love Yoo comic, Kousuke was supposed to be a part-time teacher
* Kousuke was the only member of the trio who didn't have a name change.
* Kousuke writes in cursive
* His favorite holiday is New Years
* He graduated as valedictorian in high school
* His favorite Christmas songs are 12 Days of Christmas, We Three Kings, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
* He wears Bleu de Wanel every day. He will not leave his house without a few spritz. (Equivalent to Bleu de Chanel)
* His feet are a size 10
* A few brands that Kousuke owns are Burberry, Armani, D&G, Bvlgari, Hugo Boss
* He was the first character created in I Love Yoo
* His favorite color is green
* His best memory was in high school and his worst memory was in elementary school.
* If he were to be sorted into a Hogwarts House, it would be either Slytherin or Ravenclaw
* While in college, Kousuke majored in MBA finance and BS economics
* Kousuke's favorite Disney movie is Fantasia
* Kousuke is voice acted by Anthony Sardinha in the Comic Dub version of the series made by Sans Comic TV on Youtube
* He has a cousin named Hansuke. They appear to be close and they spent a lot of time together in college with other unknown friends
* Kousuke has never gotten a scratch until his fight with Yeong-Gi in one of the episodes where the characters are at a game shop
* He is not very good at gaming but he does have amazing luck
* He is very good at chess

## References

1. ↑ Episode 4
2. ↑ Episode 79
3. ↑ Episode 25
4. ↑ Episode 30
5. ↑ Episode 79
6. ↑ Episode 4
7. ↑ Episode 6