I wish you would think about me just a little more, but I hesitate to say it because I’m afraid of looking like the one clinging on alone. “공부해줘” brings up that request in the form of a playful command. Yet inside, it is filled with feelings that don’t come across well even when explained, and the disappointment of wishing you were as troubled by this as I am. In the end, the study implied by the title comes to resemble the effort of understanding each other.
While yesterday's memories are still wet
The image of memories that refuse to dry, even after being washed, captures the song's emotion well. It suggests a feeling that remains lodged in the body, no matter how much one tries to rethink what has already ended. The mind may have filed the past away as settled, but the heart still lingers within it; their paces are out of sync. Even as time stretches from yesterday into last year, that dampness does not easily fade.
In that state, saying there is nothing to be done sounds like a conclusion reached far too quickly. When so much hurt and curiosity still remain, it cannot simply be brushed aside with one phrase. Even if the surface puts on a strong front and mixes in jokes, the questions inside persist. It is as if asking where you were while I was nurturing these feelings this far.
I wish you would worry about this as much as I do
The phrase 'a reference book of emotions' seems to carry a plea: please read through the feelings that have accumulated over time. It is not simply a quiz asking you to guess how I feel, but rather a hope that you will try to understand why these words are being said and why even small questions become so difficult to ask.
The later section's wish that the other person is also suffering and struggling feels quite raw. It goes beyond simply asking to be understood gracefully; there is already too much hurt for that. Yet it doesn't need to be reduced to mere revenge either. It sounds like a desire to confirm that the same marks are left on them, born from the feeling of carrying the weight of the relationship alone.
A song that starts with commands and ends in questions
The instruction to study and then relax drifts further from a confident directive as it repeats. By the end, it shifts toward asking whether this is truly good for both of them and how one should understand these feelings. It leaves the impression that the speaker is not someone who already knows the answer and is setting a test, but rather someone who does not know the answer either and has been waiting for the other person's explanation.
This shift makes the song’s playful tone sound even more tender, since it is the moment when a request once wrapped in anger finally comes to light. As you listen, follow how the temperature of the words changes each time the title repeats. What begins as a sharp remark ends up as a plea not to leave the space between them to one person’s worry alone.
Song information and listening
Open the official video on YouTube
The official English title of “O-benkyou Shitoiteyo” is STUDY ME. The music video was released on May 14, 2020, and audio distribution began the following day, on May 15.
The MV animation was handled by Hanabushi and Yotsube. The title is read as “Obenkyō shitoiteyo,” and it is also known domestically under the name 공부해줘.
Official MV announcement · Official release announcement
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