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Although I have more pairs of shoes than I need, I dont have a shoe fetish. It was through a comment on a Korean drama scene that I learnt of the Korean belief that the person who receives a gift of shoes (or any footwear, I suppose) would run away from the giver.
In episode 14 of BOF, Goo Joon Pyo bought the pair of shoes, which he saw caught Jandi's interest. It seems that the original Japanese manga of Hana Yori Dango did not have this scenario. Beats me why it was added to BOF when Koreans hold that shoe belief.
Interestingly, a Chinese and Filipino Soompier said their respective culture also held that same shoe belief.
More interestingly, to negate the negative aspects of the belief, when shoes are actually given by way of a gift, the Chinese would ask for a token coin (e.g. one penny or dollar) from the receiver. But the Filipino giver would, instead, be the one giving the token coin.
Reminds me of Korean dining etiquette, by which lifting the rice bowl to the mouth is taboo but is the perfectly correct etiquette for the Chinese and for the same reason - so as not to eat like a beggar.