I think the task could be even more clearer. I understand the task as if there could be many smiles in one String, so I've been writing code to count smiles for input String like :-)k :D ;] hello:)

Okay, thank you for the quick resolution! :)

There is no mention of any symbols except for mouth, nose, and eyes so :-)k is not a valid smiley face according to the rules.
Anyway just to be sure there is no missconfusion I added to description No additional characters are allowed except for those mentioned.

I feel like the instructions should be more clear. As it turns out, I kept failing the kata because I was accepting smiley faces that had trash letters/symbols at the end. It was never specified that this is a problem, and you wouldn't think it is, considering :-)k is still a smiley face per definition of the rules. I eventually found this out through trial and error, but I believe clearer instructions on this issue would help tremendously.

P.S. I still thought it was a good kata despite this issue