I don't think they had a change of heart, they said the endgame had been decided since the beginning and I don't think they're lying, if you reread you will start to notice things that were gonna lead this way. It's just people ignored it because one didn't show up first. Only reason Jooin is widely dislike is because many don't get or understand his character, that's not really on the author but on the readers. Yes I do know Jooin is very frustrating but he's not a bad character, he one of the rare characters that's realistic and shows actual human emotions that are wash over in other stories. He's just flawed one who's trying.
I'll try re-read the story to find the clues you're referring to, but I remember thinking that some parts felt really forced even as I read them for the second time. I'm not saying that Jooin is poorly written entirely, what I'm saying is that creating a realistic (in terms of human psychology) story may have not been the true intention of the author, at least in the beginning. but thank you for sharing your thoughts, I'll keep what you said in mind, and I'll try seeing the plot from a different perspective!
No problem :) but your comment got so excited, I wish there was a way send images because the author tweeted that she did indeed wrote Jooin to be realistic but did say she made him too realistic. Actually let me just copy and paste it
"From the beginning of YTC,I put a lot of effort into setting Jooin as a realistic person. But in the middle of the story, I started to regret it a little bit. His personality was so realistic that it was slow and frustrating to move the story forward. I thought that if Jooin had a more decisive personality, the story would have progressed a little faster. However, in the end, I wanted Jooin to grow, and I would be really happy if the readers could see that"
With that I think the author did intended to make it realistic though it's still has reincarnation. Having a realistic character will lead to a realistic story telling. Sorry for the long reply your comment just triggered me into wanting to share this with someone
the story has been bent so unnaturally towards this ending that i don't think I'll be able to enjoy it. It's clear that the artist had a change of heart upon hearing so many critics, and it's good that Jooin won't end up with Yahwi, but at this point I don't want him to end up with anyone, really. Creating a mc so widely disliked is a failure as a storyteller itself.