Ever since I first read this manwha It's really resonated deeply with me, with its intricate explorations on grief and moving forward, along with its nuance surrounding introversion and depression--it truly is a beautiful work. However, when it comes to the romantic relationship of the main two characters, I still believe more growth could've been had. The main reason I think the third act should've contained a proper separation between the two is because I think it would have further solidified their growth. The ML's pitiful reveal to the MC at the end should have been one final arc for them, where they could officially take time away from each other and learn to grow as individuals (something that they really NEVER did throughout the story, with either Hanbit, Inwoo, or family members being their pillar). If they had spent some time separated and had individual experiences, and time to grow out of their reliance on others to push them forward I think we could have had an incredible ending. In lieu of some final personal growth though, we ended up with them on a rather stagnant note---happy nonetheless, but stagnant. With the ML's still persistent attachment to the MC, and lack of exploration into how strongly attached he still is to Inwoo, it felt like he was missing something that really solidified that his feelings for the MC are a result of his growth, not a long standing contributor to it. Along with this, I agreed with the MC's thoughts that he should go out and have relationships with other people. No matter how happy they are, it was obvious that their maturity differences were still pretty apparent, and a lot of maturity is the result of experience. Without the presence of truly new experiences, separate from the seclusion and familiarity of someone to rely on always, I don't think the MC will truly have completed his growth as a person. And while I know that, yes, maybe the author intended this, because most people don't ever heal to a full extent or completely grow from such dark experiences--I still would have liked to believe that at the end of this they grew as their own people for a while before truly settling into each other
Ever since I first read this manwha It's really resonated deeply with me, with its intricate explorations on grief and moving forward, along with its nuance surrounding introversion and depression--it truly is a beautiful work. However, when it comes to the romantic relationship of the main two characters, I still believe more growth could've been had. The main reason I think the third act should've contained a proper separation between the two is because I think it would have further solidified their growth. The ML's pitiful reveal to the MC at the end should have been one final arc for them, where they could officially take time away from each other and learn to grow as individuals (something that they really NEVER did throughout the story, with either Hanbit, Inwoo, or family members being their pillar). If they had spent some time separated and had individual experiences, and time to grow out of their reliance on others to push them forward I think we could have had an incredible ending. In lieu of some final personal growth though, we ended up with them on a rather stagnant note---happy nonetheless, but stagnant. With the ML's still persistent attachment to the MC, and lack of exploration into how strongly attached he still is to Inwoo, it felt like he was missing something that really solidified that his feelings for the MC are a result of his growth, not a long standing contributor to it. Along with this, I agreed with the MC's thoughts that he should go out and have relationships with other people. No matter how happy they are, it was obvious that their maturity differences were still pretty apparent, and a lot of maturity is the result of experience. Without the presence of truly new experiences, separate from the seclusion and familiarity of someone to rely on always, I don't think the MC will truly have completed his growth as a person. And while I know that, yes, maybe the author intended this, because most people don't ever heal to a full extent or completely grow from such dark experiences--I still would have liked to believe that at the end of this they grew as their own people for a while before truly settling into each other