The romance is weird.

Personally, I'm not really comfortable with Jiwoo and Jiyoung as a romantic pairing. It's not because a five-year age gap is automatically a bad thing. Five years between two people in their late twenties or thirties usually isn't a big deal. What makes it feel different to me is that Jiwoo is only around (19 probably) while Jiyoung is (24 probably) Those are two very different stages of adulthood.

Jiwoo is still a young adult who's just beginning to experience the world. He's still discovering who he is, learning how the awakener world works, and figuring out how to handle responsibilities. Throughout the story, we watch him grow through his mistakes, learn from his mentors, and slowly become more confident. He's incredibly kind and emotionally intelligent, but he's still inexperienced. He's still in the stage of life where he's constantly being taught and shaped by the people around him.

Jiyoung is in a completely different place. She's already one of the strongest awakeners in Korea and leads one of the country's most powerful organizations. Every day, she has to make decisions that affect other people, deal with politics between awakeners, and carry responsibilities that most people her age wouldn't even have. She's already built a life and identity around those responsibilities, while Jiwoo is only starting to build his own.

Because of that, there's a noticeable gap in maturity and life experience. Jiwoo is still learning how to become an adult, while Jiyoung has already spent years living as one. He still looks to older and more experienced people like Kayden, Kartein, and Jiyoung herself for guidance. He's still being protected, trained, and mentored. Jiyoung, on the other hand, is someone others rely on. That difference makes them feel like they're in very different chapters of their lives.

Another thing that makes it feel a little strange to me is that Jiwoo has so much more growing left to do. He's still developing as a person, both emotionally and mentally. The experiences he'll have over the next few years will likely shape who he becomes. Jiyoung has already gone through much of that growth. Because of this, it doesn't feel like they're meeting each other as equals in terms of life experience, even if they respect each other deeply.

That's why I'm not really comfortable with the pairing. It isn't because I think either character has done something wrong or because I believe every age gap relationship is problematic. It's simply that Jiwoo still feels like someone who's growing into adulthood, while Jiyoung already feels like someone who's firmly established in it. To me, that difference is much more significant than the five-year age gap itself, and it's what makes the romance feel a bit uneven.