"We're led to believe he has put in a lot of effort for a decent period of time. I think that's the creators intention anyway." I think this is kinda the problem; if this effort isn't shown on the page, then the creator just hasn't done that good of a job :/ Like I'm pretty sure everyone was ready and willing to read Jaemin's redemption journey, but it really just was "how does he get over his obsession? Time skip! How does he earn Taeyoon's trust again and learn how to be in a healthy relationship? Time skip!"
I went into this story with the expectation that it was gonna go from "toxic abusive love" to the two of them learning how to navigate an actual relationship, but we got to see almost nothing of the latter part. What sort of difficulties did they have after they reconciled? What boundaries were set, what compromises were made, what promises? I don't know. The creator just sort of... waved their hand and said "and then they made it work and lived happily ever after, or something," and we're just supposed to recognize the new, healthy Jaemin at the end.
I'm just kinda sad, because the redemption is what I was looking forward to the most in this story, and what's even more tragic is the reason I think the creator did this is because the story had gone too long without smut :/ maybe I read it wrong, but they posted an author's notes after this chapter, in which they said the second half of the story ended up having way less steamy content than they'd initially planned, and they thanked the readers for their patience in focusing "too much" on story over smut, so if there had been a whole redemption arc, there would've been an even longer section without smut... but that might also be me misinterpreting what they said :v
Feels a lil sudden. Maybe there'll be side stories of them in a healthier relationship? We didn't get to see much of Jaemin 2.0
And I definitely get what some y'all saying. Like just because he said sorry it doesn't mean everything he did is just okay now. But what I'm getting is the reader is supposed to be given the impression at least that he's genuinely trying to be a better person for the one he loves and atone for his sins. We're led to believe he has put in a lot of effort for a decent period of time. I think that's the creators intention anyway.
Ultimately it's up to the person he hurt to forgive him. I probably wouldn't if it were me but this is fictional and not meant to be taken as an example. I just wanna read my lil story and see a happy ending for the two even if it started rough.
(I'm aware that stories even if fictional hold some meaning or moral meant to influence the audience in a real way. HOWEVER, this is very much adult content and as adults you're supposed to be able to parse through what you should and shouldn't take into real life when consuming any kind of media)
I do think it's nice to see even though he's so fucked up he was able to find someone he wants to be a better person for. And ain't what loves all about? Romantic or otherwise. Striving to help each other become better people. You should WANT to be the best version of yourself but that's a difficult resolve to keep all the time. It becomes much easier when you have a reason like just wanting to be better for the people you hold dear.
We should all strive to surround ourselves with people that motivate us to improve upon ourselves.
Don't get me wrong this is still incredibly problematic no matter how you slice it. Not condoning his actions by any means. But I like it, sue me.
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