How can you say that after the last chapters mentionning his depression, dont you know anyone who went through that ? The guy came back but his mind convinced him that he s a burden to her he went through so much ! He lost his mom and everything when he was still a kid ... The red flag is her and her indecissivness and the way she handles her shit but i cant blâme her either !
When you take your head out of Eunhyuks ass for a moment and pay attention to the rest of the story you'll come to realize that each character is facing a measure of suffering. And yet, theyre all capable of opening up their mouths and speaking their minds aka COMMUNICATING. His depression is not an excuse to burden others. Soo does not owe him, a man, who has harmed her, any compassion
“Keeping her tethered to him without having to commit to anything” is SUCH a wrong take We literally JUST got the answer to why he never reached out to her in the first place he saw that she was happy without him, so he chose to leave her alone. How is that him keeping her tethered to him when he was actively staying out of her life?? He wasn’t trying to keep her around. The only time he started being a little more straightforward was AFTER she kissed him, or maybe when he stepped in to protect her from that creepy guy she went on a date with. Ofc, you can criticize him for how he handled things, but not the rest. He literally watched the woman he’s madly in love with kiss another guy (Dohwa), and he did NOTHING because he didn’t want to interfere. He even warned Dohwa about protecting her because he genuinely thought they were in a relationship. Sorry, but your take is just so wrong.
"I accepted this project hoping that maybe, just maybe it was her" only to then internally regret doing exactly that and then taking it out on her and saying "I dont think we're close enough to be happily exchanging pleasantries". He chose to be in her business (Literally) and then subsequently (as a result of his cowardice) chose to brashly keep her at an arms length. He then says "Shim Suae hurt all on her own, WAITED, GAVE UP, HOPED AGAIN, GOT DISAPPOINTED AGAIN" he himself acknowledges that he kept her tethered!!! Stop making excuses for him!!! He doesnt even make excuses for himself bro.
“Stringing her along knowingly” WHERE is the proof that he deliberately came back to keep Su-ae emotionally attached while refusing to commit? You’re taking his avoidance, his terrible communication, and the pain his disappearance caused her, then turning your interpretation of his intentions into established fact.
Nobody is denying that disappearing for ten years without closure hurt Su-ae. He owes her an explanation, and loving her doesn’t automatically excuse how he handled things. BUT there’s a difference between acknowledging that he hurt her and claiming he deliberately wants to keep her trapped in her feelings. One is supported by what happened; the other assumes motives you haven’t proved.
And “he refuses to communicate” doesn’t mean he has no feelings or that he’s incapable of changing. It means communication is a problem he needs to address. Whether he can take accountability, explain himself, and rebuild Su-ae’s trust is precisely what matters going forward. You’re judging his entire future character development as if it’s already been written.
Also, chapter 145 literally has him helping Su-ae when she’s in danger. That doesn’t erase his disappearance or magically make him a good partner, but it does make your attempt to reduce every single thing he does to selfishness pretty damn selective. Helping her isn’t proof he deserves her, just as disappearing isn’t proof he never loved her.
And YES, nobody HAS to root for either endgame. You’re absolutely right about that!
LMAOOOO “Take your head out of Eunhyuk’s ass” because apparently acknowledging his circumstances means I’m incapable of understanding the rest of the story. Girl, I can recognize that EVERY character suffers without pretending everyone processes trauma the same way. Other characters being able to communicate doesn’t magically make Eunhyuk’s struggles irrelevant. People react to trauma differently, and comparing everyone as if they all have the same ability to cope is a shallow reading of the situation.
And WHO said depression excuses hurting other people? Nobody is saying Su-ae owes him compassion, forgiveness, or another chance. She has every right to be angry, distrust him, and walk away. But Su-ae not owing him compassion doesn’t mean readers aren’t allowed to have any. You’re confusing what Su-ae owes him with what readers are allowed to understand about his character.
AND THE HYPOCRISY IS SENDING ME. You’re emphasizing that Eunhyuk is the man who hurt Su-ae, yet you’re willing to discuss Dohwa’s circumstances when explaining HIS behavior. Why does context matter for one character but suddenly become an excuse when it comes to Eunhyuk? You can acknowledge that he hurt her AND examine what led to his actions. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive!
And the “everyone else can communicate” argument is not the gotcha you think it is. Eunhyuk’s failure to communicate was wrong. Disappearing for ten years without giving Su-ae closure hurt her, and he owes her an explanation. Nobody is disputing that. But struggling to communicate, even when it causes harm, is not automatic proof that someone never cared or deliberately wanted to hurt the person they loved. His fear and circumstances help explain his behavior; they do not erase its consequences.
Also, you keep treating compassion as if it were a reward Su-ae must personally hand him. It isn’t. We can empathize with what Eunhyuk went through without expecting Su-ae to forgive him. We can criticize his choices without reducing his entire character to them. And we can acknowledge Su-ae’s suffering without pretending Eunhyuk’s suffering ceased to matter the moment he hurt her.
CONTEXT ISN’T AN EXCUSE, BUT IGNORING CONTEXT ISN’T CRITICAL ANALYSIS EITHER. You don’t have to like Eunhyuk, want him as endgame, or feel compassion for him. But stop acting like people who understand his circumstances are incapable of recognizing Su-ae’s pain. We can acknowledge BOTH. You just seem determined to make acknowledging one side incompatible with acknowledging the other.
You seem very confused. I never mentioned Dohwa except in my og post where I stated I didnt see him as a threat to Soo and Eunhyuks relationship. Also the person I was replying to literally called Soo a red flag for her "indecissivness and the way she handles her shit" so yes someone was definitely insinuating that she owed him compassion, aka the person I was replying to(???)
Also I dont deny that he cares for her, Im calling into question the appeal of their relationship post timeskip. So what if he cares for her when his actions have caused her nothing but harm. You come up with endless excuses for him and very little consideration for her. "But his past, but his trauma, but he will learn how to communicate, he can learn how to be better" and what of Suae? Should she just, endure? What reason does a reader have to keep rooting for this relationship, logically? It feels so entirely centered on Eunhyuks desire, do you even scrutinize where Suae stands in all this?
“‘I don’t think we’re close enough to be happily exchanging pleasantries’ was literally SOOAE drawing a boundary between them, E never said that. It’s in chapter 108 And like I said, he always puts all the blame on himself, so why are you acting like he’s some calculated villain who deliberately kept her hanging on??? They’re endgame, bro, thats obvious even the author said that sooae is not gonna end up alone. No one here is making excuses for him they’re going to work through this. Y’all are just so impatient
As someone who loved Eunhyuk pre timeskip (and always believed there wasnt even any competition between him and D/denied that this was a love triangle at all), I cannot even begin to fathom why someone would want him to be endgame anymore. Hes admittedly bitch made, a coward, a man who chose to confuse and harm the person he claims to "love", refuses to communicate despite acknowledging that he is the one who was and is behaving selfishly, is avoidant but not enough to let her get over him. Its almost as if he is stringing her along knowlingly, keeping her tethered to him without having to commit to anything, again, because he is a coward. Which is like... crazy cruel. Like gen what the hell r people seeing in him.
You know you dont have to root for ANY endgame right