OK, so today I’ma talk about my girl, my magical, beautiful, rainbow unicorn Bo-young.

I’m so glad we got back to focusing on her. On what she wants in life. In overcoming her insecurities. For being insecure. For being sad and disappointed. For not saying the polite thing but the right thing. For being empathetic but also acknowledging that she hurts too. For finally finally finally spending some of her tears on herself.

There was a lot to unpack today. I agree that if she can’t be herself around Dr. Ye, it’s a problem. It doesn’t mean the relationship is doomed, but part of me thinks that she needs time to focus on herself. I’ve said before that I think dating Dr. Ye would be good for her but ultimately unsustainable if they kept building on the foundation established. It’s now time to either reinforce that foundation or take it down before getting too high and toppling over. He’s taken down his walls for her; it’s her turn to decide whether she can do that for him, and also for herself.

I think we’re finally reaching that fork in the road. Either Bo-young opens up to Dr. Ye shows him her warts and learns to love them herself (because I 100% believe he doesn’t care about them), or she takes the path to getting rid of them alone. (Sorry for mixing my metaphors.) I’m OK with either road. I only want her to take the one that she feels is best for her. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a companion to support you on a hard journey. But there’s also nothing wrong with wanting to do it alone. This is where there’s a contrast to both our young characters’ journeys for me: Min-ho’s journey to accepting himself requires solitude; Bo-young’s does not.

I loved Bo-young’s outburst at the interview. It was everything she needed to say. We know she’s capable and strong and can stand up for other people when she wants to. It’s nice to see her doing that more for herself now.

But the thing that I loved the most was seeing her cry in the jjimjilbang. It was the first time she’d really cried for herself. She cried happy tears a lot, but for every one of her disappointments and let downs she just internalized her sadness and didn’t let it out as much as she did for others. Crying for herself shows us that she’s starting to see herself as valuable. And I have to say, I truly think this is something that happened because of Dr. Ye and the way he treated her. (I still would’ve preferred he be a mentor, but I’ll let it go.)

Anyway, I just hope tomorrow, if nothing else, we see Bo-young finish this journey. More than anything I’ve been rooting for her this entire series.