Beanfriends, this one is a long one, so forgive me. I have so many thoughts about Do You Like Brahms? and have had no time to articulate them properly. I still don’t have the time, since work is killing me right now, but I had some stuff I wanted to get out before I forgot.
So, I want to talk about the trio of musicians. I love this friendship, because it is very real in many ways – the three friends who have grown up together but are starting to realize that maybe the comradery they once shared now has a new dynamic, and maybe it doesn’t work well anymore (or even, if it ever did work).
Let’s start with our pianist, Joon-young. This poor boy – he is such a people pleaser. He will do anything to keep the peace, even if it is to his detriment. How he hasn’t had a breakdown yet is a mystery. It’s a good thing he met Song-ah when he did, because he needed someone in his life he could be honest with, even if he is still holding too many of his cards close to his chest. I think Song-ah was the first person in a long time who just treated him like a person.
Joon-young has spent years with people shoving him onto this pedestal and creating more distance in his relationships instead of making sure that he still has relationships to go back to. We saw this today in episode 8, and I think it was the first time he’s actively pushed back at that. Obviously part of his wanting to play with Jung-kyung is due to all those awful people trying to tell him he’s better than his friends. I’m pretty sure that his resistance to this, more than anything, is what caused his burnout. At the end of the day, he still had Hyun-ho and Jung-kyung, even if the friendship was beginning to wear and show its cracks. But then Jung-kyung goes and blows it all up in New York. (Also, I’m assuming his fallout with his teacher was due in part to Cha Young-in, because he still calls her noona while being barely polite to that asshat professor, and they were in a relationship, right? Or was I not paying proper attention?)
Which brings me to our spoiled former violin prodigy. This girl clearly needs a lot of therapy. She seems to have some sort of trauma related to her mother’s death, and this is obviously the root of her issues maintaining relationships – whether romantic, friendly, professional, or familial. Now, I’m not going to defend her behavior – it was and is and has been deplorable. But I will say this: I get it. I get that she’s broken up inside about failing to live up to her potential, I get why she purposely torpedoed her relationship and destroyed the only other meaningful friendship in her life at the same time.
If Joon-young is a people-pleaser, Jung-kyung is the other side of the coin: she’s selfish and she pushes people to their limits because she doesn’t know how else to confirm their love. Her relationship with her grandmother is also fraught – and I get it. I get that the constant reminder of her failed potential is grating. And something obviously happened with her father as well.
Which brings me to the final character in our trio – Hyun-ho. I could not get a read on this boy for the first few weeks, and it drove me nuts. I felt that he had to know about what happened in New York, then that he had to have an inkling of their feelings. But when you realize that he truly is in the dark, it all comes together. If Joon-young and Jung-kyung are the two ends of how they deal with relationships, Hyun-ho is the balance in the middle. He has a loving, normal family. He may not be a prodigy, but he’s good, and he is smart and he’s completely normal. And as a result, he doesn’t see the world the way his friends do. The way he yelled at Jung-kyung and then broke down after was just so heartbreaking because I think he understood everything – why she acted the way she did, why Joon-young did what he did; but knowing why doesn’t lessen his hurt.
I also think Jung-kyung mistakenly believed that Hyun-ho had some idea of what was going on, which was why she acted so brazenly. That’s why, once she realized Hyun-ho really was just that genuinely straightforward in how much he cared for her, she broke. Because maybe their relationship had reached its natural end, but maybe she just blew up the one truly good constant in her life. I don’t think she knows how to end things cleanly.
And here’s the thing, the reason I can’t hate Jung-kyung just yet. She’s a brat, that is for sure, and she’s spoiled, and she lashes out at people, and she can be deliberately cruel – but I don’t think that is really who she is. As much as she can be deliberately cruel, I don’t think she ever was malicious or ever had a truly malicious intent. At her very worst she is more self-destructive than anything else, and in the end, she really only hurts herself.
I kept waiting for a moment during the masterclass for her to put down Song-ah in some way, to make Song-ah look small, but she genuinely seemed to love teaching her. She paid Song-ah more attention in a few minutes than any professor had in years. Jung-kyung may be the prodigy who failed to live up to her potential, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to help others where she failed. We’ve also seen her barely veiled disdain for her former professors who fawn over her because of her connections. We know that she loves playing, and that she wants more than just to run a foundation for her family.
I think her flash of jealousy over Joon-young was just that – a momentary flash. I mean, it also caused her to act on her worst impulses, but I don’t think it was who she is. I’ve been there – at the end of my 20s, flailing because the path you imagined is disappearing. Lashing out at the people who you love is one way some people cope (I’ve been guilty of this). It’s not okay and it’s not right, but it is natural. I think she thought that they would be okay after the dust settled, but she doesn’t realize how much Joon-young himself was going through.
Prodigy’s aren’t bad teachers. I mostly follow violinists and people like Hillary Hahn and Rey Chen are the nicest, sweetest, some of the funniest musicians you could find out there. I am sure there are some people who could be arrogant, obviously but there are genuinely good people out there too and that is precisely why I found Song Ah to be believable once in this entire span of the drama. She may just turn out to be a good teacher as opposed to be a soloist.
I really hope we see more of Jung-kyung like she was today in the rest of the drama. I would also love to see her work with Song-ah, and see them work together.
My prediction for the remainder of Jung-kyung’s arc: she does a bit better in terms of being a bitch (/possibly aims her bitchery where it’s most needed – towards those awful professors), backslides a bit and gets a bit possessive of Joon-young re: this recital, he ends up playing with Song-ah (undecided if this is with JK’s blessing). Also she deals with her family shit and starts mending bridges with her father (sidenote: I really hope we get this backstory soon) and Hyun-ho (boy, DO NOT go back to that mess, you deserve so much better).
Gem—Don’t forget Chloe Chua! She just did a guest spot with Twoset violin where she does a master class with Eddie and Brett. She’s adorable and I really think they learned something! https://youtu.be/slrHpGlxHQA
of course but she has a lifetime to greatness…..There are so many more but Hillary and Ray engage so much online, they are first ones that popped into my head
I love all of these thoughts. I think you’re right on about Hyeon-ho and Jung-kyung. The one place I disagree a bit is with Joon-young. The one missing piece, IMO, is that he’s sort of oblivious and privileged. His life sucks in many ways. The flip side, though, is that he doesn’t recognize his blessings. As a result, he doesn’t understand why other people are so desperate to improve musically and he doesn’t see why everybody else is afraid of not measuring up to him. He’s so fixated on the pressure of being up on that pedestal, of people creating distance between him and the people he loves, that he doesn’t see things from their end, as the people look up at the pedestal. It results in him casually brushing aside things that really matter to other people; indeed, I think that conversation he had today with Song-ah at the 40 minute mark was absolutely crushing in part because he essentially trivialized her valid fears and concerns.
Agreed that he doesn’t see his privilege. Also, I was pretty annoyed with him when he wasn’t able to see how Song-ah felt, though he does seem to understand the flipside – i.e. the warnings that she’ll be the victim of any rumors about the two of them – which is what usually does in the couples in these dramas. He does seem to genuinely want to protect her from harm, which makes sense since that is his M.O.
At the end of the day, Joon-young needs to (1) learn to express himself and communicate better and (2)learn to say “No” for f*ck’s sake. These are why he is blind to his privilege – because he can’t actually take the time to assess himself because he’s so focused on everyone else. That’s why I actually liked that he didn’t go to Song-ah right away – he was aware enough on some level that he needed to work out some of the issues in his life before putting another person in it.
I think what it comes down to is that as much as people put him on a pedestal, he puts his relationships on pedestals – Hyun-ho, Jung-kyung, Young-ah, Song-ah, the chairwoman, even his mother – and he really wants to make sure these people are happy, but fails to see that if he wears himself out doing that he only ends up hurting them and damaging the relationship e.g. his mother not telling him about needing surgery. I can so see something similar happen with Song-ah down the line. I think that’s why he wanted to clear up any misunderstanding with the recital, but he still botched it because he missed the main point which was that he needed to assure Song-ah of his feelings. Thank God she set him straight.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It was a good read. I’m glad they showed us a bit more of Jung-kyung. I was waiting for this. I also expected her to belittle Song-ah so I’m pleasantly surprised that she treated her as a student and gave her actual advice. Points for honesty about not knowing the answer. Teachers don’t know everything and they can learn from students as well.
I think Jung-kyung is a great character – she’s not a nice character, or person, but she feels very real, even, maybe even especially, when she’s making bad decisions. Like, this is a person who is so clearly hurting and has not really dealt with her issues. But the moments we get where she’s not being terrible you see a normal young woman who just wants to do well at the thing she loves – and I love that parallel to Song-ah. Even though they come from different worlds, their core emotions are mirrors of one another. I truly hope Song-ah reaches out to her and we see more of that student-teacher dynamic between them. (Not holding my breath, though, because this is still dramaland after all.)
I see your points but I still wanted to ToD to remove her by the end of Ep 8. 🙈
I think she has the skills to become a good teacher, but the feelings of failure and inferiority will always be there unless she deals with it. Otherwise she’ll end up taking it out on her students like the old professors. The masterclass was part of a job application so I’m not convinced she’d be like that in a regular classroom. But there may be a glimmer of hope for her character.
But she also took the time to speak to the young prodigy in the second episode – I remember seeing that scene and wondering if that was the part of her we were missing. So much focus for her seems to be on what she could have been when it came to music, that people forget that she still is passionate about music – that’s why she would rather teach than sit on a board. I don’t think her feelings of failure or inferiority are as deep as her fears of abandonment. She clings to people for all she pushes them away (does that make sense?).
She seems to love playing for its own sake, like Song-ah, for all she was once a prodigy. And I think people lost site of that about her (her grandmother certainly did) but she clings to that love more than anything. It’s not about being the best, it’s about being able to play at all, which is what her grandmother is trying to take away from her. I think her jealousy at Joon-young was that he got to play, not that she was inferior or a failure. (I mean, obviously those are connected but I think the latter are less important to her.)
And let’s not speak too soon about Joon Young not having a breakdown, because I feel like the preview is hinting at it and I’m concerned. Hopefully Song Ah will be there or at least sense that something is wrong and Joon Young will for once in his life, let himself lean on someone for help or at least see his weaker side.
I, too, don’t hate Jung-Kyung. In fact, I never did. I just didn’t understand her and her motives, and I found her frustrating for being so self-destructive. She just always seemed to be in more pain than anyone else when she was acting like a bitch. She was very clearly unhappy in her relationship with Hyun-Ho and I couldn’t understand why she decided to convolute things. But I came to understand she doesn’t know how to end things cleanly.
However, that scene when she confessed why she kissed Joon-young was the first time I disliked her. I understand and acknowledge her frustrations at not reaching the expectations expected of everyone and herself. I understand her jealousy of her ‘successful’ friend. I do. Feelings are meant to be felt. You can be jealous of your dearest friend – it doesn’t make you a bad friend, but what matters is how you act on it. That fleeting moment she was engulfed with jealousy that she acted out and kissed Joon-Young knowing his feelings was a real bitch move. As you said, she’s incredibly selfish. And I understand her feeling lost but you can’t appear in front of said friend claiming how sorry you are just to turn around to emotionally blackmail them into helping you out. That’s why I disliked her in that moment. It was her ‘reminding’ him that he more or less wouldn’t be where he is if it weren’t for her. Despite knowing who Joon-Young is, she went on to continuously emotionally blackmail him in that moment by saying things like ‘if I hadn’t convinced you to attend that competition, where would we be now? Would we be on equal footing? Would I be this unhappy?’ That, in itself, I found very cruel.
I agree with you. I have never hated her – she is so clearly a wounded character who has never been given the time, space or tools to properly heal. I agree that her jealousy is normal, and honestly I think it’s kind of refreshing to have a drama where those feelings were acted on and then the consequences explored.
Jung-kyung is her own worst enemy, and I think she knows that more than anyone else. I also think she is a passionate woman who is finally coming to terms with the way her life has played out thusfar, and she’s beginning to rebel. It’s needed, but she doesn’t always do things in the healthiest way. She relies on manipulation to get what she wants, and I think all the rejection for work got to her, because that was something she could not manipulate her way into. I love that she wants to teach because it’s her choice, even if it’s done as an act of rebellion. It’s so clear that above all, Jung-kyung is truly passionate about music the way Song-ah is. I really hope the show explores this parallel more.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 8:18 PM
Beanfriends, this one is a long one, so forgive me. I have so many thoughts about Do You Like Brahms? and have had no time to articulate them properly. I still don’t have the time, since work is killing me right now, but I had some stuff I wanted to get out before I forgot.
So, I want to talk about the trio of musicians. I love this friendship, because it is very real in many ways – the three friends who have grown up together but are starting to realize that maybe the comradery they once shared now has a new dynamic, and maybe it doesn’t work well anymore (or even, if it ever did work).
Let’s start with our pianist, Joon-young. This poor boy – he is such a people pleaser. He will do anything to keep the peace, even if it is to his detriment. How he hasn’t had a breakdown yet is a mystery. It’s a good thing he met Song-ah when he did, because he needed someone in his life he could be honest with, even if he is still holding too many of his cards close to his chest. I think Song-ah was the first person in a long time who just treated him like a person.
Joon-young has spent years with people shoving him onto this pedestal and creating more distance in his relationships instead of making sure that he still has relationships to go back to. We saw this today in episode 8, and I think it was the first time he’s actively pushed back at that. Obviously part of his wanting to play with Jung-kyung is due to all those awful people trying to tell him he’s better than his friends. I’m pretty sure that his resistance to this, more than anything, is what caused his burnout. At the end of the day, he still had Hyun-ho and Jung-kyung, even if the friendship was beginning to wear and show its cracks. But then Jung-kyung goes and blows it all up in New York. (Also, I’m assuming his fallout with his teacher was due in part to Cha Young-in, because he still calls her noona while being barely polite to that asshat professor, and they were in a relationship, right? Or was I not paying proper attention?)
Which brings me to our spoiled former violin prodigy. This girl clearly needs a lot of therapy. She seems to have some sort of trauma related to her mother’s death, and this is obviously the root of her issues maintaining relationships – whether romantic, friendly, professional, or familial. Now, I’m not going to defend her behavior – it was and is and has been deplorable. But I will say this: I get it. I get that she’s broken up inside about failing to live up to her potential, I get why she purposely torpedoed her relationship and destroyed the only other meaningful friendship in her life at the same time.
If Joon-young is a people-pleaser, Jung-kyung is the other side of the coin: she’s selfish and she pushes people to their limits because she doesn’t know how else to confirm their love. Her relationship with her grandmother is also fraught – and I get it. I get that the constant reminder of her failed potential is grating. And something obviously happened with her father as well.
Which brings me to the final character in our trio – Hyun-ho. I could not get a read on this boy for the first few weeks, and it drove me nuts. I felt that he had to know about what happened in New York, then that he had to have an inkling of their feelings. But when you realize that he truly is in the dark, it all comes together. If Joon-young and Jung-kyung are the two ends of how they deal with relationships, Hyun-ho is the balance in the middle. He has a loving, normal family. He may not be a prodigy, but he’s good, and he is smart and he’s completely normal. And as a result, he doesn’t see the world the way his friends do. The way he yelled at Jung-kyung and then broke down after was just so heartbreaking because I think he understood everything – why she acted the way she did, why Joon-young did what he did; but knowing why doesn’t lessen his hurt.
I also think Jung-kyung mistakenly believed that Hyun-ho had some idea of what was going on, which was why she acted so brazenly. That’s why, once she realized Hyun-ho really was just that genuinely straightforward in how much he cared for her, she broke. Because maybe their relationship had reached its natural end, but maybe she just blew up the one truly good constant in her life. I don’t think she knows how to end things cleanly.
And here’s the thing, the reason I can’t hate Jung-kyung just yet. She’s a brat, that is for sure, and she’s spoiled, and she lashes out at people, and she can be deliberately cruel – but I don’t think that is really who she is. As much as she can be deliberately cruel, I don’t think she ever was malicious or ever had a truly malicious intent. At her very worst she is more self-destructive than anything else, and in the end, she really only hurts herself.
I kept waiting for a moment during the masterclass for her to put down Song-ah in some way, to make Song-ah look small, but she genuinely seemed to love teaching her. She paid Song-ah more attention in a few minutes than any professor had in years. Jung-kyung may be the prodigy who failed to live up to her potential, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to help others where she failed. We’ve also seen her barely veiled disdain for her former professors who fawn over her because of her connections. We know that she loves playing, and that she wants more than just to run a foundation for her family.
I think her flash of jealousy over Joon-young was just that – a momentary flash. I mean, it also caused her to act on her worst impulses, but I don’t think it was who she is. I’ve been there – at the end of my 20s, flailing because the path you imagined is disappearing. Lashing out at the people who you love is one way some people cope (I’ve been guilty of this). It’s not okay and it’s not right, but it is natural. I think she thought that they would be okay after the dust settled, but she doesn’t realize how much Joon-young himself was going through.
gem28
September 22, 2020 at 8:27 PM
Prodigy’s aren’t bad teachers. I mostly follow violinists and people like Hillary Hahn and Rey Chen are the nicest, sweetest, some of the funniest musicians you could find out there. I am sure there are some people who could be arrogant, obviously but there are genuinely good people out there too and that is precisely why I found Song Ah to be believable once in this entire span of the drama. She may just turn out to be a good teacher as opposed to be a soloist.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 8:33 PM
I really hope we see more of Jung-kyung like she was today in the rest of the drama. I would also love to see her work with Song-ah, and see them work together.
Maq
September 22, 2020 at 8:53 PM
Comment was deleted
Maq
September 22, 2020 at 8:55 PM
Agreed! That would be great. I’m not holding my breath though. There are eight episodes left. They need more way more drama to fill the space LOL
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 9:35 PM
My prediction for the remainder of Jung-kyung’s arc: she does a bit better in terms of being a bitch (/possibly aims her bitchery where it’s most needed – towards those awful professors), backslides a bit and gets a bit possessive of Joon-young re: this recital, he ends up playing with Song-ah (undecided if this is with JK’s blessing). Also she deals with her family shit and starts mending bridges with her father (sidenote: I really hope we get this backstory soon) and Hyun-ho (boy, DO NOT go back to that mess, you deserve so much better).
Ally
September 23, 2020 at 11:21 AM
Gem—Don’t forget Chloe Chua! She just did a guest spot with Twoset violin where she does a master class with Eddie and Brett. She’s adorable and I really think they learned something! https://youtu.be/slrHpGlxHQA
gem28
September 23, 2020 at 11:52 AM
of course but she has a lifetime to greatness…..There are so many more but Hillary and Ray engage so much online, they are first ones that popped into my head
Maq
September 22, 2020 at 8:49 PM
I’ve missed seeing you post @snarkyjellyfish!
I love all of these thoughts. I think you’re right on about Hyeon-ho and Jung-kyung. The one place I disagree a bit is with Joon-young. The one missing piece, IMO, is that he’s sort of oblivious and privileged. His life sucks in many ways. The flip side, though, is that he doesn’t recognize his blessings. As a result, he doesn’t understand why other people are so desperate to improve musically and he doesn’t see why everybody else is afraid of not measuring up to him. He’s so fixated on the pressure of being up on that pedestal, of people creating distance between him and the people he loves, that he doesn’t see things from their end, as the people look up at the pedestal. It results in him casually brushing aside things that really matter to other people; indeed, I think that conversation he had today with Song-ah at the 40 minute mark was absolutely crushing in part because he essentially trivialized her valid fears and concerns.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 9:50 PM
Agreed that he doesn’t see his privilege. Also, I was pretty annoyed with him when he wasn’t able to see how Song-ah felt, though he does seem to understand the flipside – i.e. the warnings that she’ll be the victim of any rumors about the two of them – which is what usually does in the couples in these dramas. He does seem to genuinely want to protect her from harm, which makes sense since that is his M.O.
At the end of the day, Joon-young needs to (1) learn to express himself and communicate better and (2)learn to say “No” for f*ck’s sake. These are why he is blind to his privilege – because he can’t actually take the time to assess himself because he’s so focused on everyone else. That’s why I actually liked that he didn’t go to Song-ah right away – he was aware enough on some level that he needed to work out some of the issues in his life before putting another person in it.
I think what it comes down to is that as much as people put him on a pedestal, he puts his relationships on pedestals – Hyun-ho, Jung-kyung, Young-ah, Song-ah, the chairwoman, even his mother – and he really wants to make sure these people are happy, but fails to see that if he wears himself out doing that he only ends up hurting them and damaging the relationship e.g. his mother not telling him about needing surgery. I can so see something similar happen with Song-ah down the line. I think that’s why he wanted to clear up any misunderstanding with the recital, but he still botched it because he missed the main point which was that he needed to assure Song-ah of his feelings. Thank God she set him straight.
earthna
September 22, 2020 at 10:20 PM
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It was a good read. I’m glad they showed us a bit more of Jung-kyung. I was waiting for this. I also expected her to belittle Song-ah so I’m pleasantly surprised that she treated her as a student and gave her actual advice. Points for honesty about not knowing the answer. Teachers don’t know everything and they can learn from students as well.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 10:27 PM
I think Jung-kyung is a great character – she’s not a nice character, or person, but she feels very real, even, maybe even especially, when she’s making bad decisions. Like, this is a person who is so clearly hurting and has not really dealt with her issues. But the moments we get where she’s not being terrible you see a normal young woman who just wants to do well at the thing she loves – and I love that parallel to Song-ah. Even though they come from different worlds, their core emotions are mirrors of one another. I truly hope Song-ah reaches out to her and we see more of that student-teacher dynamic between them. (Not holding my breath, though, because this is still dramaland after all.)
earthna
September 22, 2020 at 10:40 PM
I’d love to see more interactions! They could be to each other the friend they both needed. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed+
WishfulToki
September 22, 2020 at 10:26 PM
I see your points but I still wanted to ToD to remove her by the end of Ep 8. 🙈
I think she has the skills to become a good teacher, but the feelings of failure and inferiority will always be there unless she deals with it. Otherwise she’ll end up taking it out on her students like the old professors. The masterclass was part of a job application so I’m not convinced she’d be like that in a regular classroom. But there may be a glimmer of hope for her character.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 22, 2020 at 10:40 PM
But she also took the time to speak to the young prodigy in the second episode – I remember seeing that scene and wondering if that was the part of her we were missing. So much focus for her seems to be on what she could have been when it came to music, that people forget that she still is passionate about music – that’s why she would rather teach than sit on a board. I don’t think her feelings of failure or inferiority are as deep as her fears of abandonment. She clings to people for all she pushes them away (does that make sense?).
She seems to love playing for its own sake, like Song-ah, for all she was once a prodigy. And I think people lost site of that about her (her grandmother certainly did) but she clings to that love more than anything. It’s not about being the best, it’s about being able to play at all, which is what her grandmother is trying to take away from her. I think her jealousy at Joon-young was that he got to play, not that she was inferior or a failure. (I mean, obviously those are connected but I think the latter are less important to her.)
letseatcookies
September 22, 2020 at 10:57 PM
Yes to everything.
And let’s not speak too soon about Joon Young not having a breakdown, because I feel like the preview is hinting at it and I’m concerned. Hopefully Song Ah will be there or at least sense that something is wrong and Joon Young will for once in his life, let himself lean on someone for help or at least see his weaker side.
RevSparklyAndroid
September 22, 2020 at 11:33 PM
I totally loved reading this. Thank you!
SnarkyJellyfish
September 23, 2020 at 9:48 AM
Thank you! I never know whether my ramblings make sense to others, so it’s nice to hear you enjoyed it.
IamPilgrim
September 23, 2020 at 6:10 AM
I, too, don’t hate Jung-Kyung. In fact, I never did. I just didn’t understand her and her motives, and I found her frustrating for being so self-destructive. She just always seemed to be in more pain than anyone else when she was acting like a bitch. She was very clearly unhappy in her relationship with Hyun-Ho and I couldn’t understand why she decided to convolute things. But I came to understand she doesn’t know how to end things cleanly.
However, that scene when she confessed why she kissed Joon-young was the first time I disliked her. I understand and acknowledge her frustrations at not reaching the expectations expected of everyone and herself. I understand her jealousy of her ‘successful’ friend. I do. Feelings are meant to be felt. You can be jealous of your dearest friend – it doesn’t make you a bad friend, but what matters is how you act on it. That fleeting moment she was engulfed with jealousy that she acted out and kissed Joon-Young knowing his feelings was a real bitch move. As you said, she’s incredibly selfish. And I understand her feeling lost but you can’t appear in front of said friend claiming how sorry you are just to turn around to emotionally blackmail them into helping you out. That’s why I disliked her in that moment. It was her ‘reminding’ him that he more or less wouldn’t be where he is if it weren’t for her. Despite knowing who Joon-Young is, she went on to continuously emotionally blackmail him in that moment by saying things like ‘if I hadn’t convinced you to attend that competition, where would we be now? Would we be on equal footing? Would I be this unhappy?’ That, in itself, I found very cruel.
SnarkyJellyfish
September 23, 2020 at 9:53 AM
I agree with you. I have never hated her – she is so clearly a wounded character who has never been given the time, space or tools to properly heal. I agree that her jealousy is normal, and honestly I think it’s kind of refreshing to have a drama where those feelings were acted on and then the consequences explored.
Jung-kyung is her own worst enemy, and I think she knows that more than anyone else. I also think she is a passionate woman who is finally coming to terms with the way her life has played out thusfar, and she’s beginning to rebel. It’s needed, but she doesn’t always do things in the healthiest way. She relies on manipulation to get what she wants, and I think all the rejection for work got to her, because that was something she could not manipulate her way into. I love that she wants to teach because it’s her choice, even if it’s done as an act of rebellion. It’s so clear that above all, Jung-kyung is truly passionate about music the way Song-ah is. I really hope the show explores this parallel more.
amara
September 24, 2020 at 12:36 AM
i dnt watch it but ty for sharing >:)