Twenty Five Twenty One - Blog Posts

Depressed over the apparent ending BUT that one scene where drunk heedo writes "heedo's" on yijin's face with a sharpie😭 not to mention my girl still hasn't moved on from daeun and minyoung-

+Bonus:

It's been like 5 days and I'm still not over the kiss scene of 25 21. 10/10 like their shadows, the countdown, MIGHT HAVE LITERALLY BEEN THE LAST THING THEY DO AS THE WORLD ENDS, the way everyone else left to be with their families but they both stayed with each other, the aesthetic (gives me lover mv vibes) yijin's signature smile before the kiss and heedo wearing overalls (I love her overalls it's too adorable) it was just iconic honestly

Head full of 25 21 someone send help

A happy ending isn't always unrealistic. A sad ending isn't always realistic.

Context matters. The fact that we are all reeling and are unable to accept the ending isn't because we are fools. We weren't given enough time to see the cracks in their relationship. We saw missed dates and cancelled plans but then we also saw them showing up at eachother's door and making new ones. If they had to show the disappointment and unmet needs in the relationship, they should've given it more time than one and a half episode. Even if they tell us a lot of time and they weren't able to cope with Yijin being depressed and away and Heedo feeling lonely, I wish they had shown us that instead of just telling us.

The ending feels forced because we weren't given enough time to simmer and soak the 'decided end' and were just pushed into it. I can understand that the relationship is their own, and so is deciding the end. But how is it that they could not even remain friends? How is it that they do not wish to know about eachother? How is it that they gave up on being present in each other's life anymore?

The ending isn't realistic. It is forced, cruel and unconvincing. If they had shown Heedo happier and more content in her life, I could've accepted it. But she goes on about past regrets that she had forgotten, looking for closure even after so many years and having a husband who seems out of the picture. Her workspace is covered in rainbows but her life doesn't seem all that colourful. Maybe I am mad about Baekdo but then it is the writer's job to convince me that it was for their own good. The writers not only failed baekdo to serve an edgy ending, they also failed us.

I think part of my disappointment with the ending was that I expected catharsis. The show deliberately opened with covid screenings for Minchae’s performance, and there was a recurring theme about the how the times can take away or alter your dream. I expected them to explore the parallel between covid and the financial crisis differently, or at least to reach a different conclusion at the end. I expected them to say “the times will be hard. they will take things from you and you won’t be able to go back. what you experience might not even make you stronger, it might just hurt. but eventually you will heal and things will be better, even if it isn’t what you expected, even if the happiness you experienced during those hard times was temporary.” But I feel like the show stopped short of that catharsis. Instead we got the 9/11 plotline, which was another instance of the times taking things from the characters, which would be fine if it resolved in a more definite sort of happiness for the main character. Instead, we got a sort of placid tranquility for her, an absence of memory, and some unsatisfying dangling plot points. The show said that the times will take things from you, but we all already know that. I wanted something more

i've had time to think about and process the 2521 ending and i'm finally ready to talk about it. first, i'd just like to say: WOW. i'm so happy i randomly decided to click "play" on episode 1 one day because watching this show was truly such a satisfying journey. the cast was phenomenal, seeing nam joo-hyuk and kim tae-ri together on screen was such a treat. the cinematography, the soundtrack, the writing, the feeling of nostalgia that this show provokes... 2521 is definitely one of my favorite kdramas of all time.

with that said, i don't claim the ending. a lot of people have said, "if you're not happy with the 2521 ending just because baekdo weren't endgame you clearly missed the whole point of the show," but i'd have to disagree. it's not just the lack of a baekdo endgame that didn't sit right with me, it's the ending that all of the characters got in their adulthood that turned me off.

seung-wan had stated in episode 10 that she found life to be boring, which is a sentiment that a lot of teenagers share. their lives are micromanaged by the schools they attend, the parents they live with, and all of their time is taken up by studying and trying to climb the step-ladder to adulthood. but even ten years later, seung-wan does not seem happy. she still finds life boring, she shows no satisfaction or attachment to the job she has chosen and she says herself that she is only able to see her friends during events like funerals. they may have hinted at a change in her love life with the return of yijin's brother, but considering how much emphasis was placed on having a "rEaLiStIc EnDiNg," his return just seemed very random and fanfiction-like.

yurim's ending also didn't satisfy me. don't get me wrong, i am so ridiculously happy that her relationship with jiwoong survived time and distance, and i'm also glad that she was finally able to gain the financial stability that she had always craved. but again, the emphasis was placed on what she chose as a profession following her retirement from fencing. we can't forget WHY yurim was so determined to make money, and the reason was her love for her family. she wanted to lessen their burden, pay off their debts, and provide them with a better life. i think seeing her with her parents in the present day would have been a lot more fulfilling in terms of a "happy ending."

and heedo... oh heedo. i can understand the baekdo breakup given the context of episodes 15 and 16, but i also think that a huge disservice was done to heedo's character in the name of being "realistic." because what were we shown? heedo lived her childhood alone until she was finally granted a short span of time to enjoy passionate love and friendship before it was ripped away from her. at the end of the day, heedo begins her journey alone and ends it alone. not only does she lose the friends that made her youth so memorable and the love of her life, but she also loses the sport that she lived and breathed for. in adulthood, she no longer finds fencing to be fun. she gets bored of winning. the girl who went through so much effort to transfer schools, worked so hard to join the national team, won three gold medals, and wanted nothing more to fence... quit. all athletes retire at some point but what she chose to do with her life afterwards had no relation to fencing whatsoever. i find that to be TRAGIC.

she shows no attachment to her husband in the present day, he's barely a part of her day-to-day life and she doesn't even mention him in passing. this nameless, faceless man that our best girl heedo spends her life with has no presence in her home, in her life, or even in her thoughts. she doesn't even have a ring on her finger. her reaction to yijin (his face during the 2009 interview, his words found in her diary in 2022) even years after their breakup is visceral, instinctual... and that's why she returns to the tunnel, erases the beach day from her mind, and just seems to have no trace of happiness in her. from where i'm sitting, her story seems like a tragedy full of regret, loneliness, and a bitterness for the direction her life took in the name of "growing up."

yijin also seems to be alone in the present day. it's a shame that he dedicated his life to a career that caused him to begin smoking, drinking, losing sleep, and sucked the hope out of his very being. it's also a shame that his "happy ending" consists of bringing the family together that provided him no form of support during the hardest time of his life. his parents may be his blood, but heedo was his family. and he lost her in a breakup that wasn't even reciprocal. they didn't part ways mutually, he was abandoned yet again during a time when he was struggling with issues completely out of his control. his ptsd and depression were never addressed and, just like heedo, he began and ended his journey completely alone.

why was a rookie reporter sent to the other side of the world indefinitely to cover a foreign story in the first place? why was jae-kyung only able to establish a close relationship with her daughter after ending her career? why did she have to choose? why did baekdo break up after their first and only fight? why did heedo say she would make sure her support always reached yijin when she made no effort in episodes 15 and 16 to help him in any way? were all of their words JUST WORDS? why were there so many remnants of yijin in heedo's present day home if they have no relationship at all? why did yijin and heedo have to lose their friendship, their love, their understanding, the very essence of their bond, just to become strangers with no tie to each other's lives after they broke up because "that's how real life is"? why did minchae even pick up that diary in the first place?

The Female Gaze in 2521: On Empowered Female Characters and Healthy Masculinity

Y’all I’m so excited to dive into this!

If you’re a kdrama fan, then by now you’ve probably caught on that kdramas often incorporate “the female gaze”. While it’s debated what’s considered the female gaze, we can all conclude that it is different from the omnipresent male gaze in media.

The male gaze describes the visual or aesthetic presentation of women in a way that depicts them as sexual objects, with personalities that tend to center towards men or their fantasies of how women "should" behave. That’s a bit of an oversimplification, but if you watch literally any popular show or movie, you’ll quickly notice the male gaze because it’s woven into the camerawork, the characterization, or body language of the characters on screen. See if you can catch it here.

Not so subtle, right? Kdramas are not free from it, either, but it is worth noting that kdramas do tend to pull an opposing card, namely the female gaze.

This tends to center female characters as being a spectator rather than an object, and typically holding more agency, meaning they lead their lives and choices. The male characters are often characterized as charming, sweet, polite, and romantic.

I see two forms of the female gaze in 2521: first, the empowered female characters and their depiction on screen; second, the portrayal of healthy masculinity in the leading male characters. 

Since this would actually become a literal essay if I tried to encompass every instance or relevant detail, I’m limiting it to just a few observations. But trust me, this show is abundant with many more. If you want to discuss it more, feel free to message me - I’m a nerd for this shit haha

Anyway, leggo~

Let’s start with our empowered protagonists (abbreviated to FC for Female Character from here on)!

Hee Do’s character is a take on the classic “I’m not like other girls” trope but thankfully the writers have spun it into a refreshingly animated and enlivened perspective. She is loud, sometimes adorably obnoxious, a little childish, and passionate. Contrary to the typical loud kdrama FC, she is innocent but not naive. Also contrary to other FCs, she does not seek a love interest. Her main goal is to improve her fencing and transfer to the school where her idol trains.

I like how Yi Jin’s presence in Hee Do’s life lifts her up and helps her accomplish her goals, but he’s not an absolute necessity. This kdrama could very well have orbited around the high school friend group and Hee Do would still succeed. This is pretty poignant, since Yi Jin being there merely enriches her life. She still ultimately has agency over her choices and dreams.

Also, let’s highlight how none of these FC are sexualized, be it their school uniforms, fencing gear, or the beach scene. Yes, Korea is much more conservative with these things, and yes, I think the writers and directors were cognizant of the thin line they were treading with the age gap and Hee Do being a minor for a while. But still! I think it’s worth celebrating and pointing out that they often show her wearing her red tracksuit pants under her skirt while no one else does. 

Seungwan is another FC who shines so well with the female gaze. She’s the one who makes an active effort to call out the abuse of the teachers at her school. She is an active participant in her life - she makes a clear stand that she will no longer tolerate witnessing abuse. Her agency is clear: she’s not backing down, and not stooping down to threats of being expelled.

Instead, she whips a reverse uno card and goes fuck this place, I’m leaving. That’s not to say empowerment comes without vulnerability and emotion. I think that’s what I enjoy so much about FCs done well in kdramas contrary to western media lately, because western media female empowerment these days seems to be “see, I’m a heartless bitch, watch me stand up for my beliefs and not even cry”. So when Seungwan explains the situation to her mom and says she’s sorry and starts crying in her mother’s embrace, it makes her moment of courage to leave and stand for her values that much stronger.

It’s brave because it has a toll. It’s brave because it’s an unfair situation to be put into. Crying about it makes that reality crash down on us much harder. Also, can we celebrate how this drama doesn’t attempt to give us beautiful crying scenes? A lot of male gaze centric media will make even women’s suffering an aesthetic viewing experience. But this? Not at all. We got runny noses, snot, creased eyebrows and sobbing breaths and shaking shoulders. Beauty isn’t the focus. It’s the feeling. 

This feels like a good transition into part 2: healthy masculinity! Because! Let me tell you!! We have plenty of kdramas with men crying, sure. But I’ve never seen performances like this where 1) male crying is filmed in such an intimate way and 2) where the female lead is framed as the dominant comfort - but not an emotionless hero, either.

Let’s talk about Jiwoong’s crying scene on the rooftop when he found out Seungwan was leaving.

The camerawork doesn’t shy away from showing the growing hurt and welling tears in his eyes. She comes over to hug him, swooping her arms over his shoulders even though he’s the taller one. We see him cover his face but not shy away from letting it out. She pats him on the back. It’s refreshing to see a male character cry without him having to throw things or break shit lmao like men can just stand there and cry and allow women to see them like this. 

Transition into Yi Jin’s crying scenes (oh man, Nam Joo Hyuk is my favorite actor for a reason: you can read his face so perfectly without him needing to speak). Yi Jin’s crying scenes are also devoid of being overly dramatic while still encompassing the intensity of his feelings and the weight of the moment. The scene that stands out the most to me is in episode 8 when he’s doing the live reporting via the hotel room but his computer crashes.

The deafening silence hits the audience hard. It’s meant to feel like a slap in the face because we’re meant to sit in his shock for a bit. The shock, denial, anger, and sadness washes over him as the camera centers a closeup of his face. He shakily puts down the phone, gets up, collapses next to the hotel bed, lifts up the sheets, and shouts - and I mean fucking shouts - into the duvet. This happens as the camera pans out so we all go from feeling caught up in his emotional turmoil to feeling the spaciousness of the room around him; how he’s so alone, how he has no one to rely on in this moment.

I fucking held my breath man. Because this felt so intimate. We don't normally see male characters on screen break down like this. And if so, it might be framed in an aesthetic or artistic way or even sexual way, like crying in the shower. This was just...plain hard truth. That shit was intense. Can I just say? Oscar worthy, my dude. 

The second moment that stands out combines the two observations! We get an empowered FC and a representation of healthy masculinity all in one! That’s right peeps, I’m talking the tunnel crying scene.

God, what a performance. Note how the camerawork highlights that he is collapsed and lower than her.

Hee Do is the one holding his face. She’s the one who caresses his tears away. And mind you, even though we’re talking the Very Handsome Baek Yi Jin here, he is still a snotty crying mess. In traditional media, this visual is very much a male-dominant gaze: a helpless woman being saved by a heroic male protagonist in her moment of vulnerability, held in his arms, her tears being wiped away. This scene flipped the script, though. It’s beautiful to see a female character in this role. And again, just like with Seungwan, it’s not to say that she, being the hero in this moment, is devoid of emotion either. No, she cries too. She cries because she sees him, sees his pain. She doesn’t let it eat away at her and let her spiral. It isn’t an overly dramatic moment of hysteria and tears. It’s an acknowledgement: I see you. I understand you. Which is why their romance is all the more special. These are two people who have now seen each other at their worst. And they still choose to be gentle and soft and caring because the world around them is cruel enough.

What are your thoughts? Overall, I keep finding ways to celebrate this kdrama. Be it the writing, the visual directing and color theory, the character development and character arcs…….there’s just nothing quite like it. And I don’t think there will be something like it for a while. Hopefully this sets the new standard.

Love you fam :) Thanks for reading!

Peace out~

You drive me crazy. Fine. Let’s try this kind of love, Hee-do. I’m going to do everything I can with you. So prepare yourself. TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (2022)

twenty five twenty one: my favourite lines from ep.13

while we leave baekdo to make out in the snow, i’m coming to you with an attempt to analyze all the lines that made me fangirl in this episode. is my brain as melted as the snowflakes between hee do and yi jin’s lips? absolutely; so this post should be extremely fun.

“is this kind of love unacceptable?”: right from the start, hee do delivers this gut-puncher with her signature honestly and emotional intelligence. i love how this line continues the earlier discussion of what baekdo’s relationship means to both of them, and encapsulates hee do’s current feeling of having done something to overstep, of being too much or not enough.

min chae’s physical presence in the past narrative is breathtaking enough to deserve a place in this post about words. the level of theatrical staging, dramatic irony of the future towards the past, brain-tingling uncanniness, and simple comedy raised the bar for art in any form.

“kiss”: this tiny word-playing scene does a brilliant job of showing hee do’s state of mind, and parallels yi jin’s visually shown reliving of the kiss. while the translations of their feelings are seemingly opposite (words vs image; external expression vs internal disguise), they are of one mind throughout the episode.

“this is my love”: weaving this line as a narrative thread throughout the episode, the show lets hee do process all her complex feelings and still choose to fight for the relationship. while yi jin buries his feelings with the notion that they would lead to disaster, hee do’s open expression of her suffering is her signal that disaster is already happening, and yi jin is the only one who can stop it.

“damn you, alcohol!”: it’s only right that yi jin’s drunken confession reaches jiwoong first, allowing the narrative to bring him to the same level of suffering that he’s causing hee do. his level of dramatics during the drunken confession, down to his phrasing (“and yet, i waver” okay sir may i direct you to a jane austen adaptation casting), is a perfect expression of his character. as we’ve seen from episode four, alcohol makes yi jin honest, and that’s something he knows well enough to try to avoid hee do even more urgently in the second scene where she waits in front of his house.

“liking someone means i can learn about myself”: i want this line framed and exhibited in the louvre because it’s so accurate and still somehow felt like it’s never been acknowledged before. hee do continues to blow me away with how well she understands and represents real aspects of being in love, and the line can be interpreted in both a psychological and physical way, which makes it all the stronger.

“is it because you understand me that you love me?” vs “i don’t understand you. i simply accept you.”: hee do is again hitting the nail on the head with her questions, and you can tell how much courage it takes for her to state the fact of him loving her. there is uncertainty there, informed by yi jin’s current behaviour towards her, but there is also the power to return yi jin’s hidden emotion to the surface by calling it by its name. yi jin’s response is both beautiful, with its meaning that he doesn’t have to get or relate to every facet of hee do’s self to appreciate it, and a reflection of the present situation, where he doesn’t understand why she keeps turning up at his door but accepts her presence as the strange wonder it is.

“i’ll either get it all or lose it all”: once again a brilliant summary of how it feels to take the next step towards the other without knowing if they’re there to catch you. all through this episode, hee do is in free fall, but she keeps her eyes open the entire time, and trusts that she knows who she is falling towards. it’s yi jin who thinks he’s strong enough to stop gravity, and it’s her who proves him wrong.

“you wrote this, didn’t you?”: the fact that hee do knows him well enough to immediately recognize his hand at work speaks volumes, just like his expression when he was looking at her respond to a bully, freak out over stickers, and replay the fencing match to spot her mistakes. there’s something so intimate about this scene, because he sees her as she is when there is no one to be for but herself, and loves her in her wisdom, her joy, and her tenacity.

“we were capable of anything”: including making me cry because it’s such an apt summary of how much their relationship has endured and how far it has come

“i can’t lose it”: what a beautiful way to weave the recurring question of what kind of love they both feel together with hee do’s gambling metaphor before wrapping up both. hee do spends the entire episode losing, but each loss comes after the gamble of a kiss, a confession, a question, a confrontation, an action; and each loss becomes a step towards the tower of self-doubt where yi jin tried to imprison his feelings. like a hero from a fairy tale, hee do had to try to win her true love’s heart three times, each time turning up at the foot of the tower where he lives, and being stopped by a blue wall of thorns. using her words as a weapon of honesty and persuasion, on the third time, she wins.

Let’s try this kind of love, Hee Do. I’m going to do everything I can with you. So prepare yourself.

what are your thoughts on people saying that 2521 is problematic for portraying a relationship that began when heedo was a minor & yijin, an adult?

people should practice thinking sometimes. it helps a lot

i will try to be systematic here, so i'll present some points in list form. i've already addressed people's general idiocy in this post, so i'll try to keep things short because i don't want to waste energy fighting every person with a different opinion from mine.

a relationship is "problematic" as in "harmful" when there is lack of consent, or when the relationship is toxic for at least one party. hee do and yi jin did not participate in any sexual activity when she was 18 and he was 22, and they have never been toxic towards each other.

the show's entire focus is on how two people with a four-year age difference who meet at 18 and 22 can have a healthy romantic relationship eventually. the writing constantly brings the characters' differences and similarities into focus, both in terms of their age difference and in terms of their personalities. we see them develop their relationship through countless hours of talking, hanging out, providing each other emotional support, developing feelings. it takes eight entire episodes for one of the characters to really examine any sexual attraction they feel, and this character is the younger woman, who is also the person who takes every step towards crossing physical boundaries with the other. at no point is she taken advantage of for her lack of experience, her naivete, or her willingness to start a romantic relationship when she's 19. yi jin could have easily turned her head back then, but that's neither the person he is, nor the value he places in their relationship. the show emphasized emotional connection long before it even introduced physical attraction, and it's quite impressive to me that people still decided to feel bothered.

relationships with an age gap happen all the time in real life, and the role of art is to dramatize and discuss real life for its audience. the aim of this show is partly to demonstrate how such a relationship can occur in a healthy and natural manner, in which both parties are pursuing the well-being of the other. in this way, the show proves that a relationship with an age gap is not inherently exploitative, but can be anything both parties create with the way they treat each other.

the show has been vocal about the difficulty of defining such a relationship, and the characters have taken very careful steps to give names or actions to their feelings as they grow. in no instance has any romantic development been rushed or handled poorly. by the time the younger woman initiates a kiss, the age difference has become as irrelevant as it is between people in their twenties. if a first-year university student was dating a fourth-year student she's been close friends with for two years, would anyone find it "problematic"?

it's almost impossible to change someone's opinion if they're not willing to accept that they could be wrong. it makes me sad that such an incredibly-written show is still unable to inspire critical thought in some segments of its audience, because the majority of my points have been so clearly demonstrated in scenes that they must be visible from space. nevertheless, i'm persisting.

Hoping,praying,manifesting pls they better give them a happy ending

i'm not sure if you're aware that fans have discovered that yijin's stuffs are in heedo's old room, but do you think this is just a hint that they *will* be endgame in the end?

ppl thought that he might've died and gave his belongings to heedo. although that'd be kinda weird bcs shouldnt they be given to his family instead?

honestly i think there's no way this show won't make baekdo endgame... but all the theories and speculations i see on twitter make me anxious. 🥲

another anon said:

Have you seen on Twitter that apparently in Heedo's bedroom in the present timeline her and Yijin's casset players are together? The post I saw if from Twitter user lovebkyjn. I'll try sending a link and see if it works: https://twitter.com/lovebkyjn/status/1506302553545666565?t=OP5zxkuq99eMO6y9v3HVJg&s=19 From another tweet in that thread apparently Heedo also has a tiny skateboard from Yijin's apartment.

thank you to both anons!!! i decided to collate both asks because they refer to the same topic 💕

so, to answer the first question: yes, i’ve seen both posts! in fact i had a little celebratory dance afterwards and went to scream in my bestie’s dms about how it made the endgame all the more likely.

to answer the second question:

as of now, both interpretations of the pictures are equally likely when taken out of context. of course the show can still screw us over, because everything is possible. but i discussed this at length with my friend, and here are some of the observations we came up, including further theories of hee do and yi jin’s future:

as you said, there is little reason for yi jin’s belongings to go to hee do in the event of his death, especially a cassette player, unless she asks for it explicitly. while there is a technical possibility for this to happen, i don’t believe that it would.

the belongings are all collected in hee do’s old room, where we’ve also seen other objects connected to yi jin, such as a telescope and two bicycle toys. this got me thinking: why would hee do have toys connected to yi jin that she brought into her old room as early as her twenties? my theory is that when yi jin and hee do had min chae, she often came to stay in hee do’s old room and be watched by hee do’s mom, which is why they bought min chae the toys and arranged them for her.

the photo yi jin has ended up in an album with hee do’s photos, which i strongly believe proves that the album was made by the two of them.

hee do takes a long time to fall in love with someone. me and my friend were discussing that she could be demisexual, because the only people she’s had a strong emotional bond with are people she knew for a long time: yu rim and yi jin. she’s never had real crushes on people she met briefly, which led us both to believe that it would be very difficult for her to move on in the case of yi jin’s death.

hee do had min chae when she was 26, leaving her only four years from being with yi jin to having a child in the case of him dying when she was 21. given that it took her four years (18 to 21) to even date yi jin as per the premise, it seems unlikely to both me and my friend that hee do would have been able to move on from this loss and fall genuinely in love in time to get married at 25 and have a child at 26.

min chae is the child of a healthy marriage filled with love. she exhibits all the qualities of the “spoiled” only child, including a healthy amount of rebelliousness towards her parents, and none of the burden and sadness that yu rim and yi jin exhibit from having to bear their parents’ burdens too early. this means that hee do did not experience divorce and remarriage, so there’s no way she could be with someone other than yi jin.

so many details of hee do’s present life symbolize yi jin and their relationship. her workshop is called 25, 21, and a name for a lifelong business is always chosen with a positive emotion, because you want that positive energy to fuel you in your daily work. there are five rainbow chairs displayed where she works, items symbolizing or belonging to yi jin in hee do’s old room, and the photo album.

so here’s a quandary: if hee do has moved on from yi jin, why would she surround herself with symbols of him? and if hee do is stuck in the past while yi jin is gone from her life, why would she forget about the beach trip and the photo album, if she idealizes and cherishes the memories of him? none of these assumptions make sense when we take the full picture into account. this leads me and my friend to think that the show is messing with us for fun, that yi jin and hee do are happily married, and that she forgot the beach trip because she has many more memories with him to remember.

let’s take a final look at “sad ending evidence”: jaurim's song twenty five, twenty one as an inspiration for the show. for those unaware, the song is played over the ending of episode two and is based on the singer’s life; in it, she reminisces about her first love, who died when they were young. the point i want to make here is about how writers approach influences and retellings: we always want to change something. when we approach a source text, we never want to replicate it exactly, because we need to keep surprising ourselves and our audience. we want to tell a story different from the story we heard, but with enough elements remaining to remind of the source.

hence, the show constantly plays with our expectations of a sad or happy ending, but its ultimate choice depends on the way it develops the relationship. if yi jin was going to die, we would have seen him and hee do have a long and acknowledged romantic relationship, a happy time that was tragically cut short. but twenty five, twenty one isn’t the journey: it’s the destination. it’s not a golden age we watch the characters be happy in: it’s an event we keep waiting and waiting and waiting for along with them, the moment where they will start the relationship that will warm them for the rest of their lives.

Were others as uncomfortable as me when Yijin in ep12 said, 'It doesn't matter that she (heed) doesn't know what she's doing; I know.' Maybe it's a mistranslation, but in the present version, it came across as paternalistic and very odd.

*sigh*

listen, i get you. it’s very easy to misinterpret or misunderstand this line, and i don’t think there’s anything wrong with your reaction. the way we react to text within or without context comes down to our interpretation, and sometimes our instinctive reading does not take into account the larger picture shown in the entire text.

i can’t speak in terms of translation, but i’m going to tag the lovely @consigliere-vincenzo in case they have any remarks about the translation of this scene as a whole (please feel no obligation to engage with this unless you want to!)

what i can offer my take on is the meaning of the line as i hear it and understand it within context, because context is where the majority of meaning is formed.

firstly, i hear two implied endings to this line:

1. she doesn't have to know what she's doing, because i know what she’s doing towards me.

2. she doesn't have to know what she's doing, because i know what i’m doing towards her.

i believe that both of these endings exist at the same time; they are equally implied within the first part of the line, and are equally important for the negotiation of meaning behind it.

what comes across to me in both of these versions is a statement of trust and a vow of reliability.

in the first instance, i hear the meaning of even if hee do doesn’t understand the full meaning of her actions, i trust her to do things the right way. even if she doesn’t realize what her actions towards me imply, i see her feelings and accept them. even if it takes her a long time to translate her feelings and actions into words, i know her well enough to understand her without her needing to explain herself. i know what she’s doing about our relationship and i’m going to stay by her side until she sees it through. i know her well enough to see her heart.

in the second instance, what comes to focus is the difference between yi jin and the “cutie pie character” (never letting him outlive this) in the way they approach a potential romantic relationship with hee do. while the “cutie pie character” doesn’t know what he’s doing, as he’s just as likely to be serious about his relationship with hee do as he is to get tired of her after abusing her feelings, yi jin knows what he’s doing. while the ex-boyfriend is careless about how he treats hee do, yi jin is careful to never hurt her feelings, to never overstep or take advantage of her. while the ex-boyfriend doesn’t know hee do well enough to harbor any real feelings towards her as a person and not just a pretty face or a successful fencer, yi jin knows every facet of her personality and knows that there is real feeling behind his actions towards her, and her actions towards him. while the “cutie pie character” will approach the relationship without responsibility towards hee do’s needs and feelings and prioritize his own, yi jin naturally puts hee do’s needs first and doesn’t even dare to cross the line between friendship-coded behavior and romance-coded behavior, because he values her emotional well-being more than his own. so hee do doesn’t have to know what she’s doing in terms of their relationship, or whether she’s doing things the right way, because she can count on yi jin to know what he’s doing. she can make mistakes for both of them, because he is careful not to make any.

with yi jin, hee do can be vulnerable enough to do things by instinct instead of by logic, by feeling instead of by thought, because yi jin trusts her instincts and feelings, and because yi jin is committed to always putting her first.

as this line is the culmination of yi jin’s speech, all of these meanings are encoded in the statements he makes before this one and supported by his previous behavior and words towards hee do. if yi jin’s reaction towards the ex-boyfriend seems out of proportion to the conversation, that’s because yi jin’s feelings are much bigger than the ex-boyfriend’s. it’s because he cares intensely while the ex-boyfriend is willing to toy with him and hee do that yi jin gets really angry, because who is this person to question their intentions towards each other when his own do not come from a place of genuine love? who is this person to accuse yi jin or hee do of not knowing what they’re doing, when he clearly doesn’t know the consequences of his own actions?

if anyone is being “paternalistic” in this situation, it’s the ex-boyfriend, who keeps infantilizing hee do by calling her by a pet name, and tries to verbally “win” the right to date her, as if the matter should be solved between him and yi jin, without taking hee do’s opinion as a factor at all. yi jin is clearly uncomfortable with this conversation from the start, and systematically counters the ex’s usage of the pet name by placing emphasis on hee do’s name in his sentences (it’s not always translated but listen and you’ll hear it), thus continuously asserting her autonomy as a person and not the idea of a girlfriend. when the ex questions hee do’s judgement, yi jin implies that even if hee do is unable to put a name to her actions and feelings, he trusts her to know what she’s doing, and she can rely on him to know what he's doing.

interpretations are subjective, and your feelings are valid -- but i hope my analysis helps you understand the line in the way that i do.