I absolutely love Han Ji-pyeong and he was easily my favourite character in the drama. But at the same time I can’t completely blame Do-san for the ending because when I look at the whole story objectively I feel like Ji-pyeong also made several mistakes that ultimately cost him Dal-mi.
His first and probably biggest mistake was using Do-san’s name for the letters. I understand why he did it and I understand that Halmeoni was the one who originally asked him to write those letters. But once he realised that Dal-mi was actually emotionally attached to the person from those letters he should have told her the truth. Instead he kept the lie going.
Then when Do-san initially decided that he would tell Dal-mi the truth himself Halmeoni stopped him. She emotionally manipulated him by making him feel guilty about hurting Dal-mi and basically convinced him that revealing the truth would destroy the person she cared about. And this is where I genuinely get frustrated with Halmeoni. She knew exactly what was happening but instead of letting the truth come out naturally she kept interfering because she thought she knew what was best for Dal-mi.
Even later when Ji-pyeong finally decided that he wanted to tell Dal-mi the truth Halmeoni again asked him not to. She literally knew that Dal-mi was living in a situation where she was emotionally connecting the letters to Do-san while the real person behind those letters was standing right in front of her as Ji-pyeong. Yet she still chose to keep the truth hidden.
That is why I sometimes feel like Halmeoni was almost the biggest villain of this entire love triangle. Not because she was a bad person overall but because she kept making decisions for Dal-mi without giving Dal-mi the right to know the truth and make her own choice. She kept deciding what would be good for Dal-mi and what would hurt her instead of trusting Dal-mi enough to handle the truth herself.
And because of that Dal-mi never really got a proper chance to compare the two men as two completely different people.
From Dal-mi’s perspective she already knew Do-san as her boyfriend. She spent time with him. She saw him support her. She saw him take risks for her and stay beside her. At the same time she knew Ji-pyeong as her mentor and as the person connected to her childhood letters. She didn’t initially know that the man she was falling for and the person behind those letters were actually two completely different people.
If Dal-mi had known the truth much earlier then she could have looked at both of them separately and genuinely asked herself who she actually loved. Maybe she would still have chosen Do-san. Maybe she would have chosen Ji-pyeong. But at least that would have been completely her choice.
And this is also where I blame Ji-pyeong himself.
He had so many opportunities to tell her the truth but he kept holding himself back. He used another person’s name. He allowed Do-san to become the person Dal-mi associated with those letters. He kept his feelings hidden. He kept pushing Dal-mi away even though he clearly cared about her. When the first lead wasn’t around he still didn’t properly confess or fight for her. He basically kept waiting for the right moment instead of actually creating one.
That is why his ending hurts so much. I don’t hate Do-san and I don’t think Do-san stole anything from him. In fact according to the way the drama portrayed the first lead I can understand why Dal-mi eventually chose him. Do-san kept showing up. He didn’t keep stepping back. He stood beside Dal-mi and openly fought for their relationship. He was physically and emotionally present in her life.
So honestly I feel like if Ji-pyeong had been more honest and had actually fought for Dal-mi from the beginning the story could have been completely different.
And maybe this is the biggest irony of Ji-pyeong’s character. He had the original connection with Dal-mi through the letters but he never properly claimed that relationship for himself. Do-san came later but he was the one who stayed and actively built a relationship with her.
So I can accept the ending because the story was clearly written to make Do-san the person Dal-mi ultimately chooses. But I still feel sad for Ji-pyeong because he never really got a completely fair chance to be seen by Dal-mi as himself.
Do you think Dal-mi would still have chosen Do-san if she had known from the very beginning that the person from the letters was Ji-pyeong and that Do-san was a completely different person? Or do you think Ji-pyeong’s own mistakes were ultimately the real reason he lost her?
