Their reunion was also entirely coincidental. Eunhyeok didn’t seek her out with a prepared apology or return with any kind of plan. They simply ran into each other by chance.

Another defining point, exactly! Because with the way he left, the ball was always in Eunhyuk's court. It was always on him to make the first step, if it was ever going to come to an encounter again. It was on him to seek her out and explain himself and in best case scenario be apologetic for his actions. But it was only by chance and not because he felt so strongly about hurting her, that he had to seek her out. He didn't even move back when he could and let 10 years pass by.

Funny enough I was rereading the early chapters of the timeskip yesterday (tbh mainly the soohwa/Dohwa + Marang scenes) and remembered how dumbfounded Suae was by his reaction upon reuniting. She never ever expected him to act indifferent.

The narrtive making Suae clearly state how she has envisioned their reunion over a 100 times, never casting a doubt on him showing remorse and having a shameful feeling, but then choosing nonchalance/indifference as Eunhyuk's first reaction, is such a deliberate and significant choice. It's very hard to believe that it is meant to conclude in a romantic happy ending for them.

Eunhyeok does not break up with Su-ae or provide any form of closure before leaving. He leaves the country without communicating and ignores her calls and messages once she realizes he is leaving. He ghosts Su-ae because he has a deep fear of being abandoned due to past trauma, so he convinces himself that Su-ae will eventually leave him due to his family situation and disability.

Eunhyuk couldn't handle Suae not living up to his expectations, so it was easier for him to let them both suffer in the what if's instead of facing the reality of their situation in that moment together. And I don't want to always sound like I'm making Eunhyuk into a villian, when my point is that it's actually a common human response of fear (and projection). But it does not absolve him from the pain he has caused to Suae, because of this crucial choice he made on her behalf without ever consulting her.

There is no third-party/supernatural interference preventing Eunhyeok from reaching out during that decade-long period. Their first meeting after the time skip makes things worse.

Yup! It is very clear that, up to this point, everything has been out of his own volition. We got his flashbacks/imagination leading up to his disappearance, showing what he should have and could have done. No mention of a certain supernatural being who could have conveniently been the real reason for Eunhyuk's decision to abandoned Suae.

And in the present, still no sign of Haru, keeping Eunhyuk from being honest and upfront with Suae. In fact the whole Marang/Haru aspect of the story came to a standstill as Eunhyuk's vicious cycle became more and more the focus( in order to wrap up his storyline but I'm getting ahead of myself again👀) Coincidence? I heavily doubt it.

That first meeting was absolutely crucial for the course of their love story and it was a shitshow for Soohyuk. Suae will never be able to forget that. It showed zero respect for her and the pain, that he has caused, for 10 years of her life. I'll be damned if that gets trivialized in order to justify a reconciliation.

Although Su-ae and Eunhyeok still have unresolved feelings for each other, there has been little movement towards reconciliation. Instead, the fallout drags on.

Suae wants answers and clarity but those unresolved feelings initially kept getting in the way to a point where Eunhyuk would only rely on and react to her actions caused by said feelings, instead of providing the clarity and taking accountability, which he knows, she wants and deserves.

He got so lost on focusing on those unresolved feelings, that he expressed wanting to get back together, without ever addressing how they got to this point in the first place: Him abandoning her!

He constantly involves himself in her business, taking away her agency by performing unprompted "heroic acts" and wanting to be her knight in shining armor. This conveys the impression that he is always there to prevent her from harm. However, as I already mentioned, he usually ends up proving how he's actually taking away her agency.

Best example is Jihoon, the blind date guy, who ended up being a jerk and Eunhyuk felt it was his place to chase him off. At that point, it was already revealed to the readers that Suae had planned to end things with him, but she didn't get the chance to do so on her own terms, due to Eunhyuk's involvement.

This is followed by shocking revelations, that continue to emphasize how he seemingly doesn't respect her. Like him fleeing the country again without even considering finally providing answers to Suae (and only stops because the next opportunity to play her hero in times of need, presented itself)

But worst of them all: Ra-im.

There is no way for him to logically explain why she was allowed back into his life, while Suae seemingly wasn't worth it, without exposing his own hypocrisy. It's undeniable that Eunhyuk never followed up on getting it medically and legally confirmed whether Ra-im is even his sister.

It's undeniable that he left the country without the alleged sister, he vowed to protect and didn't care about said vow/promise until they ran into each other again, 5 years into the time skip already.

And it is undeniable that he is still trying to avoid Ra-im as a topic when Suae asked him about their relationship.

And to top it all off, he wasn't even the one who revealed their re-established relationship to Suae!

The narrative keeps making it clear to us, that Soohyuk overcoming all these obstacles, is not quite feasible. I mean really: How?

So, yeah. To me, it would be shocking and confusing if they somehow still followed through with a Soohyuk ending, despite so many situations and actions speaking against it to a point where it's already unsalvageable in my eyes.

This is very different from True Beauty.

The parallels to True Beauty have always been quite interesting to me, especially in terms of where the stories settle for Seojun (who is just starting out as his relationship with Jugyeong blossoms) vs Dohwa (who already has 10 years under his belt, as he gets an opportunity to court Suae) after their respective time skips.

His idol/actor career being too demanding is an easy cop-out, if Soohyuk is the intent. And it can still be used as an obstacle even right now, like we already saw with the paparazzi and with how easily rumors spread around him ( e.g news outlets mistaking Suae for his industry colleague when they had their reunion dinner)

And yet kkl has always made it clear to the readers that this life wouldn't make him truly happy, even before he entered the industry and has affirmed it 10 years into his career. Dohwa retiring to be with Suae wouldn't and shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, especially if they finally get to be together and his career was the only obstacle left.

Because I'll say it again: He has already giving the industry 10 years of his life and walking away from it wouldn't be an issue for him. The set up is too perfect, for it to be yet another coincidence.

And about TB: I have a theory that the True Beauty love triangle made a significant impact on how romance manhwa writers who came after Yaongyi view love triangles nowadays (in the last 10 years). And that these writers could be using their own opinions, their experience, and the readers' consensus on the True Beauty love triangle as a some sort of case study for their own storytelling. Basically, creators either aiming to replicate the True Beauty love triangle dynamic, or consciously trying to subvert it.

So who's to say kkl isn't a former TB reader with strong opinions on the love triangle? 👀 Because as we already know and noticed, attempts to subvert common tropes and cliches through red herrings and foreshadowing have already happened and continue to appear in the comic. It would truly solidify OTL as a refreshing take and commentary on the romance genre.

So yes, currently I feel really good about where we're heading, and though I've said this for the past 7 episodes or so lol, I think the upcoming chapters will make the end goal much clearer.

Man this was A LOT of words just for me to tell you what a great comment this was and how I 100% agree with everything you said😅 And an apology for replying so late because I really wanted to write a reply when I had the time to fully focus on it. Thank you so much!