Early Access: Breakup Probation, A Week E5

E5. We get some important and interesting backstory this episode, and I now feel even more invested in these characters than before.

I really liked getting to see the beginnings of Ga Ram's relationship with Seon Jae. It's clear that he'd fallen for her pretty much immediately, and his reason for going to the art academy evolved pretty quickly, from trying to contact his ex-girlfriend, who'd ghosted him, to wanting to get to know Ga Ram.

Hyun Woo's smitten faces are really cute, and I could feel my heart squee, from the amused, intrigued, infatuated way he keeps gazing at Ga Ram. In Ga Ram's shoes, I'd feel all of the feels too.

Which is why, I completely understand the decision that Ga Ram eventually makes, to not mention to Seon Jae that his ex-girlfriend Hee Jeong had stopped by the academy, and had left him a message and her name card. To be fair, Ga Ram does attempt to tell Seon Jae, and it looks like she'd made the decision to give him the name card - only to drop it because right at that moment, Seon Jae tells her that he's decided to move on from Hee Jeong.

In that moment, she'd chosen not to take the chance that Seon Jae would go back to Hee Jeong, even though the likelihood was low. I'd wager that Seon Jae would have still chosen Ga Ram, even if she'd given him the name card with Hee Jeong's message. After all, he'd already expressed that he knew Hee Jeong was back in Korea, and that he could seek her out, if he wanted. Yet, he'd chosen not to, because he was more interested in getting to know Ga Ram.

How sad, really, that Ga Ram's felt guilty for this, all this time that she's been in a relationship with Seon Jae. This guilt must have been a source of torment for Ga Ram, all this time; maybe not in a dramatic fashion, but in a low-grade, constant, gnawing sort of way. That can be very destructive, on a person's psychological wellbeing. And what a pity, that her insecurity around this bled into their relationship, making things harder than they needed to be.

If Ga Ram had just pressed in, at that moment, and shown Seon Jae the name card anyway, I'm sure that he would have made it clear that he was only interested in her and not in Hee Jeong, which would have helped Ga Ram avert a lot of misery and self-punishment in the following years. This really is making me feel that honesty truly is the best policy.

With her impending death and necessary break-up with Seon Jae, I can understand why Ga Ram would choose to seek out Hee Jeong, and attempt to reconnect Seon Jae with her. She's trying to undo the perceived harm that she'd done before, by putting things back where she believes they should be. Also, she's due to die anyway, so it makes sense that she'd want Seon Jae to have someone by his side, so that he won't be alone after her death. It's a sad and painful decision for Ga Ram, and even though it's misguided, I can see that she's doing this out of love for Seon Jae.

I can understand why this would come out of left field for Seon Jae, though, and I'd be disappointed if he actually quietly accepted this arrangement. At the same time, it is true that Ga Ram has a task to complete, and that is to cut Seon Jae out of her life, for his own safety.

At the end of this episode, I feel more curious to see what happens next, than in any of Show's earlier episodes. I'd call this a very positive trajectory indeed.

Next episode notes will be out on: Saturday, 2 Oct 2021!