Love Interests Suddenly Realising Their Feelings For The MC When They Had Previously Friend-zoned or Rejected Them.
So you're telling me: I've been pining for you for like 50 chapters, and you've either been friend-zoning me or just stringing me along or just straight up ignoring me.
But the moment someone WHO GENUINELY HAS INTEREST IN ME, that's when you're suddenly: hmmm. Maybe I do like you. Let's date.
I'm sorry WHAT?!
SO IT TOOK ANOTHER BRUTHA/SISTAH LOOKING MY WAY AND TAKING INTEREST IN ME FOR YOU TO ACTUALLY TAKE ME SERIOUSLY?! ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING ME?!
LIKE WHERE WAS THIS ENERGY WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE GUYS LOOKING AT ME!
And the biggest example and offender of this is Sihwa from In Between.
So you're telling me this nigga leaves the country for six years, doesn't keep in touch with his girl best friend, Eunseo, during those six years, moves back into the country, doesn't hit up his home girl like: "hey. I'm back in the country. Let's meet up," waits THREE MONTHS LATER when they see each other at University.
You'd think this mutha fucka would have the sense to apologise to his best friend and at least explain the 6 years and 3 months of lack of communication. BUT NOPE!
He talks to her and acts buddy-buddy with her like nothing's changed and starts a hot and cold dynamic where he wants to get closer to her and flirts with her but then back off when she gets to close or asks questions he doesn't want to answer.
This dude, since chapter one, until the season 1 finale, has not apologised or, at the very least, explained why he ghosted Eunseo for six years after he left the country and did not hit her up and tell her that he moved back for three months until they met again at Uni.
And he acts like nothing happened. Like he just pressed pause for six years and 3 months, then pressed resume and continue like everything is the same as it was before he left.
Add that with countless chapters where it was a push and pull dynamic where he would flirt with Eunseo just to mess with her while also knowing that she still has feelings with him, then he dips and leaves her hanging the moment things feel too real for him, and he acts like nothing happens.
He expects Eunseo to be his emotional safety net for when he's dealing with his family drama, which is not a bad thing. It's good to have a support system to fall on because shit happens and life is life.
BUT it becomes a problem where you expect your emotional safety net to be readily available, and drop everything for you with no regard for their feelings, and that is what Sihwa had been doing to Eunseo.
The only reason he didn't pursue her is that, apparently, he made a promise to Eunseo's mom to take care of her.
Guess what, Sihwa, taking care of Eunseo also means not toying with her and treating her like your emotional trauma dumpster, my guy.
And all it took for him to actually consider dating Eunseo was seeing her hanging out with Hyeon.
And people eat this trope up like it's peak slow-burn childhood friends to lovers.
Nah. Nah. Nah. Sihwa, you didn’t just suddenly realise that you have feelings for Eunseo. You suddenly just realised that you could lose the attention she was giving you, you vampiric narcissist.
You suddenly realised that you can lose her to another brutha who actually and genuinely gives a shit about her and treats her how she deserves to be treated.
Honestly, teenage me would have ate this up because it meant that this guy was in denial and will stop being a pussy and get his girl.
But adult me is like: nah fuck that. You cannot ignore them, friend zone them, and suddenly decide to take them seriously the moment you see you got competition. Fuck you.
And when people criticize his actions and his character, they get hit with the: "people are being too hard on him." "People are only seeing Eunseo's perspective and should consider his perspective." "He's got family trauma."
People are not being "too hard on him". People are holding him accountable because he's being a selfish asshole to his best friend.
We are considering his perspective. He's still a selfish asshole to his best friend.
We do understand and emphathise with his situation especially since he found out about his dad's affair as a kid, his mother's passing and having to deal with his dad's side chick trying to replace his mother. Still not an excuse to be a selfish asshole to his best friend.
What's even frustrating about ALL THIS is that not once has Eunseo EVER called him out on his behaviour. And when she does, she ends up feeling bad and apologises for hurting his feelings.
BITCH! WHAT ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS!?!
To add the cherry on top, she's aware that his behaviour is a cycle, but she chooses to let this mutha fucka walk all over her like a Victoria Secret Model on a runaway.
People are not expecting these male leads to be these perfect green flag love interests from "fluffy romance" stories. But if people see that these male leads are acting like assholes, people will call them out on it.
And the thing that irritates me SO MUCH about this is how the narrative tries to justify and gaslight ME into rooting for the main nigga like I didn’t sit through 50+ chapters and five seasons watching this bitch ass nigga drive me crazy to the point of almost rage quiting.
No thank you bitch. I learnt my lesson from sitting through e episodes watching Park Jaeoeon being the gum underneath my six inch platform stripper heels in Nevertheless.
I want my 8 hours back and to run my ones on Jaeoeon. I don’t care that he has Song Kang’s face, that nigga will be tasting my dry Africa soiled feet.
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