Boram's questions

While I felt sad for MiSo, I also felt sad for Boram and the questions she asked made me really think. In just a few short scenes, the writer has posed a lot of questions that happens in society. So posting my thoughts here rather than comments, it is quite long. 

Boram asked why MiSo had to keep pushing for justice when it was obvious dead end. Would things be different if MiSo and SeolHui had given up after police closed the case? Since I watch true crime, there are many cases which grow cold and are only solved after years. In some, police and the family have their suspicions but they are unable to prove anything and so they are forced to wait. 

As one officer said in a docu, sometimes, time is the only ally in the fight for justice. Some folks believe in karma and divine retribution and with time, they feel the satisfaction. With some, there is no easing of the pain and there is no closure even when the justice system finally does what it is supposed to. So perhaps the real question is how does one get over injustice. 

Boram asked why MiSo thought the rich would willingly admit to their wrongdoings. Would things have been different if SeolHui gave up after the first meeting with KyungChae? It is surprising that both MiSo and SeolHui were naive in that way. When the system itself was bought over, then what power do they have to change? 

In some ways, Boram is correct. Across all strata of society, only few people accept their wrongdoing. Most will protest their innocence even when the evidence is overwhelming. So why did SeolHui think a chat would change things? What is the point of fighting on their own when the system had closed down? 

Boram asked why MiSo didn't take compensation and move on. In real life, folks who take payouts from corporates in return for silence and close case can be side eyed. 

In a recent docu, the whistleblower put it this way -- he and his family were mentally, emotionally and financially exhausted. When authorities were not pursuing the case, there was nothing for him to do. So he withdrew his complaint, took the money. Only time proved him right. That gave me a lot of insight into why people give up and just accept payouts. Sometimes that is the only smart thing to do in a losing battle -- one has to protect themselves. 

In MiSo's case, they didn't want the money because it may not have been true justice. However, what is justice? Do you get satisfaction only if it happens a certain way? Perhaps MiSo and SeolHui were too hung on having a certain kind of justice and unprepared for the fallouts of such a battle. 

Boram felt frustrated with MiSo because she too felt cornered. She explained that her family was in dire financial and emotional straits. This was a matter of survival. Having taken the money, they had no choice but to lie in the interview. MiSo is so focused on her own pain that she is not able to see that Boram too was suffering. She too is a kid and has been placed in a difficult situation because MiSo and SeolHui have kept pushing. So she felt resentful. 

SeolHui on the other hand as an adult would have understood that the cafe owner and Boram made these choices for survival and now, there is no going back. So why did she arrange a meeting with these two? Even if they had retracted, no one would believe. The reality is that once something is out in the open and especially online, it can be very difficult to change the narrative. Even with proof, people can continue to take a certain view. So it was in some ways a permanent hurt they would have had to deal with until people forgot. 

Even if cafe owner and Boram had cooperated, Minjang Co would have taken further actions to hurt them. So instead of one family, three families would have been on the list. SeolHui could not have protected them or done anything. So why would they retract? 

SeolHui did not seem to be thinking it through even the lawyer warned her that nothing will come out of this. She was so upset that MiSo is upset that she wanted it be to fixed somehow. However, the bitter reality was that it was perhaps past the point of fixing. SeolHui had already met with these two and there was no change. Did SeolHui and Miso think that if Miso met them, it would be different? 

MiSo told Boram about self-harm but at that moment, rather than a cry for help, it came across as emotional blackmail. That is why Boram didn't cave. Boram as a daughter feels responsible for her family's well-being and so cannot afford to end up on the street for justice. That would be too costly for her family. It is unfortunate but this convo will haunt Boram for years. 

In most dailys, it is one sad event that triggers the revenge arc and there is only one or two villains. 

Here, it is a series of events with multiple folks with different motivations. While Seri, KyungChae, lawyer and Chairman are the main characters here, there are plenty of secondary characters that played a part in leading to this tragic outcome. 

It isn't just Boram or the cafe owner as secondary characters, we also have the silent netizens who have been making comments. The media who took the story and ran. We have the school authorities who expelled her. We have the other school board that retracted their acceptance. 

We also have the system where other players just watched because it is just one case among many. No one is paying attention to the officer who closed the case. The girl who was the stand in has been forgotten -- why did she take the blame? Probably some depressing circumstances where she felt detention was better than home. We also have the office workers who witness Miso fall but sign the NDA out of fear. No one has alerted the police. So the layer of injustices continue. 

With so many people and the system involved, what would a revenge arc look like in that case? Rather than a single event leading to a tragedy, it was more like a domino effect with many blocks falling at the same time. 

Keeping aside the sad outcome of MiSo, what it showed was that we cannot be idealistic. Justice is at times slow. Justice is at times out of the reach of many especially when the system shuts down. Justice may be corrupted. Justice may not look the way we want. Sometimes, all we can do is accept and move on with our life. Injustice is hard but that is the world we live in. Harping on the same thing only hurts us. 

UnniSara  -- @unnisara -- Not sure how to tag someone; Hope this works. Great perspective. In regards to your question about what would have happened -- I think it really depends on personality. Some people would feel that something is better than nothing and so this was a form of justice/compensation. For some, it would have felt bitter to accept.