DreamHi

Absolutely hoping for such ending with fingers crossed. P.s., loved all your comments on this thread❤️

Second you. I personally find this discourse of who suffered more of very poor taste. Obviously Jeongyo underwent far too much for a teenager. Ofcourse most of us cannot relate to his pain of being shot, getting stranded in a country with unfamiliar language with no memories, and losing the very foundation of his faith when he mistakes Pio for the one to have ordered his attempted murder.

However, trying to validate his experiences by diminishing Pio's is so childish, disrespectful and shallow. When a person thinks suffering has to be quantified and measured to be acknowledged, they are attempting to intellectualize emotions brought forth by experiences. No amount of relating to any person will give anyone a complete idea of the suffering they have gone through. Needing to say Jeongyo suffered more compared to Pio is in itself a disservice fo his suffering. Suffering need not be aknowledged with receipts, suffering need not even be real and tangible. If this were not the case, psychiatric patients with delusions and hallucinations would not be suffering since what they are seeing is not real anyway. Having money, fame and success does not translate to easy life.

I refuse to quantify Jeongyo and Pio's pain and trauma because neither of them think that the other had it easy. I refuse to villanize or victimize either because what they have going on in between them is far more complicated and nuanced. What they want from each other is not compensation, comparison, separation or acknowledgement. They want to desperately destroy, protect, love and possess each other. Would Jeongyo want people to validate and recognize that he suffered more, or would he want possess and ravage Pio while still hoping in the depths of his dreams that Pio lied about ordering his kidnapping. What is important to characters is what stands true at the end, no matter what we think. Jeongyo is heartbroken that the boy he loved and trusted tried to kill him and lived for 9 years remorselessly. Pio is grieving the life his mother took from the boy he loved and cared for. They both mourn the loss and betrayal of their relationship and feelings, their innocence and youth, the life they had to live away from each other. And that is far beyond pointing out who suffered more.

Just a personal opinion at the end though.

People want complicated characters on screen, but the moment complicated characters appear, they scramble to call one a villain and other a spineless idiot. Some hate Pio because how dare he not disregard his mother's threat to commit suicide and come clean. Others hate Jeongyo because how dare he abuse Pio instead of magically realizing the whole truth by himself. Some are dead set on comparing who suffered more and who is more of a victim than the other.

For people who want clean, irredeemable villains and pitiful, all suffering victims- this drama is genuinely not it. Watching Pio and Jeongyo fumble around and sabotage themselves in what appears to be a simple to solve issue for many is so painful and frustrating to watch because that is how people are in real life. Both their decisons are uncomfortable to watch and digest because it was not meant to be easy in the first place. It is human nature to classify people as evil vs good, in fact the human brain struggles to accept contradictory thoughts of a single subject. That is exactly why many struggle to see both of them as victims as well as imperfect characters who sometimes make wrong choices.

It is easy to blame Pio for being insecure and jealous, it is easy to blame Jeongyo for being so cruel. It is easy to victimize Pio for the hell his family put him through, it is easy to victimize Jeongyo for loosing 9 years of his life. But is not easy to see their suffering and flaws and understand they are both victims as well as perperators of their own measure. Pio does not deserve what his family put him through, Jeongyo did not deserve what Pio's mother made him go through. I come across so many people saying meeting Pio was the cause of Jeongyo's downfall. However, that means it is okay for Pio to suffer because of his family cause he was born into it, but it is not okay for Jeongyo to suffer because of Pio's mother, afterall Pio is not even his family. People suffer because of other people even when that is not what they desire to cause, sadly that is how the world works.

Pio suffered, Jeongyo suffered. Yet, they were not the ones who directly inflicted wounds on each other. Misunderstandings and traumas play a major role in their relationship dynamic. Pio's insecurity is not enough to blame him for Jeongyo's kidnapping, Jeongyo's anger is not enough to villanize him for his rage and cruelty. They're both paying prices they shouldn't have to in a world that was unfair to both of them in different ways.

I've never struggled so hard to watch an episode. The orchestra recording where Pio finally gets to playing the fear and anger Jeongyo wanted him to while simultaneously and horrifyingly consuming himself in the process– as I watched the realization that he was burning himself out and crashing slowly dawn on his face, the helplessness and fear seep in as his hands began playing the best he had before giving in, that was pure torture to watch. The music he played at that very scene became so overwhelmingly all-consuming and suffocating to listen, serious kudos to the pianists behind the scene.

Something I would like to point out is that Jeongyo doesn't completely believe Pio tried to kill him because he does have that same picture Pio has as an evidence. He thinks Pio is an accomplice at the most, and deep inside, I don't think he entirely convinced of that either. The most telling of this is the fact that he clearly witnesses Pio yearn for his closeness in the beginning, which then abruptly turns to very blatant guilt as he discovers what his mother did. A person comitting a crime would not be completely carefree in the starting only to become more guilt-wracked or fearful as time goes on. The best example is Pio's mother- her actions of being terrified initially when Jeongyo came back which then relaxed as she sensed no threat is how assailants actually behave. Jeongyo is brilliant enough to see and deduce this. But Pio covering up for his mother out of fear and responsibility is what tips his scales completely. He now desperately wants Pio to pay, because to him, Pio is everything he cannot be. And in his mind, all that belong to him and all that was taken away from him because of Pio. So he pours all the rage onto Pio, intent on breaaking him completely.

However, in that final attempt Pio made during the recording, Jeongyo catches his own contradictions as the music turns suffocatingly close to what he faced back then— he looks surprised, caught off-guard as he senses the despair growing within Pio too. It was very fleeting, but he definitely appeared to be confused.

He is confused because he witnessed Kang Pio from afar, leading a perfect life remorselessly, leaving him behind, making him feel wretched and disappointed. But behind the curtains, Pio says he was close to him, looks at him like he hung the moon and the stars, gives him power over his performances, lets him take revenge on him, trusts in his music even when he goes beyond the acceptable limits— this discordance throws him off after he believes he has reached the final stage of his revenge.

At this point, after ruining Pio's fingers, I think Jeongyo is in denial— he knows everything is going along the way he wants, yet nothing feels right. The new pianist doesn't feel right, his own intentions do not feel right, his revenge does not feel right– it feels like everything is collapsing beyond a calm exterior. The line where he says in the next week's teaser- no is allowed to mess with him other than myself, I think that says enough. If someone (that thug Mr.KIm?) thinks harming or involving Pio will in turn affect Jeongyo, maybe the revenge is actually not revenging at all T.T

As an ending note— f*ck grandpa. His denial, control, ignorance and harshness made a monster out of his daughter who in turn tormented Pio his entire life, successfully destroying Jeongyo's future and Pio's by an extention. One brief support from him could instill so much confidence in Pio, yet he intentionally refused and scarred Pio for 25 years. If only Pio was not so soft hearted towards people who ruined his entire life and Jeongyo's life, if ony Pio called himself a victim and not a perperator. Pio and Jeongyo are both children failed by the adults in their life and that's why everything happening in their lives feel so rage inducing and unfair.

Alas, what Jeongyo is doing will only come and bite him in the back, not just because he is tormenting the wrong person, but because he is actively destroying someone he loves and he is not a person cruel enough to actually do that, especially when that person is a victim who blames himself for everything.

I don't think he loved her romantically, he loved her as a friend and maybe even hoped that he could begin to love her the way she loved him. But, in the end, he couldn't. He probably felt that she didn't deserve to witness him destroy himself, he couldn't do that to the person who had been his only constant support system. So he took that chance to tell her the truth while lying about how he felt she was controlling him and suffocating him. I don't think he didn't ever love her, he just didn't love her the way she needed him to.

Music is a nasty beast that won't rest until it drains you dry says grandpa while proceeding to bleed Kang Pio dry of his very life, happiness and confidence. The audacity to request for kindness????????

I honestly no longer think Jeongyo is as composed and put together as before. His fury is all consuming now, and I think he wants to destroy Pio and maybe then, build him back again (dubious). I might have disagreed last week, but seeing Jeongyo this week remorselessly close in Pio again and again going as far as to use his own guilt against him, I think he has decided that Pio is worth the revenge he has planned. I don't think he has any kind of partial amnesia where he has mistaken Pio is his nemesis. If the music he composed says anything, it feels like he spent 5 years gradually regaining his memories, carving all the anger and pain into his notes, ending the score in a grand show of retribution. He doesn't care about what is right or wrong, he wants Pio entrapped with his regrets and guilt, being coerced into playing for him as a show of seeking forgiveness which needs to be earned. They no longer stand on the same level, Jeongyo has total control over Pio and Pio knows it on a very visceral level whether he actually understands or not. That's why Pio gives in again and again, even ready to burn aways as fuel to Jeongyo's fire.

The way Jeongyo can't help but move his fingers in memory of his playing piano when he listens to Pio play, the way he loses all sense of composure at Pio not comprehending the piece shows how much he detests not being able to bring to life what he wrote. He also picks Pio for this exact reason, his guilt and sense of desperation proving an excellent point of manipulation for Jeongyo. Jeongyo knows he cannot push anyone else as hard as PIo, he cannot break anyone enough to reach the desperation and anguish he endured to compose this. But a guilt ridden Pio who has tethered his forgiveness to performing the best he can for Jeongyo, that is someone whom he could destroy without qualms. He need Pio to perform like he wants, when Pio performs, he wants to see his own trials to echo in every key.

Also, the composition named "Nemesis" might point out towards Nemesis the greek goddess of divine retribution who punished the sin of Hubris- which means extreme pride or arrogance. The word itself is derived from némein which means to allot what is due- whether good or bad. By making Pio play his composition, forcing him to break out of the perfect armour he has constructed around himself, Jeongyo might be hoping for Pio to hand out his own retribution, soaring to the highest place before crashing. He knows Pio would do anything to ease his guilt, and by an extension, Jeongyo wants Pio to feel the rage and revenge woven within the composition at its rawest without hiding behind careful hesitations. He wants Pio to immerse himself in the suffering he went through for 9 long years without shying away and distancing himself, he doesn't want Pio to coat it as a beautiful tragedy far removed from himself, but rather embody the suffering itself. Jeongyo does not want guilt from Pio at a safe distance where he can atone for sins his mother committed. If Pio has decided to take his mothers sins upon himself, Jeongyo wants him to pay completely and entirely without acting like a stranger who doesn't know how to read the tragedy they both are trapped in. Whether that will end in salvation or damnation, all depends upon the answer they both find at the end of the play- reward or punishment, all as due.

Atleast that's what I can think with how close my brain feels to combusting spontaneously. Tomorrow's episode will kill me.

I really want to bite my tongue whenever Jaein comes on screen and I'm convinced that her character was written to be mildly abrasive and uncomfortable to watch. As a long time friend of Pio, I honestly cannot for the life of me understand how Jaein keeps pushing Pio to perform while he is breaking from within after spending his entire life chasing approval and accomplishment. He opens up to her about Jeongyo's death and the best comfort she can provide is a kiss and new relationship. She gets to know that Jeongyo cannot remember Pio and she says, it's good that he is back while going behind him and setting up a stage for them both to perform together which is insensitive to both Pio and Jeongyo. Forget romance, I don't even think she is qualified enough to be called a friend when she is as dense and self-pleasing as she can get.

Also, I want Pio's mother the get the hell off, the way my pressure rises whenever she appears is diabolical. Can't believe I'm saying this, Kang PIo would've been happier as an orphan.

It is not stated that Pio performed Jeongyo's interpretation piece by piece, we do not know that yet. Pio did coerce Jeongyo into joining the competition and Jeongyo did do it for him. Pio wanted to give one final push fair and square and as his friend? Jeongyo wanted to give that to him. I am confused what the problem is, because this is how relationships work in real life. Pio knew with clarity that Jeongyo was better than him, did he not help him get back on the stage? If Jeongyo joining the competition for Pio was self-sabotaging himself, then Pio helping Jeongyo perform again is also self-sabotaging himself. The point is that neither of them need to do so, but they did because they deemed it necessary and important.

I agree and wholeheartedly support Jeongyo's anger too, because anyone in his place would be angry seeing his friend? say on international television that they were not close after all he had gone through. But, as a third person, I can understand that that denial was Kang Pio's way of protecting himself from a wound he did not want to open in front of strangers for the world to watch. I would rather watch him deny it on the TV and keep desperately searching for him quietly than accept their closeness on TV and not worry a moment personally.

Kang Pio has to work on his communication skills, but I don't think we'll get to see that any soon given how less he is prone to talking about his feelings. But if you noticed, he was the only person who thanked Jeongyo for coming back without wanting anything from him. He also requested for a hug and said that he thought they were close. I think that in itself is a huge step in the right direction.

I second you. If Pio wanted clout and sympathy, it would have been easier to even falsely exaggerate his closeness to Jeongyo and shed a few tears, that way he could even potentially set a shield for him if and when Jeongyo comes back. He couldn't and wouldn't do that because he is deeply sensitive and in fact does have a conscience.

Also, love that you pointed you the harmonica competition. I also feel that Pio definitely would not have played the way Jeongyo would have. For one, another contestant saw him listen to Jeongyo playing the free piece and in turn briefly listened to it as well- enough to identify any similarities if he did copy it. And, Pio might have an inferiority complex, but he was definitely not blinded by his own lacking. He clearly knew that Jeongyo was better than him the very moment he first listened to Jeongyo playing. He did not have to go out of his way to facilitate Jeongyo into playing again and he definitely did not have to look out for Jeongyo. He does all that despite his need to be better and get the approval he yearned for solely because he is not the kind of vile person who is cruel enough to go to any extent for his achievements. He is simply human, and humans are not black and white- they are grey.

Jeongyo sneakily letting Pio know that Jaein requested they collaborate while holding back a smile and being passive aggressive with Pio because of his denial in the interview gives major dark villain era boyfriend vibes and I'm enjoying it so much it also hurts😭
I want all the episodes to drop, but I don't want it to end- It's been so long I've fallen this hard for a drama✨️

What an enlighting comment that contributes so much to my analysis. I couldn't hope to reach such depth😇

For all the people saying Jeongyo suffered more than Pio, I don't know if we've been watching the same series. It makes no sense to compare two people based on who suffered more.

Pio and Jeongyo have a very conflicting relationship with each other. They love and cherish each other, but there is also jealousy, guilt, comparisons and sabotage. There is no emotion in this world that isn't tainted by darkness. If pure love and adoration should exist without any negative emotions however small accompanying it, that is impossible,

For the 9 years they've been apart, Pio was a minor for 2-3yrs. He was powerless, stuck in a house with adults who act like he is the sole reason everything falls apart everytime. The therapy many talk about, it'd probably be easier for him if he forgets his career and gets out of his family completely. But, then what? Forget finding Jeongyo, he'll barely be able to house and feed himself. His career, his schedule, his freedom, his actions- everything lies within his mother's palms. His agent is his mother's friend, his manager is that friend's daughter, officially his mother has also gained some posittion in a committe which could be a potential threat for him. He is a man built on the very foundation of guilt, sacrifice and constraints. He has money, he has a family, he has a house, he has a mother. He never experienced love, he never could exist without proving himself, he never escaped the chain of validation, he was never enough, he was never important in ways that mattered. He grew up in a prison that constantly asked him why he deserved to exist in this world.

Jeongyo's beginning was bright. He had a family, a mother who dearly loved him. Through her eyes, Jeongyo learnt love. But then all of his brightness ended with his mother's death. A father who called him a bastard, debts he couldn't begin to count, a lifetime full of darkness he couldn't see a way through. He roamed the world untethered and unsure of his future. His only companion was the piano his mother had given him. He gained some semblance of hope after gaining the scholarship and getting to know Pio, but then again, the cut-throat competitions, Pio's inferiority, people's comparisons, adults forcing them both into paths they remained hesitant and unsure of- he was made a scapegoat and banished from the life he gained permanently.

Jeongyo's suffering was palpable, visible and tangible. Pio's suffering was quiet, invisbile and intangible. If this series was made in Jeongyo's pov, Pio would have been the villain of the story because his situation is not easy to comprehend without the minute details of his life.

Their relationship is beyond Pio's jealousy and Jeongyo's sacrifice. And I do not believe for a moment that Pio would take advantage of Jeeongyo' willingness to let Pio use him, or that Jeongyo would insistently hurt Pio for self gratification. They are both the product of the sick and twisted adults around them who used them to their advantage.

I wish I get selective amnesia and forget this whole series, just so that I can enjoy it again😭

That would be so sick. At that point, they would've just failed in developing a reasonable plot twist after creating a masterpiece that probably did not even need one.

I don't think queerbaiting can be used to justify the character and relationship depth portrayed so far. The MLs have a genuinely conflicting depth and draw towards each other and it depends on how you want to interpret it. As far as 6th episode, I do not see a concrete development between the ML and FL and their relationship is honestly very underwhelming (seems like they threw in all their creativity into the MLs and left no crumbs for the FL which is so generic and irritating). But there is a chance that they might pursue that underwhelming relationship to force the no-homo slogan, I don't see any strong implications so far. If you’re asking whether the drama is based on the MLs relationship and struggles as marketed in the trailer- a strong yes.

My problem is that Jaein seems to exist only for Pi-o. She seems like a friend, but all we see of her is constantly hyping Pi-o. She herself says that she has no talent with violin, but nothing she talks with Pi-o acknowledges and merges their struggles together. I am annoyed with the kiss, but not too much, because I could see a clear portrayal of ingenuine emotions in that scene. My problem would be if they continue to hold onto the farce and somehow hope to make everyone believe that they love each other. So many people find it so overwhelming when viewers ship the MLs together- because apparently, this is more than that. But Pi-o and Jaein having a kiss scene with no proper relationship development - criticizing it suddenly seems because everyone wants it to be a BL. Jaein is a one dimensional character without whom nothing will change in the series and that is my problem. Also, I do not think she understands Pi-o at all, so even that aspect is a failure. I think it is a total waste of the actor's skill to be casted in such an underwhelming character that solely exists as a buffer to the MLs.

Okay, I don't know thai, guess I am doomed to wait week after week to know more T T
Thankyou for the info♡

I didn't know this was adapted from a book! Can I ask you where you read it? I would love to read the book, I go crazy for stories that have great character depth and Dean and Moth seem to be very well-written characters.

I think you missed a lot of nuanced subplots here focusing solely on the general plotline. For me, this is arguably one of the best Dark BLs out there with well-developed, complex characters, deep storytelling, captivating acting and exquisite script-writing and directing. But if it's not your cup of tea, that's valid