3 Heartbreaking Moments In Episode 4 Of "What Comes After Love"

As Hong’s (Lee Se Young’s) wedding day is approaching, she keeps reliving her past and silently questioning whether marrying Min Joon (Hong Jong Hyun) is the right decision. This confusion and the constant flashbacks have led to several melancholic moments.

From Jungo’s (Sakaguchi Kentaro’s) inability to fight for their relationship to a five-year-old letter of confession, here are three heartbreaking scenes from “What Comes After Love” episode four.

Warning: spoilers for episode 4 ahead!

Jungo’s lack of active commitment in saving his relationship

On one hand, you can’t help but feel sad for Jungo. He is clearly yearning for Hong, never stopped loving her during the five years they were apart, and is devastated by her wedding news. However, at the same time, it is quite annoying to realize he did not fight for their relationship.

In the previous episodes, when Hong told him she was leaving and that he should not follow her and send her stuff to her address in South Korea, he did exactly that. It is one thing to not follow your significant other and give them space to think clearly, but shipping their luggage is an outright approval of the end of the relationship. No matter how much Jungo loves Hong, his lack of fight for their relationship seems annoying at best and disrespectful at worst.

Even after five years, he has not changed much. He stops Hong’s car and gets in to talk to her, but after hearing about her upcoming wedding, he backs out and does not express his feelings. In episode 4, he goes all the way to the lake near her house, and when she jogs past him, he does not stop her.

Jungo’s actions would be justified if he was shown as an awkward man with social anxiety. While Jungo does find it difficult to talk about his feelings, he is in no way socially awkward. In the premiere week episodes, he even fights a rude customer for Hong, so he can clearly talk. Then why does he not use his words when they are needed the most?

The influence of Hong’s mother

From episode 1, Hong is shown to not have the best relationship with her mother, Lee Young Suk (Lee Il Hwa). They clearly love each other as mother and daughter, but they don’t share the same values. Young Suk was not happy with Hong’s decision to move to Japan, and in episode 4, it is confirmed that she stopped talking to Hong after finding out about her being in a relationship with a Japanese man.

Hong and Young Suk also have different criteria for choosing a partner for marriage, or at least they did in the past until Hong got heartbroken and adopted her mother’s mindset: “You don’t marry someone because of love. You marry someone who is a good person.”

It seems that while Hong might genuinely like Min Joon, her decision to marry him is based more on convenience than love. She chose him because he is a good person and available, not because she loves him. While this decision works well for her, as Min Joon is exceptionally nice, handsome, and loving, it is unfair to Min Joon, who is clearly deeply in love with Hong. If they get married, he may never experience the kind of love he truly deserves because Hong has still not moved on from Jungo.

The unread letter

Jungo has said multiple times that he is not good at speaking out his feelings in person and feels more comfortable writing down his heart. Even when Hong tells him she would like to hear him say “I love you” more, he blushes, curls into himself, and tells her it is difficult for him and that instead, he would write a book for her. A book containing all of his feelings towards Hong. And he ends up writing—all he wishes is that maybe Hong would read it and understand his true feelings for her.

Though the gesture is beyond sweet, the book seems five years too late. He could have written down his feelings five years ago, and he did and put the letter in Hong’s luggage, which he had shipped. However, Hong never opened the suitcases filled with the clothes and things that Hong-who-was-in-love-with-Jungo used. And hence, she never got the chance to read the letter.

Hong has the habit of closing up on herself and running away, and in her attempt to run away from her past self, she also ended up losing five years that could have been spent much differently than her monotone gray life.

One thing that episode 4 proved is that years ago, instead of moving on from Jungo in a healthy way, Hong decided to completely change herself, pretending that the version of her who once loved him no longer existed. Even years later, she continues trying to mold herself into someone she’s not. As she keeps running away from her emotions and physically avoiding Jungo, how long can she withstand the weight of her feelings before she eventually breaks down?

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Javeria is a binge-watching specialist who loves devouring entire K-dramas in one sitting. Good screenwriting, beautiful cinematography, and a lack of cliches are the way to her heart. As a music fanatic, she listens to multiple artists across different genres and stans the self-producing idol group SEVENTEEN. You can talk to her on Instagram @javeriayousufs.

Currently watching: “Dear Hyeri,” and “What Comes After Love.”
Looking forward to: “Squid Game Season 2,” “Good Boy,” and “Reborn.”