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If you're watching the hottest K-Drama on air right now, "Queen Of Tears", you must have thought at least once that Baek HyunWoo (played by Kim SooHyun) is exhibiting a few worrisome red flags. We're here to tell you why it is all a part of the process and not bad writing.
Spoiler Alert!
In "Queen Of tears", Baek HyunWoo is married to chaebol heiress Hong HaeIn (played by Kim JiWon). They have been married for three years, and in that time, their love has grown cold and distant. He is ill-treated by his in-laws, often feels disrespected by his wife, and they have no physical intimacy in their relationship. They sleep in two separate bedrooms, barely communicate, and to top it all off, he's being forced to have a baby with HaeIn!
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Baek HyunWoo can't take it anymore and decides to divorce HaeIn, but before he can do so, she is diagnosed with a terminal illness that has left her with only 3 months to live.
Contrary to all of our expectations, Baek HyunWoo is ecstatic. He is over the moon! He doesn't have to deal with the troubles of divorce anymore and he gets a clean exit from the Hong family - or so he thought.
With the misconception that HyunWoo, out of all people, would want her to live, HaeIn is determined to survive, no matter what. So, when HaeIn reveals that she has over 50% chance of living, HyunWoo's rosy world goes dark again as he languishes in the gloom.
Rude, but it begs the question:
Why Is Baek HyunWoo So Indifferent In "Queen Of Tears"?
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Usually in K-Dramas, tropes like terminal illnesses are what bring an estranged couple back together. Yet, in "Queen Of Tears", this concept is thrown right out of the door because our male lead is all but wishing for our heroine to die - or so he'd like to think.
You see, marriages aren't as dreamy as most K-Dramas would like you to believe. In Baek HyunWoo's case, he didn't just marry the woman he loved, he married her family, and not just any family, one of the most influential families in South Korea.
The pressure of expectations, the burden of status, and the burgeoning resentment in HyunWoo's heart have left no space for HaeIn. He is traumatized by the passive abuse he is facing from his in-laws, and he has no place to vent when HaeIn herself is closed off.
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We also find in the latest episode of "Queen Of Tears" that HyunWoo and HaeIn, unfortunately, lost a child, which is probably what tore them apart as HaeIn distanced herself and went into her shell to cope, choosing work to mask the pain. She might have also wanted to appear strong and indifferent so HyunWoo doesn't break apart. Unbeknownst to her, her apparent apathy probably pushed HyunWoo away, who was forced to face the pain on his own.
Thus, the misunderstandings kept piling on each other, snowballing into an intense loathing, at least from HyunWoo's perspective. HaeIn didn't show her emotions, and HyunWoo couldn't express his feelings, broadening the emotional distance between them until the crack became irreparable.
The woman he fell in love with made it worth taking on the in-laws, but when he thinks he has lost her, it is unbearable to even exist in the same room as them. Of course, he thinks the only way to live is to get out of that family!
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However, when divorce starts sounding high-key fatal (quite literally), how are you going to care for someone else's life?
Just change the genre of "Queen Of Tears" from rom-com to a social drama or melodrama, remove the funny sound effects and quirky editing that tell us we should be laughing at HyunWoo's crying scenes, and the dark and pitiful reality of the situation starts to dawn on us.
HyunWoo doesn't realize the gravity of HaeIn's disease yet, owing to his internalized hatred for their situation. However, when Yoon EunSeong (played by Park SungHoon) starts triggering his jealousy, the little pearl of love he has been hiding deep inside his heart starts to shine again.
It's not your typical trope of he doesn't want to be with her, but he doesn't want to let her go either. On the contrary, EunSeong is forcing him to confront his own feelings for HaeIn, and the process is only expedited when he realizes that, unlike how she appeared, she was just as hurt, if not more, by the miscarriage. At the same time, their changed circumstances are now allowing HyunWoo to see how HaeIn is mistreated by her family and how she has been struggling quietly, too.
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After all, despite being married for so long, HyunWoo still doesn't know all about HaeIn's trauma from losing her brother as a child or that they met as kids. Similarly, he is yet to fully realize how HaeIn's disease has been affecting their relationship. So, we have a long way to go for these two to truly understand and empathize with each other.
Additionally, HyunWoo is not treating HaeIn well just to get into her will, as much as he's convincing us that he is. He's treating her well because he wants to and now has an excuse and a justification to do so without being judged for it.
Before this, neither HyunWoo nor HaeIn had the courage to change the status quo in their relationship. However, now they do, with HyunWoo caring for her more than ever and HaeIn vowing to do things that might have been unlike her otherwise, like pulling HyunWoo in for a kiss.
Baek HyunWoo's change of heart in "Queen Of Tears" is not going to happen in an instant, not even when he is unbearably jealous, not even when he is faced with HaeIn's illness. It's a process and an incredibly slow one at that but definitely one that is going to leave a lasting impression. That slow but steady change is what "Queen Of Tears" is about.
You can watch "Queen Of Tears" on Netflix.
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