With only four episodes left, the writers of “Dear Hyeri” are pulling out all the stops to make viewers cry as much as possible before Eun Ho (Shin Hae Sun) gets her happy ending. While it’s difficult to watch Eun Ho cry and endure one traumatic event after another, it only means her happy ending will be much more satisfying. From Hyun Oh’s (Lee Jin Uk) marriage rumors with another woman to Joo Yeon’s (Kang Hoon) longing, here are the most devastating moments from “Dear Hyeri” episodes seven and eight.
Warning: episodes 7-8 spoilers ahead!
Couple dodgeball
The “Dear Hyeri” writers finally gave us, the viewers, a much-needed break from the gloomy episodes… for a few minutes to be exact. Because the subplot ended up feeling bittersweet and emotional.
After being abandoned once again by Hyun Oh at the end of episode six, Eun Ho decides to pretend to be Hye Ri one more time, hoping to experience a fraction of the happiness her second personality writes about in their shared diary.
She goes to her parking lot job and ends up playing dodgeball with Joo Yeon as a substitute player, looking happy and content. Not only Joo Yeon, but his colleagues also act as the supportive community Eun Ho has always needed. The contrast between Eun Ho’s co-workers at PPS and Joo Yeon’s at Media N Seoul is stark. Watching her forget her worries for a few hours shows that more than a lover, she needs a group of friends who treat her with the dignity and love she deserves.
Joo Yeon’s yearning for Hye Ri
First of all, Kang Hoon is doing an incredible job as Joo Yeon, and he deserves recognition for his performance. The way he looks at Eun Ho in recent episodes with his yearning, pain, and love feels palpable, and it’s impossible not to root for Joo Yeon and Eun Ho to end up together.
What makes Joo Yeon’s character so devastating is the episode seven preview, where Eun Ho stands before him, pretending to be Hye Ri. He smiles, seemingly buying into her act. However, it turns out he knows the woman in front of him isn’t the Hye Ri he fell in love with. And he realizes it just from the way Eun Ho says his name. Though they’ve only known each other for a few months, he remembers her quirks and habits. Love is indeed about noticing the small things, and Joo Yeon notices her.
Hyun Oh’s marriage discussion
While viewers understand the backstory behind Hyun Oh’s constant rejection of Eun Ho and his grandmother’s wish for him to marry, Eun Ho remains unaware of it all. It’s easy to say she knew what she was getting into when they started dating, as he made it clear he never wanted to get married. But her situation is more painful than that.
She believed Hyun Oh refused her proposal because he opposed marriage in general. However, after hearing the rumor of his alleged engagement, she realizes that’s not the case. Hyun Oh wasn’t against marriage; he was just against marrying her.
In a sense, her fears are valid. While Hyun Oh might be opposed to marriage, the main reason he didn’t want to marry Eun Ho was to spare her from the burden of his responsibilities. So, he indeed was not totally against marriage, he just did not want to marry the woman he loves to save her from taking care of multiple elderly women. But even though he thinks he’s doing her a favor, it feels disrespectful to not share his struggles with the woman he spent eight years with, denying her the chance to decide whether she wanted to take care of his grandmothers or not.
Hyun Oh’s actions also suggest that he considers the grandmothers a burden rather than the women who helped shape him into the man he is today. Without them, he likely wouldn’t have had the means to attend a good university or enjoy a comfortable life. The grandmothers treat Hyun Oh as if he were their real grandson, but he is adamant about reducing them to merely a responsibility he has to endure alone. If they knew how he truly thinks of them, it would break their hearts.
Eun Ho’s failure at finding happiness
Some people give up the first time they’re struck with hardship, and while those people deserve sympathy, the ones who truly make your heart ache are those who keep trying to find happiness even when life keeps getting worse. They fall down every night, set on fire by the world’s problems, and rebuild themselves every morning, only to try again. That’s the kind of person Eun Ho is.
She lost her parents as a child, her sister whom she loved more than anything, and her grandmother as she was trying to cope with her sister’s disappearance. She was also abandoned by the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. But did she give up? No. She tried to find happiness. She took a job at a parking lot, pretending to be her missing sister. While that’s not a normal reaction, it shows she is still trying. Even when Hyun Oh left her again, just like he did four years ago, she kept going.
But now, she has reached her limit. She can’t carry on much longer. Watching her lose hope is like seeing a great green tree wither away from a drought. Hopefully, one day Eun Ho and Hye Ri can become one, and Eun Ho can find happiness as herself.
With every passing episode, rooting for Eun Ho and Hyun Oh becomes increasingly difficult. By typical K-drama logic, Hyun Oh is the male lead destined to end up with the female lead, given their history. However, something about their dynamic feels off. Hyun Oh let go of their eight-year relationship too easily and abandoned Eun Ho again, without even explaining his side of the story. Eun Ho deserves to be with someone who respects her enough to open up to her, and the choice seems obvious.
The only problem is he isn’t in love with Eun Ho, but with Hye Ri. But who knows, he might fall in love with the person with DID instead of her second personality.
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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.”
