My Dearest ep. 17
god, that entire confession scene at the end of ep 17 has to be one of the most beautiful confession scenes ever and for so many reasons too. It was beautiful because Jang Hyun's finally clearly putting into words how he feels about her. He lets her know how sincere his love for her is because the only thing that matters to him is her, just Gil Chae. It makes no difference to him if she's poor or rich, if she's rude or obedient, if she loves him or not. Because nothing will change his feelings for her. And this directly reassures a lot of her insecurities.
She's always had the advantage of being a noble and the privilege that comes with it. Now she has nothing but he still loves her. She's stated in an earlier episode that she is who she is, whether it's arrogant and loud or just beautiful and nice to be around and she wouldn't be changing that for anyone. Jang hyun appreciates every aspect of her personality. And her biggest issue with Jang hyun has always been his past history with other woman and this reputation of him being a player. She always worried that he'd lose interest or wasn't serious about her, but here he is standing in front of her letting her know that his feelings will not waver. He will continue to love her. He also drops the bombshell of how much she affected him from the first moment he laid eyes on her. It was love at first sight for this "player" and he knew that everyone else before Gil Chae was insignificant because he had never felt the way he feels about her about any other person.
The other absolutely beautiful part about this ending scene (and my personal favorite) was the comfort he provides her. Because after being abandoned and blamed by her husband for being violated by intruders, her mistrust/hesitance is completely understandable. She asks him 'what about a Gil Chae who's been violated by an intruder?' And at first you can kinda see the anger/stoicism in his eyes because he's angry. Not angry at her. But angry that she was violated in the first place and that she was hurt again by the world for being a victim. Then he softens and says what I think Gil Chae's been wanting to hear for a very long time. He comforts her and offers his warmth because he knows she's in pain. He knows she went through hell and back. She's had to be so strong for literally everyone around her in order to survive. And now, here's her man holding her and telling her that she did such an amazing job at holding on and not giving up. He tells her she no longer needs to worry because he's here and he'll protect her and because now she knows the whole truth and the amount of times he's already saved her, she can rely on him. She knows she's safe now.
I think those words were just as impactful as his confession of his love because we have to remember that as the audience we got to see everything Gil Chae went through. Every single heartbreaking decision she had to make to survive. The strain it put on her mind and body. Jang Hyun did not see those moments but because he knows her and understands the brutality of war he has a very good idea of what she must have went through. Gil Chae doesn't need to explain herself to him. She doesn't need to convince him that it was her fault. He tells her that if she would like to tell him, he would listen. And yet, he basically tells her he's proud of her and holds her, allowing her to lean on someone else for a moment. I cried watching this scene just because I couldn't help but think of the relief she must have felt in that moment. I was happy she had the love of her life back and she could take refuge in his arms for the time being.
