Nevertheless, An Analysis
Hello, again. Today I’m going to talk about Do Hyeok versus Jae Eon; specifically how love affects both of their characters relationship with Na Bi. Love, as presented in Nevertheless, is the driving factor behind nearly all the actions and dialogue between our main leads. In this post, we’re going to focus on our two male leads and how love acts as a megaphone for their personalities.
Park Jae Eon, Frankenstein’s Creature
“I have love in me the likes you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy one, I will indulge in the other.”
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Jae Eon, at this point in the story, is a man undone. The smooth playboy, content with keeping a safe distance from the women he chases, has crossed numerous lines and broken all his rules for Na Bi. All in the name of love. And Na Bi burned him for it. It was a long time coming and much needed for his growth as a person. Time will tell if he learns from this experience and moves on to a happier, healthier version of himself.
Love, as some people say, is a transformative emotion. I don’t really believe that. I think people can change but not their entire personalities or the core of who they are. I think back to one of my favorite shows, Modern Family, where one of the characters says that people in a relationship can change maybe fifteen percent of their personality. But that fifteen percent can be enough.
Maybe that’s right. But, in my opinion, love is less a transformative element rather than it acts like a megaphone for your personality. It doesn’t give you the ability to do things you couldn’t before but instead allows you to be more of who you are. And that holds true for Park Jae Eon. Love unlocks these deeper parts of him, shedding light on thoughts and emotions long buried from whatever trauma (we still don’t know, thanks writers) he’s experienced.
But does that make him a better person?
It makes him worse. At the end of episode 9, we see him at his lowest; his most manipulative, toxic, and cruel. What he did to Do Hyeok, and how he used Na Bi to do it; it’s not something I could say the Jae Eon from the first half of the series would do. But love makes him desperate and drives him to act on his darker impulses.
He’s become a monster, single minded in his pursuit. He can’t control himself when he’s around her and that does lead to acts of genuine sincerity and kindness. But when she’s not around and spending time with Do Hyeok, that loss of control cuts the other way, leading into possessiveness and rage. There’s no balance with him; it’s all or nothing to get Na Bi back to his side and away from Do Hyeok.
These toxic qualities were always a part of him but they were reigned in because he had not acknowledged his feelings. Jae Eon always kept his distance, preventing something like this. But now he’s drowning in them, lost as Na Bi was (but she had a life raft, a way out: Do Hyeok).
All this leads to his undoing. And the end of his relationship with Na Bi.
Maybe, for a time, his relationship with Na Bi was exactly what she needed; something passionate, stormy, and tumultuous enough to wipe away her pain from her abusive ex. But while storms can clear away anything in their path, they do so by causing massive damage to anything they touch; reducing structures to rubble or uprooting trees from their places and flinging them away. The cure for Na Bi’s pain ended up being worse. She only just managed to avoid the worst of it.
Ultimately it was not meant to be for Jae Eon and Na Bi. They were two people who were unable to find balance with each other and did irreparable damage.
Let’s talk now about his rival, Yang Do Hyeok, and what love’s megaphone reveals about his character. How does his love succeed for Na Bi in a way Park Jae Eon’s didn’t?
Yang Do Hyeok, Love’s Paradox
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt; only more love.”
Yang Do Hyeok is the embodiment of the above quote. He unwittingly joined the rollercoaster ride between Jae Eon and Na Bi but it’s not until episode 8 that he willingly chooses to go for another round. He’s quite possibly the craziest character in the drama; in a sane world, we’d all be advising him to run for the hills while he still has a chance and let Na Bi and Jae Eon’s train wreck of a relationship continue to it’s inevitable conclusion.
But, he’s Do Hyeok and he loves Na Bi. So, he must try.
We see Do Hyeok at his lowest in episode 9; in a similar position to his rival, jealousy and insecurity threaten to overcome him. He can’t focus on his cooking and he’s irritable; his trademark smile is not present. He thinks to himself whether he should give up. Jae Eon’s little trick is hurting him bad and he doesn’t know how to handle it.
So, like Jae Eon, he falls back on what he knows. The hurt is there, but he accepts this is part of the risk in loving Na Bi and he continues to be there for her when she needs him. The megaphone lets Do Hyeok be more of himself, just like Jae Eon, but the qualities that are magnified are his kindness, his sincerity, and his pure, unconditional love for Na Bi.
He bites down on his hurt and continues to love. Where Jae Eon’s hurt poisons his love for Na Bi, Do Hyeok lets the hurt inform of what’s most important to him - Na Bi - and it sharpens his focus and allows him to move past Jae Eon’s trick. He doesn’t hide or shy away from his pain; he reveals it to Na Bi. This further strengthens their friendship to the point that Na Bi, upon discovering Jae Eon’s manipulation, finds the resolve to end it with permanently or else further risk more harm to her relationship with Do Hyeok.
The megaphone reveals something essential about Do Hyeok’s character to us and Na Bi; that in the face of heartbreak like this, the solution isn’t to hide away or hurt those who hurt us. It’s to love more. Trust more. And that’s what he does.
It’s what he’s always done. Because it’s what Na Bi needs and deserves. A partner who reassures and comforts in the worst moments and lifts us up when we feel down.
If Park Jae Eon’s love is the thunderous storm, relentless and all consuming, then Do Hyeok’s is the gentle green of rolling hills and pastures. The storm may come and threaten to shake apart everything but it always passes. And the hills and pastures are still there. And they endure, to grow again and again, no matter the damage.
That is what Na Bi needs. The promise of spring. That life can be good again and that she can be happy, that she deserves to be happy. And her friendship with Do Hyeok is the biggest indication to me that she is going to make it. With him by her side, she can get through this last hurdle.
Do Hyeok’s love is big and selfless. Where Jae Eon wants to possess Na Bi, Do Hyeok wants to simply be the one by her side. And that’s why he’s the last one standing in this rivalry.
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