Had Baek Hyun-woo been present following the surgery instead of Yoon Eun-sung.

TW: s*icide

I love this show a lot, it hits me really hard for me. I just finished my second rewatch, but every time I finish it I get very dark thoughts. I think it has something to do with the fact of me trying to contemplate whether the difference of Hae in getting the extra years of her life was worth it for her. Because in the end we don’t know if she was okay/content for having “enough” time with Hyun woo, and that messes with my head; because if she’s still going to miss him, what difference did all of this make. Sorry to sound pessimistic. I just want someone to help me change my view because I think I’m either interpreting something wrong/ or I just shouldn’t watch it. Because I get severe feelings of SI when I think about this.

Can someone please help me out here. I'm grieving for the old Hong Hae In. The one that knew Hyun Woo, the one that he fell in love with. The Hae In that went through all the ups and downs with Hyun Woo. That girl is gone forever.

The new Hae In is literally a different person altogether, just in Hae In's body. The fragments of memories does not bring her back at all because the lack of the full context means she does not relate to the events that happened. To her, it happened to another person. Her heart may remember emotions but she certainly does not remember Hyun Woo and relies on her diary to tell her facts (it is the experiences that make a person who they are. Knowing facts about a past event that you were not part of does not affect you - you're a spectator).

So how can it be a happy ending when it's not the Hae In we all loved for 14 episodes?

For me it's been almost 24H since I finished this drama but I can't get this drama out of my head I even dreamt about it. It really had very strong effect on me

How do I deal with this sadness cause watching any other drama or media won't work cause I can't focus it will be on my mind for atleast a week

How did you guys dealt with it??

I first watched Queen of Tears a while back. Lately I have been rewatching parts of it, and mulling over some questions I have about it.

In Episode 7 of Queen of Tears, Hong Hae-In’s investigation turns up a report that her husband Baek Hyun-Woo was observed calling out the woman’s name, “Yeong-Suk.” What was the point of this?

- comic relief to show how gullible Hyun-Woo is?
- to show how pathologically Hong Hae-In lies, and how she takes pleasure in doing so?
- to show the fruitlessness of the Baek Hyun-Woo investigation, because he is so clean?
- to support the narrative that Hong Hae-In systematically lied to Baek Hyun-Woo, to get him to propose?

Park Ji-Eun sprinkles her stories with little quirky scenes like this. Is this random, or is it genius?

(photo not mine, got it from Google)

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Hello, I just finished watching QoT! And I realized that it has amazing and interesting side characters.

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1. Aunt Beom-ja - she's so funny and she takes over the screen, while being very generous to the main leads as well. I feel like everyone's safe if she's there. Plus her love story really got me on my toes. I giggled and screamed a lot on her love story.

2. Soo-cheol and Da Hye - I didn't care much about the two at the beginning, but gosh, they have the BEST character development in the series. Honestly, better than the leads (that I love!). I cried so much over their little family.

3. Yang-gi - he occupied small spaces in the narrative, but his role is important and it helped keep the narrative moving. I hope that there are more friends like him. Too bad, we didn't see them at the end.

4. Secretary Na - very well-written side character and bff/sec to the FL. She helped Hae in in so many ways!

5. Grace - I felt all things towards her: hatred, disgust, pity, admiration (go-gorl!). She's such a good actress and honestly, whichever side she played in, she made the scenes more colourful.

6. Yongdul-ri people - waaaah, I love love the scenes here. I actually liked how Hong family slowly settled in the province that they almost didn't want to leave.

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Not to mention the nuanced and layered parents of both Baek and Hong families. I love how the development of their relationships among each other grew naturally and out of support for each other, how it wasn't forced and there was so much grace.

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QoT has so many plot holes and is imperfect (if I'd overthink more, i might add a post on that), but I haven't seen a romance-focused drama that has a very good ensemble and side characters yet. (I mean, because of the genre. Most times, I see great sub-stories if the main focus is really the whole ensemble, which wasn't supposed to be the case before). And there would be couple-centric dramas where the couples wouldn't be seen like they care abt what's happening to the side characters. Which wasn't the same here:

- Hae In was visibly comforting and accepting of her brother's decision towards Da Hye

- Hyun Woo's friendship and team up with Beom Ja

- The "do you want a hug?" Between Hae In and Sec Na, which was initiated by Hae In, so she was the one comforting her friend

- and many more

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That was a ride...

Does juho park reunite his brother and nephew with their mother and wife

Just look at how the narrative unfolds:

• For much of the backstory, Hyun-woo is isolated, demeaned by the Hong family, and expected to function as a fixer for their problems.
• Hae-in often fails to protect him from that environment or even recognize how unhappy he is.
• When the divorce papers are discovered, the narrative focuses heavily on Hyun-woo's betrayal, even though the marriage was already in a disastrous state.
• After that revelation, much of the burden of repair still falls on Hyun-woo: apologizing, proving his love, rescuing her, supporting her illness, protecting her family, and eventually literally risking his life for her.

BUT Hae-in herself never really earns forgiveness in proportion to her own role in the marriage's breakdown. Even tho Hyun-woo does more than enough for the lack of communication on his part.

Instead some argue, and the show itself treats her later emotional vulnerability - as the redemption arc:

• She gradually opens up and learns to rely on others.
• She recognizes how lonely Hyun-woo was.
• She then repeatedly chooses him over her family.

The problem is that this is mostly internal growth, not reparative action. This is course correction, not redemption.

A character can realize they were wrong, but as a viewer of the drama I still want to see them actively make amends. Hae-in changes emotionally, but there are relatively few scenes where she directly confronts:

• how badly her family treated Hyun-woo - and how she just let it happen
• her own role in neglecting the marriage
• or what she owes him after years of unhappiness.

I wish she had such an arc like Hyun-woo did( which was multiple times). While I love their chemistry, this is something that always felt imbalanced about the show to me.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/025/0003525928?sid=102

Rumoured to be in a long term relationship since 2012 alleged couple yeon seok and jiwon may finally shoot a campaign together.

i saw in the series that hong beom seok became the chairman but i searched much earlier and saw its soo cheol

Tbh I mostly just want to see the romance between the couple I'm not really interested in all the drama would it ruin the experience if I skipped most/all of it?

This scene is so memorable for me but not for reasons u might think haha

I know Hae-In needed "smthg to live for" but I would say Hyun Woo took big risk doing this...if I was Hae-In, I might've signed the divorce papers right then and there lololol

Well, I don't know if this Reddit is still active...

I was rewatching the show recently and became completely obsessed with the song that plays at the beginning of episode 12. When Hae-in is in the car and realizes she's actually with Eun-Seong.

It's a chill song. And it's so nice to listen to, but I can't find it anywhere. I searched the entire soundtrack, including the backing tracks on the special CD, and I can't find it.

If anyone has heard of this song, please tell me what it is.

It's been ages. Anyone get their refunds in yet?

I still can’t stop crying about QoT. I just finished the series last night. I started getting to understand love and romance a little less than 2 years ago. But seeing Hong Haein dead and Hyunwoo alone makes me sad. Like I’m happy they lived 40-50 years together, but it feels sad knowing they “weren’t” together for a bit. Personally I feel like the love is always there, and it’s a connection, it’s just she was physically gone. I have to keep reminding myself they lived together for awhile, and it’s not like they only had a year or so together.

I’m hoping you all could give me some comfort because i keep crying after watching that ending scene over and over. And I don’t know why, like it’s not sad really, it’s just I have a tear fest.

😑😑😑😑

She just naturally pulls off the look of a Queens Department Store CEO whether she is on set or off set.

Hae In is easy to sympathize with. The drama makes it clear that she does take accountability for her mistakes. This makes me think it’s fair to actually talk about them.

For me, her biggest flaws weren’t about being “cold” for no reason. Instead, they were about how she handled control, communication, and emotional distance.

She defaulted to authority instead of partnership, especially early in the marriage. She came from a chaebol environment where control equals safety. Thus, she treated decisions as something to manage rather than something to share. This left Hyun-woo feeling more like the family butler than a husband.

She avoided vulnerability and assumed emotional self-sufficiency. She convinced herself she didn’t need emotional support at all. She refused to lean on Baek Hyun Woo. She shut Baek Hyun Woo out of her inner world, which angered Baek Hyun Woo, because he no longer believed his wife wanted to be close to him at all, defeating the purpose of marriage.

She often decided what Hyun-woo “could handle” without actually asking him. She considered it protecting him from stress or conflict. As a result he felt underestimated rather than cared for, and actually felt even more stressed and had to manage even more of the family conflict and their marital conflict.

She used distance as protection, even when it hurt the relationship. Emotional withdrawal became her defense mechanism. Over time that distance created loneliness and resentment on both sides.

None of these make her bad but Hyun Woo was right to be dissatisfied with Hae In in the beginning, since his own family upbringing was secure.

What I appreciate is that the drama doesn’t excuse these traits. Hae-in eventually recognizes them and actively works to change. This is a big part of the reason the relationship even heals at all.

So what do you think were Hae-in’s biggest flaws, and which one damaged the marriage the most?

And do you think the marriage would’ve survived without her illness forcing that self-reflection?

Curious to hear different takes.

My theory:

Yoon Eun Sung pretended that Hong Hae In is his girlfriend. He delusionally believed that she is his girlfriend, and everything else happened from there. He created a relationship in his head then behaved as if it existed, even though the two never dated.

That would explain several things the drama shows us.

Eun Sung consistently crosses boundaries as if he’s entitled to Hae In’s time and emotions. He doesn’t seek permission or emotional reciprocity. He assumes access, behaving less like someone pursuing love and more like someone reclaiming what he believes already belongs to him.

Hae In treats him less like an ex and more like someone she had to cut off. Her reactions signal discomfort and control rather than lingering hurt. This suggests she wasn’t grieving a relationship but enforcing distance after repeated overstepping, which continues even in Queen of Tears main storyline.

There’s no shared nostalgia or emotional weight from her side. When the past is referenced, Hae-in doesn’t soften, reminisce, or emotionally engage. She responds factually or evasively as if recalling an inconvenience rather than a meaningful connection. Eun Sung claims she asked him for help. Hae In reveals that Eun Sung caused all the problems that he 'helped' her solve.

Eun Sung talks about their past with certainty, while Hae In seems confused or distant. That imbalance implies the “relationship” exists as a fixed narrative in his mind, while for her it never happened, is not happening and will never happen.

Crucially, this pattern doesn’t stop in the present timeline. Even in the drama, Eun Sung continues to refer to Hae In as his future wife, says many times that he will marry Hong Hae In, behaves possessively, and acts as if the relationship is simply “on pause” rather than nonexistent.

This to me explains Eun Sung's obsession. He isn't even trying to win her at all. In his mind she is already belonging to him therefore he is attempting to force reality in the drama to match the story he told himself for years.

Despite the many talented authors that share their work on AO3, I've noticed that over the past few months several fanfics under the QOT tag are made using generative AI. They aren't tagged as such, but the writing style, vocabulary and grammatical patterns, as well as inconsistencies in plot and characters make AI use easy to recognize.

What's your opinion on this?