#oh no lee dongsik

[answermywearyquery]

happy pride! 🌈 | beyond evil edition (insp: ½ + ½)

+ bonus:

[renshengs]

sometimes you're just a rich handsome 27 year old graduate from south korea's most prestigious cop school with a glacial relationship with your big powerful cop dad and then you move to a small town substation in the countryside for work where you spend the next entire month being an uncooperative asshole while accusing your new 40 year old coworker of mass-murder before he helps you catch the actual mass-murderer and then afterwards you need to take a 3 month vacation about it because you realize being around him is changing you for the better and also you're falling in love with him at breakneck speed

[roncheg]

so

i’ve recently watched Beyond evil (was very apprehensive, ‘cause k-drama+serial killers are too scary sometimes; but all of my friends kept recommending it! And I am glad they did! Was impressed!) and I distinctly remember thinking: ”phew, thanks all the gods I am so not into middle aged men and baby-faced beauties and even if their chemistry is off the charts, I am perfectly content with the ending and definitely do not need to read fics abt them or god forbid to draw any of them!”

…several amazing stories later… ⬆️⬆️⬆️

[vampgf]

this is the worst thing i've ever made

[vindicated-truth]

A couple recognizing a couple:

Formerly wedded couple Oh Jihwa and Lee Changjin being the ones to clock Lee Dongsik and Han Joowon from the beginning.

They know EXACTLY what it’s like.

[anonymouslyel]

jwds wherein dongsik notices how juwon treats him differently compared to others within the manyang crew like:

jihoon asked him one day to ask juwon, who was changing at the sleeping quarters, if juwon has an extra pack of tissue on him. dongsik tells jihoon to ask juwon himself but jihoon says "juwon only says yes to you, hyung."

of course dongsik denied that but jihoon really did ask juwon for a pack of tissue and juwon says he doesn't have one. come evening, before they clock out, juwon noticed dongsik's hand covered with stray pen marks. "don't mind it. i'll wash my hands at jaeyi's." dongsik waved juwon's concern but juwon opened his drawer and picked a small pack of wet wipes from a set of three, opened it, and wiped dongsik's hand himself.

dongsik looked around and met jihoon's gaze that was saying i told you so.

another instance. they're meeting at jaeyi's shop for their usual dinner get together and dongsik's helping jaeyi set up the table.

"remove the ones on juwon's seat," jaeyi suddenly said as dongsik finished setting.

"why?"

"he only uses shared things when you give it to him."

"that's not true." surely that's not true.

jaeyi fixed a look to him and said "watch me." a challenge. she placed back the removed utensils on juwon's seat.

later, juwon was the last to arrive just as they're starting to eat. as usual, he sat between dongsik and jihoon. the menu was grilled meat and their usual choice of jjigae; budaejjigae, which is something juwon eats but he doesn't pick up his utensils and simply joined the conversation.

"aren't you gonna eat, inspector han?" jihwa asked.

"later," was what juwon replied.

several minutes later, dongsik felt jaeyi kicking his feet for attention. she looked at him and gestured at the food then at juwon. and because dongsik's sure juwon's not gonna accept what he'll give, dongsik filled the bowl a bit of budaejjigae and a couple pieces of meat.

"eat just a bit, juwon-ah. i worked hard to set up the table and helped jaeyi with cooking, you know." dongsik picked up the chopsticks and pushed the filled bowl and chopsticks to juwon. a pause, then juwon accepted the food silently.

dongsik felt another kick in his feet from jaeyi and she gave him a smug look.

another instance. dongsik gives the car keys to jihwa. "go drive juwon's car. i'll go with mine. let's meet the others at the scene."

"what, no. i cant drive his car." jihwa pushed the car keys to dongsik's chest and snatched the other car key from his hand. "i'll drive yours. you drive his."

"why can't you drive his car?" dongsik asked.

"he doesnt let anyone drive his car, okay. i offered to drive him home when he was drunk one time and he said he doesnt let anyone drive his car. said its dirty." jihwa pushed dongsik away and opened the door to his car.

"but i-"

"what, but you drove it? you've always been the exception, dongsik." jihwa shook her head then closed the car door and drove off.

[jinxiaobao]

he’s gonna

[pass-in-the-night]

[roboj0e]

Juwon's babygirl 🤗

[theongp]

I'm so normal about middle-aged men in Kdrama

[aboutmercy]

thinking about how dongsik and joowon are the inverse of each other. thinking about joowon's journey realizing that blood is not thicker than water, ties can be severed from abusive family members (no matter how painful that is) and that among many things, his father's cruelty is what took away and destroyed dongsik's family who actually were a positive force in his life. many things about beyond evil appeal to me, but i mainly want to put a pin on the central themes of the show, particularly the failures of adults and parental figures, how that ripples through the lives of their successors in an especially vicious and self-destructive manner. this is a commonality found between multiple characters in the show (minjeong, joowon and jeongje) - but i want to put emphasis on joowon's struggle with this because his path to freedom was walked to completion, in comparison to minjeong whose life was cut short and jeongje who we part with carrying the painful knowledge that he may never achieve absolution, as his journey has only begun.

the show, technically starts at the beginning of joowon's journey/arc. unfamiliarity and discomfort force him to adapt and self-reflect, because the only way joowon was able to free himself was by breaking every rule his father set for him, going beyond his selfish confines and breaking down the walls he built. joowon is unable to get his physical body dirty, he is emotionally closed-off and is incapable of understanding why the people in manyang, particularly dongsik, would look out for anyone other than themselves. he is selfish, rigid, guilt-ridden and bashful; but it is exposure to dongsik's unwavering faith in and patience for others (for jeongje, for sangbae, for the people of manyang that have wronged him for years) that erode his harsh edges. dongsik, although not without flaws and contrary to what his outer appearance and manner of speech radiate, is kind and forgiving. that kindess, that forgiveness, as well as joowon's own guilt and shame is essential to getting him to a point where he is comfortable bloodying his hands, his clothes, and his face to protect dongsik (+ jihwa and her partner. to protect his friends).

dongsik recognizes joowon's pain too ("i know what it's like to be blamed for something you didn't do"). he sees his guilt, it's not inordinate to what joowon's done per se but a large portion of it brings so much shame to joowon ("please, stop doing unnecessary things out of guilt.") how could i have been so self-righteous when the man who bore me is responsible for so much misery? how do i rectify this, how do i absolve myself from the guilt? all dilemmas joowon grapples with, and dongsik, knowing pain and shame all too well does not grant joowon mercy when he is bowed down, forehead to cuffed hands while joowon's own are also cupping dongsik's, begging for it. mercy is letting joowon go, it's lifting the burden of responsibility off his shoulders - but instead, dongsik’s final request ensures that joowon truly atones ("i ask you to arrest me" - "no, how could i do that? i have no right") by informing him that the only way to live with guilt is to try and do right by the people who expect something from him. "joowon-ah", dongsik says as he softly picks up joowon's clenched fist, the look they share informs joowon that going through with the arrest is how he'll do dongsik right. it's what dongsik, his now friend, expects from him. that's what their final scene as partners is all about, in my opinion.

and something good does come out of dongsik's firm but tender confrontation. joowon gradually becomes a better person who seeks community and whose life, in return, is enriched by the friends that forming community gave him. dongsik and joowon's parting is bittersweet, but in letting joowon know that his actions matter to others and that he is wanted and expected by others - (jihwa, as part of the larger collective whose feelings towards joowon are influenced by dongsik's, texts him and checks in - that expectation to show up and empathy for when he does not respond is an invitation letting him know that there is a place for him if he chooses to occupy any) - dongsik sets him free.

[efadefoks]

I decided to put everyone into one post and to talk about some assosications I have with the characters and their cards

The Fool (Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy, bewrayment. [If the card is] Reversed: Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.) Of course it is Han Juwon in the begining if the story. "In many esoteric systems of tarot card interpretation, the Fool is interpreted as the protagonist of a story, and the Major Arcana are the path the Fool takes through the great mysteries of life." He is a Fool afterall: careless in his investigation, doesn't think about the people around him. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room and the bestest boy in the area.

The Lovers. Here I decided to interpret it in the most literal way. But the card itself provides quite a nice explanation too. "6. THE LOVERS.—Attraction, love, beauty, trials overcome. Reversed: Failure, foolish designs. Another account speaks of marriage frustrated and contrarieties of all kinds." I really love the ending. The whole reunion thing is straight out of the romance story. That's why I chose this image to represent this card. The moment of piece at last.

The Hermit. When I first thought about this collage idea I was absolutly sure who should represent this card. "9. THE HERMIT. Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption. Reversed: Concealment, disguise, policy fear, unreasoned caution."

The High Priestess. Oh Jihwa my beloved. There were several posts about her recently. She is a wonderful character. "Secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed; the woman who interests the Querent, if male; the Querent herself, if female; silence, tenacity; mystery, wisdom, science. Reversed: Passion, moral or physical ardor, conceit, surface knowledge." Tell me this is not about her, I'll wait.

The Sun. The Moon. The Star. I thought it would be really symbolic to choose three young (and dead) characters to represent this cards. (of course, LDS is alive and old now but I think we can considr his younger self to be buried somewhere really deep in his mind. He wasn't the same person he'd been before his sister disappearance). Another thoought that I had in mind while making these three pieces was that scene from the first episode. The dialogue with Mother and her friend. "You are so lucky to have your daughter. Such a pity the God decided to balance it with your son." How almost everyone thought that Lee Yuyeon was a blessing and her brother - just a delinquent.

19.THE SUN.—Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment. Reversed: The same in a lesser sense.

18.THE MOON--Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.

17.THE STAR.--Hope and bright prospects, Reversed: Loss, theft, privation, abandonment; another reading says: arrogance, haughtiness, impotence.

Kang Minjeong is a little star flickered out too soon.

The Magician. "Tarot experts have defined the Magician in association with the Fool". "While the upright Magician represents potential and tapping into one's talents, the reversed Magician's potential and talents are unfocused and unmanifested."

The Strength. One of my favourite cards and my favourite brave girl. I need to come clean I am not a fan of a lor of women portrayals in asian culture. But Yoo Jaeyi just stole my heart. She is kind, she is angry, she is loving, she is grieving. She is real. She is her own person. I love this image of her. "8. FORTITUDE.—Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours. Reversed: Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace."

The Devil. Do I even need to explain myself? Well probably yes. Another candidate for this card was you guessed it - Han Kihwan. But after some thinking I finally decided on this one. "15. THE DEVIL.—Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality; that which is predestined but is not for this reason evil. Reversed: Evil fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness." While Juwon's father is the evil person and the real villain of the story I do consider Kang Jinmuk the Devil.

[lesbianslovebts]

Han Juwon: Kang Minjeong? Who is that, Assistant Inspector Lee's girlfriend?

Oh Jihun: Ew, no, she's like a daughter to him.

Han Juwon: ...DILF

Oh Jihun: What?

Han Juwon: I said you're filth.

[jwdsmysaviours]

everyday my mind goes to the friendship Dong Sik, Jeong Je, and Ji Hwa had..and just how terribly it crumbled when the truth came out…

20+ years of friendship and it makes me think if Dong Sik would ever come to terms with Jeong Je, getting him proper help and taking care of him properly without sending him away…rarely acknowledging Jeong Je’s apologies while he helps him move out and into a new home, a new opportunity to live free

or if Ji Hwa stays up late at night, crying herself to sleep whenever she remembers the simpler times when she and Dong Sik defended Jeong Je from those bullies, and if she would now be able to fend off the bullies that are her doubts and insecurities when she sees Jeong Je three years later…embracing her best friend

Would Jeong Je try to divert his drawing skills to other animals?..those that remind him of his actual family, who he imagines still sit around in a circle..warm food and drinks in hands..He really wants to stop running away, and when Jae-Yi places a plate in front of him, with Ji Hoon giggling and patting him in the back…Ji Hwa’s smile that sparks hope..and Dong Sik’s hearty laugh…a rare Ju Won sitting beside him with a small smile as well..He finds himself wanting to be part of this in every lifetime

[aprilsray]

sometimes I think about how for a very brief moment even lee dongsik's best friends of 30 years suspected that he could be the murderer and how it just displays how lonely dongsik was even in the company of his near and dear ones. the implications of him giving his all to them but his trauma and grief and his reaction to these creating a wall between him and his beloveds, separating him from them, sowing the seeds for suspicion in a bond lasting multiple decades. I wonder how dongsik reacted when he learnt that they suspected him too, i wonder if he would've bitterly laughed it off thinking how it was logical for them to think that way that it was common sense for jihwa and jeongjae to point the needle towards him. why? well because isn't he the resident suspect, isn't he crazy enough to do it, isn't that who he is.

but the truth is he is not. i wonder if even as he bitterly laughed a needle would've struck in his heart, if he would've thought why can no one ever trust me. what is it that I did that even my own friends can consider the option of suspecting me.

[vindicated-truth]

Replying to @striving4mikey's latest comments on my post re: the juxtaposition of how Dongsik is with Jeongje, Jihwa (and Jaeyi), and Joowon in turn.

Oh Jihwa and Yoo Jaeyi

I don't know if it's the right English word for it—or if there even is an English word for it—but with both Jihwa and Jaeyi, Dongsik has what I can only describe as a strange sense of misplaced chivalry. It isn't even ill-intended, because it's coming from his trauma-based fierce protectiveness over everyone he loves, and both Jihwa and Jaeyi are enfolded tightly under that umbrella of care.

The problem is that Dongsik's protectiveness over them robs them of the chance to make informed decisions for themselves precisely because Dongsik locks them out of pertinent details that should have been their right to know. In essence, he's lying to them by omission.

Case in point is how Dongsik tried his best in the beginning to lock Jaeyi out of the truth about Kang Jinmook, even though it should have been her right to know as the victim's daughter. With Jihwa, while Dongsik did need her help with Lee Changjin, with the rest of the details of the case—involving Han Kihwan and Kang Minjeong in particular—he also locked her out, if only so that her reputation as a cop won't be tarnished.

To a certain extent he does the same to the other men of Manyang, like Jihoon and Gwangyoung, but there seems to be in Dongsik's case a well-intentioned yet still gender-biased view of the women as those who need his protection, rather than those who can fight for themselves and make decisions for themselves. In essence, he makes those decisions for them instead.

Contrast this, for example, with how Joowon doesn't have that gender-based bias at all when he sees how capable Jaeyi is as he continuously asks for her help, both in chasing down Han Kihwan and then later on in saving Jeongje. He sits side by side with Jihwa in their interrogation of Lee Changjin and they keep each other well-informed of the progress of his case.

The difference is, if there are certain details the women doesn't know, Dongsik intentionally doesn't reveal it to them in order to protect them. With Joowon, his intention isn't based on his relationship to them but rather based on their relationship to the case: if the detail isn't pertinent enough yet or he still lacks evidence about it, the less people know, the better.

In this as in everything else, Dongsik bases his decisions on emotion, while Joowon bases it on logic.

Park Jeongje

There's a moment the day after Jeongje's breakdown at the restaurant, and Joowon was reviewing the facts of the case so far, that Dongsik deliberately interrupts him and refuses to listen to what Joowon was trying to say about Jeongje.

This is of particular interest because it demonstrates what I have always theorized: that Dongsik has always known the possibility that the reason his guitar pick was found by Bang Juseon's body is because it was previously in Jeongje's possession.

Joowon himself was getting to this point in the conversation when Dongsik abruptly cut him off—because Joowon was right when he said the night before that Dongsik wasn't ready to hear this yet.

Dongsik had known all along that Jeongje was the last person he was with before his guitar pick disappeared, that night at the deer farm. It was the last place he had brought his guitar case and played his guitar in—whether or not what he says that he doesn't remember using the guitar pick there is true.

Because in the flashback, he was very clearly using the guitar pick at the deer farm with Jeongje.

A case can be made, in fact, that he knew all along, but omitted saying the truth when the detectives repeatedly questioned him 21 years ago about his guitar pick, for the same reason that is still very in character of him, 21 years later: he protected Jeongje.

He let the police arrest him, question him, and beat him up, even when he knew the possibility that the guitar pick had been in Jeongje's possession.

This was never confirmed in the show itself. But it wouldn't be out of his character to do so, because that's always been quintessentially who Dongsik is: keeping secrets to protect the people he loves.

He alluded to it later on himself, when he finally exploded and threw it all in Jeongje's face, asking him if he ever wondered why Dongsik never asked him anything all these years. Why Dongsik didn't question Jeongje belatedly stepping up as Dongsik's alibi, both in Bang Juseon's and Lee Yuyeon's case, and with Kang Minjeong's case. Why Dongsik didn't even question the fact that Jeongje lied to him about going to the US and was in fact admitted to a mental hospital, which he found out from Joowon.

Part of it I believe is that Dongsik himself didn't want to know. He didn't want to face the possibility that the person he trusted back then, and still chose to trust all these years later, despite everything, could ever hurt him—betray him—like this.

Joowon himself pointed this out to Jeongje before he dropped him off at Dongsik's basement: that even after all this time, Dongsik was still waiting for Jeongje himself to come clean—because Dongsik trusted him.

Because Dongsik loved him.

And when Dongsik couldn't anymore deny the truth of what Joowon has been trying to tell him all along, that's when Dongsik finally snapped—and with it, a three-decade long friendship.

The person Dongsik loved, trusted, and protected all these years—couldn't even tell him the truth.

And this is who Dongsik is, too: He will love you unconditionally, until you break him.

And he will break off his love for you.

Han Joowon

This now makes Dongsik's treatment of Joowon all the more fascinating.

He doesn't have a strong desire to protect Joowon the way he does with Jihwa and Jaeyi; part of it is because their history isn't (yet) as long and deep-seated as it is with the women, part of it may even be perhaps again a gender-biased view of Joowon as not "pure" enough to warrant his protection anyway, compared to the women.

Because Dongsik, remarkably, trusts Joowon with everything. Throughout their partnership, there is no secret he hasn't kept from Joowon himself: not even his hand in tampering with the scene of the crime and planting Kang Minjeong's fingers as fake evidence.

It's remarkable because Joowon at this point isn't (yet) someone he has come to love as long, or as deeply, as the people of Manyang.

But as @striving4mikey pointed out: he's getting there. Fast and intense and oh so deep in such a short period of time that it surprises both himself and Joowon with how uninhibited, how unconditional Dongsik's trust is for Joowon.

It may not be love just yet: but it has a great potential to be. The greatest love Dongsik has ever and will ever let himself feel, in fact, simply because he has never been so open—and so free—with anyone else, like this.

Because as @striving4mikey also pointed out: no one has ever proven himself to Dongsik, like this.

Not even Jeongje.

(Even when Dongsik wanted it so much to be Jeongje.)

Because that's what fascinates Dongsik about Joowon: that he isn't even doing any of it to prove himself to Dongsik. Joowon does what he does simply because it's right.

And it's that kind of unwavering moral compass and unrelenting pursuit of justice that Dongsik can finally, finally let himself go.

He doesn't have to worry about Joowon being unable to protect himself, because Joowon can.

He doesn't have to worry about Joowon breaking his promises to him and betraying him, because Joowon won't.

He doesn't even have to worry about Joowon not listening to him, because Joowon does.

Here, now, is the one person who will never let him down.

Here, now, is the one person that Dongsik knows is competent enough, capable enough, clever enough, and strong enough, to bear all of it with him.

Here, now, is the one person who can finally keep up with him in every way, in the truest sense: as his partner.

More than anything, Dongsik doesn't have to worry about not having his trust—his love—not returned in full. He doesn't have to worry about not receiving the same trust and love he's been investing in all the people he loved and trusted all these years.

Because it does, with Joowon.

Which is why Dongsik doesn't mind having Joowon arrest him. Why he wants no one else but Joowon to arrest him.

Because it's only with Joowon that he's finally free.