Shunji fucks with my brain, but in a good way (narratively speaking), because I never quite know where he stands. And it’s not that you can’t read him, because I did believe his speech about wanting to go back to his teacher self and living a simple life. And I fully believe that he went into the police with only good intentions. So it’s not that I don’t think he’s being honest; it’s that his honesty swings wildly from extreme to extreme as he tries to reconcile all his warring desires.
For instance, Shunji wants to be the hero, and I believe his motivations are sincere. But he’s not noble enough to actually be the hero—he wants his grand gestures to be appreciated, he wants recognition. That’s why he alternately helps Mok Dan and punishes her: He needs her to praise him as he thinks he deserves to be praised, and can’t stand when she doesn’t then respond that way. When she calls him on his crap. It’s a selfish sort of helping hand, where he’s doing it more for his own gratification than for the help it actually does the other person.
” —Gaksital ep 17 recap - dramabeans
