beta
Imma be honest, if I was an outsider looking in, and was asked of my opinion on the situation, I would also advice both of them to end the relationship. I don't think the problem is the age difference in the first place, but the fact that they're both at very different stages of life and it's going to be difficult for them no matter how much effort they put in their relationship; Yeoreum hasn't even finished college, while Mr. Lim is already 40, with a stable job and a lot of emotional baggage. Not only are their mindsets different, but the power imbalance is too much to just ignore. This is exactly what lead to the current situation. Mr. Lim isn't great at communication, he's quite emotionally stunted and resorts to cruelty to end things instead of discussing things with Yeoreum. And on the other hand, I don't think Yeoreum would have let him go if they discussed things better because he's not mature enough to accept the very real worries Mr. Lim has. If Mr. Lim had told him he loves him but is concerned about their dynamic and affecting each other's lives for the worse, Yeoreum would have lead with the fact that is mutual, ignoring everything else. This is actually what got them in the situation in the first place, Yeoreum "forced" a relationship on Mr. Lim with hopes that he would make him change his mind, he couldn't handle not getting what he wanted from the beginning. Obviously, we, as the omniscient readers know that they're both in love but fear is gripping Mr. Lim, and maybe they can sort it out, and maybe Mr. Lim can shut up the voices in his head telling him how their relationship looks for other, and try and ignore the judgement, but dude, if he doesn't want to deal with that, he has the right to choose not to. What I look down the most is how he handled it, he was unnecessarily cruel, this I also attribute to his age and the generation he grew up with. Idk about this one fellas. They'll probably sort it out anyway. Or maybe once Yeoreum has his life more put together they could try again, idk idk