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I actually like that the author is giving us Mincheol’s backstory. It makes him more layered as a character and lets us step into Hae Soo’s perspective. I hate when characters are written flat and two-dimensional, it feels boring and unrealistic.
Here, the author is showing us why Hae Soo fell in love with him, why she took on his debt, why she worked herself to exhaustion, and why she worried about him even when he treated her terribly. Every time he was cruel, she remembered the good moments, and that made it harder to walk away. That feels true to life: people who cheat, lie, or disregard you usually still have a side that’s kind, even loving, and it’s exactly those glimpses that keep us forgiving them when we know we shouldn’t.
Because of this, I empathize with Hae Soo more. And I respect her even more for eventually finding the strength to respect herself and leave him.
I now also understand where Micheol's insecurity is coming from. He failed to live up to any of the promises he made her when they were teenagers. He had some crazy hero complex which got crushed when reality hit. And to feel better about himself, he chooses to believe he “sacrificed” for her, even though she never asked him to. He chooses to degrade her, so she doesn't leave him, because he knows she can do better if she wanted to and that scares him. It is honestly sad to see how he changed from being a good guy to absolute trash. But that also happens in life.