“Red Sleeve” (2021) is one of those kdramas, like “Twenty-Five, Twenty-One” that has the (dis)honor of getting the epithet “k-trauma.” According to google ai, there are the four reasons for the audience’s discontent.

I’ll go over them briefly, then show how “To My Beloved Thief” (TMBF) resolves those issues.

First, a brief note on the timeline.

2017: The novel “Red Sleeve” (or the “Sleeve’s Red Cuff”) was released. Author: Kang Mi-Kang
2020: The script for “To My Beloved Thief” won the Studio Dragon 2nd Drama Script contest. Screenwriter: Lee Sun
2021: The kdrama “Red Sleeve” was released on MBC. It was awarded Best Screenplay by MBC in their drama awards that year. Screenwriter who adapted the novel: Jung Haeri

Spoilers ahead. Duh.

The issues with RS’ final episode:

1. The heroine DeokIm’s death

Wellllll, we get it that the drama is based on the biography of King Jeongjo and his most beloved consort (note: not the queen but a concubine), Uibing Seong. She died young. He lived longer.

It’s been argued that the screenwriter can’t deviate from reality and can’t change history. If you ask me, my counterargument is that the screenwriter should decide beforehand whether to write a historical/biographical kdrama or historical fiction.

If it’s the former, then yes, the RS writer is constrained to write the plot according to extant documents. But if it’s the latter, then the RS writer can reconstruct history from the perspective of a less well-known historical figure (in this case, the concubine) and impose his contemporary values/mindset/preoccupations onto the plot.

I posit that the viewers aren’t so much upset about her historical death (they knew it was coming, anyway) as they were disgusted by her fictional death wherein her passive-aggressive behavior was on full display (they didn’t see that coming).

My main problem with the RS screenwriter and/or the kdrama’s defendants is that they wanted to enjoy the advantages of both genres. To quote Queen Elizabeth II, “You can’t be half in, half out.”

2. Her refusal to say the words, “I love you,” even at her deathbed

Well well well. What do we have here? Haven’t I lectured enough on the necessity of saying the words? Actions speak louder than words, but words are nonetheless essential because they dispel confusion and create transparency.

I’ll say this now: the RS writer is an idiot for justifying DeokIm’s act of withholding words as her last stand to assert independence. 🙄 Please, don’t gaslight us. She was just being a) spiteful and b) passive-aggressive. If she wanted her independence/agency/whatever so much, then why the heck didn’t she leave him sooner?

Here’s what happened.

He was at his cabinet meeting when he was informed of her condition. He rushed to her side. But as soon as he arrived, she reprimanded her attendant for calling the king, instead of her friends (as she had ordered her attendant to call her friends). Naturally, the king was dejected.

King: Did you…did you not want to see me then?
Concubine: Your Majesty will be okay. You have a lot of things to protect. And those you have to protect will keep you safe.

See the spite and passive-aggressiveness? Under that politesse, what she really meant to say was, “Well, you always chose your citizens before me, so go on ahead, see if your citizens can take my place in your heart.” Shaking my head here. She knew full-well that he couldn’t shirk his duties. But even at her deathbed, she had to attack him for prioritizing state affairs before her.

Concubine: My friends have no one but me. I’m just sorry I’d have to leave them behind.

What a toxic character this DeokIm was. Did she really need to say this at this time? The subtext here is simple: she isn’t sorry to leave HIM behind because he never really needed her. Ugh! She wanted to inflict emotional trauma on him as payback for coercing her to be his concubine and neglecting her for state matters.

King: Don’t do this. This is my fault. If you were still a court lady, if I had not urged you to become a concubine, this might not have happened, right?

See that? Now she had him on his knees. She wanted to hear him groveling before she passed away. No way was this true love. If she really loved him, she would have reassured him. She wouldn’t have wanted him with lingering doubts.

Concubine: Your Majesty. Do you still hold me so dear at heart?
King: Yes. Yes.
Concubine: Then, please, when you see me in your next life, please just pass on by. It is not because I hold a grudge or because I hate you. It’s just that I want to live the way I want in my next life.

Such malice! In other words, she simply didn’t. want. him. with. her. in. her. next. life. Periodt. He wasn’t worth all her pain and trouble. Again, these weren’t exactly the words a lover would say to a beloved one.

The king was confused, and rightly so.

King: Does that mean…that you’ve never truly loved me? Did you not love me even the slightest bit?
Concubine: Do you still have to ask?

Can I whack this concubine, and the screenwriter for writing this dialogue? Of course, he had to ask! Because she made zero sense. Because her words and actions didn’t match. Because she created cognitive dissonance for him.

Concubine: If I hadn’t wanted you, I would have run away no matter how. Do you not understand that it was my final decision to stay by your side?

Ugh! The conceit of this chit. Sure, she made the final decision, but so what? The fact of the matter is she regretted that final decision and she RESENTED having to stay by his side. She had buyer’s remorse. And if she were to have a do-over, she wouldn’t have made the same choice.

To me, she was just too proud to admit that she made the wrong decision. She was merely deluding herself that she stayed for love. Because if she were to admit the truth that she stayed because she had no choice, then her last illusion of being an independent woman would crumble.

Sidenote: one of her besties tried to excuse her behavior, saying that this was just the concubine’s BRAVADO speaking and that she truly loved him. The king pushed back, pointing out that he didn’t have to hear this from her friend’s mouth. DeokIm herself could have told him directly when he gave her the chance.

Then, DeokIm moved to touch his face. But like everything else, she failed to deliver. She passed away before she could show him tenderness.

3. The king’s loneliness for the rest of his rule

Many years after her death, he continued to rule as a wise and sage king. But he also continued to live in grief. He’s a good king, but a sad king.

There was one moment when the king was done working for the night and he walked from the well-lit, well-guarded palace to – I’m guessing – his residence.

To me, this was a visual metaphor of his separate lives. He had one life where he worked to the bone to become a good king for his people. Then, he had another life where he came home to vast empty space in darkness and solitude.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”  – King Richard, from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2

4. Their reunion in the next life

At his own deathbed, the king dreamed of being in a garden with DeokIm.

She was reminding him that he had to leave to attend to his duties. He stood up to go but, at the last moment, he turned around to give her a solemn promise.

King: I will not love as my grandfather did. I will protect you, the woman I love, until the end.
Concubine: What are you trying to say? I understand so please go. You are very late.

My impression here was she wanted him to leave her and was using work as an excuse, but he kept delaying his departure.

His hand was on the door when he suddenly remembered her death. So, he turned around again and approached her. This time around he grabbed her hand and led her back to the garden. He wanted to admire the flowers with her.

But she wasn’t up for it. She reminded him again that everybody was waiting for him and the two of them could look at the flowers later.

That’s when he explained his reluctance to leave her.

King: DeokIm. A long time has passed. And sometimes, I didn’t know whether I really missed you or if I missed an idealized past. But now I know, I miss you. And the days I was with you. I will never let go of your hand again.

So, for the fourth time, she urged him to leave and attend to his duties. He must continue to be a good king, she added for good measure. See that? That’s the reason why I can’t tell if this is the afterlife or dreamworld. If this is a dreamworld, his mind was devising ways to ATONE for his neglect. Like, promising to protect her, spending quiet time with her, holding her hands, etc.

King: This is where I belong. As it turns out, we did not have much time. I wish to wait no longer. So please love me. Please. Love me.

For me, this vision has two meanings.

One, the king realized that he could only fulfil his dream of being by her side in the afterlife. As much as she kept telling him to go, he knew that, in this dreamworld (or afterlife?), he was finally free of his royal duties and could spend eternity with her.

Two, even in the afterlife (or dreamworld?), he still had his way with DeokIm. Remember? DeokIm told him to ignore her and go on his way. But what did he do? He kept hanging around. She was obviously trying to get him to leave and using his work as pretext. But he wouldn’t take a hint. Thus, even in death, he refused to heed her dying wish.

So there you have it. The four “grievances” against “Red Sleeve.”

If I were to judge this whole kdrama (or ktrauma) based on this episode alone, I wouldn’t call RS a love story but a one-sided love story, or a lopsided romance. He definitely loved her more. As for her, I give two options: either she didn’t love him as much as she thought she did, or she loved only one side of him, the non-king side.

I think it’s rather fortuitous then that RS was released in 2021 because the romance plot was spared from being compared to “To My Beloved Thief”. It would have been deemed woefully lacking.

Here’s how TMBT handled the love story better.

1. Both EunJo and Yi Yeol survive in the end.

Welllll, we all knew that the drama is based on King Jungjong and his tyrannical older brother Yeonsangun. But unlike screenwriter of RS who followed history whenever it was convenient (and veered off, whenever it wasn’t), the writer of TMBT, Lee Sun, made full use of creative license to weave an original story while retaining some of the historical elements.

Lee Sun didn’t feel compelled to limit the plot to the sad reality and sad ending. If she (or he?) did, she would have written EunJo as either the first queen who was deposed and exiled after seven days or the second queen who died at childbirth. Instead, she mixed up the personalities. EunJo was like the first queen who was supposedly Jungjong’s true love in the sense that she kept out of the limelight but remained waiting for him. But EunJo was also like the second queen whom Jungjong reportedly admired for her resolve and other virtues.

That’s why in my opinion, Lee Sun >>> Jung Haeri. #Sorrynotsorry

She used her imagination to deliver a rewarding and satisfying happy ending to the lead couple. Not only that, but she also cared enough about her other characters to give them their own happy endings/just desserts. I thought Haerim’s ending was cute, JaeYi’s journey to distant land, appropriate (I like that he’d come running if he heard rumors or EunJo’s mistreatment), and DaeChu’s hectic work-life, amusing.

It’s human nature to wish for a story that’s nicely wrapped up with a bow.

2. EunJo clearly lets Yi Yeol know that she loves him and is willing to wait for him.

She shows him her love in both action and in words.

For example, she goes to him when he confronts the King in Episode 15. At first, she stands behind the palace gates, just listening to the brothers duke it out. But she knows how deeply burdened Yi Yeol is about deposing his brother with the use of the sword (because it means regicide AND fraticide). And let’s not forget the fact that Yi Yeol has always avoided blood and gore.

So, she steps in to reason with the king. She informs him that he’s hallucinating, then she reminds him of his kingly duties.

King: Then have I been chasing all this time merely an illusion?
EJ: It was delusion. Do you know how you came to this state? It is because Your Majesty abandoned your duty.
King: My duty?
EJ: More than anyone in this country, Your Majesty should have regarded the people with compassion. That is the responsibility and qualification of the one who sits the throne.

Remember what I said about the divine mandate? The king remembers that Lord Hong, EunJo’s father, once warned him that his deadly Purge would bring great misfortune to him in the future. But he didn’t listen to Lord Hong’s wise counsel, so now this insanity — his mental breakdown — has stricken him.

Thus, by leaving her place by the gates and coming forward to reason with king herself, EunJo is protecting Yi Yeol from the guilt of starting a bloody coup. By standing by his side, she helps usher in a new dawn with him as the ruler. If her action isn’t proof of her love and devotion to him, then I don’t know what is.

Additionally, she uses words to tell him about her feelings. She doesn’t engage in that toxic passive-aggressiveness of DeokIm.

For instance, EunJo’s letter at the end of Episode 15 told Yi Yeol what he needed to read to reassure him. He has been sulking that she ignored his letters.

King: Are you sure you heard it right?
EJ: It’s stuck in my ears. You wrote it in every letter. “I miss you. I long for you.” I’ve been hearing those words for ten days straight.
King: Oooh. So you were listening then? I thought you never heard me. Since you sent no reply.

So, in her letter she tells him how much he means to her.

EJ: The past ten days for me were whole and complete. Your letters asking how I was made me happy. Your reminders to sleep well felt comforting. Your complaints about missing me felt warm. So tonight, I’ll take all the longing upon myself. So please, sleep peacefully. And I will long for you solely. Just deeply and for a long time.

Awwww… If she had been DeokIm, she would have written, “Serves you right if you missed me! You neglected me. You forgot me while you were dealing with business matters! How cruel of you! Why am I just second place?”

And I like Yi Yeol’s joke afterwards.

DaeChu: So even if I try to stop you, you’ll go, right?
King: Even if it’s just to spite her.
DaeChu: What?
King: How dare she take my longing without my permission!

I think he means that only HE can long for her because she can have him any time she asks. Hence, his “resolve” to give her the ring. It’s his promise to her that he’ll never ever tire of longing for her.

In this sense, longing for her = loving her.

Take note here. This longing is glaringly absent in RS. DeokIm did NOT long for the king. In fact, in the final episode, she had the gall to tell him NOT to appear before her eyes. And she twice told him this: when she insisted on seeing her friends, and when she talked about meeting again in the next life.

3. Hence, Yi Yeol doesn’t feel abandoned during his reign.

I like that he writes her letters when he’s prevented from seeing her.

From the Viki subs:

Letter 1: The first night I spend in the palace after sending you away. The court is in turmoil after the sudden abdication. I am restoring Joseon, discussing neglected affairs with the ministers. I shall not let this be wasted for the people. So just for tonight I hope you sleep soundly without any worries.

Letter 2. The second night. The palace is in full swing preparing for the ceremony. Many seek my judgment. I realize that I must decide as these seats cannot be left vacant even for a moment. And so tonight again, I greet the dawn thinking of you. Only, I hope you are sleeping deeply.

Letter 10. At last, the tenth night. Now, at the end of each night, I wait for the time when I count the nights. The stars shine particularly deep and bright. Perhaps that is why every night I miss you, but tonight even more so.

It’s quite telling that, although he himself is denied of sleep because of all the work he must do for the kingdom left in disarray, he still wishes her to have a good night slumber. The burden of insomnia is his alone to carry. Also, he’s also tacitly telling her that her vision of Joseon is the reason he’s taking his responsibility seriously.  He greets the “new dawn” they made together with their struggles, their body swap, their near-death experiences, etc., thinking of her.

Later, when things have calmed down, his mother reports to Consort Sui Ui that he makes it a point to finish work early so he can meet her.

QD: (humble-bragging) I gave birth to him, but he’s fierce. He completes all his official duties sharply, then leaves promptly to meet his beloved.
DaeChu: (grumbling) I know all too well. Thanks to that, I’m on duty day and night.

Of course, this kdrama is a fairy tale so I get Yi Yeol’s anachronistic, 21st century sensibility of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. In reality, his attitude would have been unthinkable during the Joseon period. The king in RS wouldn’t have dreamed of compartmentalizing work and home life, and given them equal attention.

4. Their reunion in the next life

For me, the contrast between the reunion scenes of RS and TMBT is the starkest. I’ll list the most significant differences.

a. In RS, the king could only envision a sad reunion with DeokIm in the afterlife, and even then, he cried because he was begging her to love him. Ugh! Lee JunHo is synonymous with tearjerkers. The viewers are understandably left confused and depressed because they expected more from the story and it didn’t deliver.

In TMBT, the viewers are left with a hopeful vision of Yi Yeol waiting in a field of flowers for EunJo.

b. In RS, DeokIm didn’t want them to waste time admiring the flowers.

In TMBT, their reunion is filled with flowers.

By the way, do you remember what I wrote about the “poetry” that Yi Yeol declared to her in Episode 2?

From Viki subs:

“Embroidered shoes.
Flower rain.
Got you. A whole bush of flowers.”

I said I couldn’t understand what he meant by the last line. I couldn’t decipher where that “whole bush of flowers” came from so I hazarded a guess that he was declaring his intention to give her a whole bundle of flowers if she asked him for it in the future.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one confused by the last line as subbers had their own interpretations.

From kisskh: “There you are. Lady flower.”

From soompi’s article: “I’ve caught you. A single blooming flower.”

😂😂

I’m pleased to learn that the poem is a foreshadowing, too. If he was hoping to give her a whole bunch of flowers in the future — as I speculated — then he definitely made it come true in the end. Didn’t you see all those flowers that the camera focused on in the finale?

He waited for her in the middle of a flower field or “Field of Dreams.”

Then, she put on her embroidered floral shoes that he’d gifted to her.

On her hair, she wore a flower pin. This was most likely another gift from him, too.

Then, on her ring finger, she wore the jade flower ring that he’d given her as token of his “resolve.”

She was also dressed in a pretty pink hanbok with a skirt decorated with flowers. An embroidered butterfly was visible on her sleeve.

To me, this is what he meant by “a whole bush of flowers.” Unknowingly, he was predicting a whole bunch of flowers in her future because he was going to give it all to her, his Flower Lady.

c. I don’t know how the king in RS intended to protect DeokIm, but it didn’t seem like he did a good job. She was unhappy living as his concubine and felt neglected by him.

In TMBT, Yi Yeol protects EunJo by shielding her from the palace life. He doesn’t marry her nor take a concubine. He declares his plan to abdicate when his nephew was ready to take over. He can’t wait to return to his normal life as Grand Prince

Then the epilogue gives the viewers what they’re clamoring for: a reassurance that the couple did end up happily-ever-after. It is said that EunJo’s embroidered shoes were found in the royal tomb, and Yi Yeol is referred to as the “Grand Prince,” indicating that he relinquished the throne and returned to his previous life. And she became his wife after their waiting ended.

d. I find it sad that in the afterlife, DeokIm didn’t want to spend it with the King.

She told him so. Then, as I observed earlier, in the king’s dreamworld/afterlife, she was so eager to get rid of him that she reminded him four times that he had work to do.

The situation is reversed situation in TMBT. EunJo can’t wait to see Yi Yeol. She runs to meet him in the flower field and flings herself at him.

Just like on that night when she stole a kiss from him. Lol.

And the icing on the cake is her wish on the lantern comes true, too. “If there is another life, I hope I can be with the Grand Prince then.”

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

So, there you go. These are the reasons why, to me, “To My Beloved Thief” is the antidote to the toxicity of the love relationship in “Red Sleeve”. I’m not sure if Lee Sun wrote this – or was inspired to write this – as a reaction to the novel.

But if she did, she certainly broke the mold. I won’t accept any more historical cdramas or kdramas where the king (or queen) insists on holding onto power interminably at the expense of his loved one.