♕ this demon in me

I also love how it was Jinu who planted the seeds of self-acceptance in Rumi, even if incidentally. He was on the opposing side and also experiencing emotional conflict around her, but that was the very thing needed to create her awakening. He planted those seeds originally to fan the flames of her shame, but she did something he never expected. She accepted who she was, because what was happening between them (the undercurrent of their true feelings) couldn't be faked or stopped. Jinu could lie to Rumi about doing what he did to gain her trust, yet she knew better. He had told her his secret, too, his shame. Even if he'd lied about it at first, Rumi still told him, "That's just your demon talking. You have to fight it." Ironically, Jinu and Rumi were both right and wrong in that confrontation. When he shouted, "That's not how it works!" He was actually correct. It wasn't about fighting your demon, because your demon is a part of you. It was about forgiving yourself. But Rumi was also right. It was his demon of shame talking. It wasn't all of him. And Rumi believed in what she knew in her own heart. She had faith in it, hope. And nothing could take that from her. Not Jinu, not Gwi-ma, not even being abandoned by Zoey and Mira. All because Rumi understood that their shame wasn't all of them, and Zoey and Mira mattered to Rumi. She had faith in them. That is what made Jinu sacrifice himself for her... because she had faith in him, too. In his final act, he paid that hope back with hope of his own.

Had to have hit him so deep in his chest. A young girl giving him such a thoughtful piece of art. A young girl so like his baby sister? Gut punch!