YESSSAAA. In today's episode that scene where Dalmi is telling him about what do san wrote in the first letter…
Totally, another thing people seem to overlook is the motivation between the lie. Lying is wrong, period...but it's not always done with bad intentions behind. Both Ji Pyung and grandma lied in order to give Dal Mi something to cherish in a time of her life she had nothing, Jin Pyung has even gone to the extent of building Nam do San for Dal Mi herself. They are not exploiting the lie for personal reasons...neither they are lying just because.
To be honest, the way the author goes about it the whole Nam do San ordeal is the reason i can't buy the romance between the main couple yet. It's strikingly clear that Nam do San is profiting from a connection he didn't built out of a eagerness to be loved and appreciated, and by doing so there's no room to build a legitimate relationship dynamic because whenever Dal Mi looks at Nam do San she doesn't actually "see" him but Goodboy instead, looking through the lenses that those letters created. Nam do San knows that, wich is why he is shown to be insecure whenever the image Dal Mi has of him and who he actually is clash, he even goes to the length of trying to mediate the relationship between Han Ji Pyung and Dal Mi in order to have control over Nam do San image ("you can ask me"), so he can keep feeding off it in the hope that overtime, he can re-direct Dal Mi feelings to who he really is. When it comes to Ji Pyung, he built a connection with Dal Mi in a period of his life that he was the most vulnerable...yes, the grandma helped him but we see multiple instances were he is writing alone, he understands Dal Mi through the letters alone, kept them for a decade, he gave a meaningful wish for her and she in turn could understand it naturally, and many more but most of all: he is helping Dal Mi from the shadows, the same way he did back then he is doing now (the scene where he walks away while Dal Mi hugs Nam do San was quite powerful). Paying a debt is only his excuse to deal with his self-loath along with the fact he can't admit he cares: only by caring he could feel guilty about Dal Mi college situation, only by caring he would shield a vulnerable Dal Mi with his hand when she was entering his car... it's obvious he cares about Dal Mi beyond just paying a debt, it just happens he is a complex character that if you don't peel the layers is hard to fully grasp.
It's strikingly clear that Nam do San is profiting from a connection he didn't built out of a eagerness to be loved and appreciated, and by doing so there's no room to build a legitimate relationship dynamic because whenever Dal Mi looks at Nam do San she doesn't actually "see" him but Goodboy instead, looking through the lenses that those letters created. Nam do San knows that, wich is why he is shown to be insecure whenever the image Dal Mi has of him and who he actually is clash, he even goes to the length of trying to mediate the relationship between Han Ji Pyung and Dal Mi in order to have control over Nam do San image ("you can ask me"), so he can keep feeding off it in the hope that overtime, he can re-direct Dal Mi feelings to who he really is.
When it comes to Ji Pyung, he built a connection with Dal Mi in a period of his life that he was the most vulnerable...yes, the grandma helped him but we see multiple instances were he is writing alone, he understands Dal Mi through the letters alone, kept them for a decade, he gave a meaningful wish for her and she in turn could understand it naturally, and many more but most of all: he is helping Dal Mi from the shadows, the same way he did back then he is doing now (the scene where he walks away while Dal Mi hugs Nam do San was quite powerful). Paying a debt is only his excuse to deal with his self-loath along with the fact he can't admit he cares: only by caring he could feel guilty about Dal Mi college situation, only by caring he would shield a vulnerable Dal Mi with his hand when she was entering his car... it's obvious he cares about Dal Mi beyond just paying a debt, it just happens he is a complex character that if you don't peel the layers is hard to fully grasp.