The sixth episode of At the Moment is one of those sweet and sour love stories, depicting modern-day relationships and breakups. Episode 6, titled Something Old, follows Fang Jo-nan and her ex-boyfriend Joe’s journey of coming back to each other again and again, even though things don’t work out between them. This story doesn’t just follow two lovers making their way to each other; it is also a journey of healing and moving on.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Jo-Nan Stay At Joe’s Place?
Episode 6 opened with Joe being featured in a documentary and giving an interview. He reminisced about those romantic moments of his life when he proposed to his ex-girlfriend, Jo-nan, to marry him. At Joe’s workplace, a security guy was seen watching that interview and asking Joe to stop for a while as he wanted to talk to him about what happened to his relationship. Joe managed to walk out of there, as he didn’t want to talk about it. It’s been only a year since he and Jo-nan broke up. Therefore, Joe hadn’t yet quite moved on from the relationship. During the ongoing pandemic, one night when Joe was watching TV, he found a news channel showing an apartment getting disinfected as one of the residents had been infected by COVID-19. Coincidentally, Jo-nan was one of the residents of that apartment. She was doing fine, but she couldn’t stay at her place due to a disinfection procedure. Joe decided to help her out. He reached out to Jo-nan and took her to dinner. There, he asked her if she was fine to stay at his place. Initially a little bit hesitant, Jo-nan didn’t mind moving back to Joe’s place as, for the time being, she didn’t have anywhere else to go.
As Joe’s colleagues came to know that he was staying with his ex all over again, they warned him not to follow that path. After breaking up, they had seen Joe crying a lot due to heartbreak, so he should have avoided this opportunity to get his heart broken again. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that Jo-nan, the woman he once loved the most, needed help.
What Caused Them To Drift Apart?
Joe and Jo-nan first met in 2016, at a mall near a claw machine where two of them were desperately trying to grab a soft toy. As Joe ran out of coins, he asked Jo-nan to lend him some. But Jo-nan asked him that, in return, she would like him to join her group and have some fun at a pub. Joe and Jo-nan had a blast that night. As Jo-nan was wasted, Joe brought her to his place and even made her breakfast in the morning. Joe and Jo-nan gradually came closer to each other. They started going out to art galleries, on lunch dates, etc. However, the flashbacks show not only the good moments of their lives but also the negative aspects of their relationship. Joe was a very simple guy, whose dreams were to find the one and get married to her, while Jo-nan was more career-driven and didn’t want to get married so soon. Joe used to show his kindness through some romantic and caring gestures, which could be overwhelming for Jo-nan sometimes. She didn’t use to get along with her mother very well, but Joe thought making a sudden dinner plan for her and her mother could be a solution. Jo-nan found it very thoughtful, but she didn’t like the fact that Joe never discussed it with her before making any plans. He didn’t even discuss it with her before planning a trip together, which sometimes frustrated her. She used to feel like she was under Joe’s control and following everything according to him. He was not doing it intentionally, but his overwhelming, caring features were unintentionally hurting her feelings. One day, Joe created a scene by proposing to her in front of his colleagues and friends. Jo-nan had no other choice but to say yes, as she didn’t want to see Joe humiliated in front of everyone. While Joe believed in such filmy gestures, Jo-nan was more practical. She came back home and said that she didn’t want to get married so soon. Their argument soon escalated, and the two of them ended up breaking up with each other.
As Jo-nan moved back to Joe’s place during the pandemic, Joe thought it could be another opportunity for them to start over. Joe asked her if she would like to get back with him, to which Jo-nan responded affirmatively. She was not seeing anyone at the time, so she thought it would be great to give it another shot, but things didn’t work out eventually. Joe repeated the same mistake once again. He asked Jo-nan to come to a restaurant, where he’d also invited some of her friends. As Jo-nan had recently left her job and was not in the proper mindset to find another one, her friends judged her decision. This didn’t make her feel good; rather, it angered her. She came back to Joe’s place and asked him not to try to help her anymore. Because every time he had thought of helping her out, he had made the situation even worse. Joe only wanted her to socialize with her friends, as he could feel how depressed she was. However, he couldn’t have imagined that meeting with her friends would make her even more depressed than she was before. Both Joe and Jo-nan took some time to make decisions. Joe joined some of his friends, who advised him to move on because holding on to someone against their will isn’t quite healthy. Joe finally decided to move on from the relationship. He came back and found Jo-nan packing her stuff. She said that she’d rented a place and would soon be moving out. Joe didn’t mind her decision but rather encouraged her to move out.
In the concluding moment of episode 6, we see Jo-nan taking a cab with her belongings while Joe comes to visit her for one last time. He brought her a soft toy as a gift of farewell. Jo-nan accepted it and said her last goodbye to Joe. However, as she moved to another place, she left the soft toy outside of her home. A good delivery guy asked her if she was planning to throw the toy out. As Jo-nan said yes, he asked if he could keep it, and Jo-nan handed him the toy, giving away the only memory of Joe. She decided not to hold on to things that could remind her of her ex-lover, and it is a healthy decision that inspires us to move on and heal ourselves from the traumas that we experienced in our relationships.
