Park Gyu-young has efficiently played the character of Ji-su in the series Sweet Home. Ji-su is a young survivor at the Green Roof apartment who has an empathetic nature and the willingness to help everyone around her. Her assertive nature and ability to maintain her calm have made her stand out in the series. Her undaunting courage is what has helped her overcome a lot of hardships in times of calamity. What were her past traumas? Was she able to overcome them? Will Ji-su eventually be able to survive the extreme situations? We are yet to find the answers to these questions through a thorough character analysis!
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Ji-su Deal With Her Past Trauma?
Ji-su, a young guitarist living in the Green Roof apartment, has past traumas, which she tries to cover up through her bubbly outer appearance. She had lost her boyfriend to suicide, which had impacted her life a lot. The flashbacks of her boyfriend caused her to have mental breakdowns at certain points. She had started valuing life more after she had lost her beloved. She clutches onto the last memory of her boyfriend, the guitar that he had given her, bringing out her regard and respect for people she loved, even if they were not in her life. When she learns that Hyun-su had a traumatic past and was contemplating suicide, she tries to persuade him to understand the beauty of life. Her empathetic self made sure that Hyun-su’s mental state was taken care of so that he would not make the wrong decision of ending his life. She had the willingness to hold on to dear life, and hence we see a resilience in her to fight the monsters and survive the situation at any cost.
Which Incidents Bring Out Ji-su’s Resilience?
She had given the battle against the monsters her best so that she could keep herself and the others safe. She had collaborated with Jae Heon to make sure that she could survive the situation well. She stands out from the others in the apartment as she is responsible and ensures that everyone else is safe from the attacks of the monsters. She saves two helpless children from the monsters, along with Jae Heon and Hyun-su, and entrusts Du-sik with their responsibility. She is fearless and bold, as she does not back away from her responsibilities and is not even afraid to face the monsters and fight them. She is also empathetic towards Myeong-suk, who had become delusional after losing her child in an accident. Despite knowing of Myeong-suk’s symptoms as a monster, she ensured that she was safe in Du-sik’s apartment. She also defended Hyun-su when the other people in the apartment thought of throwing him out of the building after he started showing symptoms. She was rational even in such a dire situation and was not afraid of facing the challenges that life threw at her. She was compassionate and wanted to give everyone a second chance at life rather than just discarding them as per her own convenience.
What Was Ji-su’s Relationship With Jae Heon?
She had formed a team of two with another responsible resident of the apartment, Jae Heon. She fights all kinds of monsters along with him to ensure that she survives the situation. Initially, she was looking for a safe opening in the building through which they could escape. However, later, when they realize that escaping the place is almost impossible as they are surrounded by monsters, she sticks with him inside the apartment to kill any monsters that come their way. Her agility and tireless efforts to keep the monsters at bay throughout are commendable. Jae Heon’s affection for her is seen when she suddenly falls sick inside the apartment. When she needs an appendectomy, he takes all the responsibility and requests that Eun-Hyeok conduct the surgery. After the surgery, he confesses his feelings for her and later dies while trying to save the others from a monster. However, Ji-su does not reciprocate, as she does not seem to have any affection for him because she is probably still in love with her late boyfriend.
What Happens To Ji-su In The End?
After a lot of deaths in the apartment, only a handful of the members managed to escape the situation. There are a lot of atrocities that are being conducted on the common people by the military forces as they manage to escape the monsters. Even in such situations, she manages to hold on to the little kid, Yeon-su. She tries protecting him like his elder sister after he loses Su-yeon, his sister, to a monster. However, the military makes incisions in every person’s hands to make sure that their wounds are not disappearing. If the wounds were to disappear, they would immediately kill the person as they would suspect them to be monsters. When an incision is made in Ji-su’s hand, she almost staggers out of pain from her previous appendix operation. The military asks her to stand still, but she is unable to, building up suspense. We fear that her scar might disappear, making the soldiers take her away and kill her. However, she manages to walk away from the checkpoint, keeping us wondering if she has become a monster yet!
When the person in charge of the weapons attacks the common people with missiles to conduct a mass clearing, Ji-su seems to zone out. She stands in a daze, making it possible that she is on the verge of transforming into a monster. Later, she regains her senses and tries to escape, but a building collapses, killing her in the process. This brings out the sad reality of the systems and their mismanagement, making people put up fights to escape the atrocities of the government and eventually lose their lives. Is she really dead, or will she resurrect again as a monster? The answer to this question is yet to be brought out in the next season.
Final Words
Ji-su’s character in Sweet Home is quite significant, despite being an ordinary human being without any supernatural powers. She is self-righteous and always stands by what is right. She is selfless and puts others above herself, as she is seen saving Yeon-su even during her final moments. Park Gyu-young has done justice to the character of Ji-su, just like she efficiently played her previous significant role in the series “It’s Okay Not to Be Okay” as Nam Joo Ri. However, we didn’t expect such a sudden demise of Ji-su’s character in the second season and expect her to transform into a neo-human. We expect her to transform into a good entity like Hyun-su and help others.
