#yea! my brain was working so fucjng fast while watching this

[junjiya]

be free: ending interpretation + analysis

so!! be free was completely brilliant (obvs), so I wanted to give my analysis of it!

so firstly, it tells the rest of begin’s story from kyubin’s perspective. from begin’s rather ambiguous ending of not knowing where the relationship would go, the mv shows the deeper bond the two have with each other. this ultimately culminates at the end (coincidentally also the crescendo of the song, nice one guys) where it’s revealed that they slept together.

this is a big step in how the relationship is portrayed. begin focused more on longing and fear due to personal prejudice and a conservative society. when yoojung takes a drunken kyubin home, we don’t know weather anything happened between them. I find begin to be very bittersweet; it has this incredible cathartic energy to it yet there’s still that lingering feeling of hesitation shown through its ambiguity. explicitly showing a naked yoojung in kyubin’s bed as he redresses himself shows how they overcame this fear.

ok! I wanna talk about that ending now. I’ve seen a lot of interpretations that say that kyubin actually left yoojung alone after sleeping with him (get that head get that bread then leave ig)

my interpretation of the ending is that those final shots are hopeful and joyful. the contrast between kyubin’s final shots and yoojung’s also show different outlooks on queerness

-> yoojung

yoojung’s final shots are melancholy, he is shown looking down possibly lost in thought, coated with a cold blue light as he wraps himself in the blanket from kyubin’s bed.

rather than these shots showing his sadness after kyubin leaves, I think it shows him contemplating what he has done, his relationship with kyubin as well as the consequences that could follow. the consequences either being the judgement/fear from society or the unsureness of where he and kyubin’s relationship might go. for me, I see a definite anxiety as he pulls the blanket closer to him. through this action he is wrapping himself in a symbol of love (kyubin, sex). He almost hides himself inside it, protecting him from the cold (colour pallete) and making that experience, that love, last a little longer.

as pointed out by @/prodbymill on twt, these shots could also represent yoojung’s fear, not of society, but of kyubin’s reaction/what will happen next

this ties to the mv description, specifically the line “…I didn’t want to get hurt…the moment of hesitation.”

-> kyubin

I love these final shots so much ;;

these last shots are so joyous. kyubin is shown smiling nonstop, triumphantly belting the lyrics as he holds a paper crane. the paper crane is symbol of how their relationship began, as well as desire - a desire finally achieved as he has now picked up the crane yoojung has been leaving for him all this time.

the very last shot shows kyubin turning to the camera and smiling, before throwing his arms up and falling back onto the bed before the title is shown again.

this ending is triumphant, he throws his hands up in the air as if he has overcame a great battle, that battle being a conservative society and fear of one’s true feelings, even one’s personal prejudice

him smiling back at the camera could also be interpreted as him smiling back at yoojung (yj’s POV), or as a 4th wall break to the auidence (society), as a way of saying “see? I’m not scared anymore. you don’t scare me anymore.”. It could also be, as stated by @/prodbymill that this is kyubin accepting himself, finding freedom in his sexuality and letting himself fall (in love)

and lastly, the title appearing after he falls back solidifies this joy he feels. after all the fear and hesitation, he is finally free - “when you’re free from any prejudice…freedom will begin”

this ending shows the contrasts between the characters as they reach this point in their relationship/queerness; kyubin is free. while yoojung doesn’t know if he is truly free, the shackles of societal judgements and personal anxiety prevents him from freedom