Mystic Messenger – Jaehee’s route
Just completed Jaehee’s route which surfaced some interesting observations about life, work and friendship. As the only other girl in the group, the game developers were sane enough not to turn this into a LGBT game so the premise was about how to support Jaehee to realise her dreams and be free of an oppressive boss, i.e. Jumin.
Perhaps I have always preferred friendships with guys than girls, I realised very early that I couldn’t really appreciate the kind of friendship with Jaehee. It was easy to guess the ‘correct’ answers to provide emotional support but when she started calling like 2 – 3 times a day to talk about the most random stuff, I got a little annoyed. Perhaps a bit stereotypical of women but I suppose they tend to be more ‘needy’ to connect than men. Now I for one am perfectly fine not calling and catching up for days or weeks on stretch. Perhaps that explains why I don’t have many close girl friends. Hmm….
Two main themes ran through Jaehee’s route which I will expand on below.
Doing it right or giving what the boss wants. Of all the characters, I like Jumin best so it didn’t sit well with me that he was rather unreasonable in his demands of Jaehee at work. What’s more, a lot of his decisions were made in consideration of his personal agenda rather than what was best for the organisation. I cannot help but feel that he makes for a super lousy CEO. So therein lies a dilemma of doing what is right and best for the company vis-a-vis what your boss wants you to do. I think the unfortunate reality is that many people compromise and sacrifice what is right just to please their boss. I see that at work everyday and it is simply suffocating. Sometimes I think that deep down bosses appreciate if their subordinates/employees can broaden their perspective by challenging their views. Of course, do that only when you have earned their trust and shown sufficient credibility in your field of work. The other sad truth is that if you suppress what you want too long, you might just forget who you are and what you had aspired for in life.
The second theme is about loyalty, the message about not backstabbing your friends. First you had to decide between encouraging Jaehee to express herself more confidently before Zen whom she has admired and respected for a long time or claiming him for yourself. The second is choosing between defending and explaining Jaehee’s viewpoint or simply just thrashing her work in front of Jumin by totally sucking up to him. Ironically you get to have more one to one conversations with Jumin where he shares his views about work, Jaehee and frustrations with you and even try to get some advice. So anyway in both scenarios I chose her over the men though I was freaking tempted to just take on the Chief Assistant post she left behind. Perhaps this is a struggle many people in reality go through – choosing between your girl friend or your boyfriend and somehow never will the two entwine. My take is that if somehow you end up with the guy without having to betray your girlfriend, then it is perfectly legitimate to pursue the relationship. Never ever make yourself look better by putting others down. That just shows poor taste and lack of confidence in yourself.
So there you have it, Jaehee’s route. Now that I am done with the characters on the Casual route, on to the Deep route where I finally have the chance to get to know Jumin better.