Bye, Boyfriend! is a monthly column where Xiao Qing abandons her healthy relationship with her human boyfriend to find love in a dating sim. This month, she leaves him for an overworked office worker who just wants to watch musicals and drink coffee.
Since we’re all singing 2016’s praises this year, I’d like to celebrate my 10th anniversary of playing otome games. While 2014 and 2015 saw the beginnings of my obsession with boys, 2016 was the year I really delved into the world of otome and developed my love for the beautiful 2D man.
If you were one of the… normies in 2016, firstly, how does it feel to be a boring person? Secondly, you would know that girls like me were annoying as hell.
And no one was more annoyed than my friends, who watched me rant and rave excessively about the Korean dating sim Mystic Messenger (Mysme) for a whole year. When I say I was obsessed, I mean I was obsessed. I regularly posted screenshots of moments that made me swoon on my spam account, and this was before Instagram allowed you to upload multiple pictures in one post.
A decade later, I still look back on Mysme with nothing but affection. My past obsession has become a badge of honour that somehow sneaks its way into every game of two truths and a lie on Tinder dates (which probably explains why I stayed single for so long). I still reinstall the game every now and then, although having a real-life boyfriend demanding my attention every second of the day makes it a little harder to dedicate myself to the 2D ones.
Still, Mysme’s 10th anniversary felt like the perfect excuse to return. I temporarily neglected my boyfriend and dedicated almost a month of my life to this game instead. My alter ego, Kairi, returned with a new look: brown hair and a fringe so long she looks completely eyeless.
Do You Get Mysterious Messages?
For anyone unfamiliar with Mysme, imagine a visual novel disguised as a messaging app. Similar to Emily is Away, nearly the entire game unfolds through chatrooms that open at specific times throughout the day. As the newest member of Rika’s Fundraising Association (RFA), you gradually get to know its members while trying to organise a fundraising party that takes place after 11 actual days.
Your objective is twofold: invite as many guests as possible to the party, and help your chosen love interest become a happier, healthier version of themselves. Your choices during the first four days determine whose route you get locked into. Zen, Jaehee, and Yoosung are available for free, while Jumin, 707, V, and Unknown require in-game currency to unlock.
For this run, I started on a completely fresh account. Cheritz has introduced timezone-locked accounts since I last played, meaning my original save only works if I switch my phone back to an Asian timezone.
While it’s easy to pick an LI and focus on them, I was curious as to who I would get if I picked choices that reflected my personality the most. Lo and behold, I was locked into Mysme’s only female LI, Jaehee Kang.
Jaehee works as Jumin Han’s assistant and is the definition of composed professionalism, somehow remaining calm despite her boss burying her under an endless mountain of unnecessary work. During Mysme‘s peak, though, she was easily the least popular romance option. Partly because she was a woman, and mostly because she spends Zen’s route telling you not to date him.
Reddit threads have been devoted to complaining about how annoying she is, and I’ll shamefully admit that 16-year-old me joined in on the hate train. However, after letting my frontal lobe develop and working a corporate job, I finally get Jaehee.
Fangirl Overworked
Outside of her own route, Jaehee comes across as distant. She rarely expresses emotion, follows the rules to a fault and gets teased by 707 for acting like a robot. On Zen’s route in particular, it’s easy to see her as an obstacle standing between you and your pretty actor boyfriend.
Then you play her story, and suddenly everything clicks.
Imagine working for a billionaire who has absolutely no concept of a work-life balance. Your boss expects you to babysit his cat while he’s overseas, piles bizarre side projects onto your already impossible workload and insists you shouldn’t complain because you’re being paid.
Jaehee’s only escape from her work life is when she watches Zen’s musicals. Long before joining the RFA, Jaehee was already one of his biggest fans. His musicals are the only thing she genuinely looks forward to because, for a few hours, she gets to stop thinking about spreadsheets and emails. So when she worries that dating the MC could create a scandal that derails Zen’s career, it isn’t because she’s jealous.
She’s terrified of losing the one thing keeping her sane.
Throughout her route, Jumin only becomes more unreasonable. He constantly postpones her days off, brushes aside every complaint and insists she’s compensated well enough that none of it should matter. But what good is money when you never have time to spend it?
The More, The Merrier
Ironically, if you’re a Zen fan, Jaehee’s route is one of the best ones to play.
By the end, Kairi and Zen have turned into Jaehee’s personal cheer squad. The dynamic feels less like a love triangle and more like the world’s most obvious throuple, held back only by Cheritz refusing to fully commit to making its only female route actually romantic.
For the first time in my life, I felt absolutely led on.
The woman literally hands you the key to her heart — and her new business — and still expects me to believe we’re just gal pals?
Thankfully, Cheritz has leaned further into the relationship over the years. New illustrations and bonus content feature the MC and Jaehee sharing far more intimate moments than the original release ever dared to show.
Even so, every time Jaehee calls me her friend, a tiny part of me dies.
Though perhaps I’ve been too harsh: after escaping the corporate prison that was Jumin Han, maybe she deserves a little time before confronting the other life-changing realisation waiting for her.
A decade ago, Mystic Messenger consumed my life. At 16, I wanted dramatic confessions, rich CEOs, and pretty boys so bad I’d set alarms for 3AM chatrooms. Now, at 26, I just want to live a (somewhat) peaceful life with the overworked office worker who just wanted a day off, a cup of coffee, and someone to tell her she was enough.
And if Cheritz ever decides to stop pretending that Jaehee and I are “just friends”, I’ll happily dedicate another 11 days of my life to proving them right.
