This is such a concise response, I like it and agree!
But that's the thing tho.
Kwon was actively working towards putting trust, or at least ridding himself of his chronic habit of suspecting everyone around him, in Yeonjo 'cause of Yeonjo's words and actions. Yeah, he's killed people but tbh that's expected with nobles or government officials back then. Coups and traitors were a dime a dozen. Kwon did what he had to do even if it is irredeemable in the average person's eyes.
Even Yeonjo sympathized and agreed with his motives at one point, till those motives were implemented on his own family. He was fine with "cutting and burning" when it was people he didn't know or care for, but the moment it happened to his family suddenly it wasn't OK anymore. He's a victim but he's also a hypocrite.
And I think Yeonjo realized at one point that Kwon was like him, just a man forced to do what he had to to survive and that is why he became fearful. He got scared that his rage and hatred would begin to diminish if he allowed himself to learn more about Kwon. We see him try to wave the thoughts and feelings off multiple times and get antsy over trying to use the poison as soon as possible. Even there at the end he imagined forgoing his revenge and learning to forgive and love Kwon, but it quickly turned dark 'cause he can't bring himself to forget his father and brother.
They are both at fault to varying degrees in different areas. Yeonjo accuses Kwon of never trusting him since the beginning, but he also constantly lied and did things to lose said trust countless times. The only thing that even allowed Yeonjo to stay close to the man was the fact that Kwon initially thought there was nothing Yeonjo could do to hurt him AND that Kwon eventually came to want to trust Yeonjo.
I'm not excusing Kwon's ruthlessness at all, but Yeonjo should have never expected the man to go easy on him if plans went to shit. He's been playing with the emotions and patience of the most dangerous man in the country after all.
i agree with everything you said
babes, well said. i'd take ya out for mcnuggets
dmn, you just opened a new door in my brain. thank u for commenting your thoughts
i think reading this manhwa purely as a romance is wrong. it certainly has romantic plots but i think at the end of the day it’s drama and angst. i don’t think it’s supposed to be romantic right now, it’s supposed to make us feel enraged and frustrated because it’s that kind of story. i would actually love it if it gets a sad ending (even more if it’s only sad for the ml), that would be realistic. it’s a deeply traumatizing and sad and horrible story and i‘m curious how the plot will move along, and i hope the „romance“ does not hinder the mcs revenge plan. of course i also hate reading rape, so i hope now that it’s established that the ml is a terrible terrible person we can move on from these graphic depictions and continue with the drama plot. everyone keeps complaining that the plot seems to be repeating but i disagree, i think it was importing to show the mc feel kind of empathy for the ml, only then to realize that the ml doesn’t deserve his emotions.