Based on the novel. It translation misinterpretation.
That’s one hell of a misinterpretation, I wonder why the translator assumed that is what MC genuinely thought and didn’t even try to at least consider other translation possibilities when MC starts talking about how much of a saint his teammate is.
I just hope that other readers wouldn’t misunderstand like I did because it sure confused the heck out of me and made me feel conflicted about the MC for a good second _(:3 」∠)_.
Technically there is not that much of a "mistranslation" but rather a wrong vibe interpretation and a missing sentence in the webtoon itself (I am assuming to create suspense?).
The novel pretty much says the same things as the webtoon. You can check chapter 41 for yourself.
Basically Hoyoon says that he doesn't believe Sanghyun would be a bully, which is correctly said in the webtoon twice: "I can't picture that. He is not the type..." and "a shit personality. That honestly makes no sense".
Then the missing sentence in the novel is: "even if sanghyun was wronged people would only believe the story [that he is a bully] and there would be no way back"
And then I. The novel he decides to ask sanghyun about his highschool days to get the picture to be able to battle the controversy. Which in the webtoon is drawn rather aggressively in my opinion BUT in the novel it is much more light-hearted, it's calculated question but it's said casually and Sanghyun momentarily freezes a bit but immediately continues answering Hoyoon and then they end the conversation. (This will likely be shown in the next webtoon chapter)
So no, it's not a translator's fault in my opinion. It's a deliberate choice of the webtoon production to create suspense
They be really testing my reading comprehension skills real hard right now T v T, at least you’re willing to explain things to me so thanks for that, it was very much appreciated ⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄ !
I was glad to help. <3 And yes, I feel like this is this story's charm - to make the reader confused about Hoyoon's character. Everything that points to his good character in this chapter is either written in small letters on the side or omitted (like the sentence I shared). It surely must be deliberately done to make us question him.
And even in the novel Hoyoon is kind of balancing between being a calculative bast**d and being caring in secret. He is not a saint though, he has flaws, and he grows as a character. I myself have gotten tricked in a later arcs whether he is or isn't a good person. So this will probably not be the only instance of this.
I am sure you won't have any troubles moving forward but feel free to ask me for comparisons with the novel any time! I love this work so much that I don't mind re-reading it over and over.
That’s not true. This is just the MC personality he goes on evidences I am reading the novel. He will suspect him until he see proof that he really was not involved in any bullying even tho deep down he knows that his teammate is too nice to be a bully. He is going to do the same for everyone btw so beware. This is just how the MC was written, he only believes what he sees. If you find this annoying then you will get annoyed a lot in the upcoming plots lol.
Btw I say this because I was very annoyed reading the novel too. Like why can’t you trust your teammates that you have been living with!!! But the beauty of this is that you get to see his trust for his teammates building up so is his love for them.
I think, in my opinion since he had work with idols and showbiz, it's understandable that he will doubt since he knew how two Faced some people in the entertainment industry especially with how he used to be a pd.
It's annoying and frustrating when he doubt yes but from his perspective and his experience, we can understand where he stand on.
Not that I like how he thinks but his a very logic over emotion type of person so I can understand what he mean and what he is aiming for.
Judging from what I’ve seen so far I think he assumed the rumor meant that he bullied someone because that would be worse than getting bullied. And I think he assumes that people want to paint them in the worst light. So not because he thinks he’d do it but because he automatically assumes the worst in terms of what someone would accuse them of.
MC immediately assumed “dropped out because of bullying” meant his team member dropped out because he was a bully rather than the possibility of dropping out because he’s a victim and didn’t want to deal with the bullying anymore.
I get that it’s because it’s coming from a quote on quote reliable source but the fact that the idea of his teammate possibly being the victim didn’t even come to mind when he himself knows that his teammate is awfully nice. Maybe it’s a translation misinterpretation or I guess MC is just that cynical and ain’t used to seeing the good in people due to the nature of his past job.