What makes me super scared for Taegun rn is his big smile when he summoned Eunsung. Anyone with Taegun’s sort of trauma knows that a smile like that is usually a precursor to some self-destructive actions.
I love Taegun so much, I’ve been able to glean so much about his mindset just by paying attention to facial expressions and seemingly mundane dialogue. I wrote a full explanation of the amusement park scene back when it released - Taegun’s mindset, his fear of being retraumatised by Eunsung or retraumatising him - and the author rewarded close readers through Taegun’s dialogue a few chapters later.
You can dislike Taegun but you can’t call him an inconsistent/incoherent character. His mindset is clear throughout and by this point as readers we should *know* who Taegun is. This reaction, Taegun pushing Eunsung away, is the obvious next step to Taegun as a perfectionist who derivates his self worth from being THE esper (it is literally said in this episode, lol). If that bothers you this isn’t the character for you because it was obvious this was coming
you understand for real!! there's another comment that said taegun is only doing this for attention when that is quite literally not true. it's like taegun's words &. actions seem to fly over /some/ readers heads when they read through or they just simply do not care and just want a reason to hate taegun or make fun of his trauma. also, since taegun is our mc it's pretty obvious that most chapters will talk / show / revolve around his trauma because that is kind of what guiding hazard is about—Taegun's Trauma. (Aside from guiding and the slowburn romance aspect) So that is also another reason why some readers who think taegun is "doing too much" or "seeking attention" or just simply hating on him should just drop this.
The one step forward two steps back progression when it comes to his healing is honestly perfect imo. Obviously we want him to get better but trauma doesn’t just get healed overnight! Seeking attention is obviously not what he wants
This sort of MC is generally my favourite; I love a complicated damaged character healing. Plus, Taegun is actually really reasonable considering the things that have happened to him. His mindset is flawed but he didn’t lash out at Eunsung and has generally been communicating quite well as his walls have come down. He’s generally a logic based character which makes his decision making really clear once you understand him better. Problem is that his logic leads him to harm himself! I agree with other commenters that he will probably end up running to Eunsung if his ex tries to hurt him, lets hope that is the point they will collide and stick together (but I can honestly see it backfiring again if Taegun blames himself for his ex going for Eunsung, we’ll see).
Hyunsoo from Perfect Buddy is the same archetype DIFFERENT personality. Extremely hostile and self-destructive perfectionist who puts up walls because of his fear of being vulnerable and his crippling inferiority complex (except he’s far more immature than Taegun, I unfortunately see myself in him, lol). Plz give me more of this archetype I will eat it up every time
Some of you honestly don't seem to read in depth when it comes to taegun's trauma—blaming him for running away, blaming him for not being able to heal, calling it frustrating and annoying, etc etc. trauma is not that easy to just let go..? especially when he had to endure it for quite a long time. taegun's trauma only seems to increase rather than decrease and that's fair. so much is happening, taegun can't catch a break—and things only continue to worsen for him. his scars were leaked to the media, his body was found in "nightmare" confirming he might be the host of "nightmare" all of that is a lot to take in. he doesn't want to bring harm to eunsung either. it may seem like he's "running away" but in reality he simply just doesn't want to burden eunsung any longer. it's hard to love someone again when you had to endure being treated awfully for so long. taegun is one of the best well-written trauma mc's I've read. it's relatable, there's many people out there that think the same way as he does and that includes me. it's a defense mechanism. he clearly said that asking for love is too much, that it's better to give up before you get hurt or disappointed. taegun is just someone who's afraid to love again.