After this most recent chapter, naturally there's been a swarm of comments saying that he's returned to his past self, or taken one step forward and two steps back. And while it might appear this way at first glance, I would urge everyone to take a closer look at the stakes surrounding him.
It's undeniable that Jaekyung has shown outstanding growth in the most recent chapters, quite literally up until this point in the manwha. However, we all need to consider that in all of this, he's never gotten the chance to truly evaluate his emotions and wrongdoings with someone openly. The closest we got was when he was drunk and said a couple things to Kim Dan and well... we all know how that ended!
In the past, Jaekyung would do things without any regard to how Kim Dan feels, and the actions he did were solely to benefit himself. Now look at this most recent chapter. These actions aren't done out of greed, they're a display of self protection. Someone who's just had all their emotional wounds reopened, who truly believes the one person they can confide in wants to leave them behind. And there's a part of Jaekyung that understands Kim Dan is reasonable to do that (even though it's hardly true), and so these displays of coldness and ignorance towards Kim Dan are honestly a projection of Jaekyung's own anger towards the relationship he ruined between them.
And one more thing, Jaekyung is visibly shaken by Kim Dan's hurt expression. He feels genuine guilt and remorse. But even now, he's terrified of the attachment he has to Kim Dan not being met despite all of his subtle attempts to gain his affection.
And like I said before, Jaekyung has never received the help he actually needs. In the environment he grew up in, he couldn't have learnt how to love someone without hurting them. And while he's constantly improving, change doesn't happen overnight. It has it's ups and downs. I would even say this is a relapse of some sort. He was vulnerable with Kim Dan for so long up until now, and now that he's distraught, treating the people around him with coldness is a way of coping with his own sense of insecurity. We can all be mad at Jaekyung, but first understand that he's doing the best he can.
And in my personal opinion, I believe Mingwa could have brought more emphasis onto the scene where Baek Jumin calls out his past. She did a lot, but I think that the fan response to Jaekyungs behaviour this chapter is also because we didn't entirely get to see Jaekyung's pain upon seeing his past be revealed. That's all from me lol!
As many flaws as this manwha has, I truly believe the characters have an amazing foundation and act in a very human way considering their circumstances!
After this most recent chapter, naturally there's been a swarm of comments saying that he's returned to his past self, or taken one step forward and two steps back. And while it might appear this way at first glance, I would urge everyone to take a closer look at the stakes surrounding him.
It's undeniable that Jaekyung has shown outstanding growth in the most recent chapters, quite literally up until this point in the manwha. However, we all need to consider that in all of this, he's never gotten the chance to truly evaluate his emotions and wrongdoings with someone openly. The closest we got was when he was drunk and said a couple things to Kim Dan and well... we all know how that ended!
In the past, Jaekyung would do things without any regard to how Kim Dan feels, and the actions he did were solely to benefit himself. Now look at this most recent chapter. These actions aren't done out of greed, they're a display of self protection. Someone who's just had all their emotional wounds reopened, who truly believes the one person they can confide in wants to leave them behind. And there's a part of Jaekyung that understands Kim Dan is reasonable to do that (even though it's hardly true), and so these displays of coldness and ignorance towards Kim Dan are honestly a projection of Jaekyung's own anger towards the relationship he ruined between them.
And one more thing, Jaekyung is visibly shaken by Kim Dan's hurt expression. He feels genuine guilt and remorse. But even now, he's terrified of the attachment he has to Kim Dan not being met despite all of his subtle attempts to gain his affection.
And like I said before, Jaekyung has never received the help he actually needs. In the environment he grew up in, he couldn't have learnt how to love someone without hurting them. And while he's constantly improving, change doesn't happen overnight. It has it's ups and downs. I would even say this is a relapse of some sort. He was vulnerable with Kim Dan for so long up until now, and now that he's distraught, treating the people around him with coldness is a way of coping with his own sense of insecurity. We can all be mad at Jaekyung, but first understand that he's doing the best he can.
And in my personal opinion, I believe Mingwa could have brought more emphasis onto the scene where Baek Jumin calls out his past. She did a lot, but I think that the fan response to Jaekyungs behaviour this chapter is also because we didn't entirely get to see Jaekyung's pain upon seeing his past be revealed. That's all from me lol!
As many flaws as this manwha has, I truly believe the characters have an amazing foundation and act in a very human way considering their circumstances!