"The old literature?" BL being 10 years old doesn't mean it has to be derivative. Plus Korean BL started becoming popular internationally 10 years ago. It's existed in Korea since the early 80s. And it was based on Japanese BL, which is from the 1970s.
I get your point that being old ≠ not good.
But my point is the “the trend” back then. Of course there’s awesome stories that outstanding even compared to today’s standard literature.
But you can’t argue that back then, like a decades ago this type of cliche plot is popular.
And it’s not just apply to BL, even shojo were like this. That’s why Cinderella plot like Hana yori dango have so many adaptations across Asia.
This story is a part of that trend, that’s all.
Guys this is based on the novel and the novel released in 2016, it’s 10 years ago.
So you know the cliche plot back then would be obsessive top with submissive fragile flowers like uke, this novel had uke more masculine would be already above average back then (actually it’s popular that’s why it have manhwa adaptation even 10 years later).
it’s like you’re reading the old literature in the beginning era of Korean BL, so the immature or non-logical behavior would be expected