Thank you for this! Great analysis and yes yes fk Taegyeon to hell and back!!!
so just to ask, the MC ends up to stay with hyunwoo?
No Hyunwoo is one of the hypocrite 'friend'. Ml is Haeyoung the psycho ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
It frustrates me whenever I see comments saying Taegyeom is the "best" among the three just cause he acting tsundere. Uurghh disgursting sheyt lmao, he only wants mc's ass and nothing more
oh thank you for the clarification! so the ending is basically just the MC staying with haeyoung, the ML? is that really how it ends...? he just gonna remain locked up and traumatised for the rest of his life?
I think u missed the part where I say chara development
Ok lemme breakdown ml for you first. He kinda only sees in tunnel vision. He never saw the other fuckers as potential love interest for mc, if anything he don't care bout them at all. All ml sees is mc and mc only. So when he saw mc being fucked by other guys, he sees it as 'betrayal', or just cheating. As mentioned, once triggered he goes from an angel to the devil himself. And mc never got a break cause everytime ml sees mc its always with fucker a or b. Those 2 fuckers cant take a hint and kept pushing their dicks to mc. So ml kept thinking he is constantly being betrayed. (We as the readers are also being pushed to our limits.)
Ok that was long sorry. So anyways once those two fuckers were finally gone, mc and ml was finally able to sort themselves out. It aint sudden, mc was able to heal(1-2 years timeskip) and ml slowly approached back.
They kinda turned lovey dovey typa shi after, but are still kinda wary of each others triggers. Again not sudden theres a 7(?) years undisclosed timeskip, I believe they had therapy together. They are self aware, they aren't perfect, and it's the peace they choose for themselves
If ur looking for redemption arc, aka ml grovelling, this aint it. Ml is psycho, he doesn't understand shi. He's a yandere, and best outcome for both is to meet halfway. Why mc accept ml back? It goes way back to their childhood, mc had always depended on ml. He sees him as his anchor, his everything(he literally all he has). It's a toxic dependency. Kinda like how most people can't turn away their parents cause of deep rooted bond despite the toxicity.
It's very long sorry, can't really explain it without misunderstanding something. Hope this helps!
Non Zero Sum means a situation where one's win does not necessarily mean another's loss (and vice versa)
It's a lotta deeper than that and it's usually a situational theory.
Big spoilers starts here (ITS LONGG)
.
.
.
.
.
Take ml for example, he is decent on a normal circumstances, lovingly sweet even. However once triggered he can do the most atrocious thing a person can imagine. Mc knows this tendencies wc is why he always tries his best to avoid triggering it. And tries his best to please him so he can stay by his side. They have this peaceful relationship for a long time wc made mc fall for ml eventually. A big reminder that ml is the only person mc can run upto when he was abused as a child. Hence the start of mc's unhealthy dependency to ml
However a big trigger happened(fck Taegyeom to the hell and back), and ml is now the evil incarnate. With mc's every circumstances, running away is but a distant dream. However the very reason why ml is acting up is cause he feels betrayed. There's an understanding bet them that mc is solely for ml, and their relationship would've always stayed peaceful as long as no big 'triggers' happens (fuck Taegyeom x2).
Here comes the real running arc, mc successfully runs away and was free from ml and bros for 1-2 years. The 2 fuckers r finally out of the picture permanently. Mc jumped of the cliff, had head injury BUT NO AMNESIA (there's a fake spoiler don't ever believe that). Anyways only Ml ever believed mc is still alive so he's the only one who kept looking and hoping. Dude never gave up once
I ain't gonna delve deeper but basically a real chara development comes here cause they fuckin finally talk. Both parties(ml) is finally fucking ready to listen. The triggers (fuck Taegyeom x3) really made the whole situation worst and without them ml/mc both was able to cool down/heal and think properly. Oh and mc had a found family, its the person who saved him from the cliff (finally a real decent person in the story)
However what's done is done. Ml unfortunately learned how to feel lust. Mc's trauma is irrevocable. The scars will stay, but they can only hope it'll heal. Not soon, but maybe someday. But alas they're now back to how it's supposed to be, just them beside each other w no fuckers around (fuck Taegyeom and Hyunwoo x1000)
And no the fuckers didn't get anything else aside from guilt. But atleast their shadows aren't anywhere near those 2 again. And final reminder, Ml isn't a normal person. Everybody knows that. His biggest development is he's finally listening to mc. And yes it's rough but they are both supporting each other
And so a non zero sum isn't something that's supposed to satisfy you. It's about weighing which one is more beneficial for party 1 AND party 2. Would they met halfway? Would they fuck the other? Would both sabotage the outcome? That's non zero sum game, there's no straightforward answer.