Novel yap session cuz I got nothing better to do

Okay- Leaving my thoughts here after reading the novel because, phew that was ALOT.


Yeon-oh and Gi-hyeon are so obsessed with each other; it’s actually crazy. You rarely see couples THIS fiercely co-dependent (even in bl). They practically live and breathe one another. Perhaps that is why their entire misunderstanding literally feels like it’s choking you out when you’re reading the novel. All of their miscommunication stems from the fact that both are severely traumatized, but neither knows about all the things the other person went through. They are so obscenely obsessed with each other that they refuse to tell the other about their deepest hurt.


From the moment Gi-hyeon realized that he loves Yeon-oh, he swallowed his own love as if he’s already accepted defeat. He let his love for Yeon-oh fester and rot his heart out, so much so it started suffocating him. He believed that Yeon-oh could never love him so religiously that he never even considered it an option to begin with. I guess to some extent you could say it wasn’t really entirely his fault for having such thoughts since Yeon-oh did have his ‘prejudices’ against beta (men). From his point of view, he never explained why he had such vehement hatred towards them, so he was completely unaware of Yeon-oh’s past traumas. They were also never intimately involved in the 7 years they were in a supposed ‘relationship’, the fact that Yeon-oh possesses a foul mouth and says whatever doesn’t really help their case either. Even so, to dismiss all that Yeon-oh does for him as mere platonic affection is a bit much because no one does all that for a ‘bestfriend’. Gi-hyeon was so blinded by his own sacrifices that he thought his love was poison to Yeon-oh, and perhaps himself too. Although Yeon-oh was always there by his side, refusing to leave all he did was endure alone, suffer in silence, and kill himself over and over again.

Similarly, Yeon-oh had always loved Gi-hyeon but his trauma worked as a barrier separating him and Gi-hyeon. He is honestly crazier for Gi-hyeon than Gi-hyeon is for him. If it were upto him he’d literally sew himself onto Gi-hyeon and fuse together with him like some deep-sea angler fish. He literally goes crazy if he’s separated from Gi-hyeon even if it’s for mere moments. He’s so obsessively in love with him that he’d bring him the moon if that’s what Gi-hyeon asked for. To think he’s been lusting for Gi-hyeon ever since they’ve been in high school but thought his feelings for Gi-hyeon were ‘filthy’. What’s crazy to me is that he refused to realise his feelings for Gi-hyeon were love because he strongly believed that his love for Gi-hyeon was far more profound and pure than the feeling of ‘love’. He acts as if Gi-hyeon is his lifeline, his breath, his soul, and his entire world. He wanted to Gi-hyeon something grander than his low ‘love’ but by doing so he deprived him of what he wanted, no, needed the most.

Both of them are so desperately in love that they are drowning in their own grievances to realise the other’s pain. Both love each other to self-deprecation; they believe their love is a sin to the other, so they suffocate each other to no end. Yet, even after all that, they cannot stray from one another; they are eternally bound together because erasing the other would mean erasing themself. Their entanglement defies logic. No matter how far Gi-hyeon runs away from Yeon-oh, Yeon-oh will always find him, and Gi-hyeon will ALWAYS give in. They are so messy, but it’s hard to look away, just like a train wreck. Half the time, you are tearing away at your own hair because of how frustrating they are, because it is so SO obvious how much they crave each other, but their misunderstandings keep building up, and Gi-hyeon keeps backing away, but at the same time you can’t really put the book down.

All the yapping aside; in case you want to read the novel: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/salt-society/ (Login to novel updates to read)