The comments are triggering me so bad

girl calm down but you're absolutely right!!

Damn left no stone unturned and left no crumbs…hella right tho.

I think its absolutely normal for people with different preferences to want things to happen a certain way. People are tired of reality and try to find space in fiction. Not being into cheating isnt necessarily purity culture tho, garam is hurt cuz he doesnt understand this world that heejae has lived in for years and heejae is upset garam isnt immediately thinking as he does of these relationships he maintains with sponsors. Both of them are feeling normal human emotions from their respective positions. Sex is basically smth heejae is doing in exchange for their future security, he himself doesnt seem to like it anymore as he asks how much longer hes supposed to live this way.
I do hope he doesnt have to sell himself in the future anymore but ur right its just a depressing reality, i also agree people should just avoid these stories if they cant take it. But everyone's entitled to their own opinions too.

I think it's totally normal for people to be pissed off he's leading garam on cuz of his own abandonment issues not because claren pressures him for sex in extenge of promotion

True and also he wasnt seeking out claren when he was in a better mood. He knew damn well it would hurt garam and did it anyways. There was obvious malicious intent as he was pissed at garam.

Right this is genuinely one of his tests he wants to hurt him to see how much garam will take

it’s literally a normal reaction to feel a negative response to see professor treat garam badly and then proceed to sleep with claren? the ‘old mature wise reader’ act you’ve got going on is kinda cringe. it’s also quite clear that apart of the reason he slept with her is out of anger. he doesn’t actually sleep with her a lot to begin with, but the choice to do so here where garam is the only thing on his mind (which you can infer from him asking claren those personal questions right after having sex) clearly comes from a place where professor is frustrated

also literally no one is trying to push purity culture here, or you just don’t know what it really means. we can accept these characters are complex whilst also being frustrated with the things they’re doing or how they’re behaving. these two things can coexist, get off ur high horse

For people saying I'm trying to act like a "old wise mature reader" and telling me to "get off my high horse"...I have no issue with people being frustrated by Heejae's character as both he and Garam are toxic, and the story is designed to make you feel that friction and frustration. What pisses me off is the broader culture in BL where readers project real world moral policing, obsession with virginity, and 'purity culture' onto fictional characters who aren't even in an official relationship. Just as people are free to be frustrated by the characters, I have every right to express my frustration with the toxic reader habits that flood these comment sections. My intent wasn't to hurt anyone's sentiments, but the constant need to judge fiction by standard romance tropes completely misses the point of the genre.

I completely agree with your breakdown. I also really hope Heejae can stop selling himself

no offense but i think manhwa has rotted peoples brains with how common the sponsorship trope is there. you know who would technically have been a "sponsor"? world reviled predator harvey weinstein. acting like people would have to sleep with the wealthy to fund their arts is such an abuser mindset and just so ignorant lol

Indeed, and historically speaking sponsorship wasnt always a sex in exchange for support thing either. The wealthy just supported artists so that their names be included as those who supported the arts and uphelp history/ tradition. It was a willing, self ego stroking situation. Not every artist that we know of got famous cuz of selling sex.

The way the originial poster situates the situation as though we are hating on him for having an open relationship but does garam know its an open relationship??? I dont think they ever talked to clear that up and heejae actively avoids any conversation regarding his sponsor situation. Hes cheating on garam, basically. Claren isnt some nice lady supporting the arts shes a rich elite partaking in the exploitation of artists. If the only perimeter for her getting consent from him is being the wealth provider then this isnt a healthy consenting sex partner situation. He is actively harming garam too

Upon further thought, i do not like claren nor do i like heejae's decision to take this path with the excuse of "its for his future", hes never once looked at garam as an equal partner. I can bet anybody in garam's position would be immensely hurt by the situation cuz the way he stayed up he knew heejae would go out and do smth that will hurt him. Also isnt purity culture the unnecessarily caring for things like virginity/ low body count? This isnt purity culture its just not wanting an asshole of a person to go around cheating just cuz hes mad at his partner