The story is that Cheol hit rock bottom once he was outed. Yes, he went from really successful to completely ruined.
My issue is that the choices he makes feel incredibly uneducated. If nothing else, definitely the financial aspect. That reduction felt unearned imo
honestly i liked the time spent on the flashback because i got to see the characters where they were and then see where they started. it made all of the depth stand out more in the current time line. i think if i had to start with the back then and work up to the future it wouldn’t have worked. i also think it’s important to remember how long he’s been out of school. he’s someone that was only ever book smart because of this dedication as well as a distraction from the abuse. without a reason to study he never did. i would say though he’s still smart in a book way but dumb in decision making which has always been the case.
Nothing irks me more than when a story has so many chapters of just a straight flashback. Like is it not possible to have these integrated into the current timeline? It feels like such a cop out for creative storytelling and stunts the momentum for me. Also, I'm so confused about how the MC was second in his class and is this dumb in the present timeline? It's like the story is trying to both feed the narrative of him being an underdog in school, then shit all over it later on in his life.