I feel like they will tackle the ex manager cause he recently showed up right? And it feels unfinished if garam didn’t know the ex manager man (im just lowkey nosey and i wanna know garam reaction too after finding out that hes not the first one to make heejae feels like that since garam whole reasoning is the fact that no one get heejae like he do LOL)
Yk, I had a similar conversation here before. To me, Garam was sorta kinda a stand-in for the ex-manager. Like, for example, there’s that Chopin thing, back then the manager said that even though Heejae’s Rachmaninoff is great, there’s something special about his Chopin, garam mentioned that he noticed the loneliness in his chopin and heejae kissed him, Then there was a time when Heejae saw his ex-manager in Garam during his low moment, he saw the manager when Garam packed his stuff and was about to leave him, how the manager’s “ghost” was there too when Garam talked about Horowitz, how memories of manager crossed his mind after he and garam has sex for the first time, among many other things.
I do think he genuinely loves Garam for who he is now, but I also think the ex-manager unconsciously had a massive influence on their relationship during its early stages.
I need the ex-manager to be explored more in Heejae’s becoming-human/redemption arc because there are so many things about Heejae that are tied to him too like why Heejae took a decade long hiatus, the hidden gem mission of his that somehow scarred so many young, bright souls in the process, and even his relationship with Garam. It’s like this huge elephant in the room. (Also, I really want to see Garam’s reaction lol)
I can’t write a short paragraph oh my, ofc it has to be a whole essay smh
Bruh don’t do this to me again. Actually there’s one chapter I tried to avoid like plague (chap 75). It’s quite literally first time he cried too. Gosh, his whole monologue abt “lost sound, die without a single trace” and the distant stare into that goddamn pond with WATER LILLIES AND Chopin no 4 in the background and the fishes conversation. There’s also no physical memory of the ex manager too. No images, no recordings (remember when Heejae told him anyone can record). We don’t even fucking know his name. And then there’s one chapter, i forgot but Garam said “it’s forever as long as Heejae is sincere to him”. Emphasis on sincere!!!! Heejae is loving but also not honest enough. I recalled him gaslighting my son during the Salzburg trip abt him being tired, not angry or anything like????? Stop lying. For me, I think Garam would always be understanding abt the things but I fear it’s Heejae is not stable enough for this crash down.
P.s: I just remember Garam randomly picked the room in the house and it happened to be the ex manager choice too. Cue the memory abt that note “I care abt you, I really do”. What if we all gotta die. I feel physically ill.
EXACTLY OMGGG LIKE the ex manager is like heejae white moonlight or something LOL! I just feel bad for my bby garam, just when he thought in those early days of their rs that him and heejae share this deep profound connection that nobody else but him can get but in actuality the reason why heejae choose him in the first place is because he can see the ex manager shadow in him (or something) but i do believe that in these latest chapters, heejae really do love garam hes just a tsundere about it lmao. But its true tho that the elephant of the room (ex manager) is still not discuss yet- (which i feel like author nim will do explore :3)
Exactly like damn even if theyre in rs heejae (for me) is not being sincere enough like the ex manager is still at the back of his fucking mind LIKE MY MAN AINT MOVE ON STILL IT PISSED ME TF OFF CAUSE MY POOR BBY GARAM IS IN THIS DELUSION (wow im that mad lol) that even if heejae has a lot of issue he dont give a fuck as long as heejae is being “sincere” with him which he feels in those case is it huhu.
I feel so bad for my bby cause literally talinski and heejae manager knows whats up about it, its just so unfair for garam cause honestly atp hes the only one making some effort in their rs huhu. (Garam deserves better idc-)
I could be wrong, but Monet was also a thing with the ex-manager, no? There are too many overlaps between the two for you to convince me that the manager didn’t play some role in how Heejae perceived Garam in the early stages of their relationship. I feel like this is a subject that needs to be addressed, and it could open up a whole discussion about sincerity and the nature of their relationship. Since it’s such a touchy subject, I would imagine Heejae getting all defensive and knifey at first, while Garam, even though he wouldn’t lash out, would fall into another bout of internalized insecurity and grow even “colder.”
I said this to someone before, but if one day Garam pulls a “I care about you, I really do” on Heejae, that hag would definitely end up in an asylum.
Idk reading all ur analysis and rereading this story again makes me so furious at heejae like deadass i want garam to be fully independent and away from heejae like damn he deserves sm better (which ik will not happen cause this is romance story at the end of the day lol). And heejae needs some therapy like deadass mf needs to learn how to appreciate people who actually loves him and dont just take those people for granted
Someone mentioned that the author hasn’t thought of the manager’s face yet, like the manager was always meant to be this vague figure who lived rent-free in Heejae’s mind, which is fine, but I hope the lack of a visual identity won’t stop the author from addressing the situation and making Garam at least aware of it. And if I’m being greedy, I’d love to see Heejae make peace with it too.
This is still the biggest elephant in the room to me. Like, Heejae destroyed his student virgin hole and immediately went back to memories of sharing his composition with his manager for the first time, the Horowitz talk, the glove, the intimacy of it all. Like, you can’t be serious, uncle time and place come on
Heejae’s Hidden Gem mission started after his ex-manager passed away, right? And it was pretty much driven by him, right? I wonder if garam and ex managers sounds have similar vibe, as in they both carry that raw passion for music, thats the kind of sound Heejae was looking for like compton clearly said that he, Yerim, and Crueger were far more talented than Garam as students, it’s just that Heejae happened to really enjoy Garam’s.
And I can’t remember which chapter, but after their first time, Heejae’s monologue was something like, “I wanted to find a hidden gem for the sake of music, my heart toward music is clearly unchanged but I came to understand that, hidden away beneath it all, my true mission is to not lose you again,” with a flashback to the conversation about Rachmaninoff and Horowitz he had with ex-manager.
TL;DR: I wonder if, by “hidden gem,” the sound Heejae was actually looking for was a sound that gave him a similar feeling to what he experienced with his ex-manager. That’s why Compton, Yerim, and Crueger could never satisfy him, even if they were far more talented and polished because he was looking for something very specific to fill his emptiness after manager passed away.
You can always count on me to overanalyze anything related to the ex-manager that's how nosy i am