I honestly think this is one of the best psychological BLs out there. It's so common to see obsessive top characters just use physical violence or for them to force acquiescence by leveraging their wealth and status differences, but the way Jihwan operates is honestly much scarier. He meticulously unraveled Sooyoung's whole social support system and sabotaged his future prospects so he wouldn't have the opportunity to become independent. He did this all behind the scenes with the intention of letting Sooyoung believe that he was simply being rejected, not just by his former friends and his top-choice school, but perhaps by the world as a whole. He set everything up so that all there was left to do was to wait with open arms for the poor, lost Sooyoung to naturally turn to him.
But what's even more interesting is that he doesn't seem to actually understand that his actions were harmful to Sooyoung. When Jihwan got caught, he didn't think it was a big deal at all. Jihwan truly believed that everything he did was for Sooyoung's own good; that he was only removing useless people and obstacles in Sooyoung's path so that Sooyoung would forget all his petty struggles and just live comfortably under his care. We see him get increasingly frustrated while failing to grasp why Sooyoung is unable to forgive him and move on, and when Sooyoung tries to end their relationship for good, he simply dismisses it as nonsense because he's unable to reconcile Sooyoung's rejection with his internal perception of reality and how it should be. Jihwan is a truly delusional and psychopathic character.
People seem unhappy with the current pacing of the story, but I think it really emphasizes Sooyoung's current situation and his state of mind. His days are dragging on dully, and he's forced to live in uncomfortable suspense while Jihwan constantly whittles away at his defenses without making any big moves. Sooyoung already seems to have lost his will to put up any meaningful resistance, and he's only waiting in hopes that Jihwan will get bored and eventually let him go. In the meantime, Jihwan controls every aspect of Sooyoung's environment, including his access to privacy, to entertainment, and to sex. It's a battle of wills, and at some point, something is going to have to give.
For the record, I do NOT see this as a "romance" story, so if that's what you're hoping for, I see why you would be disappointed. To me, this is a very compelling psychological drama, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things will unfold from here.
I honestly think this is one of the best psychological BLs out there. It's so common to see obsessive top characters just use physical violence or for them to force acquiescence by leveraging their wealth and status differences, but the way Jihwan operates is honestly much scarier. He meticulously unraveled Sooyoung's whole social support system and sabotaged his future prospects so he wouldn't have the opportunity to become independent. He did this all behind the scenes with the intention of letting Sooyoung believe that he was simply being rejected, not just by his former friends and his top-choice school, but perhaps by the world as a whole. He set everything up so that all there was left to do was to wait with open arms for the poor, lost Sooyoung to naturally turn to him.
But what's even more interesting is that he doesn't seem to actually understand that his actions were harmful to Sooyoung. When Jihwan got caught, he didn't think it was a big deal at all. Jihwan truly believed that everything he did was for Sooyoung's own good; that he was only removing useless people and obstacles in Sooyoung's path so that Sooyoung would forget all his petty struggles and just live comfortably under his care. We see him get increasingly frustrated while failing to grasp why Sooyoung is unable to forgive him and move on, and when Sooyoung tries to end their relationship for good, he simply dismisses it as nonsense because he's unable to reconcile Sooyoung's rejection with his internal perception of reality and how it should be. Jihwan is a truly delusional and psychopathic character.
People seem unhappy with the current pacing of the story, but I think it really emphasizes Sooyoung's current situation and his state of mind. His days are dragging on dully, and he's forced to live in uncomfortable suspense while Jihwan constantly whittles away at his defenses without making any big moves. Sooyoung already seems to have lost his will to put up any meaningful resistance, and he's only waiting in hopes that Jihwan will get bored and eventually let him go. In the meantime, Jihwan controls every aspect of Sooyoung's environment, including his access to privacy, to entertainment, and to sex. It's a battle of wills, and at some point, something is going to have to give.
For the record, I do NOT see this as a "romance" story, so if that's what you're hoping for, I see why you would be disappointed. To me, this is a very compelling psychological drama, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things will unfold from here.