At least u bloody get it , and summarize it nicely.
My comment got too long so I’m continuing here cause I still have my bone to pick with Taeseo! There were so many red flags along the way I don’t get how Yeomin didn’t realise faster. Now he’s free of debt and he could live normally, finish his studies, get a good job, fall in love normally with someone without external factors like extreme poverty affecting his feelings/decisions. But no. He’s stuck with Taeseo and I’m sure they’re gonna be end game and “work” on their differences and live happily ever after although it’s bs. They don’t match as a couple. If Taeseo was serious about Yeomin he could have helped him get the opportunities to grow. Guide him, help him. He has way more life experience. The kid clearly needed help! But if he didn’t want to humiliate him he could have offered him an internship/job at his foundation/company, with an attractive salary. So he can pay back easier while working earnestly. So that in time he gets to stand tall and on equal footing with you as an independent adult with a good career. There are ways to help people without making them feel pathetic and overly dependent on you. But ofc he doesn’t want that. He wants a quick fix so he can fuck him without distractions. He’s 31 already, does not have time to wait for Yeomin to put his life together
So I’ve read this whole thing from start to finish and have a LOT of thoughts. I was iffy about the power dynamic in place from the beginning. On one side you have a man born with a golden spoon, 31 and already a director of a huge company at that age, obviously coming from a rich chaebol family (which is what made his career advancement possible so early on.. he’s basically the heir to the conglomerate, you don’t normally become a director at 31 irl). Then you have someone much younger 23, a student, living in misery because he’s haunted by his father’s debt and hunted by loan sharks. Wonderful combination. Even for a middle class normal person it’s hard to understand the way he’s been living. You’re just used to different standards and wouldn’t date such a person because your lifestyles don’t match. With Yeomin it would be hard to do even normal things like going out to a nice restaurant from time to time, having a few vacations per year, buying each other gifts, renting a nice place together, going for grocery and clothes shopping and so on. It would be hard to get him out of the cheapstake mentality, he’s just not used to a normal lifestyle and it would take time for him to adapt even to that… Now for someone like Taeseo it’s impossible to imagine how Yeomin lives. He doesn’t understand the kind of mentality you develop living like that, the kind of struggles you went through. For Yeomin it’s his life long trauma. For Taeseo all of Yeomin’s problems are minor insignificant issues that can be easily fixed with pocket money. Like I bet all clothes he bought for Yeomin combined are close to the amount his debt is ☠ Like that’s Balenciaga, Hermes, Channel etc right there. Their worlds are so different that I was thinking from the start that they don’t work well as a couple and I don’t get why someone like Taeseo wanted to play/get involved with a kid like Yeomin (I mean I get why but what an asshole). He’s clearly not interested in anything Yeomin is sharing with him. He’s at a different stage in life not only due to age but also because of social standing. What’s there to even talk about with Yeomin? This was even more obvious after he paid off the debt for Yeomin and the kid could attempt to live a normal life finally. You’d think that now everything will be perfect. But it was just weird. While Taeseo was preparing to go to work, had a lot of business meetings/dinners daily, Yeomin was going to university, working on group projects and preparing for exams. The contrast was so stark that something felt wrong about the dynamic. Like you’re at different stages in life. One is not interested in your childish university stories cause he’s over that already and the other can’t understand your businessman lifestyle. Like the man told you 100 times that he doesn’t eat dinner at home (clearly because he has dinner in town, obviously to discuss business). Embarrassing not to get the hint and I understand why it could be annoying for someone like Taeseo. And it only got worse when Yeomin tried to live like a normal 23 year old would, going to university , meeting up with friends after classes. His social life basically in danger, headed towards extinction because Taeseo’s old ass clearly had other expectations from him. He was expecting Yeomin’s time to be dedicated to his needs. You know after a day in corporate, full of tiring never ending meetings and annoying work it’s nice to have someone on standby you can just fuck. And yes, although Taeseo did develop some feelings he still HAS been treating Yeomin as a sugar baby, as an easy fuck. Which is why I don’t understand how Yeomin fell that hard. I mean I get why. Because of the pitiful situation he was in he saw Taeseo’s bare minimum effort (yeah for him it was nothing, that’s why he liked Yeomin cause he was a low effort fuck) as a saviour hero full of kindness type of behaviour when Taeseo just wanted an easy fuck