Out of the semes I feel like zhenya is the most ruthless

Nah Ilay us far too cruel

But Ilay is already showing change. That's why Tae is going back to him, Ilay is gaining his humanity because of how he feels about Tae. Zhenya however, still shows no signs of it.. the minute he even realizes he feel something fof Taekjoo, he immediately gets violent to convince himself it's not true

Saying this about ilay when what's going to happen is about to happen both are at different times in their stories

no trust me after reading BOTH the passion and codename anastasia novels the change illay and zhenya go through cannot be compared at all.

Illay even 10 years in the future and taeuis relationship doesnt improve at all and taeui himself states he is only staying with islay out of obligation and they never really have a relationship that can even be considered as lovers more like FWB.

However zhenyas character development is way more explicit and he and taekjoo become lovers and they have a very intimate relationship. zhenya is still hardcore but he listens to taekjoo and their relationship after this arc as well as in the future is honestly the best out of all the black flag MCS. I'm not denying that zhenya is a blackflag but he is definitely better then illay. its honestly so fluffy most of the time in the novels for CA. Taekjoo and zhenya openly date and travel the world together and taekjoo takes pictures of zhenya all the time and zhenya forms a bond with taekjoos mom and zhenya gives up everything for taekjoo.

honestly the character arc for illay is the worst of the semes there are so many moments when you think he will treat illay nicely or even CONFESS but even the domestic scenes in the novel are rare and not really intimate and you dont ever see illay sacrifice anything to LOVE taeui and you don't see them love each other. the next few scenes in passion will be the worst and highlight this. its a peak moment for character development and when it does not happen it leaves the plot feeling empty as theres 0 progression and even in the future when there are more openly intimate characters like xinlu and gable taeui doesnt even understand them and doesnt relate since he himself is not in a loving relationship with illay.

the character arc for zhenya on the other hand happens immediately after this scene as it made zhenya realise he didnt want to kill taekjoo and actually loved him YES Its a shitty time to realise and he is a blackflag for doing it but after this zhenya becomes a devoted lover for taekjoo

As someone who read codename anastasia (not the other one mentioned here tho) ik how at this point in the story Zhenya seems beyond evil and repair but DAMN does he and their relationship change later. I honestly can’t help but swoon each time I remember how him and even Olga got unofficially adopted by MC’s mom and communicating fine despite neither speaking the other’s language. The mom likes Zhenya so much too

I've heard spoilers of Code name Anastasia and I don't think Zhenya is as bad as Ilay. Remember Ilay is not a threat to Taeui. Ilay is doing it for the game. Zhenya is also doing it for the game however Taekjoo is a threat to Russia and the Bogadanov family. Zhenya raping Taekjoo is absolutely horrendous however he intended to humiliate and kill Taekjoo just like men do in war(which is not something to be appreciated) Ilay does not even have any reason he is just doing it for pure sport. I've heard Taekjoo the spy turns into a black flag going toe to toe with Zhenya and becomes obsessed with him. However Taeju the military soldier cried his heart out when ilay humiliated and raped him. He is an openly gay character unlike both the men from codename Anastasia who did not do it with men. However Zhenya is a black flag and has done horrible things but I despise ilay so much. I do not despise Zhenya as much as I despise ilay

Taeui is not a threat to ilay, sorry it's the other way

As someone who’s read both sets of novels, all I can say is their dynamics are different. Ilay is a well-socialized psychopath. He comes from a loving environment , he was just born wrong, but he could function in society. Zhenya on the other hand is an unsociable sociopath who grew up unloved and definitely doesn’t know how to socialize.
In terms of their respective love stories, Ilay got an inkling before Tae left him, whereas we have to assume Zhenya really didn’t get it until Taekjoo left.
And really neither relationships flourished till their respective sequels.

Oh mama you know how to read. Im with you

Does passion have a love triangle? I hate love triangles

Yes but not like the one we're use to. It doesn't run around a lot but there is. The second ML and the ML are both trash but the ML is way more trash than the second ML

It's not like Tae's lovers are green flags lmaoooo