Ok let’s get this straight cause I’m sick of this narrative that TJ dragged Ian into the gang life.
Ian was an abused and neglected boy by no fault of his own. His mom was a drug addict that overdosed and ended up in jail. Which lead Ian to enter the foster system. He went from foster family to foster family. And eventually ended up under Mr. Jang who went around collecting orphan children like they were Pokémon (Ian, Jaime and his brother plus all those other kids that were a part of Jang’s gang)
TJ meets Ian at 15 years old and was captivated by him. He sat there on the stairs waiting for Ian’s gaze to fall upon him. So what does this dumabass do, he left his decent foster family to follow Ian into Jang’s gang! It was TJ’s choice but Ian was his reason. Again he was 15 years old. A young dumb kid!!!
3 years under Jang’s gang, we know he dealt with drugs and illegal fighting ring. TJ made him a lot of money through sports betting and caught the attention of Jason who thought it was a waste to have TJ working for Jang. While Ian caught the attention of David Kim. In their initial meeting with David, David expressed interest in Ian and dragged Jang away to discuss him. Jang even said, no boss not him, he’s a good worker. Because he knew what David was capable of. And Jason confirms this by thinking about the last kid David fucked up. Jason knew Ian was going to have it rough before anything even happened. They are both around 18/19 years old at this point. Legally an adult and officially aged out of the system and deemed old enough to survive on their own. How many 18/19 year old do you know who are capable of living on their own in America? We still got people in their 20-30s living at home with their parents but I digress.
Anyways at some point Jason approached TJ to join his gang and he declined. Because he was living and working with his best friend/crush./family. Why would he abandon ship when things were going well. But all of that changed when David got his hands on Ian and drugged and raped him and passed him around. Jang who is their boss and leader didn’t protect Ian. He basically gave David the green light to abuse Ian. Now we have a problem. We have two powerless kids whose safety and survival is not guaranteed under their current boss. What can they do? Run away together? Where would they go, how much money do they even have? Where would they live? Who’s renting to 2 kids with no education and no jobs? TJ is talented in MMA fighting. There are pro coaches coming to his matches to possibly scout him but nothing set in stone. Even if he got scouted would they provide him with money, food and shelter right away? What about Ian? This option isn’t ideal because there’s too many uncertainties and the clock is ticking. If time wasn’t a factor TJ’s life trajectory would’ve been different.
Ian went to rehab to get clean. He’s safe from Jang and David for now, but he’ll be discharged soon. What’s going to stop David from continuing to abuse Ian once’s he’s back home and under Jang’s rule? Nothing! Ian will be coming back into the tiger’s den and TJ is powerless to stop that from happening. So what can his 18 year old self do? He remembers that Jason asked him to join his gang. He goes to Jason and asked if the offer was still valid. Jason asked him why he changed his mind all of a sudden? The truth he didn’t vocalize (I need to protect my best friend and family from being drugged and raped when he gets out of rehab) The half truth/lie that he spoke (I want to make a lot of money) Because he learned that having money also meant having power. And David Kim made TJ understand how little power he had. And how much power David had because he was rich and famous. Jason knew TJ was lying but he got who he wanted TJ and agreed to accept Ian too, but TJ needs to prove himself first. He needs to make his first kill.
Can you imagine how hard his resolve had to be to agree to kill someone? He was 18 years old!!! This isn’t peddling drugs, this isn’t fighting in a ring. TJ needs to take someone’s life to ensure that both he and Ian can survive when he is released from rehab. So he gave up on the fight that wouldn’t changed his life for the better to choose to make sure his best friend and only family can survive to have a future to live.
Who was already in a gang when they met? Ian Who did TJ join Jang’s gang for? Ian Who did TJ join Jason’s gang for? Also Ian And you can’t drag someone into the gang life if they’re already a part of the gang! They just joined another gang!
And that is the reason why Ian feels indebted to TJ. Because he knew TJ followed him because he likes him. He knew TJ forfeited his mma career for him. He knew TJ had to join Jason’s gang to protect him from Jang and David. Ultimately these were TJ’s choices but Ian was his reason and Ian KNOWS this.
If Doyak had written the story in chronological order this wouldn’t be hard to understand.
Ok let’s get this straight cause I’m sick of this narrative that TJ dragged Ian into the gang life.
Ian was an abused and neglected boy by no fault of his own. His mom was a drug addict that overdosed and ended up in jail. Which lead Ian to enter the foster system. He went from foster family to foster family. And eventually ended up under Mr. Jang who went around collecting orphan children like they were Pokémon (Ian, Jaime and his brother plus all those other kids that were a part of Jang’s gang)
TJ meets Ian at 15 years old and was captivated by him. He sat there on the stairs waiting for Ian’s gaze to fall upon him. So what does this dumabass do, he left his decent foster family to follow Ian into Jang’s gang! It was TJ’s choice but Ian was his reason. Again he was 15 years old. A young dumb kid!!!
3 years under Jang’s gang, we know he dealt with drugs and illegal fighting ring. TJ made him a lot of money through sports betting and caught the attention of Jason who thought it was a waste to have TJ working for Jang. While Ian caught the attention of David Kim. In their initial meeting with David, David expressed interest in Ian and dragged Jang away to discuss him. Jang even said, no boss not him, he’s a good worker. Because he knew what David was capable of. And Jason confirms this by thinking about the last kid David fucked up. Jason knew Ian was going to have it rough before anything even happened. They are both around 18/19 years old at this point. Legally an adult and officially aged out of the system and deemed old enough to survive on their own. How many 18/19 year old do you know who are capable of living on their own in America? We still got people in their 20-30s living at home with their parents but I digress.
Anyways at some point Jason approached TJ to join his gang and he declined. Because he was living and working with his best friend/crush./family. Why would he abandon ship when things were going well. But all of that changed when David got his hands on Ian and drugged and raped him and passed him around. Jang who is their boss and leader didn’t protect Ian. He basically gave David the green light to abuse Ian. Now we have a problem. We have two powerless kids whose safety and survival is not guaranteed under their current boss. What can they do? Run away together? Where would they go, how much money do they even have? Where would they live? Who’s renting to 2 kids with no education and no jobs? TJ is talented in MMA fighting. There are pro coaches coming to his matches to possibly scout him but nothing set in stone. Even if he got scouted would they provide him with money, food and shelter right away? What about Ian? This option isn’t ideal because there’s too many uncertainties and the clock is ticking. If time wasn’t a factor TJ’s life trajectory would’ve been different.
Ian went to rehab to get clean. He’s safe from Jang and David for now, but he’ll be discharged soon. What’s going to stop David from continuing to abuse Ian once’s he’s back home and under Jang’s rule? Nothing! Ian will be coming back into the tiger’s den and TJ is powerless to stop that from happening. So what can his 18 year old self do? He remembers that Jason asked him to join his gang. He goes to Jason and asked if the offer was still valid. Jason asked him why he changed his mind all of a sudden?
The truth he didn’t vocalize (I need to protect my best friend and family from being drugged and raped when he gets out of rehab)
The half truth/lie that he spoke (I want to make a lot of money) Because he learned that having money also meant having power. And David Kim made TJ understand how little power he had. And how much power David had because he was rich and famous.
Jason knew TJ was lying but he got who he wanted TJ and agreed to accept Ian too, but TJ needs to prove himself first. He needs to make his first kill.
Can you imagine how hard his resolve had to be to agree to kill someone? He was 18 years old!!! This isn’t peddling drugs, this isn’t fighting in a ring. TJ needs to take someone’s life to ensure that both he and Ian can survive when he is released from rehab. So he gave up on the fight that wouldn’t changed his life for the better to choose to make sure his best friend and only family can survive to have a future to live.
Who was already in a gang when they met? Ian
Who did TJ join Jang’s gang for? Ian
Who did TJ join Jason’s gang for? Also Ian
And you can’t drag someone into the gang life if they’re already a part of the gang! They just joined another gang!
And that is the reason why Ian feels indebted to TJ. Because he knew TJ followed him because he likes him. He knew TJ forfeited his mma career for him. He knew TJ had to join Jason’s gang to protect him from Jang and David.
Ultimately these were TJ’s choices but Ian was his reason and Ian KNOWS this.
If Doyak had written the story in chronological order this wouldn’t be hard to understand.