Ian will never be the worst among the three, and you guys are seriously stupid for taking ...

Ian will never be the worst among the three, and you guys are seriously stupid for taking the author’s words so seriously. She clearly just randomly picked Ian as the worst because she can’t choose one of the male leads without getting hate, so she’d rather take a neutral position by picking Ian. You don’t need the author to tell you who is the worst; the characters’ behavior throughout the story speaks for itself, and TJ is clearly the worst.

You’re seriously not going to compare Ian being selfish at times, indulging in the male leads’ obsession, or being avoidant at times to TJ’s extreme abusive behavior: sending Ian to jail, lying about the reasons he joined the gang, dragging Ian into the gang by using his guilt, keeping the scar for years to remind Ian of that horrible day, putting him in debt, ruining his chances at having a normal life and finding a clean job to support himself, and making him deliver drugs to make him relapse again. I need you guys to be serious. But I guess it’s fine to ruin your partner’s life as long as you act like a yearner lover boy from time to time.

Also, it wasn’t Ian who was behind their open relationship. It was always TJ. We know Ian didn’t confess his feelings either, but he wasn’t the one who started their open relationship. After they slept together, Ian clearly mentioned that they had made promises, and Ian wanted more after their first time. But TJ started sleeping with other women to rank higher in the gang, which pissed Ian off, so he started sleeping with other guys too because TJ was literally hurting him and showing no respect for his feelings. TJ was making out with these girls in front of Ian, so Ian started using sex to cope again because TJ was neglecting their relationship and using these women to hurt him.

Notice how Ian simply stopped sleeping with other guys for the first time when he met Jo. Jo wanted a monogamous relationship with him, so Ian stopped sleeping with other guys out of respect for Jo’s feelings. Ian simply didn’t respect TJ’s feelings because TJ didn’t respect his first. Why would Ian keep waiting for TJ like a loyal dog when TJ was out there fucking other women and putting the gang before their relationship?
It was TJ who broke the promises they made in that hotel room because he chose the gang over his relationship with Ian. Yet Ian still stayed by TJ’s side for years, hoping TJ would eventually give up the gang and pursue the promises they had made.
And I don’t see Ian doing anything that would make TJ feel unloved. Ian sacrificed his mental health and the life he wanted in order to be with TJ. He always comforted TJ when it came to his trauma, always ran back to TJ whenever he was in danger, and even when he slept with other guys because TJ had started doing it first, he still respected TJ’s feelings and kept it behind closed doors. He never threw it in TJ’s face. Meanwhile, all TJ did was use Ian’s kindness and guilt to trap him by his side.

TJ feeling unloved was ultimately just his own delusion and selfishness. He was basically like, “If you don’t stay by my side in this gang forever, even though it’s making you feel like you want to kill yourself, then you don’t love me.” Lmao. He felt unloved because he’s selfish and self-centered manchild, and that was never Ian’s responsibility. Ian is the one who has every right to feel unloved. It was never TJ.