NAKWON IS THE WORST THING EVER

you guys are all goddamn bots for saying this was a redemption story the bar is genuinely in hell.

i thought there would be actual redemption. i thought the story was going to be good. i picked this up because i kept hearing people say nakwon redeemed himself and they end up together happily in the end but after finishing that. i just want everyone to know i DESPISE nakwon. he is an UNBELIEVABLY irritating man child. he might be the worst ml i have ever seen tbh. he says he "regrets" raping mokhwa but for someone who is so regretful he acts very shamelessly around mokhwa and has a lot of audacity. the thing is, he doesn't behave like someone with a guilty conscience at all. to be clear, i don't really have any issues with toxic bl or evil red flag mls, but i do have a huge issue with annoying, grating, irritating, retarded ass whiny bitchy selfish mls, which is exactly what nakwon is.

firstly, his "regret" is REALLY superficial. he says that he regrets his actions, but his character doesn't really follow through with that idea. it just doesn't feel like he sees mokhwa as someone who is his victim. he should be giving him unconditional treatment and not expecting anything in return, but instead he expects everything in return and is quick to get pissy when mokhwa isn't he's over heels for him. his attitude should be "i don't deserve mokhwa", but it's more like "ugh, why isn't mokhwa in love with me yet!!! even though I'm so nice to him!! ughhh!!!" and proceeds to throw a fucking tantrum. he occasionally has moments where he reflects on the fact that he's lucky mokhwa even tolerates being in the same room as him BUT AGAIN. these thoughts are entirely superficial, he only THINKS them and doesn't bother acting on it, and when he's throwing his tantrums he completely throws this self awareness out the window and instead expects mokhwa to be grateful he's pestering and throwing money at him.

that one chapter where he throws a tantrum on mokhwa because he wasn't super duper enthusiastic to see him in the flowershop. he yells at him and insults him by saying he's only nice to women, implying mokhwa is mean to him. BE FOR REAL. for someone who was attacked, harassed, and raped, mokhwa is a fucking saint towards you, he literally let you stay at his house, sleep in his bed, and expresses concern for your well-being and you get pissy because the guy you raped isn't all over you...?

and then later he throws ANOTHER tantrum, because mokhwa wasn't jealous when he heard that nakwon had a girlfriend. bro starts throwing flowers on the ground, huffing and puffing and stomping on them. STOPPPPP EWWWW EW ICK imagine a guy acting like that irl my pussy would be so fucking dry

and he has this whole internal monologue complaining about how he shouldn't have expected mokhwa to do "expected" things like being jealous. I'm sorry what? what is there to be jealous of son you are not his crush let alone his boyfriend, you really thought it was "expected" for him to be jealous? that he would be head over heels for you after you stopped abusing him and played nice for a few months? the very fact he expected mokhwa to be jealous and in love with him is what i have an issue with. thats not how you act or think about someone who is your victim, he just doesn't view mokhwa as someone he's victimized at all.

he later apologizes for his behavior, but this apology is just awful. when mokhwa ignores him he whines "coome onn, i said it was sorryy....!" as if mokhwa is obligated to accept his apology, and then blame shifts by complaining that he only did it because mokhwa ignored his feelings, followed up by yet again another internal monologue that goes "ugh! how long is he gonna give me the silent treatment". is this supposed to be the attitude of someone who is genuinely remorseful?

this is the issue i have with nakwons "redemption". he completely lacks self awareness. he says he regrets doing horrible things to mokhwa but his actions and especially his internal monologue just don't really reflect it because 2 minutes later he will get upset that mokhwa isn't all over him and acts like it's something he has the right to be upset about.

later he tries to sleep with mokhwa thinking they're so lovey dovey but gets brutally rejected after mokhwa stops his hand and says "what are you doing? there's no more information to squeeze out of me". mind you it hasn't even been that long since he last raped him, saying allat about regret but then not at all shying away from trying to initiate intimacy? like idk if i was nakwon I'd be far too ashamed to have the audacity to try and initiate sex with someone i raped, are you kidding me? and this chud thinks to himself "i never did get mokhwas consent..." BEFORE PROCEEDING TO YET AGAIN NOT BOTHER ASKING FOR CONSENT AND JUST KEEP PERSISTENTLY TRYING TO INITIATE SEX. "technically" mokhwa wasnt against it this time, but he never once indicated he wanted it and was kinda just letting nakwon do whatever without saying anything. that's not proper consent. it's like... dude... where is the regret....? you should be walking on eggshells, you should be asking explicitly "may i have sex with you?" not being like "ok you technically aren't openly resisting so ima just keep going" SHAMELESS.

ok. so one day nakwon goes out of his way to buy a whole freaking boutique so mokhwa can work in this new big and fancy store instead of his small humble flowershop. mind you not only is it love bombing to do such a massive grand gesture, but also it is incredibly inconsiderate to just go ahead and make such a huge life decision on behalf of someone without even consulting them.

THE KICKER? that 7mil USD he used up was mokhwas money kangwoo left it for him and our boy nakwon just took it upon himself to steal that money and then use it to relocate mokhwas store without asking as a present to him. holy shit. this. man. is. awful. I've never read an ml that was this trashy before.

the reason he did this was because he figured that "mokhwa would just feel indebted if he found out kangwoo left him money so ill just put it to use on his behalf" first of all who tf are you to make that decision? dude i would be so pissed if someone used up my life savings behind my back on some bullshit as a GIFT for me that i didn't even want??? also all that talk about not wanting mokhwa to feel indebt... HELLO?? IS HE NOT GOING TO FEEL INDEBT TO YOU AFTER YOU TOLD HIM YOU SPENT 7M DOLLARS AS A GIFT ON HIM? THIS MAN IS AWFUL. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. also is it not weird to tell mokhwa the exact amount the store costed? he's not aware that all that money was his, it is such a guilt trip to do this. normally you wouldn't tell people how much a gift is, the least he couldve done is lie about it instead of "i spent 7million usd out of my own pockets to buy you this." and later mokhwa makes a fuss about working to pay it all back, and nakwon just let's him continue thinking this way.

regardless of whether mokhwa was going to use that money or not, he is a grown ass man with the right to autonomy and making his own decisions. you do not get to decide what's "best for him" holy hell, and he talks about it as if he did mokhwa a huge favor. oh and also he confesses that his plan was to secretly spy on mokhwa from an apartment he bought across the street while he worked. it's funny that he talks allat about what's best for him when he didn't even do any of this with good intentions in mind, he doesn't gaf abt mokhwas flower shop or career, he just wanted to isolate him from jungae and tie mokhwa down to himself instead. then when mokhwa decides to move into the apartment that nakwon bought (might've also use mokhwas money), he kind of expresses a bit of reluctance when nakwom says he's going to live with him. nakwon then fucking lies to him and guilt trips him saying he spent his life savings on this condo so he gets to live there too. then follows it up by pressuring mokhwa to share a bed with him. did you forget you are his rapist?

all throughout his "redemption", he's WAY too comfortable with the subject of having sex with mokhwa. mind you they aren't even in a relationship yet and he's constantly trying to get in his pants, MIND YOU, YOU ARE HIS RAPIST.

the characters keep talking about how nakwon has "good intentions". mokhwa tells one of his underlings that nakwon was doing all these big grand gestures and his underling says "maybe this whole thing was just a means to lure mokhwa into that condo with him". YEAH THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS, ACTUALLY.

anyways he then gets frustrated mokhwa isn't giving him any sex after he pressured him into sharing a bed and starts plotting to get him drunk so he can take advantage of him. good job nakwon, really redeeming yourself right now aren't you?

he has a moment of brief self awareness during their busan trip but instead of actually reflecting on it he just guilt trips mokhwa again before throwing another tantrum in the car about his feelings and how pitiful he is because "i do so much for you because i like you and you don't like me back booohooo!"

after that he tries to have sex with mokhwa again like a damn dog in heat, to which mokhwa rejects him. instead of being normal and moving on nakwon does what nakwon does best. throw a tantrum. he gets angry and starts guilt tripping mokhwa, saying all sorts of bs and insulting him. then complaining that mokhwa was giving him mixed signals (by being nice to him) and how dare he refuse sex after leading him on like that and tops it all off by threatening him. amazing

after jungae got robbed, he goes on an internal rant about how mokhwa should be giving him more/be more grateful because he's done so much for him, bought him a house, set up a shop, took him on vacations etc. and he's angry that all he gets is a "thanks"/"you're cute". YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE GRATEFUL. Did you forget you committed heinous crimes against mokhwa? if anything, all that you've done is just the bare minimum, how can you ever make up for the things you did to him? you damn well SHOULD be buying him a house, you SHOULD be bending over backwards for him that's the least you could do you damn rapist. the way he's written in SO unlikeable it's actually crazy, idk how anyone could see this as a story of redemption.

being evil and robbing someone is bad, but it doesn't inherently make a character insufferable. On the other hand, robbing someone, buying them icecream using the money you stole, and then getting upset they aren't expressing more gratitude is infuriating. this is literally his whole redemption arc. that one sentence basically summarizes everything he does "for mokhwa"

near the end, mokhwa gets genuinely pissed at him for meddling in his life (and out of concern because mokhwa is a damn saint), and instead of reflecting on his actions or mokhwas feelings, ALL OF HIS INTERNAL MONOLOGUE is just his throwing a pity party about how mokhwa isn't reciprocating his feelings. "woe is me!! I'm such a poor sad ml suffering from one sided love!". then he angrily asks mokhwa if hes been "toying with him". again with the self awareness, don't you remember how YOU toyed with him when you first meet? why are you upset it's happening to you now? if anything, mokhwa has the right to toy with you, you bloody bastard

then he has a rare moment of clarity again.
"given our history, i should be glad he doesn't hate me. it was arrogant of me to expect him to return my feelings" SO YOU'RE AWARE? SO YOU DO HAVE A FUNCTIONING BRAIN, HUH. THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE THIS. AGAIN. THESE THOUGHTS ARE PURELY SUPERFICIAL. IT'S LIKE HE'S LARPING SELF REFLECTION.

he ends the series off by showing mokhwa his knife scar to guilt trip him into spending the holiday with him, and saying that it's his fault he got stabbed because he rejected him last year. he makes the comment to mokhwa "don't you have a conscience?" and genuinely i start tweaking. why don't you ask yourself that question, big boy?

redemption my ass, redemption my left nut. why did the author choose to write nakwon like this? you would really have to go out of your way to write a character this annoying. the story just pushes for mokhwa in all his forgiving grace to accept that nakwon is just an asshole and they end up together. what the hell kind of redemption story is this? this is some straight up bullshit. i hate the ending. i hate to see nakwon happy. i hate that everything turn out the way he wanted. i fucking hate him.