Now that was a wild ride, it was many things, though anything but boring! Won's confession at the very end, in chapter 63, was gut wrenchingly touching and perfectly encapsulated his painful, unhealthy yearning for Jinha. Sure, the story got a bit too melodramatic at times (really? Breaking his foot to prove a point?lol), a bit too much, too flashy in its intensity, but it did have some complex footing to stand on, especially Won's background and experience of abuse, both in his childhood, and later on through the grooming and abuse by the hands of his tutor. In comparison, Jinha felt less dimensional as a character, although his insecurity was definetly shown clearly enough to understand that Won's type of obsessive affection painted with trauma and attachment issues was exactly what he needed to feel reassured. I guess the fact he was never sure if he was loved for who he is or the dead brother he was supposed to substitute (from his perspective) made it so he needed only the most extreme of confession to be convinced he's the one, not Jinseo. We learned just a bit about how Jinha was always compared to Jinseo and never measured up, so I'm guessing his own lack of self worth and the need to be reassured stems from that.
I think it's also interesting how Won is both a victim and a perpetrator. He used the same tactics his own abuser used to mentally fuck with Jinha, control and make him addicted to the push/pull dynamic. Just like how we was groomed by and abused by his tutor as a young boy himself, he groomed Jinha when he was just a teen boy as well. The story didn't acknowledge that, I'd say, though Won did come to the conclusion that his feelings and going to extreme measures for that obsession was egoistic as well as hurtful to Jinha, and it would've probably been the best for Jinha and his mental health to let go of him (Jinha was already groomed into it and couldn't let go, so to him, it wasn't an issue at all what Won did and the fact he yearned for him). I think, because Jinha, just like Won, never really loved himself, that type of unhealthy, obsessive infatuation Won felt for him was what he felt as sincere and like a boost to his own self worth. He went berserk at the prospect of not being picked by Won, of being left by him just as he started to feel special, so knowing Won was controlling and obsessive gave him a sense of security, it didn't scare him off as it should in any other case. But our two main characters here aren't like the normies. I guess two super unhealthy people found each other and match their freak perfectly...
Now, the whole recording the bad guy in secret thing to bring him down is sooo overdone in manhwa lol, I couldn't take that part of the plot seriously.
Still, this was a good attempt at dark romance, it was intense for sure, it had some substance to it, and it was overall coherent. I like how the suspicions grew with every chapter and kept me on my toes, while my own theories were slowly, but surely, confirmed by the story. Solid 3.5/5.
Now that was a wild ride, it was many things, though anything but boring! Won's confession at the very end, in chapter 63, was gut wrenchingly touching and perfectly encapsulated his painful, unhealthy yearning for Jinha. Sure, the story got a bit too melodramatic at times (really? Breaking his foot to prove a point?lol), a bit too much, too flashy in its intensity, but it did have some complex footing to stand on, especially Won's background and experience of abuse, both in his childhood, and later on through the grooming and abuse by the hands of his tutor. In comparison, Jinha felt less dimensional as a character, although his insecurity was definetly shown clearly enough to understand that Won's type of obsessive affection painted with trauma and attachment issues was exactly what he needed to feel reassured. I guess the fact he was never sure if he was loved for who he is or the dead brother he was supposed to substitute (from his perspective) made it so he needed only the most extreme of confession to be convinced he's the one, not Jinseo. We learned just a bit about how Jinha was always compared to Jinseo and never measured up, so I'm guessing his own lack of self worth and the need to be reassured stems from that.
I think it's also interesting how Won is both a victim and a perpetrator. He used the same tactics his own abuser used to mentally fuck with Jinha, control and make him addicted to the push/pull dynamic. Just like how we was groomed by and abused by his tutor as a young boy himself, he groomed Jinha when he was just a teen boy as well. The story didn't acknowledge that, I'd say, though Won did come to the conclusion that his feelings and going to extreme measures for that obsession was egoistic as well as hurtful to Jinha, and it would've probably been the best for Jinha and his mental health to let go of him (Jinha was already groomed into it and couldn't let go, so to him, it wasn't an issue at all what Won did and the fact he yearned for him). I think, because Jinha, just like Won, never really loved himself, that type of unhealthy, obsessive infatuation Won felt for him was what he felt as sincere and like a boost to his own self worth. He went berserk at the prospect of not being picked by Won, of being left by him just as he started to feel special, so knowing Won was controlling and obsessive gave him a sense of security, it didn't scare him off as it should in any other case. But our two main characters here aren't like the normies. I guess two super unhealthy people found each other and match their freak perfectly...
Now, the whole recording the bad guy in secret thing to bring him down is sooo overdone in manhwa lol, I couldn't take that part of the plot seriously.
Still, this was a good attempt at dark romance, it was intense for sure, it had some substance to it, and it was overall coherent. I like how the suspicions grew with every chapter and kept me on my toes, while my own theories were slowly, but surely, confirmed by the story. Solid 3.5/5.