Fuck I already love maemae ,I don't think it'll change

we're still on volume 1 out of 7! still a long way to go :) and the prequel is "wax doll explosion academy" with nanoh and hopi as the main couple. it was set 7 years before the events of black swan, during the characters' academy days (almost everyone in black swan was also in wax doll except gwanchang). hwanmae was hopi's 2nd top in that novel

as you know, hwanmae has the ability to see visions of the future, a power he inherited from their evil father, who could also observe people through their dreams and thoughts. to overthrow someone with that kind of ability, hwanmae had to make sure their father would never suspect that he was conspiring with his brothers against him

both hwanmae and his father had already seen in their visions that hopi would eventually become nanoh's lover, so hwanmae deliberately became hopi's top to make their father believe he had no positive ties with nanoh. if he was willing to sleep with the very man his brother would eventually love, surely he couldnt be secretly allied with nanoh right? hwanmae succeeded in fooling their father

hwanmae has always genuinely wanted whats best for his family and his people, but hes willing to sacrifice his own morals and personal freedom to achieve it. his intentions are good but the methods he uses to protect the greater good arent always clean, and thats one of his most interesting traits imo

Thank you for explaining! I've been reading black swan novel and I love Maemae.

Wait so hwamae was fucking hopi his third cousin(?) and nanoh allowed it to happen so that they wouldn’t get killed but nanoh and hopi still get together after but they’re distantly related? Just wanna clear it up for myself I’ll skip the prequel if that’s the case just because I don’t like it when one of the main characters is involved with other people

nanoh never knew and will never know, as confirmed by the author in a q&a! she said if nanoh learned about this he’d sever ties with hwanmae and move with hopi to somewhere far away. whatever hopi and hwanmae had didnt last long and it wasnt as if they were into each other anyway. nanoh had always been hopis only ml. wax doll has an entirely different plot and can get very violent, toxic, and even gory on some parts so i suggest you skip it if youre not into bl like that!