LOVE this story because I'm a dirty old lady

The characters are using flip phones so you know this is a classic that stands the test of time. Even though it's 10 years old, it feels fresh to me. It made me laugh, and humor is the hardest thing to keep fresh. Yes, there are a few things that have become tropes (the childhood encounter, etc), but what I love most about this is how flawed and yet still charismatic the characters are. Both have childhood traumas, both deal with it with denial. One cheats and tries not to get too emotionally involved. One just flat out denies he was abused as a kid. And yet they connect.

Hey, I had a college roommate who told me he was kicked out of his family and house for being gay at age 15 and ended up staying with a 40 year old lover...and still considers that person a savior even now (3 decades later). He's taken people down for sexual harassment later in life so he says he knows what's consensual and what's not. Maybe it'll kick in that what happened was bad...or maybe it won't. I dunno. I think what happened is totally wrong but I'm not going to prefer that my friend be traumatized and shooting heroin to deal rather than content and employed in denial. Also, age 24 is probably way too soon for Mookyul to realize how effed up his situation was/is. I guess because I'm WAY older and have seen just how flawed and messy relationships are, how flawed and messy people are, this story doesn't seem ugly, it just seems like darker normal.

Being an incredibly sexy mob boss at 24, though, is not believable, and the eternal horniness is also not believable, but that's the part I consider the enjoyable fantasy of manhwa. As for the dubcon, well, that's another part where reality and fantasy part. Do not do this at home, kiddos, but heck, the I-want-you-so-much-I-can't-stop-myself-and-you're-okay-with-it-at-the-end trope has been around in romance novels since time immemorial. Maybe we can agree it's a fantasy that doesn't actually happen (nor should) in real life, like fire-breathing dragons, but it must still scratch some subconscious itch due to its longevity.