This "history" lesson is great in understanding what happened between Brian and the two dragons, but I really freaking hope this isn't a lead in to "Brian" replacing Ian. At the end of the day, Ian is 1000000x more fun to read as a character and not nearly as frustrating.
But the "you *are* Brian" bulk from before the time jump just... it gets under my skin and feels like it's preparing us for Ian to essentially disappear as the dragons get "Brian" back.
I would so much rather it be a twist that he's a reincarnation, but not like the rest. That Brian and Ian are two very different entities, even if Ian has access to Brian's memories. For example, he has access, but it's like it happened to another person, not him. So Brian remains Brian and stays in the past, and Ian gets to live on as Ian- without competing for space with a memory.
My best guess is that the brother was obsessed with Won. Think back to the crazed look on his face when he was choking the dude while DTD when the MC caught him before moving out.
The uke is gorgeous, and the brother obv tried hard to befriend him, even when he was being rejected. The uke was also very obv not happy with the touchiness from the brother. I think the brother became obsessed, and then the uke ended up with feelings for Jinha. So, he secluded the uke away from everyone, therefore losing contact with his friends.
When the uke & Jinha ended up meeting/being suspected/actually doing something, the brother beat the shit out of Jinha or designed an accident, hence the hospital accident. Then the uke finally decided to leave, he punished him by unaliving himself.
So, the uke is being honest, but he's controlling and likes rough play bc he's been abused mentally/emotionally, etc. for so long. Monkey see, monkey do. It's also why he tolerated the abusive behavior from Jinha and the reciprocity, and is afraid of being alone.
((Or the uke is crazy, orchestrated the accident for Jinha, and is now using him as a replacement. Doesn't fit nearly as well as the first option, though))
Even if J manages to pull a win out of this, he's gonna be f'ed up for a while. Regardless, he has a singular human punching bag to unload all of that rage onto, and regardless of reasoning, he's going to blame Dan bc the other team designed it that way.
I want J to win bc somehow I hate the baldy more, but also bc I know whatever grape or beating is coming for Dan won't be quite as bad. Oh, and has anyone else noticed the lack of pre-game "jinx" bouts? They're preparing us for something, and I dunlike.it.
The top probably got caught leaving or kept over because the other went missing. He probably did show up, just too late. I bet the reason he's lived such a shady life is because he never went back to the orphanage and has been looking for Mido since.
The situation is horrible, but the dude was just a kid. He was doing the best he could with the situation given. Now he's paying the price for not being as "cool" and all-knowing as the other one perceived him to be. The whole situation bites ass.
This backstory isn't taking so long just so that we accept it when it flashes back to the present and suddenly all of Brian's memories are awakened and Ian basically becomes a replacement Brian. Because if that's it, I quit.
Ian has a ten times more interesting backstory, personality, and relationship with each character than Brian does. I am not even a little interested in replacing him with any version of Brian.
What this desperately needed was an extra chapter that showed their success in the future.