I actually like trope where mc like their friend/colleague but end up with someone else. But it's so annoying when the friend suddenly realized halfway through that they like mc after all, and suddenly it become a love triangle, one of the troupe I hate the most. People saying ml is manipulative which is true but it benefits mc. I think people forgot the have the "ring" or whatever bullshit they have, both of them can die anyway if they don't sleep together. I think ml manipulation though the large part of it want mc all by himself, but at the same time make them comfortable with each other is a win win situation anyway. Like the other option is literally ass. My problem with this story that it's dragging too much and at some point I just want to stab mc's friend to shut the fuck up