I enjoyed reading this story, especially the chemistry between Yohan and Chunho and I really liked how Yohan and Donha were close to the hips like brothers and all four of them living together like a family and the story brilliantly dealt the pain and suffering of characters like how Chunho's guilt and sadness over his brother death and how he's basically meant to be the source of bone marrow for his brother's treatment. How Yohan grew in a home where he never really got much affection and the heartbreak between the General and Donha
I also appreciate how this manhwa handled "coming out of closet". Self-loathing, wanting of understanding, sadness, depression, happiness once when the girl finds there is someone who understands her
I cant forgive about the fact that this manhwa ripped out the relation between Yohan and Donha, To Yohan, Donha is everything, his friend, his partner and his family and for someone who had no one beside him growing up, the plot making him to give up the choice of not seeing Donha again is painful to bear, but perhaps we can take some comfort in knowing that Chunho will now stand beside Yohan holding his hand and standing by his side. Ultimately both Yohan and Donha got what they wanted, to be with someone beyond as family, though they can no longer see each other anymore, they do care for each other and keep them in their memory as they open another chapter in their lives
I dont particularly care for the side stories, the main story is sweet, comical and adorable and it felt refreshing to read
Rin is secretly in love with Shotaro ever since they were kids to the point where Rin actively pushes away others from Shotaro's orbit and wanting only to be his no 1 and never really sharing his thoughts and feelings and when Shotaro falls in love with a girl, suddenly he's like "Damn, Shotaro fell in love with someone other than me?? How can he do this to me?! Waaah! Still I cant hate you, so I'm gonna make you hate me instead! Yeh! I'm brilliant and Thats how I'm gonna get over you" and goes around sleeping and being an ass but still being "boohoo, I still like you, wish I could turn back time and start fresh" and fakes amnesia just to get back with Shotaro
Shotaro meanwhile here is brooding about Rin and reminising about their past like he's some damn widow. I dont really think Shotaro is against being with Rin and had Rin been forward with his emotions then Shotaro would have happily accepted it and he's just sad that he and his best friend is drifting apart and is raking his brain to patch things up, its just that this manga pointlessly tries to make it seem like Shotaro's pain about unrecognized feelinga towards Rin when in reality, its just Rin being an idiot and causing this damn mess of a situation and pointless heartbreak
Never have I ever had the displeasure of reading something so taxing and painful. The story tried to make this story come off as fun and fast paced but the its anything but lighthearted
The story itself is dark and the angst is developed at the expense of Jace. The constant degradation of Jace, both emotionally and physically without any proper form of redressal is tiring and is mentally taxing.
After that first dream incident, the story took a nosedive and we were forced to see Jace being repeatedly violated and put in a painful situation while the story pacing itself is rushed and the fact that Jace is made to be act as nonchalant is leaving a sour note
And as for Duke, WHO TF SLEEPS WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS LITERALLY GOT VIOLATED JUST A MOMENTS AGO?? The Duke seemingly knows of Jace's plight but instead of coming upfront about his wishes, he rather coerces Jace into being with him.
The whole story is either Duke banging Jace or Jace getting tormented and humilated and the story tries to make both of them a thing and the worst part is the story doesnt address the main issue, miscommunication and how the chain of events got messy and how the characters got in this situation and suddenly both were weeping and got back together again as a clean slate? NO! THATS NOT HOW ITS SUPPOSED TO BE! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU START CLEAN, THE PAST STILL LINGERS ON AND UNLESS YOU CONFRONT AND RESOLVE IT, ITS ALL IN VAIN!
It is emotionally taxing to see Jace being violated repeatedly not even getting proper redressal and the story acts like its all fine especially with Duke like its "la-la-land". No, Duke is still contributing factor for Jace's pain and suffering. Had Duke properly talked to Jace, none of this would have happened
You know what's painful? Seeing Jace getting violated by the Duke and then putting on a smile just for Duke's brother to make him not worry about him and again when he sacrificed himself when the kidnapper tried to lay his hand on that kid, it just broke my heart. That kid will never know just what kind of hell Jace endured just to ensure that kid feels happy and safe and how his brother acted like a monster to him. Jace in every way, a great parent to that kid, he selflessly dedicated himself to that kid's education and overall well being and to see such a character being disgraced like this is utterly painful to process and the fact that this story not only does not tries to make amends but even dismiss his pain by speedrunning the plot is disgusting
Overall, I'd say, do not read this story at all! I came in with an expectation of cute, silly love story, perhaps with a bit of grandeur akin to King's maker (that's a fantasic manhwa) but I discovered pain and needless angst, the story uses Jace's suffering AS A plot device to move forward the story.
The story concept is good, but it needed some more time in the oven. Specifically pacing, the story seemed to be going slowly but then bam! plot, soon bam! action!! smut! confrontation and rape?!
The twist of professor and mr.cane, greek, moon cult thing could have been explored more and the main character being weirdly headfirst but also timid to me felt a bit off. There's really no need to quickly end the story as the twist itself seemed to provide good amount to cover. Everything about this story felt like they are rushing to finish this quickly
The ML character itself seemed very interesting (except for that scene), the story could have showed his turmoil, his regrets, his thinking and everything about him having to bear the legacy of Greek's son and carrying his baggage and everything.
It's a really thrilling read, the characters were fleshed out well and they felt human and the group thing and their behaviors realistic and I even felt shitty, that's how good it is. We are communal species yet we also pretty selfish in our need to survive and this manhwa perfect captures this.
And I like how the Youngwon character is written out. I dont think he "loves" Hyunho in a normal way. Sure, if there was no breakout, they would have naturally gone out and fell in love with each other but due to extraordinary circumstances, their thinking and behavior changed for survival. But the repeated reawakening in the same scenario and constantly seeing Hyunho dying fucked up Youngwon. After all, he constantly has to see someone die and then wake up in the same nightmare only to realize you are stuck in a loop
I dont think Youngwon hates Hyunho, rather he resents his existence as he's the one triggering this nightmare for Youngwon and wanting Hyunho to survive, not for Hyunho's sake, but to atleast escape his nightmare is a human thing and he got twisted because of repeated exposure to the scenario and he maybe poured his pain, suffering and his curiosity on Hyunho. He's suffering from Stockholm syndrome (trauma based attachment) and he sees Hyunho as a way to stabilize his mental state and grown attached emotionally and mentally.
Perhaps after escaping this nightmare, their attachment would evolve into something normal relationship and it's a blessing in disguise for Hyunho not to remember past but to see things from Youngwon's perspective, but I hardly think this relationship would be smooth-sailing, even if Youngwon seems fine, he still carries trauma and it'll cause issues.
Is Youngwon an asshole? sure, but is he always like this? definitely not. It's the environment and the trauma that made him go mad. he's the one who remembers everything and constantly has to face Hyunho's death, killing people to survive and face the cruel selfish nature of human just to survive and to me, it is very human and I liked it.
If there ever going to be side stories, I'd like them to focus more on trauma, the college incident, how they are adapting themselves after going through something traumatic
P.S: I just learned that this manhwa is written by same people who wrote Profundis and Cutting sleeve?? I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS GOOD MANHWA IS WRITTEN BY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO WROTE RAPE-FEST MANHWA LIKE PROFUNDIS AND CUTTING SLEEVE!!!!!!
I love the artwork and character design especially Kai, he looks like a mix of Toji and Jerkyung to me (Horseface had pretty good looks, its his nasty temper thats unbearable), story seems like going to be adorable, why do I have to discover such gems when they arent complete and has looong update time...
I'm not sure about the friend group, specifically age. Jyuri is 20, so most likely he'd be in his second year of his undergraduate program and that long hair guy is also in the same program but the friend group is friends with Kai who seems to be a C-suite executive in the company, but Kai doesnt seem like THAT old compared to Jyuri and the friend group, and the friend group addresses Kai casually. and Kai even comes as guest lecturer, so I'm not so sure about the whole age thing. I'm guessing Jyuji is the youngest guy and that makes him baby in the friend group?
It's your typical slice of life bl and the scenes to me felt realistic and were handled with a sense of matureness to me. It doesn't attempt to make either of main characters pious or degenerate but rather very human
Hyojun to me felt very realistic, he's sure of his wants and needs and walks away if things bother him and is no longer worth fixing. He has firm grip on his emotion and doesn't seem like the guy who'll let anyone to walk over him
Minwu also to me feel felt very real. Typically most stories either typecast characters like Minwu as either arrogant asshole or golden retriever, but here, he felt very real in his character and his behavior. People are commenting on the fact that he's acting like child and for Minwu it bothers that Hyojun sees him like a whiny kid but to me, it feels very realistic and I like the fact that the story acknowledges his shortcomings and pushing him to develop positively.
Remember, even though he grew privileged, his parents weren't really around much and most of his peers saw him for his background and his appearance not for himself and got bored of everything as no one appreciated his effort or celebrated his wins and only saw him for his results and so he got bored and apathetic and he's now suddenly experiencing new side of things like feeling desire, developing crush, getting jealous and clingy with someone who truly made him feel something and wanting that person to indulge in his childish desires and wanting that person to see him as reliable and cool is how most relationships exists, but it's also important how he handles himself. When he realizes that his constant whining and pouting would affect Hyojun, he tries to correct himself and both talk out their issues properly.
And as for Non-con/Dub-con people are complaining here, aside from that first drunken incident with Minwu and Hyojun, both seem to be okay with each other. They were both adults and even if Minwu is physically impressive, Hyojun can easily push him off if he doesnt want and even in that first drunken incident, Minwu acted very maturely, he could have taken further but instead he cleaned up Hyojun and left quickly and only made his move when Hyojun can actually give his consent and accepted what happened was indeed mistake.
And as for Ex and his wife, some are praising heaps as karma and some are deriding it as vile, but once again, everything about it is very realistic. Yes, he's a POS who strung along Hyojun and is a serial liar but also him getting shackled to someone like his wife is tragic and I agree with one comment that mentioned that people would go up in flames if the roles were reversed and misandry is just as destructive as misogyny. But I have to say, Ex guy dug his own grave here. He CHOSE to go with that woman. He should have walked away when the woman didnt match with the profile his mom sent, but he CHOSE to sit down and agreed to date and marry that woman. Whaddya mean "I wouldn't have married you if I known about your craziness?" No, He chose to overlook her flaws for an opportunity to marry into wealth. He chose to prioritize his societal appearance and his standing. He made his bed and now he has to lie on it. It's his mistake of his own making and I have no sympathy for him trapped in that marriage. He chose what he wanted and he got it. He married a girl, overlooked her qualities for an opportunity to marry into wealth and get a better position in that company using his marriage connection and he got that. His mistake is that is boundless greed. He got what he wanted, but his greed didn't stop there, he wanted Hyojun and still wanted to string him along and that served as his karma. They say a man who desires way more than what he can handle always falls and in this case, its true for hyojun's ex
Overall, I'd say it's pretty mature story, there are moments of cheesiness but nice read. I wouldn't necessarily be rereading it again, but I'd highly recommend it to check it out
There are some comedic elements that I liked, but for the most part, I felt like I'm powering through the story rather than enjoying it. I didnt particularly enjoy the dynamic Hyun and Ivan had upto ch 29 and suddenly it's flipped? Plus this whole marked thing I didnt find it appealing. This marking can supposedly be reversed by medical treatment (thank god there's logic in this story where modern medicine DOES help to treat it) but Ivan's like "Noo, lemme help you out (and tap that ass while at it)" and Hyun's like fine? Shouldn't he atleast demand Ivan to compensate for his medical cost and treatment? Did they make them go enemies to lovers thing? Seems like it
And the other thing, Alec. Sure the initial attraction can be explained away by marking and his emotional unavailability can be explained by his upbringing. But what was his intention with Hyun? Is he figuring out his feelings for Hyun? When Hyun said that he treats Alec different to Ivan as Ivan is his bf, Alec got disappointed. Is it perhaps he lost Hyun to Ivan or was it because he failed to capture Hyun's heart with his inactions? Did he truly like Hyun or saw Hyun as a piece to knock Ivan down a few pegs?
Upto chapter 29, it wasnt clear whether the sex scenes were truly occuring or its all Hyun's imagination. The marking made Hyun unstable and hallucinate and that raises certain question, when Alec gave Hyun that shirt amd eventually led to relations, did it actually occur? Or Alec manipulated Hyun using pheremones or was ot all imagination due to Hyun's unstable marking? Seeing how it didnt come up, perhaps its hallucination, or perhaps its just how many authors write away stories like this shamelessly, writing non con part for gratification and not willing to deal with consequences.
Overall, it's not something I'll be rereading it again, certain elements were funny and Ivan and Hyun's relationship developed well and its chaotically adorable, I didnt enjoy it as much as I thought
I think this story shouldn't have billed as bl story, sure there are elements, but the story goes into length how idols (specifically k-pop idols) market themselves, typically in idol story setting, we either get the perspective of a guy in his idol training, or successful idol, or a company managing the idol, not the idols themselves who enter into a music group and how they work hard to stay relevant
This manhwa accurately depicts the idol working and parasocial relationship, though it tries to make it seem so wholesome and passionate, ironically this whole vibe captures the true nature of actual idol promotions, platforms like Weverse exclusively caters to the fandom where they engage in parasocial relations. South Korea heavily industrialized their popular music industry so much that they like electronics and automobiles, constantly launch new groups with new concepts but with same basic music scores, kind of like Electronics and Automobiles (atleast in that aspect, there is a hidden innovation)
So to compensate for staleness, the group members were "kawaiified" (i.e. made them appear childish or cute in their appearance and manners) or "eroified" (i.e. made them appear sexually tempting in their appearance and manners) and the korean music landscape is dominated by these idol group labels which means independant music artists culture seem lacking and the famously brutal south korean society and its heavy expectation on studies mean pursuing music is non starter and the only way fot them is - idol group where they are taught to sing, perform and become stage presentable and people who are interested in music production were trained, but the idol cycle means the company immediately looks to cash in and so imports the song writing and just adapts to the market and launch it with a concept
And the fandom culture is brutal, besides parasocial relationships, shipping and fights, it thrives on attention and drama at the expense of idols. They dont view them as human with a passion to sing, but rather "singing pokemons" to collect their merchandise. The fandom doesnt even really enjoy the music but rather the surrounding aspects of this toxic culture
So, in this environment, going viral is the only way for these idols to go popular. Currently, k-pop is riding on hallyu wave and korean products are now dominating the consumer culture, but the next 10 years, it'll be chinese cultural exports that'll dominate cool consumer culture and we are already seeing it. Chagee coffee, Labubus, Chinese luxury EVs, tiktok platform itself and so even the top companies would struggle to keep these groups relevant, let alone a small irrelevant group like 4ever in this story
And so, the MC is doing everything he can to not only stay relevant, but also become famous. I gotta respect this guy, he's average but he's a marketing genius. He himself singlehandedly made his group and the backing company become popular. This guy is a marketing genius and I think he should have worked in marketing or sales rather than in idol industry, but even then, his talent as a promoter is extremely valuable and even if the group breaks, he can easily negotiate with the CEO and simply become CMO for that company or take that skillset to other industry because, its not easy to make a group not only go viral, but also become popular and he took every advantage of the fandom system.
I dont think he truly likes his fans, sure he likes them and tries to keep their attention as positive as possible, but really I think he's gaming the system brilliantly. So I'd say him cashing in on his popularity as idol while simultaneously honing his marketing skill and if he thinks idol thing is too much he can easily transition from limelight to boardroom
I really enjoyed reading this manga. It pokes fun at every plot device bl genre uses and how the main protagonist avoids it. It's so funny and I like the fact that it makes fun of how logic flies out of window when it comes to bl stories. I want more chapters (￣▽￣)
In my earlier comment, I stated that Sunwon sort of lost control of his upper hand and letting Vercion take advantage of him and all. I still stand by it. But after reading the beckstory of Sunwon, everything clicks. In my earlier comment, I assumed Sunwon experienced abuse and stuck in abusive relation from his ex and that sort of explained his hyperactiveness as his coping mechanism. What this made clear is the fact that his abuse goes wayyyy back. He comes from broken home, got verbal and physical abuse daily, later on got SA'ed daily, there's no one to help him to guide him. People took advantage of him, his ex abused him daily and blamed him for getting assaulted by his stepdad and all. In short, he was always stuck in a relationship where he was always powerless, defenseless and getting advantaged of his body and his mind and there's no one to help him or guide him.
He's been using sex AS a coping mechanism, always favoring one night stands as it allows him to somewhat keep power as it allows him to sleep with someone without getting tied down and also to process his pain or rather forget about it and when he got transported into that world, him being in a situation where he's now powerful made him feel secure enough that no one would trample on him, but the past history kept haunting him so much that he sought to sleep with someone. He never experienced love, compassion and warmth and carries trauma.
As I noted eaelier, Sunwon coaxed Alvis during when both of them got together, or more accurately, Alvis tried to dominate him and Sunwon sort of seduced him. He did the same with the one night hookup guy too. He didnt speak dirty because he felt like it, but rather did so so that he'll be able to temper down those guys so that he wont get hurt. And when Vercion took advantage of him, he bore the pain because now his position and reputation is on the line and in the world where he knows no one, his position as god's visage is the only thing providing security and if that is gone, he'll be killed or worse, he'll go through something like he did in his original world, just way worse. There are already some people who already know about his oddities and it wont take much for them to act on their desires and Sunwon is stuck in a situation where he cant possibly seek out help and its really sad and heartbreaking
For now, Alvis seems to be ally for Sunwon and he would help and protect him, but after seeing all of this, I dont want Sunwon to get paired up with anyone. Rather I prefer that he get his salvation and become free from men who desires to control him and gets his pain addressed. He's someone who's trapped in a trauma unable to set himself free but still is pushing through everyday
Coming from the sequel, What a catch, I did have an inkling of just how shitty of the character Shinjoo is but mostly expected dirty humor and all. I was not prepared to see just how Shinjoo would behave and I felt uncomfortable reading it. Sure the interactions were hilarious, but the joke took far and I dont think I'll be reading it. I dropped it after ch 9
Perhaps we could take a lesson from this story. Not all what we see is exactly what it turns out to be. Some people act prim and proper but beneath that mask could lie something vile and twisted. It's unfortunate that Kyesoo fell into this trap and now that I read this, thinking back on its sequel story, I wish Shinjoo got punished severely for his transgressions and deviances and I think Shinjoo should have made as bottom and gotten trampled on.
Yeah the story plot doesnt make much sense to me, but I stayed for the main couple, their interactions and chemistry made it quite adorable to read and the art is pretty too
I finished the novel and I must say, the political chessplay between the Luce's father, Lyman Kaisel and Ayle Linus is very intrriguing. It doesnt sugarcoat the pain, misery and ambitions of every character involved. Its a toxic yet insanely interesting story, though it's a bit frustrating to read.
I wanna focus on Ayle. He's a very much ambitious, haughty person who's very much suited as a ruler. Very sharp, politically savvy and very intelligent, highly perceptive. However his surroundings, plus the role and responsibility that was placed on him along with having to face the court politics harderened his mind, along with him not having good emotional grasp and intelligence. This fed into his sense of entitlement that as a future ruler everything belongs to him. This quality makes him a person of poor morales. Someone who will bend things just to acheive his desire and ambition
The more older he got, it seemed to me the more immature and drunk on power he became, however at the same breath, he also became more cruel and shrewd. When he was 14, he already showed his cruel nature, but that cruelty didnt seem to be laced of malice or desire, but rather pure practicality when he threatened Luce with the lives of people he loved. But, now when he became adult, he orchestrated the cruelty just to make Luce suffer and tied down.
I actually kinda liked the 14 year old boy who came off as mature and ambitious than this 20 year old guy who's twisted. He's extremely arrogant and entitled and wants to control every aspect of things he desired and viewed everything and everyone as a chess piece in his grand ambitious game of chess.
Because of his nature, he doesnt try to speak of his true desire truthfully and hurts Luce very much. Confining him and stripping him of his freedom. (Spoiler, Ayle rapes Luce after he rejects his drunken advances). Initially he planned to dispose him, which cruel but also on point, but his obsession over Luce made things even tragic and painful. Instead of apologizing or setting him free, He rather cage him and keep him in misery inflicted by him and then whisper sweet nothings to soothe the pain inflicted by him. But he also hates to see Luce suffer from pain that's given to him by others (sick bastard, ik)
Later on, when Luce was getting hunted down by assasins sent by his father (its a pretty interesting story, i suggest you to read novel, im focusing on Ayle here) Ayle protected him and even almost died. But even after that, his ambition never really went away. Eventually he attains everything, Luce on his side, the domain that was under Kaiser family and the downfall of them. But he also breaks away the engagement with Selene (Her family is also involved in a conspiracy that sought to elimiate Ayle). In the novel, Lyman says to Luce the victor always picks the beautiful flower and thats how I saw when I took your mother in, Ayle also did the same. In the end the twisted nature of Ayle doesnt change. Only that Luce and Ayle now share mutual love.
Even then, Ayle loves to use his power to tease and put down Luce and then at the same breath tease him and kisses him. Why Luce fell in love with such a person eludes me. I do admit that 14 year old Ayle would certainly catches anyone's attention, but I think Luce eventually fell in love due to close proximity and wanted Ayle to ask him to stay, but he knows he's far too cruel for that
Even when Ayle was declaring love and all, he still threatens Luce with the lives of people he cherishes and saying things like cutting off limbs to make him stay put and it's a bit too off putting. The love of Ayle is a micture of pain and misery and it takes a certain type to handle it. He wants Luce to be in his palms, not being able to escape and taking everything he gives, pain and pleasure and all. But he also doesnt want Luce to die as it would mean that he'll be left alone. He'd rather have Luce to be with him, slowly withering rather than flying freely. But later on, he does give the space Luce, a limited freedom. But to me, it all feels disturbing.
The relation between Ayle and Luce is a mixture of miscommunication and a clash of personalities who brings misery to each other and hurt each other but deep within they like each other. And the rest of novel is brilliant with complex characters and showcasing the realistic depiction of political power grab. I wont be revisiting this story again. But I'm glad I gave this story a go
I read this manhwa simply because of the main characters fighting and found it funny, but apart from that, its not really much
There are things that are bugging me about it in story
Like Yoogyul works out crazy and is trained on combative sports and yet he's depicted as slim compared to what he should look, like someone well built. The story does provide explanation that guiding causes strain and muscle loss, but surely somone who hits gym a lot and engages in combative sports should surely be tracking his calorie intake and must be taking supplements for his muscles to combat the loss and should infact actually be more built compared to Junmin however, this story nerfed Yoogyul and gave the well built body to Junmin who doesnt hit gym nor does he depicted as someone who engages in physical activity. Granted his esper skills might mean he does work out, but to me it feels like Yoogyul got nerfed just to make Junmin come off as physically impressive and appealing making him feel as natural top for readers to choose
Another thing, Yoogyul is pretty good at combative sports and can keep up or even beat Junmin when fought with their physical abilities but is now depicted as helpless when Sungjae kidnaps him in maze and assaults him? When Sungjae was using his abilities, it is impossible for Yoogyul to fight off, but in that instace where Sungjae was forcing himself on him, he wasnt using his abilities and Yoogyul could have easily knocked him off. Granted there is a chance Sungjae would use his abilities, but Yoogyul can easily knock him off with his fighting skills and rendered him unconscious and the teammates would have rescued him. It clearly shows Yoogyul is nerfed and the SA scene is needleesly added
Speaking of that scene, why did they even add that scene? It doesnt really serve much and in fact, It's Sungjae who needs guiding and yet here, its Sungjae who's guiding Yoogyul? If the plot needs Sungjae to kidnap him for his abilities, the most effective thing he would have done is holding his hands and forcefully making Yoogyul to guide him and them holding him as hostage, or even if he wants to attain Yoogyul, using reverse guiding simply doesnt make much sense when its Sungjae who needs guiding. Simply put SA scene is needlessly added and its disturbing
And on that same line, Yoogyul went through something horrific and yet the story doesnt make much attempt to address it, like when Yoogyul and Junmin were getting together, even if Yoogyul brushes it off, it should have given him some sort of trauma or painful memory, but the story lightly treats this horrific incident carelessly, but instesd the story writes him as fine when getting on with Junmin when just before Sungjae SA'ed him
Another thing, the guiding thing where Yoogyul had to engage in relation with Junmin when he's unconscious but still had to do it due to "medical emergency", Yoogyul did it out of necessity and still felt guilty and apologized and Junmin said "I've would have done the same in your place as well" well guess what? JUNMIN DID THE SAME WHEN YOOGYUL WAS UNCONSCIOUS! Sure it was "medical emergency" then too, but Junmin wasnt even shown to have even a single ounce of regret or guilt. Initially he hid to spare Yoogyul but he should have told eventually because Yoogyul HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT WAS DONE TO HIS BODY WHEN HE'S UNCONSCIOUS! ESPECIALLY ANY PROCEDURE THAT PERTAINS TO MEDICAL EMERGENCY THATS MEANT TO PRESERVE LIFE!!!
But it was never even addressed properly and even if late, there is a natural opening about it when Yoogyul was apologizing and Junmin could have easily addressed it and ask for his forgiveness. Now I dont think it's character trait cuz Junmin is written as someone who will take responsibility for his actions and doesnt come off as morally dubious person and so he would have asked forgiveness about it. Rather I think its poor writing and storytelling
I generally dont like Omegaverse and Guideverse as a sub-genre because many of them include glaring plotholes and tropes that are horrifying but is shamelessly utilized for capturing the readers gratification and I really despise it and they dont clearly address these issues. This is unfortunately one of such stories.
Manipulation, manipulation and manipulation. The whole world manipulated Minho for its own selfish reasons and he is sacrificing himself without knowing that things are set up against his wishes. Chapter 31 made it tough to process the whole story and gave it a creepy vibes. The coronation scene where he's being bound to that world is done right under his nose while he's blissfully unaware. Plus Minho is not even fully fledged adult.
He's just 19 and just finished the high school. His life as he's desiring is now robbed off from him and is oblivous to true intention of the person he loves who's putting on a sympathy show. He doesnt even know fully about the man he loves.
Perhaps the servants around him knows about this, just how kind he is and how he's giving his best even though he's being manipulated and the fact that such young of a guy who has his own ambitions and dreams is now forced to take on responsibilites that doesnt even concern him and yet he carries it without much complain and thats why they all act kind and sweet around him
Idk, but it really reminds me of similar stories like : The Pizza Delivery Man and the Gold Palace and Do you still like me? I think these stories have similar vibes to Flashlight. If yall have other recommendations please drop here
We all talk about SA, Harrasment and such sordid affairs committed against women and that is prevalent and visible but the same also occurs within male settings but its often not highlighted and worse smoothed over as "boys being boys" and "roughhousing". Such sordid affairs defenitely happens among boys especially in high school and very especially in all boys high school like in this story settings.
Bullying here often takes not from material things like money or familial things but rather targets the guys themselves. From their body, their mannerisms, how they act and all. Basically there's this sort of "ideal guy" image that has to be preserved and anyone who deviates from it is discriminated so badly. And yeah in these cases bullying often borders on sexual molestation and harrasment like commenting on how gay someone is based on mannerisms, body shapes, their preference for media and articles and often physical violence is involved where the guys would "size up" each other and when someone who's pacifist (ie somone who doesnt fight back) gets trapped, they will be torn apart. However no one, especially the victims talk about it cause the system wont do much to help them and to admit they are being bullied not for their social status or wealth rather being groped, called "sissy" and such is painful
If you happen to be fat as a guy, especially if you have bigger butts or chests, you are often targeted for that body shape and it will carry severe mental scars and once the barrier is broken down, all hell brakes loose as you will be targeted and is subjugated to crude taunts that are deragatory (especially using derogatory words that demean women) but you have to endure it as you wont be getting proper help
So in this scenario, Iltak having different body and being smaller is a huge disadvantage as its not just simple taunts. It will affect you and how other boys see you. So he had no choice but to act tough. But most of the time, the people wont necessarily act like Iltak here. They would be just acting normal trying to finish school and having good school life but often they would end up in this situation and the people and their friends wont necessarily help them or even worse they themselves would engage in such act and brush it off as "just friends playing around"
That red haired guy is the classic case of such scenarios where you'll be targeted and played off and made butt of joke by making you endure crude sexual jokes and taunts like pinching chests and squirting white things like glue, sauce and such by holding it right from their crotch as "wanking it off" its horrible and the darker side is that white haired guy who's instigating violence against you, spreading rumor, forcing violent acts (sometimes sexual) upon you.
Make no mistake, beneath the comedy relief and Hyunwoo and Iltak's tryst lies a darker reality that is caused by societal and educational negligence that allows such dark patterns and horrible scenarios to emerge. In one way or another, boys are also equally subjected to such horrors and it often occurs within school settings. I'm not really sure but I think its a contributing factor as to why men often remain isolated, avoid tough conversations and tends to have lower social fabric compared to women because women and girls are lucky to have a social and friendship net that instantly forms and helps them but boys are often left in a situation thats practically "dog eat dog"
They typecasted Sunghyeop as obsessive dominant alpha CEO (meme literally writes itself) and the more I read, the more stress inducing the story is. It's been popping up on feed and read it out of curiosity
To put it simply, Yoohan's family emotionally abused him due to his genetics and Jinsung POS who assaulted and gaslit Yoohan with his brother's death and then debt, plus his father who killed himself in an accident and caused his mom into vegetative and the POS's family held that debt and Yoohan mom's hospitalization over him and pimping him out for contracts. If that's not already stressful enough, Sunghyeop is all like, I'm gonna make you my bitch cuz you left me broken hearted 10 years ago! I'm not gonna beg you to stay or ask for forgiveness cuz you wont respond to that, so I'm gonna look for a way to tie you down so that you cant refuse me!! That asshole revealed his true nature just when Yoohan is in poor state and he gleefully took advantage of it and even after getting to know the true circumstances of Yoohan, he fails to apologize to Yoohan and even when he tries to remedy it, he's not thinking about Yoohan but rather himself and how he's going to be happy when Yoohan has no attachments and burdens.
For people who are blaming MC for being pushy and all, It is frustrating and he could have communicated it better but he's victim here. He's been emotionally abused and neglected by his family and is forced to do a medical procedure that caused him complications and his guilt over his brother's death and how his family neglected him (sorta blamed him) and if that's not enough, his brother's best friend guilt tripped him and raped him and there's no one to help him and in his eyes, Sungheyop was just someone his family employed and doesnt want him to get affected, so he pushed him away and when the family went into ruins, Yoohan is basically forced to get help from someone who raped him and he and his family basically gaslit him into carrying needless burden and the debts and his mom's medical bills weighing down on him plus that SOB constantly abused Yoohan by using his brother's death as pretext. Amidst all this, Yoohan tried to stay strong and did not falter, perhaps due to guilt or a sense of duty or responsibility, he remained defiant and continued facing life.
Sunghyeop is a brilliant guy, there's no doubt, from being someone's family employed help into CEO of a major corporation, he worked hard and he deserved that position. But he does not deserve Yoohan. He saw Yoohan as someone to conquer, someone whom to exact his petty revenge to soothe his broken heart. He's been donating money secretly to pay for Yoohan mom's treatment. Even if he misunderstood Yoohan and Jinsung earlier, now that he had resources, he easily could have looked up about him but no he did not, and he used Yoohan's vulnerable position as a bargaining chip force him into sexual relation. He never really bothered about making Yoohan settle into a stable position, he's more interested in locking him down so that it would be painful for Yoohan to thrive without Sunghyeop's help. He's a trashy asshole and a major red flag. He later on tries to put up grand gestures but the fact of the matter is, he fails to properly address the root cause and fails to apologize to Yoohan