I'm so in love with how Hanrim's obsession meets Yesol's determination... hanrim being driven to self destruction for Yesol's cause can only happen because yesol tried so hard with hanrim and got closer to him, and also yesol playing so dirty in their first match, him being so determined and actually driving them to success, him creating an environment that hanrim doesn't want to part with
hanrim's state is a consequence of his troubled personality meeting Yesol's actions, and then yesol decides it's his responsibility to fix (oh yesol... he always does this shit)
it's interesting reading this knowing he fixes the match for this, I'm assuming to make hanrim stop playing, but then he "runs away" (transfers), hanrim keeps playing anyways, loses his ability to play baseball anyways, AND does it all without the same team/yesol... so it's literally the worst situation for him BUT yesol's words in ch11 when he says "do you resent me? but you of all people shouldn't" is an interesting perspective, either there's more to this situation OR because yesol put so much energy in looking out for hanrim, he thinks hanrim shouldn't resent him. if this is the case, truly terrible communication from both of them 10/10 trainwreck!
"I'm not very good at comforting people" WHILE COMFORTING HANRIM WELL......... YESOL STAND UP!!! WHO MESSED UP THIS HOUSE LIKE THIS!!! (he's not wrong lowk)
yesol putting down the tea from intae's wife and acting like a jackass instead... he's so pathetic he literally can't process what he's witnessing GODDD, but he was also just assaulted by taeyoung and the only check up he gets is the other doc talking about PTSD and drinking but he just deflects and leaves the chapter is also insinuating religious trauma (explains his whole "I'm not gay" thing) and it also confirmed that he didn't realize taeyoung had bad intentions before, it's building up to Yesol's PTSD or incoming breakdown now... and I wonder if we're getting a flashback about the match fixing because everything is pointing towards yesol doing it for hanrim (the whole "you of all people shouldn't resent me" and "we were 17" and the end of ch15 with the drugs)... i wonder if yesols parents were affectionate to him or to each other... WE NEED MORE UNRAVELING SOMEONE RESOLVE HIS ISSUES PLEASE YAGGUK
IS HANRIM INVESTIGATING OR WAS HE WORKING WITH THE STALKER... IS THAT THE STALKER (JUNGHYEOK?) OR SOMEONE ELSE.... HELP ME LORDDDD
I have a silly theory that hanrim was lowkey stalking yesol with the actual stalker and then the stalker goes too far (beats up yesol) and now hanrim is trying to catch him but also hide his own involvement... Maybe Hanrim was initially getting stalked or was approached by the stalker and then hanrim turns around to work with the stalker cuz he wanted to be involved with yesol in any way possible (or maybe he was trying to protect him?) but after the beat up he switches to trying to get rid of him while clearing his own trail (which is why he can't just report)
but that's just a theory and i don't want spoilers :B
I'm still conflicted abt the kiss in ch21 (I still don't think they slept together fully) and I'm kinda worried about it not being addressed properly. There were a lot of parallels between Hanrim and Taeyoung so I thought the story was trying to demonstrate how Hanrim is better than him and is the CEO of consent but nvm... I like that he's twisted but I want him to be better for Yesol. I also realize he has other issues going on (especially based on what I peeked at in ch23) but since Yesol's alcoholism and Taeyoung's SA plotlines are pretty significant, shouldn't they extend to that scene? Hanrim also gets mad at Taeyoung's antics even though he also ended up crossing boundaries (but hanrim is a hypocrite sometimes so maybe his rage is also self-directed). Also thinking about how well The Eve Festival handles the topic, I trust yagguk cuz she always holds characters accountable (characters get a "they're not justified but they're forgiven" treatment usually) but I would like to see the fact that hanrim SA'd yesol getting the repercussions it needs. I see them having a crashout/breakup or parting ways for a while (a yagguk trend) but if it's gonna be abt something else or abt hanrim "overall" without specifically reflecting on the SA then I'll be a bit disappointed.