Alternatively, the ramblings of someone who's enjoyed this manhwa a little (lot) too much!
(PPROLOGUE & FORETHOUGHT)
This is one of those rare manhwas that keeps me genuinely uncertain about what will happen next. Its unpredictability largely comes from Gyeom, whose impulsiveness makes the narrative difficult to anticipate without making it feel arbitrary. Despite reaching a major turning point in a measly 33 chapters, the story has also given its characters enough psychological depth that their actions rarely feel unmotivated. The pacing is perfect, and very little feels like filler.—kudos to good writing!
I'll assume anyone reading this has already seen the manhwa so I'll add a spoiler warning.
(REVIEW STARTS HERE)
The manhua's story is brutal, punctuated by the existential musings of its titular character, and how he grapples with his own compulsions, and the expectations levied upon him by his peers. What makes the narrative particularly interesting, however, is how it uses the relationships surrounding the protagonist to explore certain social taboos.
Our protagonist's father, Jang Youngchan, is initially presented as the archetypal abusive, alcoholic single father. However, I find the dichotomy between him and our MC, Baekhee, particularly significant. Youngchan's reaction to being treated as something lesser than an animal (following his imprisonment) reveals an underlying moral framework; he perceives Baekhee as something that belongs to him, rather than as an individual with autonomy. His sense of entitlement toward his son is rooted in the idea that his child exists for his convenience—Gyeom, similarly, seems to regard Baekhee as someone whose autonomy he is entitled to constrain.
Baekhee's trust in Gyeom confused me for the longest time. Until recently, I couldn't find much justification for it beyond Gyeom's knowledge of Baekhee's past. The relationship nevertheless began to make more sense to me as I considered the similarities between Gyeom and Baekhee's father. Now, this might just be me misconstruing reason out of nothing, but I've come to find that Gyeom mirrors Baekhee's father in their shared desire to constrict his autonomy, and retain his devotion (notably, Gyeom's sentiment regarding Baekhee being nothing more than someone to "follow him around", and Youngchan's feeling of entitlement to Baekhee's money despite their decade apart). The narrative may be suggesting that this familiarity has become entangled with Baekhee's conception of affection, potentially being what precedes his relationship with Gyeom. There's a well-documented tendency for people to find familiarity comforting, even when that familiarity is harmful. This dynamic also becomes relevant to Baekhee and Il-woo, whose shared trauma creates a different basis for their relationship.
Initially the ML, Yang Il-Woo—an exchange student, is depicted as someone haphazardly violent. As he grows more comfortable with Baekhee, we learn his shortcomings, disposition and moral outlook are far more complex than his initial presentation.
One reason this manhwa stands out is the short but vivid scenes of extreme violence, which tends to make one take a mental step back from the experience. If Baekhee gets assaulted, for example, there's nothing cool and visually captivating about it, nor is it presented as sexually gratifying for our MC. This is one of the story's most compelling aspects, particularly in contrast to a large portion of works in the yaoi genre that aestheticize or eroticize coercion (fuck jinx).
However, one of my biggest peeves and main concern for this manhwa is how unnecessarily declarative the characters tend to be, often articulating their thoughts explicitly—and, in some cases, referring to themselves in third person (although I acknowledge this may just be a translation issue). A lot of the time I feel that the story just ends up re-contextualizing something that had previously been implied, which leaves it feeling meaningless and redundant. Instead of allowing viewers to discover undertones, implications, and interpret the story on their own, the author feels the need to blatantly announce certain pivotal aspects of the story. A good example would be MC's declaration of how he fears "the sound of strong men fighting"—which later feels superfluous with the multitude of times we see MC struggle around this concept, after the information had already been spoonfed to us.
A lot of dialogue seems overtly convenient or unprecedented—which can feel like a substitute for dramatizing that progression organically through the characters' actions.
(AFTERTHOUGHTS!)
That said, I recognize that this may just be me nitpicking. I'll avoid diving too far into the complexity surrounding Gyeom and Baekhee's relationship, because 1. the story is currently unfinished, and 2. I'd be writing forever, so forgive me if this (or any other facets of my review) feels lackluster and vapid. I have to apologize for the topic of Il-Woo being so briefly discussed, as his history and relationship with Baekhee is still rather vacant, so I haven't had enough time & content to analyze such.
I haven't seen any in-depth reviews on this manhwa yet, so I thought I might as well post one! (=・ω・=)