Is he really a psychopath tho?

I don’t know what Jihwan is. Like psychopath, sociopath or a highly intelligent/precocious kid who grew up under neglect and abuse in an unhealthy household that’s not well adjusted with anger issues. I don’t think he lacks empathy or emotion but his idea of right and wrong seemed skewed at first. As someone who reread this many times, I think people are forgetting or missing out on a lot of interesting moments of Jihwan’s character and getting stuck on the more intense scenes.

After having seen the kid version of Jihwan now I can’t help but match that kid self to his current self. His expressions or lack of, his demeanor, it’s all very similar. It doesn’t make him look childish but I dunno a bit less suave and put together. It feels like he didn’t really change past learning how to deal with others in social settings, with Classmates, teachers, others’ parents (his encounter with Sooyoung’s mom) but he’s still stuck between just wanting things (like his mom’s affection/ SooYoung’s attention), observing and analyzing people (the other kids and their parents/his classmates like Sooyoung and Gyujin) and avoiding annoyances. He also can’t stop plotting because he’s just smarter than everyone around him and also because he was never taught otherwise in terms of getting what he wants.

There’s a scene after he got beat up by Gyujin where he just hugs SooYoung saying it hurts. It could be him just distracting SooYoung but then I remembered how since his mom died, he probably didn’t have anyone else to simply hug him like that since it’s clear his dad became full time deadbeat dad from that point on. He’s definitely not ‘sweet’ but from the things he was longing for in childhood til now, it doesn’t seem that he found a way to get them at all. Until Sooyoung who seems to be what he really wants and think he needs right now. He doesn’t seem to care about power, status and etc, it seems like just tools to get what he really want. A special person? A special relationship? I mean he’s also definitely a horny teenager. In many ways, he seems more like a bold, eager teenager than a big evil mastermind, in his interactions with Sooyoung. It’s like he saw the dude one day and hit puberty.

But yeah, his reaction when Sooyooung got assaulted by Gyujin, the desperate way he rushed there, the way he was flustered trying to call Sooyoung’s family and how he did his best to reassure him afterwards didn’t feel very psychopath like to me.

I think the author did a great job with Jihwan’s character and he’s not as straight forward as a rich toxic/rapey ML that’s also a psycho.
The worst he’s done to Sooyoung while angry is just act cold and sulk or glare. And as soon as he’s placated he lets go. He got Gyujin expelled for attempting to rape Sooyoung and when he saw him still freaking hovering around to get at Sooyoung again, he unleashed his previously held back anger. I dare say he also wanted to effectively put a stop to Gyujin’s attempts and not just vent his anger. It’s also interesting to see his reaction to being called a psycho. How self-conscious does he feel about being different and to what degree is he aware of it. I mean usually the psychos just laugh it off and claim it proudly. Jihwan seems different.

Even his interest in SooYoung is different than the typical BL psychos. He tried to approach Sooyoung, 2 years before the current timeline but SooYoung didn’t get it, and completely misunderstood him because Jihwan was too clumsy(the whole you’re so short thing lmao)the fact that he was just excited trying to get close to Sooyoung and unable to just plot properly is funny. He was too excited. For the other 2 years, he just let it be until he had the opportunity to try again. He didn’t jump in to separate Gyujin and Sooyoung and assert his claim even as he observed them. And oh, when he started his second approach, he gathered a lot of information and he checked Sooyoung’s relationship with Gyujin and tested Sooyoung’s responsiveness toward himself before making a move. He’s obsessed and cunning but not forceful and he’s rather patient.

Gyujin is obsessed, violent, entitled, an abuser and a gaslighter. He has those crazy moments too like when he beat up Jihwan. He has issues to say the least and feels like he owns Sooyoung. Compared to that Jihwan is clearly trying to make SooYoung his by his own will. I think it’s possible that he learned from his parents that it’s better if the other party is willing.

The next chapters will tell us how much of a psycho Jihwan really is, Taehee is not like Gyujin, mind you Jihwan gave him multiple warnings and didn’t even seem like he was going to do anything about the forced oral sex situation. He finally acted when Gyujin tried to rape Sooyoung. So now I’m curious what the author will make Taehee do, hopefully not a Gyujin 2.0 , we should get to see how Jihwan handle someone who hasn’t hurt Sooyoung, basically someone that just annoys him and triggers his territorial side.