I honestly love the fact that songrik didn’t escape his life with the help of jinhyeong. Their relationship was so toxic and codependent that it wouldn’t have been healthy for anyone, and Jinhyeong wasn’t what songrik needed in that moment. They were just licking each other’s wounds and jinhyeong wouldn’t have been able to help with songrik’s situation. I really liked how songrik got help from his neighbors and an actual loving adult figure. And it was only after he got out of his own toxic environment that he could look back on their relationship with a clear head and truly break off their toxic relationship with each other.
Your analysis is so satisfying i started tearing up because it really is all valid and their relationship was so well portrayed... I will forever look back to this arc and appreciate it
yesyesyesyes this analysis of their relationship is sooo spot on like EXACTLY! also the bit about the different way and positions they were hugging each other in bed omggg i didn't even catch that and think about it in this lens until you explained it god you just really nailed the explanation of their arc so well!!
this also just once again really highlights a strong point of the story i greatly appreciate, which is that the author and narrative isn't afraid of hammering down when jinhyung is truly in the wrong and when he's done something bad without trying to baby him, or paint it as something that's not so bad actually, or justifying his actions. they show the readers this and still has enough compassion in the writing to give jinhyung an opportunity to learn from his mistakes and better himself as a person when he puts in the effort. like urbfghehfhej crazy how this story is actually deceptively PEAK
This fucking arc oh my god. Speechless. I'm too emotional, tired and lazy to rant on why it's so fucking good, but to anyone who loves this manwha PLEASE i beg you read no home. The past arc is LITERALLY so similar to the mc's relationships, eunyung and haejoon, and the problematics as well.
Though, not to be that person, but i do like that the author didn't show mc and songrik ? (i'm sorry i'm not good with names) on equal footing in terms of what they did. Like, i'm sorry but what jinhyeong did was worse than what songrik did. While he grew up being verbally abused and controlled h24, songrik grew up being beaten up by one of his parent, abandonned by the other and all of this while living in poverty and being looked down on by everyone. I'm not saying it justifies everything he did, but this context is literally so important to their relationship because they both said the same things, but due to their different lives they didnt MEAN the same things.
What i mean is perfectly illustrated by when songrik said "the 50 000 won you spend on me don't mean the same thing as the 50 000 won i spend on you". This sentence absolutly shattered me, because the same could be said about their family thing. Jinhyeong said they'd live together forever and be a real family and this and that, but that was more of an in the moment thing than a real thought he has been harboring for a long time. He says himself that he's an impulsive person.
On the other song, songrik has been wanting to escape this life for as long as he has lived. It's not a momentary thought that he came up with because he was at a bad point in his life, that's an actual decision he had made. They both said the same thing but ir didnt mean the same thing. Another good thing to show this is the scene where they sleep in the same bed. Jinhyeong is turned towards songrik, but barely holds him, while he is whole heartedly hugging jinhyeong. I could also talk about the way he's lower than jinhyeong symbolizing their different social class but thats not my point.
Not only this, but songrik even offered to work to pay gor jinhyeong's education and was honestly ready to do anything for him despite being so looked down on by his family
Anyway, all of this to say, in this context, imagine going to see jinhyeong just for him to tell you that you should be realistic and actually you cant cut off your violent dad and that he wants to keep talking to his family, the one that hurt both of you so much. Imagine being left alone for the second time by the person you love the most in the world because what they meant was impulsive, while what you said was definitive.
Due to this and his upbringing, it just makes SENSE for songrik to have leaked jinhyeong's familial issues. I'm not EXCUSING IT, but i'm saying that this reaction isn't overexagerated considering all the context. And like he said himself, he didn't directly bully jinhyeong and he stopped his "friends" from beating him up. (+ what he leaked was hurtful but not as hurtful as what jinhyeong said). That was painful for jinhyeong but most definitly not MORE painful than how songrik felt.
Then there's their argument. In this honestly i feel both sides because they both have valid points that make sense in the context. Jinhyeong feels like his problems are the end of the world because he's been so sheltered, and songrik puts up walls and doesn't communicate because of his self hatred and inferiority complex. I really liked what he said in the beginning of their argument because, despite being so extreme this way of thinking just makes sense for him.
I'd say at that point they're more or less on equal footing, but songrik fucking explains himself for once and jinhyeong fucking LEAVES, then says in front of EVERYONE THAT SONGRIK WAS BEATEN AND ABANDONNED. TO THE POINT THAT MADE HIM CRY. like
The excuse that he also leaked secrets doesnt even fucking work for me im sorry because there's such a huge difference between "his father thinks his way of talking and walking are weird" and "you're like your violent father and you don't deserve your mother or a family and you're the trash you've always believed you are."
Songrik is so fucking kind hearted for going to see jinhyeong years later and even wishing him a good life and being so physically gentle with him i'm sorry i could never. And i'm so glad he got a good life. And i'm also so glad that while admitting what he did wasn't correct, the author also subtely showed that the wounds jinhyeong gave him ARE in fact worse and that he has to work on himself more than songrik has. (No but the way songrik even said they should see each other again when they're both tldr happy...cries)
So uhhh yeah tldr this manwha is so fucking complex and the relationship between jinhyeong and songrik has been masterfully executed with both characters acting appropriatly for their contexts while still not excusing them and not equating the violence they've done and been through