I think I like you.
HANDS DOWN <3
His past trauma still does not give him to excuse to be abusive towards others. And it’s not like he’s really going be facing any real consequences from his actions, so he’s not truly going to learn anything.
Holy shit, you're good
People who downvoted this are COMPLETE twats.
This deserves to be posted somewhere more wide People needs to understand this as well
Copy paste this to reddit
It's not like we are validating the violence dan receives from jaekyung, but it's just that we should also understand where it is coming from. We know that what he is doing is wrong, but the way he was raised, no one ever really taught him that. No one was there to correct the values he was raised on.
my girly wrote a whole essay you still say the same shit. are you slow by any chance?
Are you perhaps illiterate?
This is honestly the best way to explain it. If they still don't get it then that's their loss
thank you.
Love this comment. Most ppl that keep coming back just to whine & moan about JJK only started reading this story bc they wanted porn and now they're mad that they actually have to use their critical thinking skills to understand the story the author is telling.
That fact that most of these guys are still in school or in college and unable to understand n or do such analysis is already worrying,
I've read your other comment too (25.07) and I agree too. We need mangag0 to either restrict this comment section or delete it. It becomes hard to find true fans
I’ll preface by saying I’ve personally dropped the webtoon out of loss of interest muuuuultiple chapters ago, so I don’t actually know what’s been going on recently, nor do I have the same recall of events that happened up to the point that I stopped that I had before.
That said, I suppose I agree with you up to a point. Where I was with regards to Jaekyung’s character before was that if his actions stopped at mere angry and violent outbursts, I might be able to be more understanding and…sympathetic? Empathic? Of him as a character, as a trauma/abuse survivor who reacts with his gut in less than favorable ways because of that trauma and abuse. A bit of visible remorse for those outbursts would help, too, but fine, sure, not everyone experiences or expresses that openly or immediately. Both are believable to me.
Where that starts to fall apart for me is when Jaekyung does things that are clearly deliberate and calculated and which he very clearly shows zero remorse for doing, even expressing pleasure in doing those things. That panel where Jaekyung is showing a blindfolded and deafened Dan off to Heesung (I think that’s what his name is, right?) against both of their consents, with Dan in particular not knowing there’s a third party, floated onto my timeline the other day…I don’t know, I don’t think trauma and abuse makes you take all the steps Jaekyung needed to take to do that, and I think it’s even more offensive to victims of trauma and abuse to try to rationalize something like that through those lenses. There’s a stark difference between a trauma response and stoking one’s own ego. Sure, they can go hand in hand at times I suppose. But?
The other thing is, I’m sorry to say it but—Jaekyung is an adult. He’s a grown ass man. It’s not enough to say he doesn’t know right from wrong or that he’s acting purely out of instinct all the time, that he can’t think for himself. He’s surrounded by people who are more well-adjusted than he is and who can and have, in this same webtoon, scolded him when he was wrong and explained to him why. Even Heesung (also a bit of a creep in my eyes) has told that guy to chill, and those two seem to be relatively close, so you’d think he might value that guy’s opinion a bit more. And that’s of course putting aside Dan’s own expressed distress about what’s going on, which Jaekyung repeatedly and gleefully ignores. Yeah, trauma can make you do the same hurtful patterns of behavior repeatedly, but again…there just comes a point when that’s not enough of an explanation if it’s a good explanation at all.
That’s why I also feel like acting like it’s irrational to look at Jaekyung’s wealth and celebrity status and attribute some of his negative behavior to that is wild. I’m not completely sure if that was what you were intending to say, to be honest, I’m kinda struggling to understand your point here when you bring it up (it’s late for me, forgive me)…but I feel like this story is predicated on the wealth inequality between Dan and Jaekyung. Dan would never have taken up Jaekyung’s initial offer if he had more money, Jaekyung would never have been in the position to make the initial offer in the first place if he had less money. Jaekyung wants to force proximity between himself and Dan when Dan’s giving him the cold shoulder? Nothing the promise of a generous donation and good PR can’t fix. It’s also absolutely a personality and values thing, I think. I don’t know if we know exactly how wealthy Jaekyung is, but I can’t help but feel it takes a certain kind of person to be comfortable using your money to coerce people into doing things that they really, truly would not otherwise do…things that Jaekyung doesn’t NEED to have done for him at all. Or, yeah, excessive wealth just breaks some—most—people’s brains. But the point is Jaekyung is, in part, the way he is because money and status allows him to be like that…when he doesn’t Have to be like that. I think it is in fact fair to punch down or up at someone who does in fact abuse the power that they have, especially if they are someone who acquired that power and was not born with it. You talk about survivorship bias…again, I don’t know what’s been revealed about Jaekyung’s backstory, but isn’t it ironic if he came from nothing and uses what he’s gained to abuse others who are at nothing? When he knows what it’s like to be nothing?
That’s not even to get into like. Structurally, the way the story is set up…ahhh there are so many things but I’ve already said a lot. But yeah, just my initial thoughts reading your comment.
i'm gonna follow this topic its interesting (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
i love you
Love your insight on the character.
First of all I’m grateful because you’re engaging with my comment critically and that’s the kind of dialogue I was hoping to have in Jinx’s comment section.
Now with all respect due, if you’ve dropped the Manhwa and aren’t up to date, I’m not sure why you’re weighing in with such strong conclusions. That said, I’ll respond sincerely.
First, recent chapters have shown that Jaekyung is indeed capable of remorse. That might not change your opinion, but it's important context. My argument isn’t that he’s justified. It’s that he’s believable.
Now, about the scene with Heesung: I agree with you. Jaekyung was wrong to involve Kim Dan without his consent. No justification changes that. But I do think it’s a narratively consistent action (not an out-of-character one). You mention that you could empathize with him until he started acting with “calculation,” but calculated harm can still be rooted in trauma. Not all trauma responses are impulsive. His behavior in that scene was a display of jealousy, insecurity, and emotional repression and it is consistent with someone who never learned healthy ways to express vulnerability. He didn’t want to humiliate Dan; he wanted to assert control after feeling threatened by Heesung. So I cannot conclude that he is cruel. Twisted and inconsiderate for sure but there was no INTENT to harm Dan. He didn’t finish the act (to Kim dan’s surprise) and he was visibly upset. That, to me, proves he wasn’t getting pleasure from it. He acted in the best way he knew how, through sex. (As an aside Heesung isn’t just an innocent victim, he had ulterior motives that would’ve probably harmed Kim Dan worse than what Jaekyung did him - i.e. emotional manipulation, he was even love bombing Kim Dan. Jaekyung overheard him talking about his plan on the rooftop and felt pressured by Heesung to be vulnerable: he protected himself and Dan was collateral.) Still I’d say he tried to protect Kim Dan in his own way because though lying to him he shielded him from the truth that remained only between him and Heesung.
Trauma also creates patterns of hypervigilance, overcompensation, and control. Emotional arrested development doesn’t mean someone can’t plan, it means they lack healthier tools to get what they need.
I’m not saying that Jaekyung is a stand-in for all abuse survivors. I NEVER want that to be the main takeaway from my argument here. ( so thank you for the opportunity to clarify) He’s a specific case, shaped not only by trauma, but by enabling environments, transactional relationships, and a life that consistently rewarded selfishness. This is what makes him compelling: he’s not excused by his trauma, he’s trapped by it. because the line between "trauma response" and "power-fueled exploitation" is being blurred intentionally in the story. The question is : when does someone stop being a victim only, and start participating in the very systems that once harmed them? When does survival mutate into cruelty?
And yes, Dan was harmed, and yes power dynamics matter. But not all unequal dynamics are automatically abusive. It’s a messy relationship between two damaged people in a coercive system. That doesn’t excuse anything, but it does make for compelling, layered fiction. In short: I don’t think Jaekyung is “redeemable” in the conventional sense. I don’t even think the story wants us to like him. But I do think it wants us to understand him : because stories like this are often mirrors for how structural power, trauma, and masculinity intersect in real life.
So no, I don’t think Jaekyung is a good person. But I do think he’s a realistic one.
And if fiction can’t hold space for characters like that; then what is it for?
I’m not even a Jaekyung stan, but the sheer volume of bad-faith hate made me realize: many of you genuinely lack the emotional and social intelligence to engage with traumatized characters. You don’t understand pattern recognition, emotional regulation, or how people develop under systems of reward and punishment. You’d make terrible writers and even worse therapists.
Jaekyung is a textbook case of someone shaped by emotional suppression and a society that weaponizes anger and punishes vulnerability. He is emotionally stunted because that’s what kept him alive. His mother (whom we know he reveres) taught him that survival is an individual project, and society rewarded him for aggression and self-preservation. She showed him that putting yourself first is a matter of SURVIVAL. So now, he acts instinctively.
He has PTSD and operates on a fight-or-flight reflex. He doesn’t want to hurt others, but he does, because he’s triggered. He’s in denial about his trauma and his emotions, and we know that because his body, his health, is betraying what’s buried beneath the surface. Jaekyung and Dan’s backstories are KEY to understanding this story.
Jaekyung is subject to violent outbursts because he doesn’t know how to regulate his emotions. His proclivity for violence is clearly exploited by the sport he practices. He’s not “romanticized.” He’s written authentically. You’re just not equipped to process morally complex characters. His violence is disturbing because it’s meant to be. But it’s also symptomatic of trauma, masculinity, mental health in sports and more.
There was so much space for rich, meaningful conversation. Instead, we get the same shallow takes:
“JJK is toxic,”
“JJK is abusive”
“I don’t like traumatized people acting like traumatized people.”
What are you even reading for?
And while we’re moralizing: Dan literally raped Jaekyung in one chapter. He got him drunk (he admits it), ignored signs of disorientation, and took advantage of him while he was clearly incapable of informed consent. The next day, Jaekyung didn’t even remember. Dan’s internal monologue during that scene? "He's a like a completely different person"
“If he’s in the mood to indulge me today, I might as well…”
But you skipped right over that because it didn’t fit your narrative.
A gentle reminder: personality is moderately hereditary. And before you say, “Well, I was abused and didn’t become an abuser,” understand that gene expression varies based on experience.
Studies show personality is largely shaped in childhood. You’re probably not abusive because you weren’t rewarded for hostility, you were rewarded for empathy and cooperation. You likely have close friendships, emotional safety, and support. That’s called survivor bias. It’s easier to believe you “turned out right” through merit, rather than admit that fate or your environment was simply kinder to you.
It’s hard for you to admit that you were luckier than Jaekyung because you think his wealth and celebrity (which you envy) make him “better” than you. YET Mingwa clearly demonstrates that money is of relative importance to one's happiness. And you missed that entirely.
Some of you even compared Jaekyung to Hitler. Others wished violence on his 6-year-old self. All while pretending to care about abuse victims.
Let’s be honest: you’re not outraged on principle. You’re just angry because the character makes you uncomfortable. And instead of sitting with that discomfort, you lash out.
Meanwhile, the people who actually understand this story keep coming back because the narrative invites complexity. We’re still mid-story, and yet some of you are already delivering final verdicts with half the picture.
Kim Dan’s arc is just as important. His character speaks directly to cultural expectations, Confucian values, trauma response, and moral ambiguity. But you’re too busy policing fictional characters to recognize the larger social commentary.
And when you finally get off your moral high horse, ask yourself:
Why are you so comfortable hating Jaekyung?
When you say “He has everything!” to pretend you’re not punching down, you’re projecting.
And frankly, you might be more manipulative than him, because at least his intentions are shaped by survival, not self-righteousness.
And let’s be honest: most of you aren’t here because you care about real-world harm or survivors. You’re here because criticizing this character gives you a sense of moral superiority. You weaponize buzzwords and outrage, but there’s no follow-through; no effort to support real causes, no understanding of the complexity you're so quick to judge.
It's performative, plain and simple.
Meanwhile, that same energy could’ve been directed toward a deeper reading, toward understanding what this story actually offers. Instead, you flatten it with judgment, and in doing so, you undermine the story’s ability to reach people who might actually see themselves in it.