unpopular opinion but i always hate when yaoi couples have a seme thats talented, successf...

Umm but that's not the case here. Ukr is doing pretty well it's just that he has a trauma

Agreed. Eunsan has been shown to be good at cooking (I think?), grilling, and his job. He might not have been as good as Ian at hockey, but he played a part in helping him get as good as he is.

Yeah exactly

regardless of the reason why hes struggling, it doesn’t change the fact that he is meanwhile the seme leads a fulfilling life that is leagues more successful than his. i just personally dislike the fact that the majority of yaois have this kind of dynamic

the thing is though, ian is just as good if not better at cooking than eunsan is plus, him being “good” at his job is directly related to ian. aside from that, he’s just an average run-of-the-mill employee. we haven’t been shown any instances of eunsan being particularly remarkable at his job aside from the fact that he got the brand deal with ian, and that was obviously not because of his talent. he didn’t even want the brand deal at first. and his hockey is obviously nowhere near as good as ian. i was using a hyperbole when i said “good at nothing,” but everything that eunsan is supposedly “good at” is either directly dependent on ian or a much worse version of something that ian is much better at. this story is just one example of this kind of dynamic that’s very common in yaois. which is exceptional semes who are uber successful and immediately prodigies at everything that they do, while the ukes are just mediocre at best, if not bad at everything.

I definitely agree that that's a frustrating dynamic to see over and over. Your exaggeration just took me out because I feel like this story is one of a few where the difference between the two isn't too crazy compared to others. Eunsan had a stable job, home, was medicating his condition, had friends, etc, before Ian came into the picture again. I think he deserves more credit than what you've given him. His hockey trauma is the plot device to move the story, while they both work through relationship struggles. How successful Ian is compared to Eunsan doesn't really bother me here because there's no financial dependency there. Nor does the fact Ian is better than Eunsan at hockey because that just means we get to see them interacting outside of a work environment steadily.

yeah eunsan’s circumstances are certainly not the worst of the worst, but i think it’s sad that it’s already considered surpassing expectations that he’s mediocre and not a poor homeless damsel in distress. even though eunsan is not doing terrible by your typical uke standards, i still feel bad for him, especially since ian originally learned hockey from him, but left and became way more successful than him in every aspect. ian essentially lived out eunsan’s dream life, even down to the affection and approval of eunsan’s father, while eunsan was just left behind to become an average office worker and lead a meager life, not to mention get divorced and have his father die without ever being the supportive and loving father figure that he had wanted and been to ian. ian has everything from money, fame, and success, while eunsan has a depressing ass life and anxiety. also, my grievances are not just with eunsan, they’re with ian. the author is trying to paint ian as this benevolent and morally perfect person, along with the recent chapter where idk if she’s tryna insinuate that he’s some football prodigy too. so yeah that’s why i think ian is a mary sue. im just not a big fan of the fact that you can clearly tell the author is only in love with ian, and hence she’s subsequently making him have zero flaws. even with the one instance that ian displayed flawed behavior when he taunted eunsan at his father’s funeral, im sure the author will find a way to explain that later on with some high and mighty justification.

while i DO agree w ur point i feel like this manhwa is lowkey an exception..? idkk i like that its well-written and not just something the seme uses to one up the uke yk + eunsan isnt really all that interested in hockey, thats just me tho

i agree w the part that ians a mary sue tho i hope the author gives him more depth in the later chapters

Hmm maybe because I see Eunsan's life as more realistic I don't deem it as overly depressing . For Ian, I hope the author dives more into what he was up to in the years since. I'm sure he has single parent issues he still had to deal with along with his pining. I wouldn't be surprised if the sole reason he cared about hockey at all was because he saw Eunsan playing. Some flaws would definitely be welcome, I'm surprised with how mature he comes off sometimes.