ALSO CHECK OUT THIS INFERENCE OF THE CHAPTER ON TWT, IT KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF: https://x.com/ooutrotear/status/1973184013784477881
ALSO CHECK OUT THIS INFERENCE OF THE CGAPTER ON TWT, IT KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF: https://x.com/ooutrotear/status/1973184013784477881
Hmmm I have to disagree that Incheol doesn’t know what’s happening to him (his boss and rival trying to edge him out) - it seems he knows exactly what they’re doing and that’s part of the reason why he’s so frustrated at the situation and trying so desperately to resolve the matter with the gym (a lot of panels such as his reaction to reading the ‘you don’t have to come up for the time being’ text imply this).
I thought the twitter thread was an interesting read but I also don’t think the uncle and nephew thing bothered Pyeonghwa that much. In Korea (speaking as someone who is korean) when you say that it’s not literally like you see this person as a nephew - it just means like a close person who is younger than me. Given the context of the situation and also Pyeonghwa’s personality, I doubt it upset him.
it seems you understand a lot of the subtext, I want to ask... why would the boss and the other guy try to edge him out? I understand they sent him there because they know is something almost near impossible to fix and if he isn't able to do it, it'd be as a death sentence, but why are they doing this to him?
Love it!
Oooh yeah, he probably does then. But then why the "Why are they branding it like this and why now of all times?" does that mean doubt and hesitation? I gotta ask, cause that means I misinterpreted that then.
Is that how it was? I thought it definitely annoyed him, but maybe it doesn't go that deep. Thanks so much for your insight, Pyeonhwa probably did that just to take jabs at Incheol then haha.
okay but i read elsewhere that the uniform is the one used until 2016; and it looks like blue uniforms were implemented after that. but yeah definitely an older brother figure if we go by how long ago it was.
they probably are setting him up to be a scapegoat for some corruption business, hence his presence there.
Agreed
hey just wanted to weigh in as well - before that, @gg_253 excellent analysis although i do agree with @Beepboop's point regarding Incheol being aware, it may also be a case of sunk-cost fallacy in essence.
anw to answer ur question n add to @urania's answer, i think why him specifically to be set up as a scapegoat is because it's been mentioned a couple of times before that he's also really ambitious, to the point of resorting to dirty, underhanded tactics. i'm assuming this includes under-the-table, shady, and maybe even downright illegal acts so they may also be trying to cut ties or at the very least distance themselves from incheol and his "methods" (even if he was acting under the rep's orders) so they can claim plausible deniability in their degree of connection to incheol if any of this ever goes public.
Great analysis GG!! But I agree with the other commenters that Incheol is well aware of being pushed out of the inner circle, he's smart enough to see what's happening and to realise there's really nothing he can do except getting Pyeonghwa to sell the gym.
I read in another comment ('They're both bound by something...' by Lgoop): "it's perplexing to see that the person getting beat on has more autonomy, freedom, and self-respect than the man in the suit working for a rising politician.". This is truly it, they're both in the same boat in a way, only one of them has truly accepted it. The way Incheol is now distancing himself by pretending (?) to be well-meaning, but how Pyeonghwa is waving their 'relationship' in his face is another thing that shows it. Incheol needs to hit rock bottom before he can let go of everything he's worked for, and has come to terms with the fact that he did the dirty work that was asked of him only to be distanced now.
Do you think Incheol tried to take Pyeonghwa to the meeting with the mayor? He pretended to drive them home only to take a different route and is supposed to be at the mayor soon.
Great point there, using his own ambition to spell his (career) death sentence is such a potential candidate for as to why it /has/ to be Incheol. And there would be no objections to Incheol being targetted by the public eye either since he won't have any backing without his party. They wrung him out as much as they could, and are planning to get rid of him before associating with him becomes a hindrance to achieving their goals.
hope this message gets sent fr
i definitely think the cop in pyeonghwa hallucination is incheol before he joined politics. why? because the author verified that a lot of effort went into the detailing and the construction of house, gym, office; with that the text on pyeonghwa t-shirt 'you've came a long way, baby' is a movie about nevigating the trecheous path of first love ( the cop ? incheol
(The cop? Incheol)
Also the movie posters in his home maybe all depicts some aspects of the story? Like mysterious skin is all about how childhood trauma influence ones adult self. Is Pyeonghwa's machoism bloomed from his childhood trauma? And he believes he can only feel closest or intimate to another person is through boxing till one is left unconscious and sex?
But when incheol denies him this yet still keeps on hounding him or shows him kindness ( like the cop) ,though for his own gain, he feels thrown off and intrigued by the man?
Incheol being the cop is definitely still on the table. One might say it wasn't the hallucination/memory superimposing on Incheol but just the uniform! since even the facial structure was the exact same. You're spot on about Pyeonghwa being fascinated by Incheol (and possibly this mystery cop too). Childhood trauma seems plausible but both of these characters' pasts remain unchartered territory for us, so anything's game!
From what i have read (in other manhwas), ACEs (adverse childhood events) mostly manifest as borderline personality as the child grows into an adult. I have seen characters that have craving/inclinations related to said trauma and also characters who are grossly repulsed by anything related to it. So who's to say what is what? And I think we're not going to get into this properly until later on in the story and till then will only get puzzle pieces to put together (as is the lovely narration style of this author).
I haven't seen the movies referenced in his home yet, but just this comic alone has made me curious beyond what i am able to exprees. so I wanna try exploring them slowly.
Punch-Drunk Love
Kids Return
City Of The Rising Sun
Mysterious Skin
Trainspotting
Die Bad
These are some of the titles from the posters
P.s. i got these from a different website do credit to the person
thank you for the list, it's really so interesting.
First of all, I can finally refer to Pyeonghwa by his name, Incheol finally said it damn. I been waiting on that so long. And by god it was such a moment.
Anyway, I looked up the insignia on the uniform and it's the one used by newly commissioned/ junior police officers so my best guess is Pyeonghwa was hallucinating about an older brother figure, possibly a friend or senior closer to his age. Makes me even more curious about him. Like What's your story babygirl? 16 chapters in and we only know 3 things about him:
1. 26 year old gay guy
2. Gym owner and boxer
3 Sadomasochist suffering from CTE
That's it. We dunno shit about him, and so far Incheol hasn't been able to dig up anything on him either. We know just as much about Pyeongwah as Incheol does... (well, except for the fact that he's spiraling into being obsessed with Incheol to the point he doesn't know how to deal with it...but lets not get into that now *cough*)
Second, this was such a great chapter in that while he was lecturing Pyeonhwa about stopping his matches, so he doesn't end up killing himself (which was called for too, let's be real) it was really introspective in Incheol's context like wdym "Doesn't it feel like shit? The fact that you're being used like some arcade game?" just look in a mirror dude (and then he did, controlling the snap he was boutta snap lol).
And the politics part isn't so hard to understand either, it boils down to the fact that his boss and rival are scheming to kick him out of the game by cutting him on intel and telling him to "not come up". You're being scammed. He's so hypocritical, noticing every detail of Pyeonghwa's office and his stance in the matches, but not realizing that his own colleagues are pulling the wool over his eyes. He's so good at his job that he's forgotten what's good for his own self. He desperately needed a wake up call, and I'm so glad that wake up call was (if indirectly) Pyeonghwa. I absolutely loved what the author did with the traffic lights, Pyeonghwa calling Incheol out on his hypocrisy, giving him an apt snarky response, leaving him silenced and unable to retort in a way that'll Get to Him and then letting him go in sync with the changing colors was so brilliant, that was such a highlight for me. Gawddd.
And also The Mayor and Mr. Yoon? New players are entering the game, this gonna make things exciting since the only contact Incheol has had till now was his office, Cha or Rep Lee. This gonna be so good. Please snap at your meeting uncle, we love to see it.