this comment made me cry you’re so so right
this is not two cents, this is a billion dollar statement
thank you
Damn I really read allat. What a beautiful way to describe this story
I agree! I also believe this is the type of situation where only the victim can decide if forgiveness is given, how and when. I personally can't ever forgive Ido and I accept it. You cannot socially forgive rapists. But if Sejin decides to forgive and give a second chance, since this is a different lifetime, I can respect his decision.
Rapists can never be forgiven.
One can feel pity for the desperate attempts a rapist does to redeem themselves, but it doesn't change the fact they were a rapist.
Just because Ido does everything in his power to change the trajectory of the second lifetime doesn't mean the first lifetime is just a dream we can forget, because the first lifetime was very real. Lives were abused, fidelity and trust was broken, purity was tainted, and autonomy withdrawn. Sejin lived through /all that/ and /died/, he /shot himself/.
It doesn't change anything and it never will because /Sejin is dead/.
This is why it's difficult to actually critically digest this story because it takes the consequence of rape and abuse literally. You see the trauma, you see the lifelong aftermath, in fact you see it affect even the regression timeline. Even after Sejin's death, Sejin's mind, body, and soul still recalls the trauma of things he knows and believes has never experienced.
At this point it isn't really about it you are Team A (Ido and Sejin should have a happy ending regardless of their past) or Team B (they are better off parting ways), because either way, it has always been about the personal journey and growth of overcoming the self-inflicted hatred and the lifetime worth of trauma.
Let's not forget that if this wasn't an omegaverse, Ido never would have found out Sejin's memories/emotions. He never would have understood the depth of self-loathing, the depression, and the anger that Sejin felt. Ido's guilt only began when he forced bonded with Sejin. Maybe his guilt would have started differently if it wasnt omegaverse, maybe it would've began after seeing Sejin's cold and dead body, but the point is - Ido only understood because of the rape-bonding.
The fact it took him raping Sejin to understand all that trauma is something far too despicable, far too inhumane, that it is genuinely unforgivable. That is beyond redemption.
We're here reading and witnessing the raw unraveling of two very broken people trying to navigate such a complicated relationship. Because, yes, they are fated and bonded together. Being bonded is something you can't reverse unless one dies.
Does Sejin want the bond? It's complicated. The trauma of Sejin#1 is too explosive it probably somehow overwrites Sejin#2 because if we only consider Sejin#2's emotions, he would have loved to keep the bond. He would do anything and everything to keep he bond because he loves Ido. He cares for him, worries about him, and wants to make the effort to keep the relationship strong and valid. But Sejin#1 makes that love broken.
Does Ido want the bond? Even more so. The reason he regressed and did all those things was to make sure Sejin lives a good life where he doesn't have to end up killing himself. But his own desires were also weaved into that plan. The slow descent to passion and desire, Ido couldn't help it. Sejin was so lovely, he wanted to relish the selfish second lifetime to use all his time to adore and worship the man he took for granted. But amidst all that, his sins weigh heavily on his head that keeps his gaze downcast. He can't look up, he couldn't dare to do so.
Ido can never be forgiven, but it doesn't mean their relationship has to end. It will just never be as happy and as pristine as it used to. They will have to bear the weigh of their first lives together if they choose to remain by each other's side, they will have to navigate the complex feelings of having been the abuser and having been once the abuser.
Sejin can never be that naive anymore. He'll just have to learn to love Ido again as both Sejin#1 and Sejin#2 while Ido will have to learn that his love cannot be weaved from guilt. His gifts, acts of service, and words of affirmation, cannot be remedies of his past wrong doings, he needs to somewhat properly compartmentalize his first life and second life's memories so he can actually love Sejin for who he is now. He cannot love him just because he was Ido's greatest regret in the first life. He has to see Sejin beyond the abuse and trauma.
That's just my two cents. I really love the slow burn it's so worth it and the expressions and everyhting in this manhwa is an absolute masterpiece.