I’ve seen a lot of people saying that the goodbye kiss was romantic and that Sam drugged...

I’ve seen a lot of people saying that the goodbye kiss was romantic and that Sam drugged Chang-gyeon because he wanted “one last kiss” without facing guilt. But when you look carefully at the actual scenes, the story paints a much more complex, and much sadder, picture.

The farewell scene is written as tragedy, not romance. The kiss isn’t framed as sensual or intimate; it’s framed as grief, the kind of gesture someone gives when they’re letting go of a child they failed to guide properly. If the author wanted it to be romantic the manga would signal it clearly (and it absolutely knows how to sexualize things when it wants to). It feels like a farewell filled with affection and is framed with restraint and ambiguity , suggests the intent was emotional, not romantic desire.

Sam’s internal monologue that night leaves no room for misinterpretation: he admits he was arrogant, that he enjoyed being the “only important person” because it fed his sense of purpose, not because he felt romantic desire. He realizes the emotional dependence he allowed to grow was unhealthy and decides to leave so CG can stand on his own feet. That’s guilt and responsibility, not hidden love.

And the reason he drugged CG is painfully logical:
CG absolutely would have tried to stop him. A confrontation would have shattered the boy even more, and Sam also knew that he himself didn’t trust his own resolve if the boy woke up and begged him to stay. Putting him to sleep was the only way to avoid panic, clinging, self-harm, or desperate begging. It was damage control, not some dramatic gesture to “steal a kiss.”

It’s only years later, as adults, that these feelings turn twisted, conflicted, and too complicated to name. But projecting that adult tension onto their childhood moments distorts what the manga actually shows.

The tragedy is that Sam’s attempt to leave “gently” becomes the final wound that breaks CG and births the tyrant. The scene is meant to show the origin of obsession, not a secret love story.

So no the kiss isn’t romantic.
It’s the symbol of a caretaker’s failure, a goodbye drenched in guilt, and the spark that ignites everything that goes wrong afterward like that scene of young CG with the sword in his hand and blood. It’s literally the moment he stops being just an abandoned boy and becomes the beautiful, tragic monster we meet at the start of the manhwa. It’s heartbreaking that his ruthlessness was born from pure desperation to never be left behind again… and yet it’s so powerful, so him. I am SO ready for the bloody arc.