Oh my god, I literally agree with everything you just said, you worded it perfectly. I genuinely think that jaekyung’s redemption arc should’ve lasted AT LEAST 10 more chapters so that it would feel like actual time and effort was put into changing his way (wether it was communication wise or just the way he physically treats kim dan.)
100% agree this is wasted potential and idc if this was a dream sequence or anything why even write it?!?! The readers r not soley horny dogs that we couldn't go having chapters without sex, WE COULD AND WE WERE DOING IT!!! this is genuinely so frustrating and upsetting as a reader, I feel like the author js gave up with this chapter. Just go the extra mile to give jaek the character development he deserves. Wtf is this
as a person whos read this ever since it came out and has continued to stay hooked, i believe this moment (the sex of course) shouldve come a lot further down the line. kim dan was feeling uncomfortable at the idea of having sex with him, so it feels kinda gross to watch him zone out thinking about the topic and then feel like he has to. i wish he felt like he could say no, despite agreeing to the contract.
i really wanted jaekyung to say yk what? i dont need to have sex to treat the jinx, and i dont need to treat kim dan like my personal fucktoy for my own pleasure. (i dive deeper into this below.) yes i get it, hes eating his ass out which seems different and like hes focusing more on kim dans pleasure, and its hot and stuff, of course im reading this so id agree. its a nice change of pace.
BUT, the pacing is still way too fast for my liking. a very large piece of lore is that kim dan was literally molested right before getting coerced into sex by this man, and then had pretty nerve-wracking experiences with sex as a whole as a result of joo jaekyung (getting forced to fuck in public and stay quiet, so so many times— being thrown around, even anally bleeding the tiniest bit the first time they had sex i believe? correct me if im wrong, but i swear there was the tiniest detail of lube mixed with just a dab of blood on the tops dick while jaekyung was pulling back out before starting to fuck kim dan for the first time).
this is heavy shit that warrants a lot more than just an “im sorry”, and kim dan hasnt even accepted it yet. while i fully understand that jaekyung has trauma and he literally does not know how to communicate well, this only further proves my point that theyre both not ready to have sex in my opinion, not at all. i believe there could have been progress for the top to change, but it wasn’t like this. not this fast, because scars (metaphorical ones) dont heal that quickly. not jaekyung’s, and especially not dan’s.
in order to prove thats hes not the same as he was before, i would have preferred that he stay away from the topic of sex for a long LONG while, longer than this— in order to really show kim dan that its not going to be the same anymore, that he doesnt have to have sex if he doesnt want to. he isnt a toy, and yes, he did “””agree””” to all this, but hes in probably the worst mental state possible right now dealing with alcoholism and sleepwalking + trouble sleeping in general. do you get what im trying to say? hes in a vulnerable spot and not really able to say no (HIS GRANDMA IS LITERALLY BALD AND ON THE VERGE OF DEATH PEOPLE!), and having him redo what hes done in the past, even if hes sorta ok with it (literally only did it for the love of his grandma at first)… just rubs me the wrong way.
my vision was that he’d focus more on treating him right for much longer, and before everything, i have to note that i hate that jaekyung brings up the contract again, but i also get that kim dan probably wouldnt have accepted him with open arms at all had he not. so, im working with that.
the first step wouldve been realizing that this superstition of his is creating more problems the more he believes it. this is literally the title of the manhwa, the key aspect— if he gets past this, he’ll be able to change so SO much. then, he could start by not only giving a more detailed, heartfelt apology that was thought about a lot (as in, not just awkwardly out of nowhere in the crowded area a ferris wheel provides, but real effort put into it) where he goes into depth about everything he has done wrong, that would be GREAT. kim dan at this point may or may not have been like he actually is in the manhwa currently— confused of his intentions— but less, because in this version the top would’ve taken his god damn timeee, letting kim dan soak it in.
i get that theres a contract and everything, and theres a specific amount of time until the contract ends (which i totally forgot about! someone let me know what they both established plez) but i still think that with the time between them for the remainder of the contract (again im assuming, because i remember the time faintly, and it wasnt too short but not too long to fit my vision if i remember correctly?) that this approach im mentioning to take things SLOWWWLYYYYY wouldve been possible. obviously if they only had like, 3 days, yeah, jaekyung would have no time at fucking all to lock in and get his shit together, and also make kim dan comfortable because god knows he fucking needs a break yo, he needs at least one person other than his damn grandma to socialize with and be happy with, no strings attached, no sex and no walking on eggshells like a 1950s wife.
also, jaekyung would learn to communicate. it wouldnt happen overnight, but it would happen. the apology would be way out of his comfort zone but the right thing to do, and after this he would feel compelled to keep it up. people are flaming him for being shit at communicating, and he totally is shit at it but i get it, he has trauma. he literally Doesnt Know How To. however, that doesnt mean he should be so quickly forgiven, especially to the point of getting freaky w kim dan again this soon in my humble opinion.
after that, he could see kim dan genuinely laugh with him and smile with him, go to him when hes sad and look to jaekyung for that shoulder to cry on and tell all his darkest secrets to, all that bonding jazz. he would see his “hard work” of genuinely focusing on himself and treating not just kim dan, but others nice, pay off (which is the very feeling he chases after in his profession). he would have more motivation to be the right man for kim dan, and for himself as well, because being something for someone is never a good idea! he has to truly want it for himself and not just to please kim dan, or else he will have learned nothing.
after a lot of character development in jaekyung to the point where kim dan trusts him and feels happy with him (and also happy to have sex with him NOT CONFUSED OR UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!!!!), then i think i would bless their union yo… im probably forgetting something so my bad, ive put a lot of thought into this but im obviously not the best writer out there, ive tried my best _(┐「ε:)_
thanks for reading if u got this far and let me know your thoughts :-) im not hating at all and id love to hear other peoples thoughts !