I agree that dismissing ch 21's rape scene as simply lazy progression to fan-service smut is doing a disservice to how the creator rooted that in pyeonghwa's characterization and portrayed both the intensity of his desires and the depth of desperation that makes incheol submit to it. it's treated with a seriousness, realism, and depth that raises it above the level of many of the "dark, toxic" BL out there that aren't much beyond trauma/torture porn and hackneyed rape-to-love arcs that get popular. but like I mentioned responding to someone else, acknowledging how certain things are justified within the narrative doesn't mean we can't be critical of or wonder why the creator is choosing a particular narrative direction. to put it another way, I can see and appreciate how the materials and craftsmanship of a building works for its architectural goals and still be critical of its floorplan or function in its neighborhood.
in ch. 21, I expected pyeonghwa to be more on the rough and callous side, partly because he has no soft, tender feelings for incheol, and partly to provoke incheol into hitting him or something, since he's a masochist. given that pyeonghwa's past hookups had good enough times that they were contacting him after the fact, I inferred that he's not usually tearing up the guys who bottom for him in ways they don't want. incheol's different from those guys, so pyeonghwa's in a rush to take what he can from incheol while he's in his clutches, and cause him pain in the process (presumably to leave a mark/give him an unforgettable experience). the whole encounter is a power trip for pyeonghwa, sure, but I can think of this scene playing out more humiliatingly for incheol with less physical damage if pyeonghwa just slows down. as it stands, I can tolerate all this if their relationship goes some kind of atypical, complicated physical entanglement route with some reckoning on incheol's side on having his boundaries violated. really, just anything more substantial than a glossed-over-rape-to-love route.
while I don't think this creator is using rape as a crutch/shortcut the way many other creators do, I and other commenters around here can still have a negative reaction to its presence here (especially given that it's probably meant to provoke a reaction in the reader). and even though my first reaction is "ugh, rape again!" I can still reserve judgement on the series since you know, the story isn't finished, and future developments will determine where my opinion lands. doesn't mean I can't still react to something in the moment.
thank you for leaving this comment, and i cannot believe the discourse around ch21 is still so prevalent that ppl r still talking about it on update day. as much as i disliked reading chapter 21 i also feel like it was the culmination of pyeonghwa’s twisted lust and incheol’s desperation.
dude thank you for having some common sense my god
here's a hug if you're okay with that
oh whoops, here's a heart for real <3
omg ofc! i just read through the comments and realized everytime i found myself agreeing with someone it was usually you LMAOO im seeing a lot of people claim others aren’t using critical thinking skills or are medita illiterate but you are one of the few people ive seen give an accurate psychological analysis on these two (づ￣ ³￣)づ
<3
There has been a lot of discourse surrounding Chapter 21, specifically regarding the dub-con scene. I’ve seen comments arguing that this development was "unnecessary," that the author was "lazy" for resorting to standard toxic BL tropes, or that it reduced the complexity of Peace of God into just another generic smut manhwa. I diagree. This wasn't random smut it was the inevitable crash of Incheol's desperate heterosexuality clashing with Pyeonghwa's desire. The main criticism I see is that the coercion felt forced or that Pyeonghwa should have tried to seduce Incheol properly. This argument fails because it ignores the biggest conflict of their relationship, Incheol is straight. Pyeonghwa isn't stupid. He knows he cannot "seduce" Incheol with romance, charm, or patience. You cannot slow-burn a straight man who is only hanging around you because his career is on life support. So he was left with exactly two options which were either accepting he could never have Incheol or leveraging the contract to take what wouldn't be given freely. He didn't bypass seduction because the author was bored he skipped it because he knows that emotional connection is a dead end here. It was the only logical outcome of two desperate people colliding. The dubcon wasn't fan service it was Pyeonghwa realizing that physical possession is the only territory he is ever going to conquer so he used the only key that fit the lock.
This scene shows that Pyeonghwa is operating on a terrifying scarcity mindset where he is fucking him like he'd never get the chance again. If he was truly confident he would have savored the power dynamic but instead he rushed through it with the frantic energy of a starving animal terrified his meal is about to be taken away. We saw this hunger building when he was sniffing the coat and now that he has the real thing he is treating Incheol like a heist target rather than a lover because he knows the cage door isn't locked tight and Incheol could wake up and leave at any moment. He prioritized his own visual satisfaction over Incheol’s comfort because a starving man doesn't worry about table manners.
The specific mechanics prove this was about frantic curation rather than just sex specifically how he put the condom on Incheol to stop him from finishing on himself just so Pyeonghwa could claim that spot on the stomach for his own mess. He treated Incheol's body like a canvas he had been fantasizing about for months and needed to paint exactly right before the lease ran out. Between that and licking the blood without hesitation it shows that Pyeonghwa doesn't care about hygiene or partner comfort because his disgust has turned into gluttony and he is just trying to consume as much of the sensory experience as possible while he still has the upper hand.