I also feel really bad for the Ex...who even did the porn thing in order to repay the debt and this after being threatened... he thought he was protecting his bf... it is sad...but kind of stupid too...if he did not actually run from the debt ...why did he not come back to the the mc and tell him “let’s work together !” ... this way they would not have been tricked into paying double for the debt..
I think the bad guys were trying to make them work forever for the debt... without one knowing that the other was also working his ass off ...l
He was literally waiting in the same apartment for his ex? Did you not read it?
And yeah, I know that Shiki didn't know what happened to his ex. My point is that he loved him enough to not move on, just working and waiting for him. And the whole time, the guy was literally tricked into to thinking that he was helping him and keeping him safe. That guy LOVED him.

Their love story could have used more development.
I mean Shiki and his ex basically spent the last 4 years of their lives working hard for the other while waiting to be together. THAT's a love story! But Shiki is ending up with the love starved barely 18 year old? Who he's only spent a few months with. Like, I don't know man.
And now, I feel extra bad for the ex. Who would be in a very loving relationship by now if not for the plot.
I wish they had made the ex a bad guy or made their love story more compelling.