
I see a lot of people complaining about misunderstanding...to be honest, this is far more realistic than stories where emperor and another guy fell in love openly. Yeon is not a concubine, he is a fighter and holds an official position in the empire, he is not the most intelligent but he tends to try his best. He loves the emperor and he is somewhat aware that the latter loves him too but does not vocalize it. For one simple reason. If he does say it out loud then it will create enemies and use these ppl to manipulate the emperor. They are both playing it safe but its creating disastrous results.

Been re-reading this for 586486 no.of times. Its just gold. Art style is freaking aesthetically pleasing to me as it makes it look like its water painting. Very cute.
For people who are complaining abt Hosik being a pushover, he's not. He easily refuses his friends but when it comes to this Sunbae he is weak.....he likes him, let that sink in.
In the flashback its made clear that they genuinely fell for each other and Hosik was scared to admit it to himself.
There is no manipulation, the Sunbae knew that Hosik liked him but I do not like how he molested him in his sleep. That was quite unnecessary.
One of my faves and this kind of story is definitely not for the younger crowd, not because of the SA but because of the complicated emotions depicted so realistically here. Initially I was thinking that maybe the reason Utsumi eventually fell for Akamine was something like Stockholme Syndrome but I was wrong. He did not forgive him and I think he won't be forgiving him even in the future but it is his acceptance of Akamine's repentance that heals both the men.
Akamine is a kind guy but he did have perverted and violent tendencies for which he destroyed his own life and that is a fact, there is no two way street about this. Its good that he accepted it humbly and also dealt with the karma that came his way.