There is something off about this story and I don't know what it is. It isn't even the "dark theme" because unfortunately I've read much much much darker stories. Something just bothers me. I wonder if it is the pacing or the constant switch between present and past events.....I can't put my finger on it
Borderline horrible pacing paired with obscure scripts.
It's like they're trying hard to portray the nature of the story as mysterious (which isn't even that mysterious) by throwing unnecessary dialogues resulting to confusion or vagueness to readers of most of the time.
Still, at the very least, this is one of the few BL manhwa that isn't immaturely done.
I think that at some point, the author lost control of the plot. I mean we all knew from the get-go that ML was kinda crazy but he did so well to hide everything and gain MCs trust and all that. It makes no sense for him to all of a sudden push MC to remember the past and cause the forever breakage of their tie. Not this ML who acted all cute in front of MC while wreaking havoc behind the scenes. You might say: He is tired of hiding who he truly is and wanted to bind MC to him......He could've bound MC to him by doing what he has been doing so far! MC was falling for him deeper and it did not cross his mind to break up with ML. If he was on the brink of doing that, ML's actions would've made sense because it would've been his last shot at keeping MC but dude ruined everything for no reason at all
I think the reason the ML pushed for the MC to remember is the fact that he knew eventually he’d find out. So that’s why he set up the precautions and his plan B. Aka the hostage situation. So he knew ahead of time that it was doomed but he decided to bind him with as many ways as he could so he had to stay. Whether through a binding contract or every single persons life in the city.
I will end to dedicate some time to reading tbe novel next weekend because it feels like I'm missing a lot of context. Don't get me wrong, I think that in any yaoi MC and ML having sex in chapter 27 is long enough but it feels like we had a 24 chapters of tension and then we jumped straight to this. They're not even lusting after one another because of rut or heat, Chase, in particular, acts like he just found out that Josh is his long lost lover and he can't bear to stay away from him. It would've made sense if he remembered him but without that, it feels weird. I hope that the novel offers a lot more in-depth explanations










I do not dislike the art at all. It's just that some panels are more beautiful than others (same character) so, if the artist eventually shows the same consistency across all panels, I have nothing to complain about.
I'm not one to drop a story because of art. Years ago, I used to read the original version of "Black Haze" and didn't even notice that the art in the first 30 chapters (or maybe more) wasn't great because I loved the story so much that by the time the art improved a lot, I thought it was always like that and only realized it when I went back to the beginning.
Art adds to a story but doesn't salvage it if the plot sucks. Also, and this is completely subjective, I like a yaoi with peculiar art especially when it has buff main characters. It just feels more attractive in a way