this is just the situation with noona all over again where people act like the fault lies solely with jinhyeong for some reason. i said from the beginning that jinhyeong had been failed by every single person in his life up until he met uyun and that songrik was invalidating jinhyeong's abuse, and i kept seeing people say that it wasn't like that which was already crazy. and to be clear, it's not like i think songrik is an evil person either; i think his behavior is a result of his abuse. jinhyeong is the only friend he's been able to make and trust, something like a lifeline, and for a child in an abusive home, that's a godsend. that's why they clung to each other and made such promises to run away together.
but people pretending that songrik did nothing wrong here is so bizarre?! yes, they are children, but this is an insane overreaction from songrik that is not justifiable in any way because jinhyeong never said he would abandon him and literally told him he would still move in together with him. songrik was trying to pressure him into doing what he wanted right then, and no matter the reason, that was unfair of him to demand of him. the reality is that if this is how he reacted to jinhyeong hurting his feelings, then he would have always done the same under different circumstances had they started living together when they planned to. their codependence would have turned toxic the moment they had no one but one another to rely on because they were both mentally weak due to the abuse they suffered. jinhyeong even tried to make it right after he said what he said (and he wasn't even wrong to be upset with him having shown up because he told songrik repeatedly about the kind of man his father was and how precarious his situation was at home, though i do think he went too far in saying "real family").
this isn't me saying jinhyeong did absolutely nothing wrong, but their mistakes absolutely do not weigh the same and it's kind of appalling to see people treat them like they do, or to even see people act like jinhyeong did something worse than songrik here. songrik participated and orchestrated bullying efforts against jinhyeong and exposed all of his insecurities to make him miserable because he said one thing that hurt him (and even with him doing this, jinhyeong continued to try to protect him by not taking action to get him expelled when he would have been within reason to do so, because he knew that he would make his domestic life worse if he did). no matter how you look at it, that is wrong. in the end, this is what jinhyeong meant when he said that he'll hurt someone twice as badly for hurting him--songrik was the same. they both needed help here desperately, but they were wrong (and naive) to seek that help from one another if the foundation was so unstable that jinhyeong wording one thing wrong would make songrik think the best response to that would be to start fucking bullying him lmao. idk i think people are really nasty to jinhyeong every time something like this happens which is kind of ironic in it's own way.
This omfg. Jin didnt deserve this? All he did was get confused and also didnt wanna run away from his family? Rik didnt even tell him what his friends were saying to him like. He didnt even give him a chance
THIS
exactly. people are really telling on themselves here because this is straight up how abuse functions and continues to thrive. it is constantly an uphill battle get a victim to separate themselves from the source of the abuse because when the abuse is not ongoing, it gives them time to justify the mistreatment and think, "it's not that bad. i can fix this if i just work on it and then things will be okay." and this is just in a general sense--it's far more effective on a child who lacks any support outside of their abusive circumstances. i mean, even in present times at age 26, we still see jinhyeong grappling with the prospects of leaving his family behind completely because he still wants his father to love him. it's really not hard to figure out why jinhyeong, at high school age, would change his mind at the same time that his father suddenly decided to treat him a little well.
I think it's crazy that song rik did all this simply because JH didn't resent his father that much
yup, and even then, it's not even like jinhyeong has a pure affinity for his father either because we see him think about wishing his father would be strung up by his ankles and about how he wants to beat him parental abuse is so difficult to break away from when they psychologically abuse you because it's a lot easier to do mental gymnastics into justifying why you're the problem and how your relationship can surely be better if you only meet their expectations. when they don't cross the threshold of physical abuse, then all of sudden it's "not that bad" and "could be worse."
at the same time, i understand songrik's perspective, despite how twisted it is. abandoned by his mother and hated by his father in a manner more overt than what jinhyeong was experiencing (though their circumstances were extremely similar), he wanted to make it so he could bring jinhyeong down his depths of the ocean. only then would he truly make it so jinhyeong would have no one else but him. this can be seen in his rhetoric of jinhyeong "leaving" him and "choosing his father over [him]." after all, isolation is one of the most common tools in an abuser's toolbox. i think songrik learned this from his father, and it's likely he didn't realize he was using it against jinhyeong here because he saw it differently, as him just trying to get jinhyeong to "understand" his pain amd "understand" that he was the only one he could count on.
dreading the next few chapters so so badly because what could have possibly happened to tear jinhyeong and songrik apart to the extent that they aren't even in contact with each other after a decade, despite promising to be each other's literal family. i almost don't want to find out i might kms
also this author's depiction of parental mental and emotional abuse/neglect is too real because leaving them behind and going somewhere they can never find you and making them regret it is all fun and games until they start loving you again and you think of all the times they weren't always a piece of shit to you lol
i'm guessing that once he got praised by his father he strayed away from rik's plan of abandoning his father and even defended his father and rik wasn't happy bcuz he was returning to his previous goody-two shoes self... and they prolly got into a huge fight abt their values and future life goals and split apart for the good im so scared too because their friendship is so wholesome and they genuinely wish the best for eachother
i'm guessing that this will be the case as well, or it'll at least have something to do with why they broke off from one another. from the beginning of jinhyeong recounting this part of his past, he says he's extremely vindictive and immature, that he will get back at whoever hurt him twice as badly, and that he had done so even to songrik. so i've got a very bad feel about this one but we'll just have to see
this is driving me to tears for real lmao, not just because i can relate to jinhyeong but also because the thought that his father could treat him like that when he was such a sweet boy is so beyond me. it's so upsetting. and i know songrik is also only a boy who doesn't know how to cope with the abuse he experienced so he really doesn't know any better, but it's so frustrating to watch people repeatedly invalidate jinhyeong's struggles just because they're less tangible. the people around him failed him constantly at nearly every possible turn. i honestly think it's a miracle that he met uyun and was capable of beginning recovery without completely losing his mind LOL
this is truly just a worse version of the third ending i cannot believe it
i find it a little funny how during this entire manhwa thus far, all we have been seeing is how people make assumptions about and place expectations on jinhyeong, making it so that it's extremely difficult for him to open up to others, but for some reason, there's suddenly confusion when we see another character behaving similarly to others we've already met. i mean, the whole reason why his relationship with uyun is working and helping him grow is because uyun gave him the room he needed to open up and feel safe doing so. uyun never made assumptions about his character or talked about him behind his back or took other people's word for it in regards to who he was. he was patient and allowed jinhyeong to show him, and his acts of kindness and affection are unconditional and non-transactional because he acknowledges the weaknesses jinhyeong struggles with and tries to fill in the gaps.
all this to say that i can't blame his ex for feeling bitter--after all, i've been where she is, and the pain always lingers a little, even after a long time. you start wondering what it was about you that wasn't good enough. but regardless, she was never playing fair because we see her repeatedly hold the things she gave him over his head while simultaneously ignoring his words and his feelings about what she was doing. we don't see the entirety of their year-long relationship, but he expresses himself and communicates clearly about two key things that lead to the downfall of their relationship: he didn't care for her giving him test answers, and he didn't feel comfortable going to that party. in both cases, he still sacrifices his comfort and his boundaries in exchange for hers, and in both cases, she ignores what he says because she means well (and we even see her tell on herself a bit by saying he's "strong" and "[his] family is rich," implying that the problems he was having shouldn't have been such a big deal, though i do think her expression afterwards did indicate some level of regret for saying it].
could he have expressed himself better about these things, and likely many other things during the course of their relationship? absolutely, and he shows both now and even back then that he understands that his failure to do so caused significant harm to someone else. however, i'd say his ex still has some growing up to do herself (i haven't yet been provided a good reason for why her sudden change in reaction towards him being in a new relationship that's good for him but it's with a man is reasonable or justifiable but i digress), because it seems like she still doesn't seem to think that she did anything wrong or even understand what it was that she did wrong, and after five years at her age, i find it a little strange that she couldn't think of even one thing she could've done better in that situation. on the whole, these were two people who were never going to work out in a relationship because their methods of expressing themselves and their affection are just too different lol.
I can't believe i read the whole thing but yea lol
lmfao my fault coach, i just had so much to say because i think people are honestly coming to her defense unnecessarily. like i have truly been exactly where she is rn and was even the same age when it happened and it hurts bad, but she is doing and has done things here that never crossed my mind to do to my partner. she fucked up too and that's okay. like we're only human at the end of the day.
first of all, I love you, second of all, I absolutely adore how you analyzed both characters in the relationship without a strong bias towards or against someone. you actually read the manhwa :)
people like you are the reason why I still have faith in humanity lol
aw thank you you're sweet :3 <33 glad someone else is also paying attention lol
just fell to my knees in my bedroom.... one of the greatest to ever do it and it's already over .... IM GONNA KMS
FR & APPARENTLY THE AUTHOR ISN’T DOING ANY SIDE STORIES EITHER
NOOOOOO..... SAVE ME ERESEMO..... ERESEMO SAVE ME .... DONT LEAVE ME WITH THESE FREAK ASS AUTHORS .....
mc has pebbles for brains i can't lie. like there's normal stupid and then there's "how are you still alive" stupid and he's the latter i fear.
ykw it definitely sucks major fuckin dookie that seolho has put everyone in a Situation but after some thought i'm blaming the boss for it as well tbh. he must know that the reason seolho is so desperate to be on the field is because he's eager to prove himself as an equal and an adult to him. and seolho is so caught up in thinking he can't expose how he feels directly that being of utmost use to the boss must be the ultimate way of expressing his feelings. i'm starting to feel like if the boss had just told him outright that he knows how seolho feels, then seolho wouldn't have gone to these lengths and would've started doing some real self-reflection instead.
so the question now is why hasn't the boss done that yet? even if seolho goes berserker about it, he could certainly handle himself against him, and he's already been shown to be the kind of person who doesn't beat around the bush about anything. i'm kinda wondering if the boss reciprocates seolho's feelings but can't allow himself to give into those feelings because it would only lead to more issues in his mind, but i'm not convinced of this stance yet since we don't actually know too much about him yet, not even his name LOL but this manhwa is genuinely too fucking good, puts a lot of other bl manhwas to shame really
no because fr, like its been years boss cmon. Give the poor mans heart sum rest jeez
My gut tells me the boss has some soft spot for dumbass seolho which is why i think he doesn't want him to go in the field. I think Taemin saying "he cares about you" to seolho proved that for me. But my gut also tells me he thinks seolho is a bit of a dumbass that's why he ain't letting him touch the field. (which is proven correct)
I know that one reason at least why boss isn't letting Seolho on the field is precisely because Seolho is in love with him. Boss told Taeman that as a killer being in love is one of the worst situations they can be in because it affects their ability to concentrate on the job.
his eagerness to be out on the field aside, it makes sense the boss didn’t let him yet. imo he’s still childish and isn’t able to be a team player if he’s playing an active killing part. and he’s not experienced in assassinating either which is why the boss let him be an informant/spy instead. it’s just a bigger annoyance that the time he chose to prove himself but fucked up, was for their most important mission even if the boss has a soft spot, at the end of the day blondie’s doing duties not for the agency but for the boss’s attention and approval
sabba pointed out their concentration on the job too and i agree
oh yeah i fully agree. honestly the whole situation is more akin to watching the progress of an avalanche at a distance: it's started off small and quiet, but now it's out of control and you can't warn any of the people who are about to be crushed beneath it
i feel like i am losing my goddamn mind seeing this comment section right now. what do you guys mean "they're both in the wrong"? am i in the twilight zone? god, yes, they are both children in extremely fucked up domestic circumstances, but are we truly going to keep acting like anything jinhyeong said or did held a candle to songrik's treatment of him here? songrik is suffering terribly from the abuse and abandonment he's endured, and he's emulating the same shitty behavior towards jinhyeong here, so now he's the same as jinhyeong's father despite insisting he's the better option.
i'm at the point where i simply don't care about what jinhyeong said, he didn't do anything so wrong to deserve this from him at all, and songrik has truly done nothing to warrant being defended this fiercely by people here. the same thing he's been doing this whole time (invalidating and making light of jinhyeong's abusive circumstances) is merely being amplified to the maximum right now. the moment jinhyeong did something he disagreed with or made some kind of mistake that triggered him, this would have always happened. in the end, the reality is that jinhyeong never abandoned him or turned his back on their plans to move in together, and once again, his words were ignored. even if he said something hurtful, songrik is a complete bastard for this, full stop. abused people can still be shitty people; them being abused is only an explanation, not absolution. feeling sorry for songrik is reasonable, but let's not pretend that what they did is on any kind of equal footing when it's not even close. if he and jinhyeong ever meet again (and i'm kind of hoping they don't), i truly hope songrik is a better person by then.
preach sista
like i truly cannot believe it. jinhyeong is literally being bullied because he told songrik he didn't want to move out right away because he knew they'd struggle (which was the correct assessment, mind you) and because he wanted to mend his relationship with his father. even if you take the "real family" line out of the equation, this is the gist of the reason behind why songrik thinks it makes sense for him to partake in psychologically torturing him at school. and i'm supposed to think his feelings of betrayal are just as meaningful. be serious.
NO LITERALLYYY i did not know their relationship would fall apart that badly and i cannot make any excuse for his songriks actions
none of us could have seen this coming like i knew it would be bad if they haven't spoken in a decade but i could have never guessed it would be THIS bad, holy shit.