I've been trying to wrap my mind around Jaewon's deal for a while, because I've found his character to be flat and one-dimensional, honestly repetitive from when he was a kid and first spoke to Seo-In in the hospital up until they were teenagers.
Personally, I dont think it's that he specifically wanted parental attention/love because we never see him particularly interested in his own parents. He even goes out of his way to upset them to get at Seo-In(literally outs the both of them).
My recent guess is the lack of control he has over his own life. The first time we really see Jaewon get sensitive about something is when Seo-In pokes at how sickly he is. My guess is that once Seo-In entered, he quite literally saw a version of himself that had everything and could do everything he would've wanted. Bc Jaewon can't do judo as well, spends a lot of time at the hospital, and can't take after his mom and model like Seo-In. Seo-In would be an embodiment of what his life would've been if he was healthy and capable.
As a result, he forces Seo-In into submission to be his 'shadow' and flaunts his control over Seo-In to make up for being 'lacking'. Kind of like a 'if i cant have a life, you cant either. You have to be worst off than me" to make jaewon feel better about himself.
snap snap snap
So from my understanding, Seo-In has an obsessive personality type but is afraid to reach out first because as a child, he's felt that rejection of love from his adoptive parents. As a result, he tends to probe and prod at others to essentially test and push their affection. We saw that with the couple as children, and it also explains why he's so push and pull with Yeongwoon. He tends to be sweet when the MC is, but retaliates at any slight hint of Yeongwoon pulling away.
Yeonwoon is also seen to be a little possessive of the ML(although within very reasonable bounds) but because he feels that he's been played with and used by Seo-In in the past as a stand-in(at least in his mind), now he's particularly wary of getting too emotionally invested. So he tends to push and pull too, but bc he's got this whole inner conflict going on.
Jaewon is my least fav just bc he feels very one-dimensional. He repeats the same lines over and over again, 'youre my shadow'. If we at least saw signs of him being upset by their parents attention to Seo-In, or that he was greedy for his family's attention, id understand him more. I wonder if the author will flesh out more about how his illness impacted his mental health bc most times we see him, the dude seems fine. But someone once said he's not a real antagonist, but rather a plot device, which i think makes his repetitive character traits more bearable.
The mom is interesting. She definitely cares for Seo-In, but I think she just prioritizes the idea of her perfect, unbroken family more. She might actually be more biased towards Seo-In as the stand-in for her dead son and the one that followed in her footsteps than Jaewon.
I love this analysis so much and it's spot on with everything we've been showed in the story so far. I normally find push and pull dynamics and misunderstanding tropes annoying. But with the way the story was told and the way the background was expanded on I'm more sympathic to the characters than annoyed. The reread hits different with the full context of their past now revealed.
While I hate Jaewon with all my guts I also sort of sympathize with him as well. Although he was less fleshed out compared to the main couple there's still suble character building at play for him. The reason he lashes out the way he does is because he resents the fact that Seo-in was brought in as his replacement. He's been sickly from a young age and his parents (especially his mom) are torn up about it. No matter how much they claim they love him they love the idea of a "perfect" family much more. Having a sickly child gets in the way of that, so imagine how Jaewon must’ve felt when his parents suddenly bring home a new model so to speak. One that not only looks just like him but doesn't have any "defects" either. A perfect replacement. While that in no way excuses his actions it does explain why he acts the way he does.
Overall I really love the characters and story telling. Each new chapter is the highlight of my week.
What bugs me is 10 years time skip, 10 years isn't a short time
Him intentionally hurting his hand is a tad in the direction of a red flag... but not that bad yet. He shouldn't be harming himself to manipulate Luke for attention. BUT, we also have to remember that this is basically the first time Andrew has ever found someone that he truly loves and feels care from. He's been deprived of love and happiness and so Andrew probably wants to be coddled. I don't think he's the type to object to the MC having friends.
Totally agree with your comment. Andrew has a lot to take care of in terms of mental health. Bro was never loved ans had an abusive relationship with his father. Truly hope he doesn't turn into a total Red flag. He needs time and love to ill himself and to learn whats True love is <3
lowkey I kinda hate Jaewon's character. Not just bc he's a dick to everyone but his character is literally so one dimensional. He's been repeating the same lines for the last decade, "don't forget, you're my shadow". But like, what does that even mean? He's sick in the hospital all the time(altho we don't see it), Seo-in literally has a modeling job and massive IG following. Jaewon doesn't seem interested in his parent's affection either. He just goes on and on reminding Seo-in of the same shit. Every other character feels so much more dynamic. We literally see Seo-in changing over the last few chapters, and then his bro comes and says the same lines. To me, Jaewon honestly just doesn't fit into the story well.
i agree but i think it’s because we only see him as a kid. His character doesn’t really change because he died young and only was around for a portion of seo-in’s life. it’s aggravating tho because although he was there for such little time, his actions transcend time and still effects their relationship today. If his character was multi faceted i feel like it would distract from the main plot of the story which is seo-in’s and yws relationship
*Highkey
I don’t think he’s meant to be a dimensional character, just a plot device meant to haunt the narrative. Even though it’s been years since his death, present day SeoIn and Yeongwoon are deeply impacted by his actions and the damage he did in such a relatively short period of their lives. But I do agree I think the author could have been a little more subtle than having him repeat that shadow nonsense every other scene he’s in. We can clearly see that’s what he’s trying to do, no need to have him spell it out too .
NGL i love the ML's mom. There's something about a rich parent finally trying to keep their kids humble(altho it clearly didn't work, but that seems just as much to do with being bored hot).
hahah I think it was his dad who spoiled him, also u know the saying that people are attracted to partners who are like their parents? garam to me seems alot like his mom lollll
I don't like the 'romantic' relationship, or whatever progress it's on. IMO I like relationships that are written to show how personalities/values mesh. Kim Dan's side, I get it. He viewed JJK as a protector and admired his work ethic a lot. JJK has never been interested in Kim Dan as a person outside of what he could do for him. This new 'concern' for him feels like its arising out of pity more than anything else.
At this point, im reading more just to explore their individual stories. JJK has some major anger issues that tie into his desperation for success. It seems to stem from some sort of trauma, that drives him to want to be the best and unaccepting of anything less. IDK how Kim Dan is gonna temper that.
Kim Dan has some major abandonment issues. He struggles to live on his own, both literally and mentally. Again, not sure how JJK can possibly help with that. At this point, it feels like the characters are getting pushed together out of co-dependency, guilt, pity, and fear. I don't love it but i'm curious how the author is gonna navigate these personal issues of the characters.
The fact that the MC decided to....just give in bc the ML was persistent is.... not super appealing to me...
It wasn't even like the MC changed his mind or was convinced otherwise. it was quite literally that he just gave in.
Yeah i don't have high expectations for comics like this anyways, the consent is iffy at best and horrifying at worst, I read on cuz my brain is fried and it's something to do. BUT high-key it's sometimes uncomfortable to read characters like the ML being regarded as hot when they're just weird and criminal. Not hot.
the dislikes… this is concerning