beta
alright, here’s my take: i don’t like that MC is hiding their relationship, i find it frustrating and annoying to read. however, that does NOT mean that i do not understand his reasoning. i do. better than a majority of people in this comment section honestly.
i’m both gay and trans, and live in the USA, so i am WELL acquainted with the fear of coming out to people. it’s not exactly the same since being trans doesn’t really equate to having to hide if you’re in a relationship or not, but it is similar in the way that queer (especially men loving men) people in korea are not known to be well treated or accepted when they do come out.
i’ve come out as trans many years ago when i was a freshman in highschool, and i had to drop out and be schooled from home because the bullying was so bad. so bad in fact, a friend of mine who went to that school, in my same grade, who was also a trans man like me, k*lled himself because the people there were that vicious. i know very VERY well how scary it is to come out as queer or gender nonconforming.
HOWEVER. there’s two major things that make up my opinion; 1) gay, straight, or trans, hiding your relationship can lead to many misunderstandings and hurt feelings. not just on the side of the partners involved, but also on the friends and/or family. 2) and the most important to me, the ML very VERY clearly wants to be in an open relationship and wants to proudly show his boyfriend off. it’s frustrating for me to read because you can tell that the MC’s decisions, while VALID, are hurting the ML.
TLDR: Do I like the MC’s decisions regarding hiding their relationship? No, I don’t, and I wish he hadn’t kept them a secret. Do I understand why he would want to keep it a secret? Yes, absolutely.
There’s a difference between finding his decisions frustrating and not liking them while still acknowledging his reasonings behind them, and finding his decisions frustrating while ignorant to his struggles.