Cripplefujo

I get that rape is immensely normalized in stories nowadays and it truly shouldn’t be, but also rather than a romance I think this should be tagged as psychological. I’m not saying you have to forgive Cesaer for the way he acted and some of his actions but atleast understand that as a young child he knew nothing of love, no affection whether it be emotionally or physically. Coming across someone you begin to love especially when it’s your first you don’t know how to treat them so he treated lee won as he’d done before to every other person, mindless sex because that’s how he knew how to share “closeness” with another person. It got to the point where he’d do it with lee won because it’s when lee won would show cesaer the most affection if you noticed in the story lee won himself isn’t the most affectionate. So when cesaer would get “insecure” he’d turn to the only thing he knew, sex, whether it be consensual or not. It was almost him practically begging lee won to calm his insecurities without outright saying it because he doesn’t know how. Lee won realized this and it became a lot more apparent later on in the story especially in that one scene with all the alcohol and such where he recognized where cesaer needed help. Obviously lee won falling in love with cesaer rather than turning away from him, he leaned into his insecurities and immature shows of love, lee won himself questioned it at times throughout the story of how he wound up falling in love with him but nonetheless he loved him and wasn’t going to turn away from him. And in his own sadistic and depressing way Cesaer loved him. Rather than not addressing the rape I think the author used it in a way to show his psyche and lee wons, because in their own ways they’re both not sane. It’s my second time rereading this story and fully understanding the plot and story and the characters so rather than it being a mindless story with a shitty plot, it’s a complex story of love with complex characters and relationships. Though ofc it doesn’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea

Hiya! I appreciate you for taking the time to write such a long/in-depth reply. I can appreciate what you’re trying to say but that’s honestly not the gripe I have with the story at all. I don’t like unnecessary/indulgent rape content personally, but that’s not what my issue is with this story. My issue is the way it has been dealt with (or lack thereof).

I appreciate the idea of trying to create complex and intricate characters but I do not believe that has been followed through in this story at all. Lee Won is a self-righteous attorney who believes in justices he is introduced as a strong and self-assured person who - yes, has a large amount of empathy for others - but also has self-respect and is logical and sensible. Caesar shoots him, kidnaps him, rapes him, sexually assaults and effectively tortures him for a WEEK in such a cold and cruel manner and I’m supposed to believe that Lee Won is not only completely okay with that physically happening to him, but also psychologically? You could argue that he has a lot of empathy for those around him, a statement to which I agree, but the way the rape is brushed off like it didn’t even happen and Lee Won ignores it, running back into Caesar’s arms without and hesitation is truly unbelievable to me. This is where I have problems with the plot and believe this is a massive plot hole. No person, no matter how strong or empathetic they are, could go through what Lee Won did and come out the other side as if nothing even happened. I have dropped the story so I don’t know what happens later on, but the way the mood suddenly shifts from something so dark to completely normal, with Lee Won basically jumping back into Caesar’s arms with no hesitation simply does not make sense. I understand the author using the rape as a vehicle to express Caesar’s messed up internal mind, but the way Lee Won “deals” with it simply does not align with the way his personality is shown earlier in the story. That is my frustration. It feels like everything that was built up about Lee Won up until that point was dismissed/ignored and skipped over and to me that feels like very lazy writing. But that’s just my sentiment.

I love this convo, but from my viewpoint lee won from the start has not shown self righteousness but rather a dedication to his work, he is empathetic but he’s also not as sane as any normal person you’ll come across which is where I think your argument/point gets a little jagged. In one of the very first chapters lee won ran towards caesar a known mafia boss with a fountain pen inches away from his face, a very to the point threat, I don’t believe any sane individual would do that with no fear no less. His morals show a lot more deeper into the story, even then the experiences he had with caesar obviously did leave some type of scar which is apparent in how he reacts and how his thought process then evolves when he is with caesar. He himself acknowledged it as wrong but nonetheless didn’t care as much simply because he’s not that completely different from caesar. They’re both not sane individuals, caesar comes off more aggressive because of his background and experiences whereas lee wons sanity is more masked as he grew into a “relatively” normal adult. I think it’s wrong to assume lee won is simply an empathetic individual and group him in with “normality” in regards to logical and sensible individuals. He is incredibly smart and he knows how to use it to get what he himself wants. His psyche is only shown more aggressively later on in the story and I can understand from someone’s viewpoint that hadn’t finished the story why you’d think that. I’d say, simply to analyze him as a character, to give the story another read, fully. Though of course if you truly feel it’s simply not what you stand by then I can understand. Either way I appreciate you taking the time to fully read through my response and responding equally :)

I thought I am the only one who is disappointed with the sudden shift of plot in there, I mean yeah, the manhwa is dark but I hate how it's like Lee Wons personality also changed quickly than I thought it would--Im sorry, I just couldn't explain it well but when the raping happened, ugh I dropped it instantly (a plot twist maybe). I came back and read the side stories and no it's just not for me, even though I read certain dark themed manhwa or yaoi plots, this is just not it. Though, understandable that Caesar is raised like that, Lee Wons patience is terrific (he is so good at coping) , he should've been a psychologist with how he handles this man and everything around him. Their relationship btw is on side of manipulation and pleasing the other.

So girlies, you see, it's not a good idea to bag a mafia man, it's not worth the risk if he is this insane. Nope I love my life. ╮(￣▽￣)╭