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ok i'm so confused... the spirit is of course a fckng red flag but I don't think sunbae is going to be hanjoo's endgame after the last two chapters (with hanjoo linking him to painful experiences). but i also can't see hanjoo ending up alone, so…
well, my theory is that it will be a somewhat bittersweet ending. so far hanjoo seems to be immersed in a sea of illusions created by the spirit (he doesn't remember many painful facts from his own life and practically survives in a parallel reality to others, besides being somewhat unexpressive, as if he had no contact with his own feelings despite everything). i think the endpoint will be hanjoo breaking free from this bubble and finally remembering everything about his own life, the traumas involving his aunt, father, and the people around him, when he got lost in the forest, and the abandonments. at some point after this he will have to make a choice: to live in reality (represented by sunbae and the sun on the cover), but experiencing all the horrible feelings and emotions that have not directly affected him so far, or to live in fantasy (represented by the spirit at night), in this limbo where he doenst remember almost anything. and honestly i think hanjoo will choose to continue living in the illusion manipulated by the spirit because his reality will be too painful to bear
ps: i think that's why sunbae is a mix of someone cruel and good to hanjoo, he represents the real world in hanjoo's life. it causes pain but it's what hanjoo is used to feeling, he accepts what his life brings him. at the same time, the stepbro/spirit is the representation of this illusory world where hanjoo feels no pain, but it's just a mask — deep down, the cruelty is still there, just disguised as care and love. that's also why during the sex hanjoo kept thinking "i need to remember something" "this should be hurting" etc etc because that's it: he knows deep in his mind that his life should cause pain, he's aware of it, but he can't feel the pain and discomfort because he's living in the fantasy that the spirit created for him, so all that's left for him is this strange sensation of not suffering and that would explain why he would have to make a choice at the end of the story between them