when i first started this, i was honestly kind of put off by how the story began. the fact that the main character was still a minor at the start and the male lead just pulled up, decided this kid should live with him, and expected trust right away felt so strange. for like the first 40 chapters i really couldn’t figure out the direction of the plot or what was actually going on. but honestly… the story turned out to be really fucking good.
the art at the beginning felt amateur, you could tell the artist was uncomfortable with certain poses and the lighting wasn’t very advanced. but then halfway through season two i was like wow—the art started to improve so much. by season three and the epilogue it was gorgeous. the growth in both the art and the storytelling was phenomenal.
what i really appreciated about this story is how it handled the age gap dynamic. the younger person was actually treated like someone younger, instead of being written as if they were the same age. usually in these stories the older character ends up acting immature or dismissing the younger one, but here the older partner actually acted mature, acknowledged the weirdness of their situation, and treated the dynamic with care.
another thing i loved was the rare inclusion of adoption in korea to signify marriage. since gay marriage isn’t legal, a lot of same-sex couples have gone the adoption route so they could be considered family. i think it’s such an important and realistic detail that should show up more in stories, because it highlights the genuine struggles of being in a same-sex relationship and navigating the legal side of it.
overall, i fucking loved this story. you really get to watch a damaged person grow into someone completely different, and the execution was amazing. is it one of my all-time favorites? probably not. but would i recommend it? absolutely. early on i would’ve rated it like 4/5 because i felt so lost, but by the end it was a solid 5/5. i adored it and i definitely think it’s worth reading.
this was quite the read. i really enjoyed the overall message of this one, and the title being form of sympathy was very fitting. we ultimately got to see that the reason why it was titled that was because the love they were experiencing between the two of them blossomed in the form of sympathy. the two characters both experienced different variations of how they defined the word love, went through trials and tribulations, and ultimately found love—initially in the form of sympathy for one another. i just think that was really well done.
i like that the characters are both insanely flawed and at times very difficult to enjoy. i remember reading this and feeling so frustrated, like screaming at my phone because i wanted a different outcome and the choices they were making were frustrating me. but ultimately that’s what makes it feel very human. both of them are very flawed, maybe some more than others, but they come together in the end and the story blossoms into something so beautiful.
i also love that yuri is a bit crazy. i always love them a bit crazy, so that was enjoyable. ultimately, this was a really good read.
Well said
forgiving a partner who breaks trust? the refusal to give up the relationship? i know it’s frustrating as reader but it was super realistic. i did enjoy it still (⌒▽⌒)
i wasn’t that sad for kiumi (uke) until they showed all of his fantasies and it’s just him being openly loved. i know that not everyone can come out and kiumi is happy but…dang. i feel bad for him. walking 5 meters away from him in public is crazy!! like just above and beyond…
this is one of the best psychological thriller stories i’ve read in a very, very long time. what makes it so special is the artist’s incredible way of storytelling. we watch the main character slowly spiral into madness — his train of thought becomes nearly nonsensical, yet we still get this unfiltered stream of consciousness that perfectly shows his deteriorating mental state. as a reader, you feel confused, but in a way that still lets you understand where he’s coming from.
what i really love about this story is that both characters are insane — and insane for each other. usually in stories like this, one character is more unhinged than the other, but here, they’re equally crazy and completely embrace it. they are genuinely perfect for each other.
the male lead’s shift in perception is one of my favorite parts. we watch him fall in love with the main character and become obsessed with having him. his love stems from the fact that the main character accepts him for exactly who he is — something he’s never had before. everyone in his life either died or was paid off to stay away from him, so the idea of someone literally stalking him feels ideal to him.
their dynamic is fascinating. they match each other’s “freak” perfectly. when they first became intimate, the main character gave the male lead head and said it was fine if the male lead threw up on him. by the final episode, the roles reverse — now the male lead is the one doing it and saying it’s fine if the main character throws up on him.
that reversal is made even better by the reveal that the main character has been faking memory loss to keep the male lead happy and close to him. so while it seems like the male lead has the main character in his grasp, it’s actually under false pretenses — the main character is in control in his own way.
overall, this is such an insanely well-done psychological thriller. it’s dark, twisted, and has very adult themes, but everything is executed masterfully. huge props to the author — this was amazing.
this is one of those stories that genuinely sticks with you. wow, we really get to see that the two characters in the story are genuinely some of the worst human beings that have ever existed. one is a genuine psychopath with murderous tendencies, and the other is a cheating, lying, homophobic bastard, and they are in a relationship. this dynamic, where the psychopath is obsessed with a cheater and it’s like a cat-and-mouse game, is so well done, and the ending is so perfectly ambiguous. what i really enjoy about the story is that neither is morally correct—some people think the psychopath is more morally correct, and others may think the cheater is more morally correct. i’m of the belief that the psychopath is more morally correct, even though he does murder the cheater multiple times. the reason why i think that is because the psychopath is genuinely a victim of grooming and a horrible upbringing, and the cheater grooms this guy and then abandons him in his every time of need. i’m of the belief that cheaters deserve to go to hell, and the psychopath just made it a one-way ticket. i loved how the ending was open and could’ve been interpreted in many ways. i interpreted it as them being stuck in this limbo after death. genuinely so fucking fantastic for such a short read—genuinely so well done, and the art is beautiful too. amazing.
like yes king he’s SO sweet! (he’s fucking crazy but i’m so glad you’re happy)
if anyone could explain this to me, i’d be so grateful!! if yoonjae was straight, then how come he lied about not remembering how he got the scar on his wrist? just to keep hajun around??
I also wondered about that because I hadn't read it in a while, but he didn't! He tells Hajun that he was too young when it happened to know why he has the scar (and the boy being hurt is just Hajun's assumption because of the blood on his sleeve, that's why he believes that yoonjae was the boy from back then) and since they did very briefly meet as children he never lied or tried to decide Hajun, there was just a misunderstanding on Hajun's part
but the author says that he knows how he got the scar! so why would he say he’s too young to remember? ╥﹏╥
Wait really??? I guess I missed that, idk then this is confusing
I was also wondering about that! I got mixed signals from Youngjae, I honestly couldn't even understand whether he was actually unknowingly in love with Hajun or not. I mean, he seemed to be jealous of Sihyun and confused about Hajun losing interest in him in some panels, but then it was never mentioned and he peacefully found himself a wife. Well, all is well now so whatever
To me it really looked like he relied way too much on Hajun, I think the author kind of tripped over themselves trying to make us believe that there was something between them
If you remember what Hajun said to Shinyeon (I 100% spelled this wrong) back in the cabin. Hajun said they were both using each other back then (in highschool).
Hajun was using Yunjae because of how much he looked like Shinyeon. He knew it wasn't him but he was glad Yunjae relied on him because he liked being relied on which is what he discovered when he was younger and met Shinyeon for the first time.
Yunjae was using Hajun because he was small and shy and "weak". He mentions something similar when the situation with the Dean's car happens. He says something like "I can't say those things like you can." (Don't quote me on that, it's something along the lines because it's how he feels, it's not word for word) So back in highschool Yunjae probably knew that if he told Hajun the truth about how he got the scar, Hajun wouldn't want to be around him anymore (cause yk...the real Yunjae he was looking for would've gotten the scar from the truck accident) So he lied saying he doesn't remembered so Hajun would stay around and project him from bullies and stand up for him.
Hajun liked having someone relying on him and Yunjae liked having someone protecting him.
Ooooh that makes sense, thanks!!
as an atheist, i really do appreciate the symbolism, the story, and the allusion to christianity and the christian faith. they believe that adam and eve were the first two humans, and that eve was tricked by a snake into eating an apple, which created sin. so far, what we’re learning is that their names are obviously adam and eve in the story, but also that adam, in this case, was the “bad apple” that eve bit. so i’m wondering—what caused this? will there be a serpent involved, similar to the christian faith, or will they describe it in a different way? truly amazing. i love when religion is brought up in these stories.
I think it’s possible that Adam’s status as a “bad apple” refers more to him enlightening Eve in a way that caused some sort of detriment. So far they’ve been fucking and sucking a lot, and there’s a whole thing in the story of Eden about how once the humans gained knowledge of their status and sentience, they began to feel shame over their nudity and attempted to find clothing; so it’s possible that for Eve, his “enlightenment” is coming to understand that he is a human being (courtesy of Adams intentional treatment) and he’s begun acting upon his own “wants.” In this story, Adam is the one who offers the fruit of “knowledge” to Eve, and the effects pass down to Eves progenitors and enlighten them to human desires and needs, too. Before this they were all too happy to live and die as, like.
Okay so small aside, the story of Plato’s cave. The cave dwellers watched a shadow puppet show on their cave walls, unaware of where the light was emitted. A small few began to question their place in life and managed to find their way out of the cave.
Guides in this story are tasked with whisking Espers away from their cave; introducing them to higher needs they were denied from recognizing. Eve is introduced to carnal pleasure and love, but hasn’t gained self actualization. (None of the guides have so far.) Eve is coming across more needs and therefore engaging in more sin (lust, greed, and envy so far, alongside maybe a little wrath.) it’s interesting to see the espers be liberated from their below average conditions and come into themselves as people. Can’t wait to see where the story goes after this! I forgot my own analysis and interpretation halfway through writing this and I think it’s obvious
honestly, this was enjoyable but pretty basic. the plot felt predictable and emotionless, like something i’ve read a hundred times before. the female lead was strong and stubborn, which was nice, but not unique. the art was pretty, but nothing that really stood out.
the real highlight was the villain — he was the only truly three-dimensional character. even when he made terrible choices and caused problems for the leads, he was compelling and hard to hate because of how well his backstory was written.
overall, it’s a simple feel-good story on a very linear path. not bad, but definitely not unforgettable.
ok thank god it’s not just me. i binged the story all today and it was definitely enjoyable, but not anything crazy maybe like a 6/10 for me. i feel like if the story was a little more fleshed out, it would be wayyy better. like if we rlly delved into the ml’s back story or if we explored the mc’s relationship with her mom a lot more (i was rlly interested in that and we barely got anything)
or in the romance aspect, if we got more dates and stuff between them bc while i wouldn’t call it a fast paced relationship by any means, the time it took to get them to fall in love felt almost bland. ofc that’s just a preference tho cause i think i tend to only read slow burns, but idk it just felt like there wasn’t enough substance in their relationship from what the readers saw for them to love each other as much as they seemed to
i did enjoy the antagonist tho. i immediately clocked how crazy he was from the first time he saw the couple out together in the town from his reaction and knew he would be a problem. i wish we also explored how his relationship with family (his mom using him as a puppet and the lack of relationship w his dad) to rlly see how he ended up the way he did