I agree with the character analysis part completely, but I actually don't think it'll turn out like that, with the way that everything happened, someone else kidnapping Nakyum would be pretty stupid on their part. If it does happen, though, I'm hoping that this Era of bliss will strengthen their relationship enough for them to be able to talk openly so that if it does happen next, they'll actually speak to each other and clear the air.
I agree with everything you’ve just said, it was well thought out and honestly addressed something I've been feeling ab the manga since I had began reading it as well as other mangas where the victim falls in love with their r*pist/kidnapper 10/10 comment!
Normally I agree but a next kidnapping has been foreshadowed a couple chapters back. It was when Seungho broke into his former lover’s mansion and almost killed him. This other dude popped up out of nowhere after everything was done and vocalized how he wants to “enjoy” Nakyum before killing him. So I assume that another kidnapping will be happening. And I don’t look forward to this at all. (〜￣△￣)〜
What is aggravating to me is that this webtoon is actually good in the sense of me understanding why the main characters are the way they are because of the historical context, their hinted at backstories and their social standing. My problem is that the author is always just dancing around this issue and barely scraping the surface of it. And we know the author is aware because she/he is scraping that surface continuously without actually diving in finally. We see this by how side characters react to their “un-consensual liaison”. Seungho’s noble “friends/lovers” make fun of him for fraternizing with a low born. His main former lover voices his disgust at this. We see Nakyum being kidnapped and almost killed like he’s not a human but an obstacle that can just be killed. We see certain servants knowing that Nakyum doesn’t have a choice but also that those servants have no legal right to help him. We see it with how Seungho treats Nakyum and how Nakyum is helpless here. It’s always shown to us on this surface level so the author knows exactly what’s going on. They just don’t dive in to fully address this by finally having Seungho and Nakyum address it openly in conversation. That’s why I’m still holding on because it always seems like it will someday happen. I lost my optimism on this ever being addressed until Nakyum’s Noona said what many readers must have been thinking already. And of course Seungho’s servant confronting him. This gives me hope, that is being squashed a little with this latest chapter. But I’m still holding on. Sorry for the long ramble (づ￣ ³￣)づ
Yes! Everything that Seungho has put him thru needs to be addressed but instead the author glosses over it by insetting a sex scene and it’s incredibly frustrating because I’ve been in a relationship similar to this, ofc I wasn’t held captive and could’ve left anytime, but it never seemed like an option for me and I’m still in therapy because of it and ,as you pointed out, seeing how Na-kyum is unaware to the fact that Seungho knows he didn’t run away on his own makes it seem like he’s this “forgiving and occasionally kind” person and him r*ping Na-kyum is always brushed off because in the following scene he’s nice to him and it’s???
It’s really frustrating to have yet another sex scene without there at least being an attempt made to resolve what happened between the two main characters. And that’s just weird to me as this was such a major break in their “relationship”. And we get nothing. Right now it’s always Seungho/angry=rape and Seungho/calm= rape but less forceful. I’ve started to reread this webtoon and honestly I liked the chapters before they have “sex” much more. There is much more establishment to their characters and their surroundings. They have conversations that lead to tense moments and Nakyum is actually showing a backbone. Now everything has almost become stagnant, which is a shame. I was actually relieved when we finally got to the kidnapping and ensuing drama but the consequences for Nakyum were to be treated again as a toy which resulted in yet another brutal rape scene . Now Seungho resolved what happened for himself without giving Nakyum any clues and the end result is again “rape”. And Nakyum is turning into a boring trope of becoming one dimensional. He has no ambition in his life other than to please the men around him. There is some spark here and there but it always just pertains to Nakyum snapping whenever Seungho insults Inhun. So again, it’s about another man. Whenever he was exposed to indignities against himself he mostly shown rather meek outrage, surprise and tears. The frustrating part about it is that it makes some sense given the context. The only thing I wish for is that he would get at least half as mad about himself as he gets whenever Seungho insults Inhun. It’s shows that he can get angry over indignities but lacks a lot of self esteem, yet is smart enough to know that he can be exposed of easily. It makes sense. It’s just a little confusing to me as “relationships” and the same kind of behavior is a common trope in webtoons/ mangas and to see the same kind of tropes play out in a self aware webtoon where it wouldn’t make too much sense for them to act otherwise is messing with my senses.I’m so sorry you were in an abusive relationship yourself and I’m happy you were able to get out of it.
The drawings are gorgeous, no doubt about it and I actually enjoyed Nakyum’s flashback he had of this Inhun guy, as it shines quite a light on where Nakyum’s devotion came from. I get the feeling that it started with Nakyum seeing Inhun as almost like a father, which later changed into romantic feelings. I’ve been waiting for such a long time for a more in-depth look into Nakyum’s past, so to get even a slight glimpse into why Nakyum is so loyal to this man was actually a breath of fresh air.
What made me roll my eyes though is that we now immediately go to sex between Seungho and Nakyum again without any conversation about what happened in the last chapters.
I completely understand why Seungho wouldn’t talk about it. He’s self absorbed, damaged and probably doesn’t feel the need to explain himself to someone who is so far below in social standing from himself. But this also unfortunately shows that he again didn’t really evolve as a character to at least vocalize to Nakyum that he feels bad for what he did after unfairly judging and punishing him yet again for something he didn’t do.
I also understand why Nakyum wouldn’t say anything. Seungho has power over him and treats him however he sees fit. He also doesn’t know yet that Seungho knows the truth, so I guess he just assumes his captor calmed down. Which seems almost manipulative on Seungho’s part for not letting Nakyum know. With that he keeps him in suspense of his next actions. It would also slightly change the emotional power dynamic if Seungho actually admitted he was wrong and giving Nakyum a slight leg to stand on. It would give Nakyum some “power” in later arguments to be able to call Seungho out on his presumptuous behavior and over reactions . Without it, it must look to Nakyum like Seungho is just “benevolent” enough to forgive him his transgressions that Nakyum knows he actually never committed. So he continues to walk on eggshells. It’s quite sad actually but as weird as it sounds, I wouldn’t really call this a flaw in writing right now because of the historical context and the fact that Seungho is a spoiled but also mentally damaged noble and Nakyum is a nobody. But for this to move forward there needs to be a change out of this rigid formula of “Nakyum being accused of stuff he didn’t do, Seungho punishing him with rape, Seungho finding out the truth and attacking his former lover, him calming down again with Nakyum who is none the wiser and Seungho never telling Nakyum that he’s sorry, or actually letting Nakyum know that he found out the truth (water on painting incident/running away), and actually trying to actually change his behavior by addressing his own shortcomings”. We need a break in the cycle or this will become stale fast. I might be presumptuous here as the next chapter isn’t released yet but from what is shown in this chapter it just looks like they are going to have sex again and never talk about what happened or why Seungho is all of a sudden soft with Nakyum again. I assume they are going to enter an “all is bliss” phase, where they both just ignore everything that’s wrong and then Nakyum will probably be kidnapped by this other dude who wants to rape and kill him. Seungho this time finally won’t just presume Nakyum ran away and find him before major damage has been done. Nakyum will see him as his savior and Seungho actually never has to talk about his own issues or apologize. I hope it will be more intricate than this.