no no no, it was never jaehwa's job to make his ex feel like a man, jaehwa can't make him something he's not
(quote from astrid)
╮(￣▽￣)╭
Jaehwa use rudness as a self defense mechanism, he don't like getting close to people by fear of being hurt, he was probably different with his ex and being in a relationship doesn't mean that he had to stop working to make the other feel better, we have no proof that he once act superior toward his ex's and in my opinion he isn't doing that with Taekyung either, but just think about the whole situation for 5 second, i feel like y'all are forgetting what is happening in this manhwa aside from the relationship, a stalker, false accusation of plagiarism, and a bad past with his ex and then the relationship,
i don't think you would like to be every hours of the day with your lover, he need some alone time and he can't have it because of the stalker, so yeah its bad for him to act like this but being stressed out can easily make you rude or cold
The thing is that this behavior has to have been going on for some time. He is rude to others to protect himself, and yet most people do not do that as a self-defense mechanism. Insulting someone to their face like what he did to the cafe owner is not even close to being protective. And Jaehwa knows it too. He is deeply immature and needlessly crass. He doesn't care what other people think, and turns around to uses his detachment to metaphorically slap people without a second thought. It's no small wonder people have it out for him.
Jaehwa put his career first before his ex-boyfriend. And it is a valid thing to do. But if you think that won't hurt your partner, especially since your partner literally was physically beaten up for losing out, then it's you who is out of touch with the reality of human relations. Most people are happy that their partner won an award, and would swallow their resentment. But if the ex had to beg, it implies that he was at the end of the line. Jaehwa didn't have to stop working at all. The ex asked for Jaehwa to not compete so that he could have a chance for once. It's not about being a man, it's about what Jaehwa did and didn't do that led up to that point, and he clearly didn't care enough about things from the ex's perspective to even consider it. Jaehwa made a conscious decision to break the relationship for his career, and feels guilty about it. Why else does Jaehwa protect the ex by calling out the defamation written by the scumbag journalist later on? He still feels guilt for kicking the ex while he was still down, and hasn't forgotten that memory since. If only he had that sort of consideration going forward, but didn't bother learning that lesson. Oh well.
And I agree. Jaehwa isn't acting superior to Taekyung. What he is doing instead is wholesale not caring for what Taekyung says and throws the latter's anxiety back into his face. This isn't something minor, this is about his physical safety. Jaehwa knows about Taekyung's reason why he left the police force. And yet still has the gall to act that way once Taekyung comes back after the first temper tantrum. I think Jaehwa's callousness and self-absorbed attitude warrants legitimate criticism.
Jaehwa is definitely one of those emotional abusers. Why? He mocks you for trying to care about him, and is probably also the type to tell you to your face that he doesn't care if you feel horrible if he gets into something. To him, that's a You problem. After all, what's with brushing off Taekyung's concern then?
I mean, just take a look at the relationship with the ex. I get career progression and winning against the competition is important, but if Jaehwa was even an ounce more mature, then the ex wouldn't have felt so inferior that he begged to win a piece of paper. This sort of behavior happens because the resentment has been building up and apparently there was no way of communicating it without breaking the relationship. Jaehwa and his boyfriend knew that the former is more talented, and Jaehwa should've known that this was bound to crush his ex's self confidence. But he didn't care and apparently didn't do anything to compensate. Hence, the begging was the final straw.
If I was in both Taekyung's and the ex's position, I'd feel like I was being used. And would expect Jaehwa would tell me that's my problem.