As I was rereading this, I still couldnt really make out what the relationship between Ash...

I forgot what chapter it was, but yeah Ash and Nick used to date before Nick met Kyle, so yeah , It kept leaving hints so I figured it out

Yea before Ash had a crush on Nick (at that time Nick was still a beta), Ash fell for Nick’s bulk build and his straightforward, extroverted persona. Kyle already hates Ash since that and even hates him more when he dates Karlyle (because Kyle’s a brocon and he already saw Ash broke Lyle’s heart). Nick and Ash went on a few dates (only hanging out, no sexual/ physical relationship involved). Nick after that realized his true love is Kyle, he defined his feelings for Kyle, got back to him and then they got married. For Ash, when he realized his love for Nick would go nowhere, he cut all of his connections with Nick. Only when Nick reconnected Ash to ask him to do him a favor, Nick and Ash met again and Ash realized he still has some lingering feelings for Nick and that’s why he accepted Nick’s request to be Karlyle’s sex partner because if Nick’s happy, then he’d be happy too

Wow okay thats kinda crazy, thank you for your reply!!

Wait really? This is a whole ass prequel lol Was this explained in the novel? I feel like it barely touches on it in the manhwa (unless I missed something). Like I kinda assumed they had a thing after the chapter where Ash and Karlyle go look at paintings but never understood exactly what went happened between Ash and Nick because they never explained it lol Does Karlyle know Ash had feeling for Nick and until when? Even when they were having sex?? Ugh so confused lol

Ahhh I just went back through the comment threads to February lol and read through more of what happened in the novel and it makes so much more sense now. I can sympathize with Karlyle’s POV. I was always wondering why he was so hesitant and not communicating to Ash, it was kinda annoying but now I totally get it and tbh Ash shoulda expected it. In fact I think he could have done more in the beginning loool

Same I was so confused because they all had so much tension between them and there were only a couple of panels which only hinted at the relationship between ash and nick, now karlyles actions make a lot more sense

Right? I just assumed it wasn’t important but it completely adds a layer of depth to the plot that I never knew existed. The whole time I was like meh I guess the beginning of the story is just weak it is weird tho now how Ash & Karlyle never really bring it up again? Like I if I was Ash I’d want to know if he really cleared up his feelings. I’d kinda feel like a rebound too lol

Yes so true, I hope they will properly clear this stuff up and wont leave it as a base for a miscommunication arc. I just think that the story / relationship building would be a lot better if it was properly mentioned, even if its this late into the story :,)

Yea actually AshxNick story was written in Egg Benedict (KyleNick’s novel), in DTR there’re chapters in Ash’s POV that show the reunion of Ash and Nick when Nick asked Ash to do him a favor. Other than that, all of the things that I mentioned above was in EB so I guess that’s why when the artist drew the webtoon, they decided to cut all of the details that related with EB because it would be kinda complicated to explain everything from the beginning.
About Karlyle, he already knew about Ash’s feeling for Nick at the beginning and well aware that Ash accepted to be his sex partner because of Nick. Before they became sex partners, he even misunderstood that Nick was having an affair with Ash and he scolded Nick for that (that’s why he said Ash had a first bad impression on him because he scolded his crush in front of Ash’s face)

Oh my god, it all makes so much sense now

Don’t worry they will clear this up later (not only about Nick but also how Karlyle feel about Ash’s previous lovers)