I think Pilgyeon’s ending was actually very fitting. Nothing was explicitly said but in my opinion, his feelings for Soongap started off as loneliness as a child then mixed with a little guilt and finally with perversion as he grew up.
He wasn’t really treated as warmly by his mom so he hung on to Soongap and his mother as his family. They were his all world and he felt a sense of duty to protect his brother. But deep down I think like Soongap he was aware of the preferential treatment but he didn’t want it to jeopardise his own little family so he wanted to use that privilege to keep them safe. And then well, after being exposed to his brother and lover you know … he started listing after his brother but at the end of the day, it was always about wanting to keep his little niche family but this time with Soongap occupying a different role. He thought that after growing up he could finally use that privilege towards that goal and fulfill his duty but finding out that Soongap’s purpose changed was very hard to understand since he basically already grew up with the duty passed on from Soongap’s mom to protect him, symbolised by how he held onto that doll for so long and how it was his only comfort. There was also some entitlement at play because let’s not forget he still grew up a noble and perhaps thought that he would always be a little above Soongap despite wanting to rescue him from slavery.
But now, he’s free from all that and he can do as he please, which is what I think his brother also wished for him.
I shed a little tear for him ngl (maybe a big one)
I remember when this was first released and I thought it was interesting and waited till it was finished to reread. Overall it's a well-rounded story that's pretty fluffy and doesn't go too deep into topics before pulling you out for a refresh. The pacing is a bit slow at times but it just helps the readers understand their relationship and world-building which I think is fine. The only real flaws I have with this is the continuous mention of Bongchons strength and the brother.
It pulls you out of the immersion within the story when you get the 599th panel about how strong Bongchon is like we get it. The point is overused and redundant like it's been one panel we haven't forgotten.
The last problem is the brother I believe his dynamic as a character is extremely interesting and deep into topics not often seen in manwhas and books overall. My problem is not his character in general he is well-written but the way the author got rid of him and sealed his storyline was lackluster and lazy. After all that build-up up he just loses his memory? It's lazy and makes me sad that such a good character who made the plot interesting was written off by memory loss. Perhaps falling off the cliff is where is story should've ended “I can't give up anything.” when Soongap asked why he has to lose everything when the brother doesn't. This would have been a good way to show that it was his way of giving up his life and everything he worked for which was for Soongap who didn't recuperate his incestuous affection to let Soongap go and give up his own life instead, so maybe Soongap could finally be happy even if it was without him.
That still would've been exactly a good story write-off for him but at least it would be a little for fitting, especially for the previously stated information. The ending tied off things well other than with the brother though so that's a plus!