Spoilers for chapter 42 – Lee Taegun and Seo Eun-Seong's back story

JackH November 5, 2024 3:36 am

I was curious about Lee Taegun and Seo Eun-Seong's back story so I looked at the raws. I don't read Korean so my interpretation may not be accurate. Here goes.

SPOILERS AHEAD
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Seo Eun-Seong and Lee Taegun went to the same high school. After Seo Eun-Seong loses his parents and is orphaned, he is suicidal. He goes to the top floor of a tall building and is about to jump when he sees Lee Taegun below. They make eye contact. Seo Eun-Seong hesitates and just stands there. Lee Taegun goes to the top floor and sees Seo Eun-Seong. He offers Seo Eun-Seong an extended hand and says "I'll help you."

From there on in, Lee Taegun looks out for him. Gives him food and snacks. Sees that he is self-isolating and tries to talk to him. Is all-around kind and caring. Seo Eun-Seong is aggravated by this. Lee Taegun says he knows what it's like to be an orphan and that he's just looking out for him. Seo Eun-Seong says that Lee Taegun has no idea what it's like to be him and doesn't understand what the pain of loss is like, since Lee Taegun has always been an orphan, and Seo Eun-Seong once had parents but lost them.

Seo Eun-Seong is depressed and so he's a jerk to Lee Taegun and says some ugly things to the guy who was kind to him, empathized with him and was only trying to help. Lee Taegun is understandably hurt and offended, because his kindness was thrown back in his face, and I think Seo Eun-Seong is the one who doesn't understand Lee Taegun's struggles of having been alone always and having to fend for himself always.

They're both teenagers and it's just a sad situation. It makes me think that if the two of them had been friends from the get-go, Lee Taegun might not have been in such a vulnerable situation as a teenager and wouldn't have through the exploitation and trauma he went through... since my theory is that even though Seo Eun-Seong was orphaned, he probably had some sort of inheritance and relatives he could still turn to, so he was still better off than Lee Taegun. But I understand Seo Eun-Seong grief of losing his parents too, and how that made him say something utterly cruel in a moment of vulnerability.

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