hannietea's Favorite

It's amazing how some ppl claim Taku was with Haesoo out of the goodness of his heart, and wanted to "save" him from an unhealthy relationship i- like what now?? Reading comprehension where???
Taku got interested in Haesoo after seeing his story about his step brother: he wanted to mess with that relationship. Taku's exhibition themes were: Loss / Love —a choice he thought Haesoo would be so *perfect* for due to his relationship with Joowon. No, it was never about Haesoo's wellbeing lol. There’s literally a scene where he implicitly tells Haesoo to think of Joowon for the photoshoot, right after their breakup, and thinks: “I knew he was hurt, but I wanted to see something more”. He wasn't trying to make Haesoo feel better, but instead he was intrigued & captivated by Haesoo’s hurt and pain over Joowon. He even admits in the end, after he grew attached to Haesoo: "From the start Haesoo only had eyes for one person. Perhaps those unwavering eyes were what I loved most” -- proving how transfixed he was by Haesoo's feelings for Joowon.

Taku says in his character interview from the start that he's "opportunistic" when it comes to relationships. Example: him comforting Haesoo crying... it parallels Taku's ex-bf being comforted by him & getting upset cause Taku is just PRETENDING. It's the same w/ Haesoo. He didn't do that with genuine feelings, but just as a "habit" like Haesoo says. Taku also said, “it felt good to see you sad” and how he knows hes selfish but its cause he likes to feel needed. So him chasing after Haesoo wasnt sincere, but self-interest & intrigue (“I wanted to see the kind of story he writes when im gone” HELLO??).

There's multiple metaphors about it too (lmaoo not me writing about the metaphors when ppl can't even get the blatant text of Taku saying MULTIPLE TIMES how he's "not a good person" and that he likes Haesoo for selfish reasons... but anyway the metaphors are interesting to me <333). First his photography: Taku always focused on the frozen images and what's within the lenses, instead of life in the present. He captured what he wanted & ignored the rest. Second: the candy. He says all relationships are the same to him: just "sugar/additives despite the different colours". He doesn’t like the taste of bitterness, only the sweetness. It ALL shows how Taku only wanted the good and superficial things in life. He selfishly liked to be needed by someone else, but without any of the burden of real feelings. It’s only through letting himself get attached to Haesoo & realizing Haesoo’s pretend love isn’t enough for him, that he describes Haesoo’s kiss as "bitter".

Honestly I know how upsetting it is to see your ship sink. But if you step back and read carefully: you realize that Yeongha literally built Taku's character to GET HEARTBROKEN and experience the bitter things in life,, because he'd been so numb to that feeling otherwise. (It makes me curious abt Taku's backstory honestly. like what made him this way??)

I honestly can appreciate Taku as a fictional character because I do find him interesting and layered. But I am TIRED of ppl claiming he was incredibly sincere and cared about Haesoo so much. Idk if some of y’all skipped these parts, or chose to ignore it... but pls do see the following examples of Taku's manipulative and selfish behavior, and taking advantage of Haesoo:

Exhibit 1 - He wanted to use his sex tape to guilt trip Haesoo in their relationship. He said: “I hoped that guilt would bring you to me”. It only didn't happen cause Haesoo turned down publishing the sex tape. It was not that Taku backed away and stopped himself because he realized how fcked up his actions were. It made Haesoo uncomfortable and weirded out too,, pretty sure this can count as sexual/workplace harassment lmao

Exhibit 2 - In chapter 96’s flashback Taku says "i just want to read the story he writes about me when i'm gone” (his friend calls him an asshole too lol). This is a throwback to Leo telling Joowon over the phone about how Taku uses his models for his work, and then tosses them aside with little regard. He was planning the same with Haesoo, until he later got “attached”. that’s karma ig~

Exhibit 3 - Haesoo expressed that he was unsure/not ready for a relationship. Yet literally RIGHT AFTER his quasi breakup with Joowon, Taku is pressuring him like, "I'm still waiting for an answer". It's weird cause Haesoo's wounds are fresh from his breakup, and Taku is NOT stupid. He knew this and persisted. Haesoo shouldn't have agreed and that's his own fault (HS is not entirely a victim here lets make that clear). Meanwhile Taku? He was flat out taking advantage of Haesoo's broken emotions.

Exhibit 4 - Quote: “It must have been painful for him no doubt, but I still wanted to see more". This was Taku's thought during a photoshoot with Haesoo, which later made Haesoo cry at the exhibition (Chapter 92/93). Taku told Haesoo: "think about having sex with someone you love, but you can never see them again". This was RIGHT AFTER Joowon and Haesoo's big separation. To inflict emotional pain in your partner, and then say you were interested in seeing more? Bruh no… just no.

Exhibit 5 - Quotes: “Every time I saw how sad you were, it felt good.” “You were lonely. You need me because of your unhappiness.” —Chapter 58. This is from Taku's monologue of how Haesoo’s unhappiness made him feel good, because he felt depended on by Haesoo for comfort // hs get away from this man pls haha

Exhibit 6 - Another quote: “If I can’t beat him [jw] one-on-one, then I at least want you [hs] to feel bad” —Chapter 66 ...Can Taku stop wishing for Haesoo depression, like he's already sad jfc

Exhibit 7 - "I want to bury inside the void he [jw] left in you. And later I'll push him aside however I can." ...honestly this quote struck me as Taku taking advantage of Haesoo's heartbreak and being hella 'opportunistic' (btw: Taku called HIMSELF that in his interview in chapter 5 so I mean... lol). Maybe that's just me though idk.

Exhibit 8 - In Chapter 84 when Joowon's scandal broke out, notice how Taku starts texting "are you okay?" to Haesoo, then deletes it and instead tells him to stop caring about Joowon? This moment said a lot to me, because it's the fact that Taku is SO AWARE of how Haesoo must be feeling, but he purposely chooses to ignore that and cares more about winning and keeping him away from Joowon. Kinda struck me as the opposite from Joowon's phone call after Haesoo's modelling news dropped in chapter 68. JW asked Haesoo to not do the exhibition because he knew its not what HS wanted (he is right: haesoo always wanted to be known for his writing not his face, and felt crappy abt it all day). But when Haesoo said he was fine, JW told him he'll always be on Haesoo's side even as a hyung/friend. He made it so clear how he cares the most about HS simply being okay, even after Haesoo left him.

Exhibit 9 - Taku tells Haesoo he hopes he has a hard time with Joowon after their breakup (Chapter 99). It felt wrong to me cause Haesoo genuinely apologized and gently let him down in their breakup... but Taku tries to make Haesoo feel worse. I honestly understand being spiteful towards exes who mistreated you in some way. HOWEVER with this relationship: it seemed to highlight Taku’s selfishness. Taku is out here acting like Haesoo wronged him for simply not liking him back in a 1 month TRIAL relationship. As if he wasnt the one who initiated and *insisted* on their relationship. As if he was unaware of Haesoo’s feelings for Joowon. As if Taku didnt say it was better that they use each other. Him wanting to make Haesoo feel bad over this is wild considering all the conditions of their relationship and his past manipulation too.
((Also, Taku in this scene to Haesoo: “Sorry I told you I'm not a good person” … Like sir, if you know you’re not a good person, THEN FIX IT. Joowon spent almost 40 chapters self-reflecting n trying to correct the mistakes he made, when he never *intentionally* wanted to hurt Haesoo lol. Meanwhile some Taku fans: “omg he’s a good person that was wronged. haesoo never deserved him!” lmaooo))

///end of examples

Anyway I’m gonna have to start sending this to some of y’all who selectively read Taku’s character to all hell. He was really manipulative with Haesoo and had some bad intentions. And when Taku grew to stop being a robot and showed “real feelings” getting all attached to Haesoo and liking him more than he expected, he was STILL selfish and wanted Haesoo to suffer for him. He didn’t get enough development to stray away from that, but imo that’s exactly why he’s the second lead
╮(￣▽￣)╭

So at the end of the day, I’d say all 3 characters got what they deserved. And they all made important realizations by the end:

Haesoo's biggest obstacle was lacking personal agency. He was always caught up in what his mother wanted, what joowon's father wanted, what would be best for joowon's acting career, what was best for society... He never prioritized his OWN wishes and was miserable thinking his love for joowon was wrong. He also thought he was the only one suffering and Joowon had it easy, so he wanted Joowon to suffer too. Joowon told him "dont fall for me & i wont fall for you", so he manipulated Joowon's emotions (making him jealous/angry for his sake) because he didn't know how else to feel “loved”. Him going and telling Joowon how he feels at the hospital was the first time he truly followed his heart, and he was honest to JW without any facade or manipulation. He also apologized in his monologue realizing that he was wrong for being vindictive and wishing Joowon would suffer. He knew he didn't genuinely mean those things, because when Joowon ACTUALLY got hurt, it broke him. Also I have to add about Haesoo & Taku's relationship: Haesoo never cared much for his past flings, but he genuinely felt sorry to Taku. He actually tried his best in their r/s and felt apologetic when he couldnt return Taku's feelings, also signifying haesoo's change in that case.

Meanwhile Joowon: He actually had good intentions as a teenager, thinking that keeping their relationship undefined would "protect" what they had. This carried onto adulthood due to their taboo forever haunting him/them (as he said: he was stuck in the past). He also feared abandonment as he believed haesoo already abandoned him once after the divorce, pushing his idea that their undefined relationship was the best route and Haesoo would leave "if things got too serious". Through their separation, he realized his mistakes regardless of his intentions, and how he really hurt haesoo when he said "dont fall for me". He also knew he had become arrogant in thinking Haesoo would never leave him, just cause Haesoo kept with him for almost 10 years. So Joowon strived to take responsibility for his mistakes. And he faced his own fears realizing: he'd rather get hurt and abandoned by Haesoo than not tell Haesoo he loved him. Because love should be selfless like that. Imo Joowon had the most time of self-reflection and development in this manhwa, going from impulsive and arrogant to mature and braver with his feelings.
Also, both Haesoo and Joowon were consistently driven apart by external pressures that affected their actions (their initial taboo, their parents, joowon's career). So I don't blame the problems in their relationship solely on themselves. But at the end of the day, both of them learned that to make their relationship work: they had to set aside their personal fears/obstacles, and actually prioritize each other.

Finally Taku: he had a history of exes that he toyed around with and manipulated for his photography career and self-interest. He started seeing Haesoo with the same intentions ("i just wanted to see the story he would write when I was gone" / Leo telling Joowon how Taku uses and drops his models). He never planned to catch feelings, so him going from an emotionless robot, to getting hurt like this was the best lesson for him. He now knows you can't manipulate people's emotions and MAKE THEM love you (For instance, taku's quote: "I wanted to burrow inside that void he [jw] left in you. And then I would kick him out in any way I could" ---> he thought he could make haesoo love him, but now realized he cant). He *hopefully* learned that entering relationships with selfish/manipulative intentions, and with someone who loves someone else, is WRONG. Imo Taku had the least on screen development as he's still quite selfish in the recent chapters. His reactions feel realistic, but that doesn’t mean he's a “good” person, and he ADMITS HIMSELF that he’s not a good person in chapter 99. However he is shown to be happy with someone else in the future, so maybe him having good intentions and being less selfish is more so implied. Maybe we’ll see more of his thoughts in the last few chapters, and how he handled his new relationship differently than his relationship with Haesoo...

Anyway I think the endings for all 3 characters made sense, and I hope yall support the authors on the official site if you like their story!

Thanks new uploader ლ(´ڡ`ლ)
Omg, what a confession! This guy is the one, the only, the mvp, the goat - best. seme. ever. He killed his dad to free Shin (and the country in general and to revenge his mother, but you get it), he wanted to get the clothes right to please Shin, when he had 3 wishes he spent one of them into making special glasses for Shin, before getting there he protected Shin when Randolph attacked them, even though he had his doubts and was uncertain about Shin’s behavior he trusted him, even so he couldn’t watch him risk his life and went after him and got him back, and in general he just does everything Shin wants, he lives to make Shin’s dreams come to life, but at the same time he has strong values and principles that are unshakable and he never compromises when Shin’s life is on the line. From this, one may think he’s a servant to Shin, but the way he conducts himself, his aura, he really is a king!
Sorry, I’m just simping very hard for Wolfgang right now.

And of course Shin is also the best uke ever - he’s smart like no one else, he’s ruthless when the situation requires it, he’s brave, sly, cunning, thoughtful but not honest with himself about his desires. He’s handsome and cute when he’s shy. He’s divided between his love and his ideals and it’s amazing to see how he melts and let’s (almost) everything go in Wolfgang’s arms. It hurts to see him fighting and repressing his feelings, when they love each other so much.

I love these two so much. This is definitely one of my favorite webtoons ever! I know this season is gonna break our hearts in some chapters, I just hope they get out of this stronger, together and happy.
P.s. I need more of Sys and Randolph, please, those two deserve a spin off (づ￣ ³￣)づ.

I think rereading Loh has made me overly attached to Joowon lmaoo
He's really one of my favourite semes in bl now. He has his flaws but is still hella loyal and bighearted. He is the biggest Haesoo simp ever, even when Haesoo didnt deserve it and hurt him a lot like ??? Joowon literally went through the most shit in this manhwa just for Haesoo's sake (like he really let Haesoo's mom slap him to take the heat off of HS, the bullying incident both in highschool and present, etc). When Haesoo said all those hurtful things about not loving him enough and calling their relationship wrong, he continued to love him and supported his exhibition despite the initial jealousy, and spent all his time just regretting all his past decisions. He thought the only way to keep them together was leaving their relationship undefined (hence the, "dont fall for me haesoo"), and then the mom dragged HS away leaving Joowon thinking he'd been abandoned by the one person who'd been by his side... I really can't blame his decisions or thought process there and this was basically what resulted in their unhealthy jealousy filled push/pull relationship in the first place. Then Haesoo leaves him a second time (for Taku this time) and he still called Haesoo to tell him "i'm all yours", and that he'll always be there for him even if its as a brother/friend T___T

honestly despite his few selfish and arrogant moments at the start, he really matures and actually prioritizes haesoo over himself even when I think he shouldn't. But well.... at least haesoo admitted he was wrong too, and they finally let go of their fears/insecurities and told each other they loved each other.