Honestly I've always been team Haesoo's happiness, even if it meant Haesoo being single without Joowon. But does it ever strike you just how much Taku is anti-haesoo's happiness. Like this man wants Haesoo to be miserable so bad? And for what???
He has a whole monologue where he's like "I saw you were sad, and it felt good." and it's about how he likes when Haesoo has to depend on him for comfort, so haesoo's misery makes himself feel good and depended on. blehhh.
Then theres the "it must be painful for him no doubt, but I just wanted to see more" after he makes haesoo recall "never being able to see the person he loves again" RIGHT AFTER HIS BREAKUP WITH JOOWON. all for a photoshoot. The photos made Haesoo cry at the exhibition! And you say you wanted to see more??
Or when he says "if i cant beat Joowon one on one, at least I want you to feel bad". Like bitch?? So Haesoo is some sort of competition to you, and you want him upset even tho you wanted this relationship knowing he's in love with Joowon for 10 years?
Or "I hoped that guilt would bring you to me" when he talks about his plan with using his sex tape to guilt trip haesoo into a relationship. He's just listing down every negative emotion in the book for haesoo to feel for him at this point.
And now in the raws: "I hope youre unhappy, and regret breaking up with me". THIS MF?!? you literally just said haesoo tried his best in this relationship and you dont blame him. And then you go say this shit! Even if you were thinking that, keep that crap to yourself?? why does haesoo deserve to hear that if he tried his best to like you, huh? Literally all Taku thinks about is himself, istg (╬￣皿￣)凸 ppl just see his supposedly "kind" actions while ignoring all this sort of horrible thought process ugh
Anyway I'm just glad Joohae endgame. Cause Haesoo's happiness = Joowon.
And when we see Joowon developing the most, and actually fully supporting Haesoo happiness agenda. Like that time he called Haesoo and told him he'd always be on Haesoo's side as a brother or friend, even AFTER Haesoo left him for Taku. Like Joowon literally wants Haesoo to be happy, even if its with another man??? That's actual love.
Or the way Joowon ran into Haesoo in his company building and told him, "no hard feelings, congrats on your exhibition". Joowon later says he actually felt hurt when he said those things. But he held his words and simply told Haesoo it was okay + did not try to guilt trip him.
Anyway Joowon a whole king. If he wasnt such a massive haesoo simp, I'd want him for myself.
The way yall slander haesoo proves zero reading comprehension my god. Taku 100% knew what he was doing and getting into from the start.
literal quotes from the manhwa: "you can use me if you want. in fact i'd prefer it that way", "have you thought about my offer" --> kept fucking persisting on going out with haesoo even when haesoo showed hesitation/that he was not ready!!
he literally wanted to use haesoo like his past models and then toss him aside ("i just want to read the type of story he writes when I'm gone"). Haesoo agreed on a TRIAL relationship only and limited to a month: just to see if he can get over Joowon like this, while Taku was begging him for a relationship. more so after Haesoo seperated with Joowon and was emotionally vulnerable/hurt. As if Taku didnt know what he was doing wanting to use haesoo's hurt feelings smh.
lmao joowon has done nothing but breathe and get into a car crash in 40+ chapters. and taku stans still want to trash him as if it makes their emotionally manipulative fav look better. i mean do yall see all this: http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/9517513/ ???
also as if trashing joowon excuses taku's lack of good development (unlike joowon)... anywayy waiting for chapter 99 where he shows more of his ugly colours during the final conversation between him and haesoo.
As for what was said in that chapter: we all sleep well knowing joowon would NEVER, and in fact: DIDNT, when haesoo broke up with him (▰˘◡˘▰)
If Joowon stans “toxic”, then why Taku stans disrespecting the author all the time??? Saw a reply on Tiktok that claimed the author was bribed by Joowon stans to make Joohae endgame... underneath a tiktok abt Joowon’s billboard post. and yall gave it 1k likes. Stinky stans with no reading comprehension.
Fun fact: Yeongdam posted one sketch on their twitter in 2018 before LOH was even published. You know what the sketch was?? Joohae kissing— in a panel we’ve never seen in the story (YET hehe). The ending was decided before the story even started. Yeongha knew what she was writing from the start <3 And thats why she titled the story Love or Hate. It was always about Haesoo’s conflicting feelings for Joowon. Go read his confession to Joowon at the hospital again.
idk why Taku stans hate Joohae so much when your king himself is the biggest Joohae stan ╮(￣▽￣)╭
He first grew interested with Haesoo after reading his story about his relationship with his stepbrother J. And now he says that what he loved most about Haesoo was his unwavering eyes for Joowon /SCREAMS/
Notice how the Joowon stans dont start any shit until Taku stans get real brave in the comments and start calling Joowon names for no justified reason and act like Taku deserved Haesoo? Like no he didnt. He manipulated and took advantage of Haesoo constantly. He said multiple! times! that he literally felt good off of Haesoo's misery because he felt "needed" by Haesoo. Joowon would never. He actually wanted Haesoo to be happy even if it was with another man.
Not yall being like "Huhuhu poor Taku. he's such a ✧gem✧ for breaking things off well"
...Meanwhile... 2 chapters later: "Haesoo, I hope you're unhappy and regret dumping me"
LMAO now why would haesoo regret it, after you go and say shit like that???
╮(￣▽￣)╭ If I were haesoo i'd be like "phew, dodged a bullet there!"
taku, our fav resident manipulative boy <3 inserting fav comment from LOH section: http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/9517513/
I swear if I see Haesoo slander here...
/cracks knuckles/ （￣へ￣）
so glad haesoo chose a man who genuinely loved him for 10 whole years, and tried to right all the wrongs he did (though joowon had good intentions, he made mistakes yes)
so glad that haesoo chose that instead of a ✧ manipulator ✧
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
╮(￣▽￣)╭
me: /looks at the main cover of LOH on mangago. gets upset that Joowon's beautiful face isnt even visible/
also me: but WAIT. his back is visible. ah I see now.... the BACK THAT CARRIES THE STORY ヾ(☆▽☆)
Lemme just say: i'd pick a man that was willing to drop everything for me and genuinely loved me start to end for 10 whole years too.
With haesoo/joowon's relationship, i dont know why readers act like theyre inherently a bad pair, while ignoring their whole environment and outside pressures that caused their unhealthy dynamic?? idk about you but it sounds crazy hard to try navigating a relationship as a little highschooler with a step sibling for 3 years, and even after you werent step siblings your parents were constantly trying to rip yall apart, causing abandonment issues and misunderstandings, and the public is watching your every move too?? how does that sound easy for them to deal with no matter how genuinely they love each other??? T^T if yeongha erased their step sibling history, and maybe changed Joowon's career into something less public, I believe Joohae literally would have few to no problems in their r/s.
Also I feel so bad for Joowon. He literally spends majority of the manhwa suffering. Like he was under so much pressure from family, work, public, even leo's schemes... and yet his intentions and love for Haesoo was pure from start to middle to end (no not like taku trying to get with Haesoo to use him for self-interest sake lol). And the way he unconditionally supported and showed love for Haesoo even when HS said all that shit to him during their seperation and went to taku... yeah i knew he was a keeper after that. And ofc let's not forget that he actually had the most development in LOH as a character too and changed in the best ways.
Wait wait, I just realized Taku's story is so deliciously IRONIC
Remember how Taku always PRETENDED to love his past partners. Whenever he'd comfort them or kiss them, he was just mechanically doing it out of habit (like the guy on his sex tape), and not cause he liked them or anything. So when Taku says to Haesoo "it's okay if you just pretend to love me", he thinks it'll be easy. He'd been doing the same thing to other people for so long, he figures: whats the harm if I'm on the receiving end this time?
And then Taku actually grows attached to Haesoo, and finally gets to feel similarly to what his past lovers received. And it shows him how "pretend" love just isn't enough, and actually hurts more than comforts you. Karma bit him in the butt ig.
Cool, I love Yeongha ヾ(☆▽☆)
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!
i cant believe i had to read an angry comment in the latest reviews that claimed "taku was ready to give up his career for haesoo but he chose the stupid stepbrother that manipulated him". like tf where??? Literally, the only character that gave up any bit of their career in this story for love was Joowon.
Adult Joowon: let the public trash his name, and had a whole acting gig dropped just cause he wanted to protect Haesoo and not get him involved in the bullying scandal.
Teenager Joowon: almost got suspended which would ruin his acting debut, just to protect Haesoo yet again!
Meanwhile on the exact opposite end of things: Taku entered a relationship with Haesoo to FURTHER HIS CAREER. "I want to see the kind of story he writes when I'm gone" ...proving Leo's point about how Taku uses and drops his models, and was planning to do the same with Haesoo until he got attached smh. Anyway the lack of reading comprehension with some of yall is absolutely embarassing.
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