ngl, i like how the author showed that nobody really wins. baek is best boy. he doesn't deserve to suffer. he deserves the whole world, therapy, and reassurance that heewon is a manipulative asshole. I want him to get out of this somehow, even though I know that's not how these stories go. and since there are so many stories like this, I knew from the start heewon was puppeteering everything.
and thank god, you can also see that heewon is suffering too because he's starting to regret the fucked up shit he's doing and he needs to delude himself into thinking that this is for the greater good, for his happy ending a in his heroic fairytale.
to be honest, it's just nice to see that he's suffering, meaning his actions are unjustified and what goes around comes around!! i want to beat him up with my own two fists, but I'm satisfied seeing heewon tired, sleep-deprived, and going mentally insane.
it's also not surprising that he probably developed this way of thinking from his mom.
usually when manga bring up that they're cousins, they keep bringing it back. thankfully, they didn't bring it up after 1 time, so i can live in ignorant bliss and pretend that they're just really close childhood friends (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
but along with the fact that they're childhood friends, that plot point with the mother was also mostly ignored
from a young age, if unchanged or unaddressed, people's morals and values will stay permanent and that's why i kind of understand seme's philosophy. when someone, especially someone that you admire, announces their beliefs, naturally, as a child that is easily influenced and molded, would listen to them wholeheartedly. you can tell seme's father means so much to him, and doesn't want to disappoint him. it's realistic. seme doesn't change overnight, and literally has an existential crisis, relearning what is "right" and what is "wrong" to him.
by the end of the manga, both characters have grown and not just drastically changed. their lifestyle hasn't changed, they're mornings the same (with added spice). they realize their mistakes, how they could've improved, and healed together.
tldr: AMAZING MANGA MMMMMMM DELICIOUS
characters? amazing, amazing character development too. side characters? they have actual personality and I can see them outside of the story. what am I doing rn? giggling and kicking my feet