This is cute and simple, I like it a lot but that being said, Youngwon's love feels kind of shallow and honestly more about what Hyunwoo does for him and less about who Hyunwoo is as a person. Also the fact that Hyunwoo's entire personality and character were just completely overhauled and essentially thrown out. I like growth and development in characters but this feels almost a complete disregard of his character
They seemed to have ended the story in like a "cute/happy ending", but the ML is clearly obsessive in an unhealthy way due to trauma and an incessant need for love. His actions are alarming to say the least, it really ruined it for me cause it's bordering on, if not out right abusive. Especially as the sex ends up turning into coercion and rape cause the ML literally won't stop when told to and told no. He literally stalked the MC and it's all just brushed off. Honestly, if the way this was framed was like "yeah, this is clearly wrong/scary", I would've been like ok, there are themes here they are exploring, but the fact that it's framed in a way of like "oh this is cute/endearing and is love" and none of the issues are addressed and it just kind of ends is really alarming and glorifying these kinds of abusive/obsessive "loves" that are really not love
How I love to see normal people on this site. I had to take a break to read the comments after ch38 to see if I’m the only odd one out feeling ickyyy. Honestly I expected the author to go more in depth on the boyfriend’s creepy behavior after they mentioned the rooftop guy the mc’s friend is seeing, being too much, and his bf doing the exact same thing or perhaps worse ON THE SAME CHAPTER. The mc even said “isn’t this almost stalking” LIKE WTF I’d get it if it was portrayed as some psychological thing but I think the author is trying to paint it as a cute thing. Like “only I get my bf, u wouldn’t, nor do I understand you though if you act the same”.
Same, I really wanted to see what other people were saying in the comments and was very surprised there was like only one other comment that kind of touched on it. I was also expecting the author to take a different turn with the story once we started seeing how creepy and controlling the ML was, but they really just were like "haha so cute"
It feels like winning the lottery whenever i see people find issues with stories that slowly take a weird route, and arent trying so hard to reason and defend it
Facts
Are we reading the same thing because I think y'all missed it. The author acknowledges just how complex it is all you have to do is be a deep thinker to catch it. When we look at it from MC perspective it's all cute and lovely because he DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING. HOWEVER, when we look at it from ML perspective you see just how dark it really is. Even ML realized something is wrong with him. He gave us his back story the reason why he smiles so often he was literally CONDITIONED that way. His mom would abuse him but the abused STOP when she realized she broke him when he kept smiling despite EVERYTHING, the abusive language rage fits etc. The MLs only form of comfort was from the aunt hugging him which made him realize something was wrong. He even acknowledged that and realized that there was this emptiness in him that he was desperately trying to fill. He even stated that he think his mom's word was a curse and that he was like her. Some mental disorders are either conditioned or genetic. Addiction is genetic not sure about obsession though. Anyways, I really wanna see what happens if we get a season 3 where MC finds out just how dark MLs thoughts are or if we go down the dark route and things really do get dangerous.
i dropped it at ch38 so i didn’t know about the spoilers you mentioned, but i stopped reading because it felt like it was heading in the same direction as those toxic front page BLs. the author or writing might acknowledge that it’s wrong in the story, but still end up romanticizing it or caterizing to people who find it hot, or they try to make the "forbidden relationship" aspect seem hot, even while also showing it in a bad light. it feels like the focus is more on making the toxicity appealing than actually digging into the psychological side of things. even if the MC eventually sees the truth or the ML gets some backstory, toxic BLs tend to keep that romanticization going, using "psychological" themes more as a backdrop than a main focus. sorta like the way dark romances appeal to booktok girls. i wouldnt know about the later chapters after 39 but guessed it was taking that route since i've been disappointed tons of times or left weirded out.
I understand it's not for everyone. It's just nice to see his back story and him acknowledging something is wrong and that he might become like his mom. Cause what he have is a disorder, that he obviously should seek help for. I doubt it will happen since honestly not a lot of people enjoy researching disabilities and and treatments so it might really go the route you think it will. I'll enjoy it either way.
I didn't miss it. You don't have to be a deep thinker to catch it. I already mentioned him having trauma that triggered his obsessive tendancies in my original comment. The problem is how it just ends. This is literally the end. There's a very basic/surface level acknowledgement that it's weird/wrong, but it's mostly just again, brushed off. Just saying "oh there is probably something wrong with me, haha, oh well" and then not actually acknowledging the harm that is being caused and not actually talking about how this is not love and is abusive is the problem. It literally paints it in a cute and acceptable light just because the ML has a traumatic background.
Also, him saying he didn't want to become like his mom wasn't about his mom being obsessed and abusive, it was about his mom being obsessed and then abandoned, the abandonment being the main focus, which is why he resorted to stalking him and then tying the MC down to him by any means. This is pretty clearly laid out as his thought process and feelings by both his actions and during the chapter(s) that focus on his background and how he views/sees everything