The beginning was cute, the older (alpha) brother dotes on and cares deeply for his younger brother. But eventually as the plot moves along, the older brother/seme manipulates and gaslights the younger brother into hiding the fact that the younger brother turned out to be an omega. It's emphasized that the seme has abandonment issues, but the way he tries to manipulate and control the uke into doing what he wants made it so uncomfortable that it would be difficult to justify his actions despite the author sprinkling flashbacks of their past to try and explain the root of his behavior. The fact that the seme is also the older brother, fuels that dark dynamic since he's in a direct position to personally influence his younger brother.
The art is cute, which is a strange contrast to where the plot seems to be heading. I tried to like this, but when it started to trigger personal trauma due to the manipulation, it became more difficult to continue. I also looked at the raws and it doesn't seem that the story gets any better. I feel bad for the dark-haired friend, who seems to care of the uke. I rarely root for the second male lead, but in this case I truly wished that uke would have ended up with him instead. ╥﹏╥
The mom talking about having bad health insurance is so fr Also, only being able to turn on your sprinklers once a week sounds like this is in cali. But I think that was established early on and I may have missed it.
Baby Hayden pics are so cute!!! (=・ω・=)
I think their college is based in LA/cali (UCLA? haha) - I assumed Hayden was midwestern but brett talked about his mom's "southern cooking" in this chapter so is he a southern kid???
but omg yea the author 100% has lived in the US to even know about the horrible health insurance lkjafdljk
Yeah! Hayden’s fam lives in San Diego, I think they said it in the last chapter. But tbh Brett and Hayden’s type of white boy can really only exist in California if we’re being real. The rich bratty frat boy and the aspiring actor/writer
Also very minor spoiler!!
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In the later chapters, while not mentioned explicitly, they actually visit The Grove (said on the artist’s twitter lol)
Just in case people consider this a spoiler.
SPOILERS!
Is that where they went on their date?
I was wondering where it was. For a moment I thought they’d gone to Solvang (a Danish town in California).
I was going to google where you can see fake s own in LA to try and figure it out.
I’m always trying to figure out where they’re at because it’s so rare to see LA as a focus. Usually it’s always NYC.
Based on everything I noticed they are def in LA.
Ch 30 Cop tells Brett he's with LAPD when they take him in for questioning.
Ch 27 the news says they go to Westwood California State University. Its not a real university but the real Westwood College did have locations in LA.
Ch 25 Frat shirts say since 1919 which is when UCLA was established. Also the football team the brutes seems to be based off the bruins.
Ch 22 Jung says one of the first things he did after unpacking was visit the Santa Monica pier.
Ch 20 Brett's flight back from Utah was only about 1h30.
Ch 17 Chris, Scotts roommate, says they're right near Hollywood so it's easy to get work as extras on TV.
Ch 9 I think Martin's house or the frat house is in Bel Air but not quite sure. Brett says if Martin wants to settle down in Bel Air he'll have to get along with Nathan. Says his dad would take the house if he knew about the drugs.
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Yup! Here’s the link where the author said so, https://x.com/s_ss_ss_s/status/1880440554103927272?s=46
I also thought at first it was Solvang or Santa’s Village up in the mountains, but nope, it was The Grove but it makes sense if we’re thinking that they go to the equivalent of UCLA since it’s only like a 20 minute drive from there.
But I love the LA focus that is past the surface level “Hollywood, actors, general American-ness” that’s actually well thought out. The author has mentioned they do have friends that have/do live in California and I wouldn’t be surprised is they did live in SoCal briefly. Either way it’s very cool to see the attention to detail of the setting when most authors wouldn’t
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Also just a funny side note, while I know they definitely didn’t, I think the possibility of Hayden and Brett eating at like the Brandy Melville restaurant or Cheesecake Factory makes me giggle a little bit I’m ngl
Thank you for the link.
I would have never recognized it as The Grove since I’ve only been there once.
This awakened something in me. I never thought I'd like a pretty boy/cute puppy seme before (although after reading "Define the Relationship" Ash was like the embodiment of that new kink, but less of an anorexic version). It also helps that the uke reminds me of Levi and it's all I see, which makes me giddy to no end. I know the story is pretty cliche, but I'm still enjoying it (▰˘◡˘▰)
What do you mean by 'anorexic version'?
Both Seohyun and Hyunoh are incredibly skinny to the point that Seohyun has an almost flat ass. Hope that clears it up
Just wanna point out this isn't a complaint as I love this story and its characters
Didnt think it was possible for jaekyung to get any better as a red flag seme. Dude was toxic before, he just raised his game up with this. Fine as hell and asshole-coded to the t
ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
I'm still laughing my ass off at all of the jk shenanigans, and honestly I'm having a blast with these past few chapters. But I'm wondering if potato could've at least texted dan, given him a heads up that jaekyung was otw yk?? ╮(￣▽￣)╭
People complaining that jaekyung hasn't "changed". I think it would be inconsistent for him to make a complete 180 in that short period of time. Also the point in the story for that to happen has yet to take place, that's why author has kept granny alive for this long. Her death will be the catalyst to push Dan on the absolute brink and then we will see how author will use that to shape Jaekyung's character.
Atp people complaining about everything just glaze over the story without using the slightest bit of comprehension.
I love u for this
Totally agree
I see you point, which for narrative purpose what the author is doing is basically legit.
From a real life point of view, no one would just stay still and swallow all this inconvenience. Meaning we would report to our workplace the personal situation with this guy and the outcome would be different. Even further a real live version of Dan would just flipped and tell him properly to fuck off.
But yet again, narrative vs reality doesn't make it less frustrating.
ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
I absolutely agree that the space and line between reality and fiction should be acknowledged, especially in a subject matter like this one. Plenty of the circumstances in the story are unrealistic, even if Dan was as much of a pushover that he was, the fact of the matter is a lot of the things he went through, in reality, have logical solutions.
My gripe is with people who cant distinguish between fiction and reality. This is a BL ffs, the standard for realism shouldn't even exist for a lot of these stories, and yet people complain about so many things that forces the story to comply with current societal standards.
well, i don’t think people (me) care whether he changes or not and by the looks of it that won’t be happening for a long while. what you’re saying implies that his grannies death will most probably used for “jaekyung’s character arc” and will lead the two becoming closer again. we can comprehend this very well but i still hate jaekyung. it isn’t about change, this story can go on for 700 chapters for all i care and jaekyung can become an actual saint and sure I’ll read how he changes but i still wouldn’t want him within 500 meters of dan.
I understand and respect your feelings about this
Thank you! They aren't "reading".
Like we can see the change and him "downsizing" is not only a way to be close but a good thing as his home was too big and lonely.
ヾ(☆▽☆)ヾ(☆▽☆)
ヾ(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)
Idk why people are shocked or reacting to jaegeng not saying no to having sex with Dan. This might be the beginning of a chasing arc but he has made very little to no indication that his character has changed. Tbh, i want his evilness to wind down to a slow simmer, dont rush that redemption since that will be more realistic. No one changes overnight.
Dan being cold and stoic about having sex doesnt make him stupid. Bro is depressed af and self respect and self worth has always been the last thing on his mind, even from the very beginning.
Jaegeng has a long way to go
Yeah, but I hope author makes it realistic and not just turn him green outta nowhere.
I'm waiting for the next chapter to fully judge that part ( the sex scene ). I am not surprised. Yes, I agree with you about his evilness to wind down to slow simmer. I don't want to rush things because that will be unbelievable and unrealistic. A suddenly clingy and sorry Jaekyung is a meh for me. How can we say if he really was sorry if he will not go in the process. Jaekyung needs to learn his lesson to fully understand Dan and Dan needs to teach Jaekyung that lesson.
And Jaegeng is a unique name .
You know how some people have compared this to BJ Alex? I think there's some truth to that, but i think mingwa will make jinx a slower burn than bj alex was. I thought the chasing arc in that story was too short, so maybe she will make this one longer
I agree. I'm patient for long redemption and chasing arcs as long as the story won't went south