Aria's Favorite

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
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How could Seungho not fall in love with Nakyum?
It is not only that Nakyum is the cutest thing he ever lay his eyes on but also because Nakyum totally disarms him from his cynic view of people.
Look at the people and society that Seungho is used to and how his main way to deal with people is to assume no one is to be trusted and deserves contempt.
- He mocks the high society he lives in and enjoys to provoke them with his libertine behavior; This is clear in the scene where he tells Jihwa that, since the lords are all already expecting the worst of him, he better not disappoint.
- He clearly doesn't trust his circle of fuck buddies and he doesn't let them get personal (turns out he isn't wrong. Jihwa had a spy on his house. The other one started a plot with an assassin).
- He obviously has a hatred for his father and it becomes more clear that it has to do with his taste for men.
- Inhun never had a chance to fool Seungho. From the very first meeting Seungho could read Inhun as just another fraud, someone who pay lip service to nobles and driven by selfish ambition. As his feelings for NK grew, it must have been frustrating to watch NK idolizing Inhun as someone who deserved deference.
Seungho survives in his society by outsmarting and being defensive and on guard against betrayal and falsehood all around him. His first assumption when NK reached out on his own to be intimate was that he was doing it under Inhun's orders.
Nakyum, with his pure heart and honesty is something Seungho isn't prepared for. He gets disarmed by Nakyum's lack of malice. Neither is the fact that someone so clearly in disadvantage keeps challenging him. One of the first scenes when we see Seungho is getting intrigued by Nakyum is when he thinks how Nakyum had the courage to stand up to him even though he looked so afraid. (The chapter where Nakyum defended Inhun's against Seungho's mockery of his poem as plagiarism).
Last, just like Seungho only knows one kind of people his whole life --- the kind that cannot be trusted --- Seungho only know one way to treat people, a range between sarcasm and violence but we see Seungho flustered that his method doesn't work with Nakyum. He clearly wants to please Nakyum and get from him the affection he gives to Inhun but all he has done by force and intimidation only had the opposite effect.
Nakyum is the first person who makes Seungho feel bad for something he did. Seungho killed one person, knifed other, he humiliated Jihwa and the other guy before him, and we don't see him flinch or getting one second bothered by any of it. However, every time he caused harm to Nakyum, we saw him flustered and on edge. Nakyum forces Seungho to feel remorse, guilt when before there was nothing.
To me, this is a tale of two virgins and get their virginity lost to one another. Nakyum was literally virgin of lust and sex but Seungho is virgin of humanity and the feeling of caring for someone and Nakyum is his first.
So, the path for Nakyum to fall in love with Seungho may be more complicated but Seungho, for all the might power he has, never stood a chance the minute Nakyum walked into his life.

let's recap shall we?

- Mom never wanted him or cared for him and neglected the hell out him and so did his father

- his dad made his mom who was an omega prostitute herself and even planned having him do the same after she ran away and left him with that psycho (god knows what he grew up watching)

- got passed around from neglectful relative to neglectful relative having the most unstable and horrible all around childhood enviroment

- Grew up hearing nothing but bad things about omegas and feared being one

- He lived his life thinking he was an alpha and probably knew the truth since the beggining too just didn't wanna believe he was one and held on to that lie to survive

- wasn't able to finish school like everyone else and wasn't good at anything other than math which made him struggle for money and stability hence the slightly greedy side of him

- Got pregnant against his will, YES DON'T IGNORE THIS DOJIN KNOTTED HIM EVEN THOUGH HE KEPT TELLING HIM NOT TO.

- found out later his father was actually a good father to his other kids just not him (adding insult to injury there)

- He was surprised dojin's family didn't scream, beat up or cursed at them because THAT'S what he thought families do (this actually broke my heart a little not gonna lie to you)

-He got pregnant at the young age of 21 not even knowing what being a family needless to say a PARENT even does

- it has been shown SEVERAL times how very little selfworth he has or atleast how badly he sees himself

I personally really relate to hyesung because he obviously struggles expressing his feelings, I have similar issues and for some reason I struggle to say "I love you" even to my parents and my life was normal.

Bonus:
- He loves byul and wanted dojin's family to love him too even if they didn't aprove of him personally

- cares for heeso despite how much they fight

- Loves dojin's family and clearly enjoys the parental love they give him since he's never had it before

-and YES he loves dojin too, it's just his personality -_-

*also stop complainig about how the new chapter isn't about the second couple just because u prefer them, they're cute and I Love them too but they're not the main focus of manhwa so complaining makes no sense*