im crying bc every character's side of the story is so painful in a very valid way:
- uke's side for feeling betrayed that his ex found another love the moment he woke up. from uke's pov, he must've felt that his ex didn't put in effort and yeeted on to another person the moment he went missing. also felt bad for uke when he later realised he'd caught feels for the current seme (kwon) yet his and the seme's relationship was meant to be strictly casual so he couldn't be greedy and ask for more...which led him to distance himself from seme to protect himself even though it pained him to do so.
- seme's side for having his feelings trampled by uke when the uke decided to avoid him even though this all started because of the line he drew bw them (i mean, he isn't to blame bc he didn't expect either of them to catch feels for one another).
- uke's ex (taejoo) for desperately searching for the uke for 5 years, mourning and grieving for him but to no avail. and also for realising too late that he'd let go of a person he truly loved. we saw so many snippets of taejoo giving it his all for the uke when he went missing and his response (which was to move on and hope that time would heal things painlessly) was very valid and real bc cmon, the uke was gone for 5 years.
- youngwoo (taejoo's current lover) for constantly feeling insecure in his and taejoo's relationship. i feel like youngwoo has it so bad; bc imagine being in youngwoo's shoes. he knows how deep taejoo's love ran for the uke more than anyone else, so of course he would feel insecure when the uke appeared. he knew he was somewhat a rebound for taejoo, and that their love was fragile, but he also sincerely wished for them to eventually love each other. he really took care of taejoo in those 5 years. his aggression towards the uke is also valid - i mean who wouldn't feel threatened when you stand in front of your lover's old flame who you know your lover hasn't even gotten over properly? and in the end, what did taejoo give him? he just... disposed of him with the petty 'it's not you, it's me' trope. UGH.
soz I'm IN MY FEELS RN bc this manhwa so DAMN GOOD
Youngwoo doesn’t deserve pity. Bitch took advantage of Taejoo when he was sad and drunk, slept with him then manipulated him leading Taejoo to belive that Taejoo raped him. He lied and manipulated him for a year+.
then, THEN, this bitch attacks Yoon saying how Yoon should’ve stayed home and how he was selfish for leaving his family and lover behind and the impact it had on everyone around him.. etc. BOY- if he didn’t leave then he wouldn’t have been able to manipulate Taejoo into a fake loveless relationship. :)
Kang Siwoo rose my standards for men and that's facts.
Honestly, I love how their relationship progressed. Siwoo is the opposite of the FL's ex. He's a bit more stiff and mature, and because of that at the beginning, I thought the FL and ML had no chemistry. But, as the story progresses, we see Siwoo putting in so much effort into their relationship despite not being the most expressive person. Like how he came back to FL's house even after getting hurt by FL's words. He really wanted to let the FL know that he didn't want to end their talk or even risk ending their relationship there. He put in the effort, threw away his PRIDE and he WENT BACK. TuT
I honestly learnt so much about mature love (love when you're in your 30s) here. It's not necessarily your best friend or the guy you have 1000 things in common with that'll get you through to marriage. It's not the fiery, passionate love in your youth that could get through differences in values (eg. FL and her ex). Slowburn relationships where you learn to unlearn someone, work through things together, have common values and goals in life and most of all, the strength to not give up on each other (like the ML and FL here) is honestly so precious and longer-lasting. <3
I love this storyline man. So many unexpected turns and the angst was so good! I was so sure I was gonna drop it in the beginning bc I felt like their love was so rushed since neither was being honest to each other, it was like they were just glossing over the cracks that we knew as readers were there to begin with BUT– that was precisely what the author wanted to do. Their relationship was not okay, but now they’ve both gotta go through this obstacle angst together thru some REAL GOOD character development esp. Dr Han. AAAA SO FRICKING GOOD
also, med school dr han with a mullet was SO SO HOT.
wow this manhwa is so good super happy i decided to start reading it. uke is SO CUTE and seme is actually so nice. love how most of their sex has been consensual as well. none of that creepy forced rapey shit (▰˘◡˘▰)