beta
for once it's nice to see the comments section share the same opinion. it doesn't matter whether everyone likes dohyeok/felt sympathy for him or not, but we can all agree that the ending was unsatisfactory for various reasons. i want to talk about it.
first, dohyeok's karma. apparently this "hardcore" sidestory's purpose was for dohyeok to get his punishment in the full, which idk is justified to what extent? he was: jailed, raped (twice) to the point where he got an ED, got betrayed by his "friends" and was gangraped, got PTSD, sent overseas by his grandma who never considered his say in the matter. he fell for siwoo, got rejected, begged him to believe his feelings but got turned down anyway. still, it could have been acceptable, if siwoo hadn't kissed that npc faceless character in front of dohyeok. his face when he saw that will always haunt me, out of everything he has been through, this must be the moment he hit his breaking point. i felt for him in those scenes. his anger is SO justified, and his inner monologue was heartbreaking.
second, siwoo's character. it's honestly really disappointing to see an initially complex character like him have such a horrible downfall. he was somewhat likeable in the main story, but he kept getting worse in the sidestories. how he managed to have absolutely zero character development for 30+ chapters needs to be studied. till the end, he kept thinking about his bar and family business only. his thoughts while kissing the npc: "i am no longer under your control, i don't have to worry about my bar or seorim" (actual translations may differ). truly the most selfish character i have come across in recent BLs, him using his "niceness" as a facade is very deceitful and low of him. needless to say, he gained an immense amount of haters overnight, which is justified.
lastly, closure. nothing was resolved. it was mentioned that dohyeok was planning to do something with kim yongwu and co., but none of that was shown. so his rapists who drugged and raped him don't deserve karma? only he does? i don't understand why the author bothered making a sidestory about a character she hates so much, and if she wanted her readers to hate him as well, why make us sympathize with him and wish for his happiness? if stories like sadistic beauty bl ss, no reason and the warehouse can end with the couple staying together, why not these two? an open ending was still expected, siwoo could have taken his scarf, told dohyeok goodbye and asked him to move on. but no, he had to show us readers exactly why his relationships don't last for more than a month. he doesn't even have feelings for the poor guy he kissed, he just did it to show dohyeok idk what. siwoo, SIWOO WHEN I CATCH YOU SIWOO, SIWOO WHEN I CATCH YOU. (suha also never learnt about any of this lol.)
a very rushed ending, upsetting both korean and international readers. i really do hope dohyeok gets his own solo story where he finds someone better and gets therapy, learns how to be kinder to people around him, and also to himself. healing is what he needs the most. also, shoutout to my girl ms jung for staying loyal towards dohyeok till the end, he respected her a lot. here's to hoping a new story with dohyeok, although it's just wishful thinking right now.