beta
jo should be endgame tbh… i reread this entire webtoon because the amount of people belittling ian and jo’s connection had me feeling crazy. while i understand why there’s fans for tj and ian it’s also very easy to define their relationship as something codependent, unstable, and unhealthy in the long run. i don’t think yall remember in the beginning how it was hinted tj used to harm others, and even ian himself, because of his possessiveness and fear of being left behind. he then tied ian down by forcing him to pay an outrageous debt to keep him in the gangs clutches longer. yet i saw so many people only call out jo for saying he wanted them to have exclusive sex this chapter and calling it toxic, while completely ignoring him/tj’s long winded history of one-sided violence
with tj, ian is haunted by the past and becomes a shell of a person that’s not even himself. tj has no plans to leave the gang, and this environment turns ian into a ruthless and unfeeling machine… almost like nothing. their sex is honest and passionate because he’s not fucking for love. to him it’s an act of raw desire that distracts them from the problems they share and never wanting to open up (as ian admits). together they perpetuate a cycle of constant push and pull, where one person is always at the extreme
with jo, ian is able to take a fresh breath and feel like there’s a life that’s exists far beyond what he’s been shown. ian becomes SO curious and has endless first times when it comes to fulfilling things. it’s like his inner child is being healed, and he’s able to be young and carefree. he unknowingly lets his guard down, and is comforted by how alike they are (how they say or think the same things at the same time). jo opens up ian’s world instead of shutting him away
all this to say, i feel like the sex scenes blind tj and ian shippers + fans believe utter devotion = tj is owed love from ian, even that very devotion is harmful or manipulative. and jo doesn’t deserve as much hate as people give him