ML isn't really a regretful ML, he's just super manipulative and never actually apologised for the regret making scenario/it's insinuated he set up the acid event to garner MCs sympathy... I saw it coming ngl.

Also the author literally didn't complete the actual story in the main story section- you had to read all the side stories to get there?!

Absolutely ridiculous.

Way more enjoyable than the main story, but the author does retcon some of the MC and MLs behaviour from the main story to make their relationship work/make them falling in love seem reasonable.

Aka, MC becomes a stereotypical Korean doormat of a bottom (wow are we surprised?) and the ML becomes even more "pitiable" so his terrible behaviour is 'excusable'...

Sorry but author-nim, you could have just left it as is, you made it clear you didn't know what to do with MLs family issues originally.

No seriously, why did the MLs behaviour regress so much? Also, super unsatisfactory ending that just means the novel ended up not really progressing anywhere.

go yohans also a regretful ml??? because of the most headache inducing misunderstanding arc where he just lets kang jun fall from grace but honestly kang jun held a grudge for that and even after they 'reunited' he didnt really forgive him (and then poured coffee over his head and told him hes always f*cking hated him)

which actually that arc did something for kang jun I mean he sent a dude to the hospital 😭😭 unlocked the inner idgaf in him it was crazy

Now, let's talk about the romance. This fool, Go Yohan, was OBSESSED with Kang Jun. And yet, despite so many chances for them to just get together in secret, (In my opinion those were chances and not in the character's opinions) he still manages to mess it up. Why? Because he's an idiot. I wanted to shake some sense into him so many times.

This man had everything served to him on a silver platter in the romance department and still failed to appreciate it. Sigh. This fool really had to make things difficult.

But hey, I get it. I understand why the story had to play out the way it did.

So my personal gripes are solely because of my personal feelings on the matter.

Their actual romance doesn't happen until university, and let me tell you—it is so worth the wait. Go Yohan will repent for his sins against Kang Jun, and he will do it in a very holy way (wink wink). Oh, and if you're wondering about the smut, it's in the epilogues—and yes, it's very, very sexy.

For me, the moment I thought, 'oh no, this is veeeery uncomfortable' did not come from when he smashed a metal chair on Junwoo (It's a Korean all boy's school; I expect violence, though, yes, that is genuinely insane). It came from when Jun discovers Yohan's stalking hobby and Yohan just completely loses his shit, screaming 'no' over and over like a child. The way he reacts to losing control is so raw, and when you see him fly off the handle in other scenes, it's unsettling in a way other red flag MLs aren't, because it feels equally vulnerable as it is terrifying. In the final side story, you get a glimpse of his perspective and it's very raw. The author did a great job of fleshing him out in all his strange and jagged edges, and his wildly swinging emotions and strange thoughts are believable.

The heavy atmosphere definitely loosens up in the side stories, where Jun goes off to college. Minus the occasional flare-ups from Yohan, they honestly have a weirdly... cute relationship? It's nothing to aspire to, sure, but they really match each other's freak. My standards may be all whack from reading too many red flag stories, so take my assessment with a grain of salt. But Kang Jun definitely loosens up and his prissy, uptight attitude even comes across as cute, later on. You can tell that he's grown into a more self-confident person, no longer needing to rely on others' validation and it feels like an exhale from a long-held breath.

when the ML lies (?) about his family situation and the MC trying to protect the ML and accidentally embarrassing him in front of the ML's whole family is where the story quality imo DROPS. After the ML gets humiliated unintentionally by the MC, the ML does this weird sh*t where he ruins the MC's reputation and lets him get bullied. Eventually, they figure their sh*t out with the ML protecting the MC from the acid attack.

the MC and ML

where his POV as the MC clouds our interpretation of people and story's events aka his thoughts/conclusions aren't always "right" or "correct".

Because he plays to his strengths, it makes him look underhanded. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the actions he took later on in the story. I really love characters that fight back despite the bad hands they are dealt with.

a yandere

if stalking the MC, beating up people that hurt MC, isolating MC, chasing away possible romantic candidates, and pretending to be pitiful to win over MC isn't a yandere I don't what is. MC is very lucky this takes place when they're high schoolers where his actions are much more limited compared to if they were adults. This hopefully also gives Yohan an opportunity to possibly grow and change.

His dad hit him so hard in the head (with an award Yohan himself won) that he got sent to the hospital. As a result, he developed memory problems and started to struggle in school. He pretty much has textbook symptoms of traumatic head injury and it caused him to be unable to process information properly like a normal person. Hence his super obsessiveness with the MC and why Jun constantly points out how Yohan doesn't act according to common sense and against the crowd/community. Especially when you consider how Korea follows a more collectivist culture.

Especially since Yohan and Jun's situation later mirrors Juwoo's bullying of Taesan. Whereas Junwoo used direct physical intimidation/violence towards Taesan to control him. Yohan uses mental manipulation tactics to indirectly control Jun.

The extra really hits home how crazy omegaverse is from an outsider's POV. Too bad it's not canon. If you know about ABO, you can tell Yohan is an Alpha and is now trying to change Jun into an Omega. But if you don't know anything about ABO, it just looks like Yohan is taking drugs and trying to get Jun to take drugs too and accept his weird "worldview".

People who think Jun is the little lamb who got taken advantage of by Yohan, the big bad wolf, need to reread the novel.

he was a bright child but his father grew to resent him due to their similarities and hit the poor sleeping boy on the back of his head with a trophy, leading to Yohan's memory issues and unpredictable temper and this caused his grades to suffer and made him feel insecure. It's all that bastard's fault Yohan was like this.

They are already doing really well in the uni side story (plus I really enjoy Yohan's POV tho it was too short). Honestly, it's just smut and has no plot (the first two chapters were interesting but they're quickly abandoned because they just f*cked till the end).

Under the flickering streetlight and an old utility pole, as dawn was about to break, there was Go Yohan, drunk. I turned my head to look at the fingers gripping my shoulder. Three fingers of his right hand were hovering slightly, unable to hold onto my shoulder.

It's strange, isn't it? The fingers that couldn't actually hold me are the ones keeping me in place.

KangJun finally grew a spine somewhere near the very end, and Go Yohan got the karma he deserves with that acid hit lol. I don’t feel sorry for him at all. He deserves to be punished more, and a better, braver author would have made him go through harder punishments. Unfortunately this author seems to love him.

we don’t get that at all. In that sense these side stories are very unnecessary as they feel like a rehash of the main story from the beginning when the two main characters started getting along, with the only difference being the introduction of a new annoying side character to push KangJun around. It’s infuriating how he just lets it all happen. But more infuriating than this is how he still lets Go Yohan screw him around. I guess the author just completely gave him amnesia of his sufferings during high school lol.

I was really bothered and disgusted with the ML because of the bullying, but as someone who have been through it as well, I'm probably more sensitive about it and couldn't forgive the ml, even when having his pov,