the MC made a little speech/warning to his mother about that re her currrnt shitty relationship, too, so you know the author understands that concept. But of course the MC began taking care of his shitty father anyway because, it's his father. Vomit.

Despite all their history, he cannot just walk away from alcoholic abusive drunkard father when he was tossed drunk into garbage. The father--who is given a breadth of depth just by the fact we Know he's been trying and seeing him from an adult's perspective, he's really just an unfortunate, cowardly, weak-willed man who even though he ab*sed his son-- he does love his son and want the best future for him, and his son loves him. It's lovely to see this complexity not only here but also with his remarried mother, who he recalls only distantly because she abandoned him. It's bittersweet and a little heartbreaking to contrast how younger self vs MC have different relationships with their parents, and I think really such a strong theme to this story is parenthood--and the different people who raise us and how we transform to become the people we are.

Because we learn bits about him at a time just like MC, but it's such an appealing (the knife playing, the subtle moment in the car that MC observes, etc) because there's so much SHOWING rather than just telling (thank u writer bless u longevity) that shows up in bits and pieces as the story progresses. Again this duality of experiencing the people you saw before as a child vs. Now as an adult--different faces depending on the situation or people (not hypocritically, but you know, just like a reg person where you can't hope to know everything). Story is so good about the jarring juxtaposition, and the appeal for me is just that ML deliberately chooses to be KIND and so good to his students and not even being married in his fifties :"0 I wonder why and I just rly want MC and ML to get together I ship them so bad sksksksk

About the two developing as individuals despite being the same person:

They even have different s*xual orientations, but not in a way that would offensively imply that the MC could have been a heterosexual, had he grown up in a healthy environment. Their choice of partner is a matter of personal history, in a sense, but not in the way someone sensitive to such implications might expect. It is true that he would have never developed a romantic relationship with his former teacher without the transmigration, even though this person had always had a special place in his memories since childhood. The circumstances are simply different now that he and the teacher are interacting as peers. He sees a new side of the teacher, as a fellow adult, and naturally falls in love. His child self will never feel that way for the teacher, because he is too young and does not have the same singular attachment to this person as his adult self. The teacher is a full on parent figure to the younger self.

It's really not complicated or a big deal within the plot. One of them happens to fall for a man and the other has a crush on a girl. It does not mean in any way that him liking a man is a problem that needs fixed, although some characters to not respond kindly to the adult's relationship. I do seem to recall that the older self felt some relief upon noticing that his younger self seemed to prefer girls, but I think he ultimately just wants his younger self to be happy and recognizes that the time period is not friendly to homosexuality. I suspect this relief is that his younger self will continue upon an easier path than his own, but he never tries to influence his younger self to follow his ideas. He respects that the child has his own likes and dislikes and opinions. That's it. He would have definitely supported the boy even if he fell for another boy.

And thankfully this means the two won't have a weird situation of falling into some weird love triangle where they both like the same person.