Ok so this is the BEST WEBTOON to ever exist and here is why you should read it pronto!

Overview:

• Status: Completed
• Chapters: 301
• Genre: Drama
• WEBTOON Rating: 9.7
• MAL Rating: 8.24

VERY SHORT SUMMARY:

• Seol, a hard-working college student, gets on the bad side of “Mr. Perfect”, Jung, who has a secret dark side to him and makes her life a living hell until a year later when he asks her out on a date.

PLOT:

Seol returned for her junior year of college after taking a break; and so did the polite, rich, smart, and handsome senior Yung Yoo. Jung didn’t like Seol for reasons even he didn’t know, she annoyed him and he ignored her, which is something that he had never done to anyone else. Due to certain events, Seol secretly laughed at Jung, which unleashed his anger and thus he made her life a living hell.

It should be noted that Jung thinks everything through and is always three steps ahead of everyone else. He manipulated situations to bring stalkers and hate towards Seol and she kept suspecting him even though there was no concrete proof. She had already decided to take another year off when suddenly, a full-ride scholarship was given to her and not long after, Jung asked her out.

Though Seol had her suspicions, she was ultimately charmed by this “new” Jung. Seol is an overthinker and pushover at heart, especially at the beginning of the story. Thus it’s no surprise that she even blamed herself for judging Jung too harshly and without even knowing him. They begin dating and although he was the most charming boyfriend, Seol still wanted to know if he had really done those things to her. They fought so many times about the past and never got anywhere. The secondary characters all get further involved in both Seol and Jung’s lives and romantic businesses. Jung’s past has a lot of baggage so a lot of the story is based on that as well. Jung eventually has a breakdown and tells Seol everything. Seol admits that they have too many differences, but she acknowledges that they make each other better and have learned to accept each other because of those differences.

CHARACTERS:

Seol:

Seol considers herself “too sensitive” this is why she was able to “sense” Jung’s dark side. I disagree with her and believe it would be better to say that she is an observant person and she actually thinks things through.

Because of a lack of money, she studies hard for a scholarship and works whenever she has time. As a result, she does the majority of the work in group projects to get full credit. Although she is definitely a pushover, she gets taken advantage of a lot. This has a lot to do with her development and personal growth throughout the story. There is a saying that her friend, Mona, tells Seol in the first couple of chapters:

“Live like a fox, not like a bear”

This is pretty significant because in Korea, if you’re “acting like a fox,” it means you’re cunning and doing things that’ll benefit you. If you’re “acting like a bear,” on the other hand, you’re naïve, silly, and easy to take advantage of. This is where Jung comes in, as he wakes a darker side of Seol to defend herself and become a really strong character.

Jung:

He’s the son of Company Z’s Chairman, so he was treated “nicely” by others to be in good terms with his father. When he was young he acted recklessly, until his cousin told him he could fake a smile at people and get away with anything. Jung made use of this through his analytical behavior and began to have “sociopathic” tendencies.

Funny thing is that the dad was just as manipulative as Jung. He was supposedly “cured” by Professor Baek, a friend of the family, but he became paranoid and tried to make Jung be the perfect and normal son. Many years after, Professor Baek died and left two grandchildren behind: Inho and Inha Baek. Jung’s dad brought the siblings in because of the abuse they suffered, but most importantly it was to keep an eye on Jung to prevent him from acting “weird.”

Jung never fully opened up to the Baek siblings, but he felt accepted by Inho and had traits in common with Inha. Eventually Jung found out that the siblings had been meeting up with his father and felt betrayed. He felt no sympathy and destroyed their lives by taking away their dreams and self-esteem. Jung took out most of his anger with Inho because he actually thought of him as a friend.

More importantly, there is a theme within Jung’s development about limits/”lines” existing, and he often makes remarks towards people about not crossing those “lines.” Inho primarily broke that line by wanting more from his relationship with Jung and his dad, which did not sit well with Jung.

In college, Jung wanted to graduate quickly, work at the company, and be free from his father. He had a perfect image at school and was relatively calm until Seol came around. The fact that the “perfect Jung” would ignore and bully a girl could never have been accepted by anyone else in the school. His act was so perfect that no one would ever believe those accusations. On the other hand, the final season of the story showed how a lot of people noticed his true intentions, which is a result of Seol allowing him to be his true self.

NARRATION

We are introduced to the story from Seol’s point of view and see key features like juxtaposing the monotone past and the colorful present. This later changes when Inho comes into the picture and both Jung and him remember their past. With them, B&W past is used since they haven’t seen each other recently. This also opens up Seol’s past and her traumas which are told through a B&W past. Jung is a key narrator because his past and point of view have most of the mysteries from the story rolled up together.

ROMANCE:

They go from an awkward friendship to an even more awkward dating phase. They slowly go to a more in-depth and personal relationship which is why I appreciate the story that much.

It’s such a real story and Soonki does an amazing job at showing how they have toxic tendencies. There is an instance where Jung says: “Who would believe you and take your side if not me?”

They do address each unhealthy instance and fix their relationship as they grow. One of Seol’s trauma involves her inability to let go of someone’s hands. This is key as it lead Jung to believe that she had accepted him and depended on him from very early in the story.

Seol finds herself falling for Jung as time passes, but Jung’s past actions always intervene. Although he did some things for her, Jung doesn’t seem to repent for what he did. Most of his actions were very selfish, though you could argue they were romantic.

The greatest factor about this love story is the amount of communication they develop. They were both too conservative about their thoughts but eventually opened up to one another. They tried to understand one another because of their love and even became more like one another.

I could keep going about this amazing webtoon, but I will stop here for now (>‘o’)>