LET US THEORIZE TOGETHER MISS CALLA. why was Taeju so loyal to Mujin? How did Taeju join Dong-cheon? Love your writing xo
ooooooooooooooh this is fun
SO i was thinking about this while writing for taeju the other day........ why was taeju so obsessed with mujin's approval and trust there were so many moments in the show where mujin was clearly losing it and was no longer thinking clearly or rationally. why didn't taeju just jump ship then? why did he stand by mujin's side til the end???
my theory: choi mujin was the only adult who had never disappointed taeju.
(BELOW THE CUT IS 1000000% MY HEADCANON FOR TAEJU LOL.... there's no real canon background info on him, so i've taken full liberties on this ok LOL)
tw: child abuse, murder, manipulative behavior
the world had never shown taeju any kindness.
i believe (and already have a 10 page very detailed word doc about this LMAOOOOO) taeju probably experienced unimaginable loss and pain while growing up. below are the basic points summed up:
i think he had terrible abusive + neglectful parents. i think he lost his one and only younger brother, whose death taeju feels solely responsible for. i think he once thought he could be a taekwondo olympic medalist (you can tell in his fight scenes he has strong taekwondo background and isn't your typical street brawler), but his pro athlete career is sabotaged by the coach he was supposed to trust above anyone else.
the adults in his life showed him, every single chance they got, that they're all pieces of trash. they all used him, chewed him up, and spat him out.
there was never a single adult who did the right thing. there was never a single adult who saved taeju, when he needed saving the most.
(during his fight scene with jiwoo, there's a scene where you can see them standing in the mirror. it's one of the only scenes you ever see them in the same shot together. i think they were actually probably mirrors of each other. so similar in their pain and loss and hurt. betrayed by the world, shown no kindness, exposed to every single depraved human thing the adults in their lives could come up with. they were one in the same.)
and how did mujin convince jiwoo to become his dagger? he was there for her. he rescued her. when every other adult in the room FAILED her, he was there. strict, unforgiving, and cruel. but kind in his cruelty, still.
i think it was similar for taeju.
mujin is so good at recognizing what someone needs, what they're desperate for.
mujin was there, when taeju's taekwondo coach screwed him over and manipulated him and then ultimately destroyed all chances of him becoming a medalist by intentionally injuring him to knock him out of the game -- all because there was a richer kid with a better background and a better "tv personality". the only thing taeju had ever been good at had been taekwondo, and now he couldn't even do that. mujin helped him stand back on his feet when he felt he had no more purpose in life.
and then when taeju's younger brother wooju dies at the hands of their abusive father and taeju is falling apart, believing it’s his fault -- if he had been home, he could've stopped this. if he hadn't been off chasing this stupid pipedream of becoming an athlete, he could've saved wooju. it's his fault. it's all his fault -- when taeju was spiraling like this, it was mujin who arrived at the hospital. it was mujin who helped him fill out the paperwork, who helped him carry wooju's ashes to his grave site.
when taeju goes back for revenge and kills his own father in a fit of anger and grief and sadness -- how could you do that to wooju?? -- mujin is the one who cleans the blood off of taeju's shaking, trembling hands. who makes sure that there's no evidence, no case to be made against him. taeju is never convicted of the crime because mujin makes sure he's safe. mujin takes care of him. the organization will always protect their own, taeju. i will never betray you.
and that's when taeju joins. he's 17. just like jiwoo, when she joined. just like mujin, when he joined too. it’s sad, isn’t it? 17 is too young for this kind of pain. it's so unfair that he had to experience so much by then.
but... after joining dongcheon, mujin gives him purpose again.
he gives taeju jobs, tasks, goals. he praises him. he disciplines him. he teaches him. all the things that the adults in his life were supposed to do -- his parents, his teachers, the police and authorities -- every single person who had failed taeju so horribly... mujin made up for them all.
mujin also... gives him brothers again. taeju is tasked with training up new cadets. he builds bonds, relationships. it's a brotherhood, in the muscle house. even when dongcheon is huge and raking in $$$, taeju doesn't bother moving into the hotel. he continues to live upstairs in the muscle house, because he wants to be around them. wants them to know that they have him -- a dependable adult now -- in their lives.
(you can see how invested he is in them + how much he cares for them when taeju forfeits his upperhand during gangjae's ambush. gangjae fakes him out, making as if he's gonna hurt one of taeju's closest men, and taeju gives up. immediately drops his weapon and says stop!!!! gangjae always knew how to get under his skin. he knew that taeju cared too much. he knew that taeju wouldn't let him hurt one of his brothers like that, right in front of him, for no reason. .............it also prob pissed the shit out of gangjae in that moment too because -- why the fuck didn't taeju stop mujin, then, from hurting gangjae so many years ago? but i digress lol that's a story for another day if anyone's interested ahahah)
SO YEAH............. mujin gives him a life again. gives him purpose, gives him a family, gives him stability. when every single adult had failed him, choi mujin was the only person who never lied to taeju. who never abused him for no reason, who never abandoned him, who never took advantage of him. choi mujin was honest and forthcoming and never once tried to hide his cruelty or his true intentions.
he convinced a young, impressionable taeju that this was love. that this was loyalty. that this warped view of commitment to the doncheon family was what a real family looked like. this was the only sincerity that taeju was ever shown.
and so taeju, just like jiwoo, fell for it.
he lived for it. and then he died for it too.
so in short? choi mujin had never disappointed taeju. ever. and so taeju refused to ever disappoint him also.
...a part of me wants to release all this backstory i have thought up for taeju but idek if anyone would be interested LOL OH WELL
Why am I only reading this now??! This is officially canon in my head now. I don’t care how late I am🤣
