MY ANALYSIS OF KILLING STALKING — WHY IS THIS STORY MISUNDERSTOOD AND NOT A BL.
• I AM NOT A PSYCHOLOGIST, TAKE MY POST CAUTIOUSLY !!
• TW: rape, incest, psychological and physical abuses, mental illnesses
I've been a fan of Killing Stalking for ages. I’ve read it nine times already (update: 12 times now, lol) and today, I want to share my interpretation/analysis of the story. Not just a random interpretation but what I believe is the correct one.
My post is especially for those who romanticize Bum and Sangwoo’s relationship, who see Killing Stalking as a BL (Boys’ Love) and who believe that Bum and Sangwoo were “in love.” I'm here to challenge those ideas and to present this book in a new light. I’ll be breaking down why those interpretations are problematic and explaining what Killing Stalking is really about.
To truly understand Killing Stalking, you have to grasp the complex relationship between Sangwoo and his mother, Eunseo. If you missed that, or if you didn’t realize that the story revolves around that relationship, then (respectfully) you didn’t understand the story at all.
So, in this post, I’m going to share all my thoughts, analysis and interpretations, supported by examples and psychological insights.
(Sorry in advance, it’s going to be really long, but I hope you’ll read it through to the end!!)
### 1. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SANGWOO AND HIS MOTHER
At the beginning of Killing Stalking, Koogi, the author, deliberately portrays Sangwoo’s mother, Eunseo, in a sympathetic light. She’s introduced as a protective maternal figure: a battered woman trying her best to protect her son from an abusive husband.
This dynamic immediately creates empathy in the reader, who sees Eunseo as a victim within a dysfunctional family just like Sangwoo. Throughout the first two Seasons, Eunseo only appears in short flashbacks: she is absent but idealized through the eyes of young Sangwoo.
However, by Season 3, the veil is slowly lifted. Eunseo is revealed in all her psychological complexity and darkness.
What once appeared to be a victim role quickly shifts into that of an abuser. The mother-son relationship becomes perverse and extremely toxic, veering into incest, manipulation, possession and psychological destruction.
### Psychological Portrait of Eunseo:
1. Personality Disorders:
Eunseo displays strong signs of Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She swings between protective behaviors and extreme violence, unable to regulate her emotions (in Chapter 52, she tries to suffocate Sangwoo with a pillow and then cries and apologises for it like if she never did it.) Her relationship with Sangwoo is defined by pathological emotional enmeshment, a constant need for control, possession and domination.
She begins exhibiting ambiguous and even incestuous attitudes toward Sangwoo: complimenting his appearance, calling him by pet names typically used in romantic relationships ("babe") and displaying jealousy toward other women he interacts with (Chapter 55).
This jealousy peaks in a traumatic scene in Chapter 60, where she sexually assaults Sangwoo before killing herself in front of him.
3. Psychological Manipulation:
Eunseo employs extreme gaslighting, distorting Sangwoo’s perception of reality. She makes him believe he is responsible for his father’s death, even though she poisoned him herself (Chapter 55). This manipulation deeply warps Sangwoo’s self-image, leading him to believe he’s a murderer and a monster when in truth, he’s a victim.
4. Attempted Double Murder:
Eunseo doesn’t just kill her husband, she also tries to kill Sangwoo. She slowly poisons his food with rat poison, aiming to kill him softly and gradually. Fortunately, Sangwoo becomes suspicious after connecting his recent nauseas with the poison found near his father’s corpse and swaps the poisoned pills with harmless ones (Chapter 55). This survival act becomes a ritual: Sangwoo obsessively counts his pills every day until the end of the story (Chapters 4, 55 and 59). A clear symptom of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) rooted in trauma.
(Side note: In Chapters 4 and 5, Yoon Bum tries to poison Sangwoo using what he believes is rat poison in his soup. But Sangwoo flips the situation, forcing Bum to taste it first. Convinced he ingested poison, Bum experiences a reverse placebo, known as the nocebo effect: physical symptoms triggered purely by belief. He collapses, nauseated… even though the pills were harmless. Meanwhile, Sangwoo eats the soup with no problem because it was never actually poisoned. LOL.)
5. Suicide as a Psychological Weapon:
In her final moments, Eunseo commits suicide right in front of Sangwoo, even using the knife he’s holding (Chapter 60). This act is far from meaningless: she wants him to feel responsible for her death and to believe he killed his own mother.
Before dying, she pronounced her last sentence: “I hope you die the most painful death possible.” This sentence becomes a psychological anchor: a constant fear in Sangwoo’s mind that her curse will someday come true.
### The Psychological Consequences for Sangwoo:
After his mother’s suicide, Sangwoo spirals into severe psychiatric disorders:
1. Complex PTSD (C-PTSD):
He suffers from prolonged trauma over many years: emotional and sexual abuse, manipulation, guilt, parental loss and isolation. C-PTSD manifests in identity disturbances, chronic emotional pain, hallucinations, nightmares and a warped perception of the self and others. (Chapter 4, 27, 60…)
2. Borderline Personality Disorder:
He displays intense fear of abandonment, impulsivity, emotional instability and black-and-white thinking in relationships (idealization followed by rejection). (Chapter 26, 27…)
3. Psychosis and Hallucinations:
Over time, Sangwoo begins to lose his grip on reality. He hallucinates, gets lost in jumbled memories and experiences dissociative episodes where past and present blur. (Chapter 27, 60, 66…)
4. Rape Fantasy (Dissociative Defense):
This psychological defense, well documented, often seen in incest survivors, involves sexualizing or romanticizing the trauma as a way to mentally survive. It’s not about real desire but a dissociative interpretation of the abuse as "love." Sangwoo projects this onto Bum, seeing not Bum, but Eunseo in him. (Chapter 2-59)
### Why Sangwoo Keeps Yoon Bum Alive:
Sangwoo doesn’t keep Bum alive out of love but because Bum mirrors his mother:
- Physically and emotionally fragile, like Eunseo.
- Submissive, dependent and unstable.
-Eunseo and Bum look physically alike.
Bum and Eunseo both have the same mole on their chin, as well as the same scars on their wrists and ankles and the same almond-shaped brown eyes with eyebrows that arch upward. They also share the same head shape, jawline and nose.
Plus, both characters have the same body type (underweight and very small) and the same fragile posture, especially in the way they stand.
(I personally find the ressemblance just… speechless.)
- During sex, Sangwoo doesn’t see Bum. He sees Eunseo. Yes, it's weird, but it's the truth. This can be seen in Chapter 56, when Bum rides Sangwoo in the same position Eunseo used when she raped him and thus, imagines making love to her while accidentally moaning "mom," signaling the end of Sangwoo and Bum's previously "calm" relationship. Furthermore, it's worth noting that Sangwoo has flashbacks of his mother exclusively when he's intimate with Bum or about to be. (Chapter 36, 53, 56…)
- He projects his traumatic fantasies onto Bum, unconsciously trying to “rewrite” his past.
He dresses him like his mother (Chapter 3-6, 21, 63-66), forces him to do the same things as she liked to do (eating apples, hiking, cooking...) and burries Jieun in the exact same location his father is (Chapter 21 and 22): all in an attempt to symbolically “fix” the past.
Yet the fear of betrayal lingers.
Sangwoo constantly tests Bum’s loyalty, just as he once watched his mother for signs of poison or lies. This tragically plays out in Chapter 58 and 59, when Bum accidentally drops rat poison pills under a furniture. Sangwoo, noticing missing pills, immediately suspects poisoning.
(This is also the reason Sangwoo repeatedly says in the story: “I don’t want to become like my father.” Through this statement, Koogi initially leads us to believe that Sangwoo refuses to fall into the same violence and madness as his father. But in reality, it’s not his father’s cruelty that terrifies him: it’s the way he died.
What Sangwoo fears more than anything is dying like his father: betrayed by the ones he loves.)
In that moment, Bum becomes his mother’s ghost: the one he fears, hates and longs for all at once.
(That’s also why Sangwoo tried to kill Bum after realising that he “tried to kill him” (Chapter 59). He believed Bum betrayed him like his mother did and, as soon as Sangwoo discovered it, Bum wasn’t Eunseo anymore to his eyes. Bum as himself was useless to Sangwoo: just a nuisance for him to kill. An evidence that Sangwoo never deeply loved Bum for who he was but only loved the way Bum reflected his mother.)
In the three final Chapters, Sangwoo dies alone, burned alive, hallucinating, whispering Bum’s name. Or perhaps, unconsciously, his mother’s. He dies like an abandoned child, calling for his mother’s help, the woman who betrayed him twice.
Eunseo’s curse comes true: “I hope you die the most painful death possible.”
She didn’t kill him physically. She destroyed him from within.
In psychology, this is known as psychological homicide: destroying a person’s identity, sense of self and mental integrity until they become a hollow shell.
Eunseo isn’t just a violent mother, she’s the black heart of the trauma in Killing Stalking, a figure of total annihilation.
Now that you understood the complexity of Sangwoo and Eunseo’s relationship, the psychological consequences that have come by it etc..
I’m gonna tell you why Killing Stalking isn’t a story about a man loving another man since neither Sangwoo nor Bum were actually gay.
### 2. WHY IS SANGWOO NOT GAY:
Sangwoo isn’t attracted to Bum because of his personality or male body but because Bum mirrors his abusive mother. It’s a psychological projection, an unconscious transference.
If Bum hadn’t looked and acted so submissive and fragile - if he hadn’t resembled Eunseo -he would have been killed like the others. This isn’t a homosexual relationship, but a deeply neurotic trauma bond, rooted in repetition compulsion.
(Remember, Sangwoo tried to kill Bum the second Bum wasn’t reflecting Eunseo to his eyes anymore.)
Also, Sangwoo is shown to have regular sexual intercourses with women, even after meeting Bum, (university friends, Jieun… (Chapter 7 and 18)) and expresses clear attraction toward them (looking at a girl’s chest in the Chapter 58). He never expresses real, spontaneous desire toward Bum as a man but rather feminizes him: making him wear women’s clothes (Chapter 3-6, 22-23, 39, 63-66), calling him ambiguous pet names and encouraging “softer” behavior. (Chapter 3, 56…)
This further supports that Sangwoo isn’t gay. He’s trapped in a cycle of psychosexual trauma, using Bum as a distorted substitute for his mother.
(And Koogi herself confirmed that Sangwoo is 100% heterosexual, so case closed.)
(source: https://battwo.com/chapter/1516640)
Killing Stalking - Epilogue : Yoon Bum, a scrawny quiet boy, has a crush on one of the most popular and handsome guys in his university, San
### 3. WHY ISN’T BUM GAY (OR NOT FULLY):
Though initially introduced as a gay character, I strongly believe Yoon Bum isn’t truly gay. Several elements from his past, behavior and psyche suggest otherwise.
1. Sexual and Romantic Attraction to Women:
Bum has shown romantic feelings for female classmates in the past, a clear sign of pansexuality, bisexuality or even heterosexuality. Even as an adult, he’s attracted to women: staring at their chests, following them on the streets (Chapter 25) and stealing their bras or belongings (Chapter 14 and 19). Behaviour that mix heterosexual desire with obsessive disorders.
2. A Personality Shaped by Trauma:
Bum suffers from severe psychological traumas due to his upbringing. He never had healthy attachments: no parents, siblings or close friends. His only family is a distant grandmother and a violently abusive and incestuous uncle.
This uncle raped Bum multiple times and manipulated him emotionally. Switching between sexual violence and fake affection, he left Bum with deep cognitive dissonance: hatred mixed with guilt and emotional confusion. This leads to trauma bonding, where victims become emotionally attached to their abuser out of a desperate need for love and safety. (Chapter 46)
This warped affection is revealed in Chapter 46 and 49, when Sangwoo kills Bum’s uncle. Bum talks to his corpse:
-“I never wanted to kill him! I just didn’t want to see him again!” [...] (First, Bum is showing a feeling of guilt towards his uncle’s death.)
-“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up or I’ll kill you! I swear I will!” [...]
(Bum is now showing wrath towards his uncle and wants to kill him after having flashbacks of his uncle beating and raping him.)
-“I’m sorry, Uncle. I’m sorry. I’ll forgive you for everything. Just don’t hate me.”
(Finally, Bum is showing a mix between attachment and guilt towards his uncle after memories of his uncle being nice with him come up in Bum’s mind)
3. Identity Confusion and Personality Disorders:
- Borderline Personality Disorder: Emotional instability, fear of abandonment, chaotic relationships, idealization followed by devaluation. (Throughout all the manwha.)
- Obsessive Love Disorder (Erotomania): Pathological obsession with people he believes might love him. (Chapter 1 and also in the Chapter 19, when one of his classmate takes her shirt off to show him her scars, Bum interprets it as a love act and he believes being her boyfriend).
- Stockholm Syndrome: Clear signs in his relationship with Sangwoo: despite abuse, captivity and humiliation, Bum desperately seeks the approval and love of his abuser.
4. Obsessive, Disturbing Behavior from a Young Age:
The more Bum grew up, the more his behaviour became more inappropriate and weirder.
As a teen, Bum followed a prostitute for hours just to get her to talk to him (Chapter 25). He stole belongings from female classmates, knew their bra sizes and even yelled in class that one girl was a victim of incest, thinking it would create a connection (Chapter 19).
When rejected, he tried to force a bond, giving this same girl a letter and demanding her to read it daily, even though she doesn't want it. This is classic attachment obsession (Chapter 19).
5. The Obsession with Sangwoo: A Trauma Reenactment:
His fixation on Sangwoo isn’t love: it’s a pathological repetition.
Sangwoo is charismatic, admired and social, everything Bum isn’t. He admits this himself in Chapter 1: he stalks Sangwoo’s social media, wonders how he has sex, masturbates to him and eventually starts physically stalking him.
This isn’t love, but obsession born of loneliness and a warped view of affection. When Sangwoo locks him up, beats him, humiliates him, Bum stays. Because deep down, this pattern of abuse and rare kindness is what his uncle taught him was "love."
Bum isn’t in love. He’s clinging, obsessed and projecting an idealized love onto ANYONE who gives him even a shred of attention, regardless of gender.
My Killing Stalking’s interpretation is now over ^^!
I really hope that my post made you understand some things you weren’t sure about or made you learn new things about the story !!
Tag me under this pseudo if you want to use my interpretation on the web !
