Just wanted to mention one more thing which I had thought about as another relation between Lee Sookyoung and her son.
We keep seeing this theme implied that even sacrifice can be selfish when you end up hurting those that care about you each time KDJ kills himself to achieve his end goal and I wonder who he internalized it from?
Every time he puts himself in that situation where he dies, his companions are wrecked; no matter whether they know that KDJ will come back or not and KDJ knows this. He knows that what he's doing is hurting his companions, he knows that they might end up hating him because of it but he does it anyway. Because he believes that his course of action will be the best for his companions (even if his companions think he's wrong) and he's willing to lie, manipulate and cheat to get his way. Because he knows things they do not, and some of these things he cannot share because as per his belief, it may bring unfortunate consequences. He does this because this need to protect them comes from a place of inherent love.
Now we look at Lee Sookyoung. A victim of domestic abuse that would do absolutely anything to save her son. She went to jail for him, she quite literally pulled a canon-divergence in KDJ's mind (and the world as far as it's concerned) that it was actually her that killed her husband and not her son who did that. She lies to him for years, doesn't speak to him at all when he comes to visit because she's afraid she might spill the details and she knows this is hurting KDJ. She knows that her son will most likely end up hating her forever and it is a consequence she is willing to take because it means that on a larger scale, she believes that her son will remain safe. She was willing to become the object of hate and revulsion in the eyes of her son that she so dearly loved, all to keep him safe. Even if it ate her up inside. And why does she do it?
Because it comes from a place of inherent love.
Personally I believe that she takes care of KimCom because she knows that in the end it'll have to be KimCom who would take care of her son. Especially to the novel characters because technically, they raised her child when she could not be there.
Then we come to the: "I'm just a mother who ran away" part.
She feels enormous amounts of guilt for leaving KDJ in that state but not once does she regret it. She knows that what she's done is horribly wrong, that perhaps she has become a horrible person for leaving her son to face the world alone but she doesn't regret it one bit because she knows things KDJ does not. She knows that the other option could be so much worse. So much potential for a collapse:
If she left, how would she take care of both her son and herself all alone?
Even if she does get remarried, her new husband might love and accept her but would he love her son?
What about Kim Dokja? He's too young to take the blame for killing his father, he only did what was necessary.
How would people treat my son because I left my husband?
And more. It's a pipeline spiral.
It all centers around her son. What about her son? What might happen to him? Would he be okay? In her eyes, all of this would be potentially worse for KDJ. Of course, she could be horribly wrong. By doing all that, she might have just doomed KDJ to a worse fate but she does not know. And losing KDJ was a risk she was unwilling to take.
And yes, it was a bad fate for KDJ. He ended up attempting suicide after all but how was LSK to know? She isn't omniscient. Sometimes, the bad option is the only option left. It's the exact same as KDJ deciding to remain on the train. Somewhere deep down he knows his companions will figure it out, he knows they'll try to save him. But this KimCom he knows is fundamentally changed due to his presence, KDJ is not omniscient. How was he to know that YJH would be willing to spend an indefinite amount of time roaming worldlines just for the slightest chance to get him back. How was he to know that HSY would forever doom the world again and again just for the chance that he would breathe the next day? How was he to know that they would try to save him no matter the cost?
And still, there are more similarities. Even after the worst of the Devourer of Dreams Arc is over and KDJ and LSK meet in the recovery tent, she still does not say anything. She knows they have come too far for that now. The same way KDJ keeps sacrificing himself even after he tells KimCom about the novel and sees how much everyone hurts every single time they lose him. Because he's too far in to change it.
It's in their nature. Selfish sacrifice that comes from a place of love. And that's probably why they evoke such undying loyalty from people. KDJ from KimCom and LSK from her Wanderers.
Not to mention that KDJ knows deep down that he is just like his mother. He 'hates' her because he 'hates' himself. Because how could he not? If he himself is a selfish monster then what was the person that raised his fundamentals? I put hate within quotes because KDJ doesn't actually hate his mother, it is precisely because he loves her so much that he feels so hurt. And all that stuff boiling inside him became the basis for his self-hatred, the same way LSK deeply hated herself for making her son go through that.
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