Ok, so, I withdrew a lot from KS fandom and discussion after the past couple of chapters because I was really startled by the direction the story took. I’m reserving judgment until the actual finale, which might fill in some of the gaps, but at this point I think the story would have benefited from more gradual shift from Kwak’s death to the endgame. While it was foreseeable that Sangwoo would revert back to his abusive treatment of Bum once he thought Bum had tried to poison him (again), it just doesn’t feel as impactful without actually seeing the change and Bum’s reaction. Does he even know why Sangwoo turned on him? Did he try to explain himself, or show Sangwoo the gift he bought?
(I know there are plenty of people who are fans of Bum and I’m not saying that’s wrong -- I’m just...not, so if you’re a fan you may want to skip the next few paragraphs.) All right, I’m not trying to mindlessly bash here, but the last two chapters have really reminded me why I dislike Bum as a character. I find him bland, passive, inarticulate, and generally frustrating, especially compared to a complex and dynamic character like Sangwoo. Like, it figures that Bum’s big moment last chapter was one of inaction -- not killing Seungbae.
I definitely wouldn’t expect him to try fighting back against Sangwoo, or even trying to escape -- it’s believable that he wouldn’t be able or willing to do either one of those things. But I think a huge opportunity was missed with his character from the beginning -- I would have been so much more interested in him if, as a mirror to the mind games Sangwoo played with the police, Bum had showed some inner intelligence and subtly manipulated Sangwoo into caring for him. I think that still could have worked with Bum being obsessed/in love with Sangwoo, and it would have added some extra intrigue to moments like reuniting with his high school crush because it wouldn’t be obvious what Bum was thinking or planning.
Instead, I always read Bum as stumbling along blindly with no insight into what makes Sangwoo tick beyond sex. He comes across as bizarrely naive, childlike, and even stupid. I really don’t know what Koogi intended with Bum -- are we supposed to like him? Sympathize with him? Root for him? It’s one thing to write a morally gray character that not everyone will like (like, say, a stalker who becomes a victim). But with Bum it doesn’t feel purposeful; he’s just kind of there, reacting to situations with no real development. And it’s a shame, because he has the potential to be very interesting as he is, but since we’re not really shown anything of Bum’s interior life his character just falls flat for me.
But who knows, maybe something in the finale will make it click for me! I’m glad it’ll be long, because it seems like there’s so much left to tie up. Where is Eunseo’s body? Is the girl from Bum’s past gone for good? Will Detective Lee show up again to scream at Seungbae for almost fucking dying and then make it clear, once and for all, that he cares about Seungbae very much? (He better. If their friendship/connection goes nowhere, I will bite a chunk out of my desk.) Will we learn the full truth about what happened to Seungbae’s dad, or the circumstances surrounding his first arrest that got him on the police force? So many dangling threads. I’m glad Koogi’s taking time to get everything ship-shape before she publishes the end.