Ch388. Kim Soleum and his growing levels of trust with Jin Nasol
Ch388 has given us the lovely surprise that Soleum has genuinely grown to trust and behave towards Nasol in a way he's never behaved towards someone before.
And we can see this in nearly all the interactions shown in Ch388.
Soleum has very little internal planning this chapter, at least compared to the usual amount. Instead he's actively conversing and planning with Jin Nasol instead of in his own head. And Nasol actively contributes and adds her own ideas and plans!
2. Soleum drops his act at least for a little bit and lets curiosity take over. With Jin Nasol he always kept his guard up and let himself be viewed as this competent and serious fellow. The act of Roe Deer. A personality he held onto the entirity of The Daydream Era and made a comeback with, once he reunited with Nasol. But here he lets his guard down. He feels safe enough to ask questions and keep pressing.
3. The fact that Soleum asks Nasol questions is already something huge. Because these questions and their answers don't contribute to the goal of escaping at all. They don't contribute to anything really. Now Soleum has shown himself to be a curious soul and will occasionally ask questions if the moments seems appropriate. But he usually won't go out of his way to. He always has his mind focused on his ultimate goal of going home. He never deviate from that goal and every action he does contributes towards that goal in some way. This doesnt contribute to any sort of goal at all. Yet he still makes an effort to do it
Soleum has never suggested to do something with anyone in the future. Ever. Others have suggested stuff to him, yes, and he's agreed. But he himself has never been the one to suggest something. Because he has never thought about his future in this world. Just what he can do to get home.
And yet here! HE suggests doing something! And he does it in a way that also communicate his thoughts about Jin Nasol. That they'll stick together once they're out of here. That he'll go out of his way to search for items that'l help her.
He's helped people before! With the resources and opportunities he has. But he never goes out of his way to help people.
And I think his behavior towards Jin Nasol can be explained by a multitude of things. Well I can explain it in three points
1. His time away from the ghost story world and his brief period of isolation.
Soleum has spent a year away from The Ghost Story world. And its clear that throughout his time away he has missed everyone he left behind. Which caused his reunion with Jin Nasol someone he knew during his time here to be a much more positive reaction than it would've. Even if he didnt know or care for her as much, she was still someone he knew.
He had also been completely and utterly alone for a day. Surrounded by complete strangers, in a situation he cannot escape, where he is viewed as a lab rat basically. Not to mention the people who interacted with him either scoffed or avoided him. Or actively harassed him. Then he met Jin Nasol. A genuine ally and piece of familiarity.
2. Jin Nasol's difficult personality.
Soleum often tends to adapt to people to manage the situation in the smoothest way possible. With Jin Nasol he was forced to adapt and become a much more honest indivual. To get Nasol to cooperate with him he had to openly communicate his plan and thought process. Which is something he's always had a problem of not doing before.
3. Soleum's utter lack of resources.
Soleum has always had resources throughout the novel. Always. He had the wiki on his phone, the merch box, his teammates, various connections through the places he worked at, places to buy items, items in his tattoo, supernatural powers, supernatural beings he could fall back on, and a considerably good reputation.
He has absolutely none of that here. He started with less resources then he ever had. No wiki, no allies, no tattoos, nothing. His reputation was in shambles, and his physical strength is so bad he's constantly mentioning it. He nearly no way to get items, and no way to find a way to get more resources.
Jin Nasol was the light in the dark. An ally. A resource. Someone with information and someone competent to help him survive. Yes he gained a couple more items and resources after reuniting with her, but she was the first. And rn she's his only easy to access ally. And the only ally who working with had no potential drawbacks.
And okay one last point, I maybe lied.
4. Braun isn't here.
Braun has been a near constant presence in gsgw except for the brief divorce period between him and Soleum. And Braun has always ALWAYS pushed Soleum away from creating meaningful relationships with anyone else.
Braun will actively sabotage a growing relationship between Soleum and another supernatural being, by making rude curt comments towards that being and hinting to Soleum they're untrustworthy. He did when Blue Mascot and Soleum were hugging and Soleum genuinely felt at ease for a second. Before Braun started talking and caused Soleum to break away from the hug. He did it when Soleum revealed his identity as the agent Ho Yuwon saved from Sekwang city. When Soleum began to establish a closer with him because of this, Braun made a comment that made Soleum reconsider how much trust he should put in Ho Yuwon.
In fact the reason Soleums most trusted companion aside from Braun is The Chief Lizard, is because Soleum IGNORES what Braun says about Lizard.
Now Braun doesn't make an effort to sabotage Soleums relationships with humans, he does cheapen them. His constant chatter and commenting help Soleum distance himself from these people. People talking in a serious or genuine manner and Braun casts it away like its nothing. Insults them even. And Soleum while not agreeing with him, will use it to distance himself from these people. After all when Braun treats it like he's reacting to characters in a show, its easier to distance yourself.
And Soleum nearly always has some negative comments on every human character. He has it with Nasol in this very chapter.
Except this time Braun isn't here to amplify it. He isn't here to add onto it and have him view Nasol in this more 2D way.
Whenever Soleum has a negative thought on someone Braun nearly always emphasizes it. He did it with Baek Saheon and he did it with Agent Choi and probably a lot of others.
But Braun isnt here. He isnt here to do any of that. There's nothing between Nasol and Soleum to stop their relationship from growing. There isnt anymore of Soleums closed off behavior as someone who didnt care about anything but going home. He's willing to care now.
So while he himself didnt share any info, I do think its rlly important that hes willing to learn this info, to go out of his way to help, and to communicate :3
