I finished Gou Bing (Morbid Attachment). Its okay... Honestly, the first half is very frustrating to read because it's as if you're reading from MDZS Jiang Cheng's perspective when Wei Wuxian hid the golden core thing or WOH Zhou Zishu's perspective during Wen Kexing's fake death. The ML refuse to explain what's going on, has constant mood swings and keep lying or hide something. It's tough. He also acts like the despicable possessive ex. Its easier to empathize with Ji Wang the MC who's only asking for good communication. It should not be a big deal, right? But is it really not a big deal from ML's side?
Plot: Ji Wang is a diligent, talented but not so popular actor. He got a small acting job for a music video. He didn't expect its a MV for popular singer Qi Boyan's(his ex) song. Ji Wang broke up with him 6 years ago. At first, the story framed it they broke up because they are both alphas and Qi Boyan pretended to be an omega so Ji Wang felt betrayed. The more the story progress, that's just a tip of big iceberg. His actual reason is more than that. He still love Qi Boyan but hated how he's always left in the dark and constant lack of communication. Qi Boyan as boyfriend was inconsistent, has strong mood swings, and refuse to say anything about it no matter how much Ji Wang ask. In their reunion, Qi Boyan tried to pursue Ji Wang again but how will that work if Qi Boyan still refuse to clear up the misunderstanding? Tags: Alpha x Alpha (Omegaverse), Unpopular Actor x Popular Singer, Ex to Lovers, Mentally ill Lover, Unhealthy Toxic Relationship that somehow works, Relationship growth, Obsessed Possessive Lovers, Younger top x Older bottom
<<SPOILERS>>
Ji Wang as MC is very likable. He know how to draw the line or be in charge as the older person in the relationship. He's the shou in the bed dynamic but he's still an alpha after all. He has a very high emotional intelligence and always try his best to understand his young lover's sudden outburst. His only petpeeve is he don't like it when his loved one hide something from him so that's the main reason why he broke up with ML. I think you'll only hate him if you think he deserve better than his possessive ML because he's such a good guy. But the thing is its implied he's as obssessed as ML to their relationship. He love Qi Boyan no matter what. He only need an explanation or reason why Qi Boyan is unreasonable at times.
As for Qi Boyan the ML, its natural to hate him at first until his backstory. He's very bratty, clingy who don't understand consent and personal space but he did improve as time goes I guess. His story is he pretended to be an omega because of his complicated family situation. He was seen as a threat since he can be a heir candiate for his family's wealth so his mom registered him as omega to protect him since only alpha can be an heir. I only cut him some slack when it was revealed he has hereditary mental illness he got from his mom and was admitted to questionable hospital arranged by his hateful half-brother. No wonder he refuse to tell MC what's going on. It seem his mom was treated very poorly because of her mental illness by her husband so Qi Boyan pretended he's normal, scared his lover will also leave him once he found out. The good thing is he did seek some treatment after he was diagnosed. During his years with MC before breakup, he already show signs that he inherited his mom's mental illness. He's just not aware of it until it became worse. His condition only became worse when he became terribly depressed after their breakup and his half-brother used this opportunity to torture him in guise of treatment. He didn't know those treatment is never designed to heal him, but to break him. What make it sad is he's living in a lie that he'll get better all those years but instead it just destroyed his health. So when he reunited with his ex-lover, he's already a broken man who's trying to fix himself. Even if he's very flawed, I respect that he choose the future of their relationship than their past(He lose some of his memories after theraphy). He really strive to recover so he can be with Ji Wang.
I love that they really make the relationship works. They level up their communication when they decided to date again. I'm not saying they are a perfect healthy couple but what matters to me is there's some progress in their relationship. For example, Qi Boyan throw tantrum when Ji Wang kissed him after smoking in the past but when they start dating again he learned to like that side of Ji Wang or Ji Wang not liking it when Qi Boyan hide something from him but later he learned to accept that his lover will not tell everything to him and that's fine. Its not like he's cheating anyway. I also like how both of them support each other. Qi Boyan support Ji Wang's acting career even if he's clingy and Ji Wang is a very supportive boyfriend for Qi Boyan's mental health recovery. Qi Boyan is also very comfortable now answering questions since he's no longer hiding his illness while Ji Wang don't mind spoiling Qi Boyan to please him. I really came to love them but its really important to know the reason behind their actions. I like to believe Qi Boyan's childish side and mood swings sometimes are still part of his mental illness. He recovered, yes but I appreciate that it never go away completely.
