a tree without roots explanation: s2 was great + taekyung wasnt completely innocent

this is for all the folks who hated s2. imo this story is very well written and it pains me whenever peopel say they enjoyed s1 but hated s2, because i think s2 is equally as great!

i read on a website (which i cannot name) and ive been seeing a lot of comments on each chap saying some stuff that makes me feel they didnt really understand the story, so this is my explanation:

DISCLAIMER: im not defending/excusing hee seo raping and SAing taekyung. i understand they dont have a completely healthy rss.

’taekyung dosent deserve hee seo, tae kyung did nothing wrong. he cared for hee seo his whole life only to get stabbed and locked up by him’

not sure why this was such a well recieved comment cause the author litetally stated clearly “there is no one more vulnerable, more tractable than a lonely child thirsting for affection”. in s1 the entire time, hee seo has been trying to gain affection from taekyung. and taekyung not knowing what to do, often runs it hot and cold with him. plus, hee seo grew up with literally no love around him. not a single drop of affection. even from someone who he thought was his bestfriend, he realized they were in it just for money. so when taekyung does show him even a spec of love, of course he’s going to develop an unhealthy obsession with him. AND most importsntly, taekyung knew this. he knew that giving hee seo this kind of affection would cause hee seo to become attatch to him, he told hee seo he would never leave him etc etc all to satisfy his own conscience and guilt, and then suddenly say hurtful things to him. he showed hee seo what it meant to be loved irresponsibly. if he knew he wouldnt be able to love and care for hee seo properly, he shouldnt have done it in the first place, because it will obviously just turn out bad for both of them (which is what happened). i know that yes taekyung just found out the truth about his mum, his mental state is pretty shit, but that dosent give him a reason to treat hee seo unfairly and say things to the guy he knows takes his words very dear to his heart. so no he isnt innocent, they both hurt each other because of circumstances, and he was always acting irresponsibly towards hee seo. also might it add that hee seo litetslly pished taekyungs affection away so manh times and taekyung kept on showing hee seo so much love. only when hee seo finally decide to accept it, that he really gave his whole heart to taekyung, and becsme really dependent and yearnful of him. btw again im not pinning the blame towards either one of them because they BOTH hurt each other.

’wheres the redemption arc’ ‘this is stockholm syndrome’

why does every story need the same formula of “ml is bad, redemption arc, they get tgt”? why cant people accept a more complex and fresh story line.. the whole point of their relationship is that theyre bonded through the complexities of the case, their regrets and fears and past are all intertwined deeply with one another. since the start, taekyung has always felt this very tender and affection towards hee seo. sure he started taking care of him because of hee seos mums wishes, but as they lived tgt for that year, he started loving, pitying, and caring for hee seo in a way he did to no one else. whether it was romantically or platonically, he could never seem to leave hee seo alone or act mean towards him without feeling bad about it. yes in season 2 he hated hee seo for all the locking up and all that, but he also knew that he only had himself to blame for it. “all of this is because of your own doing” is literally the opening line. (again to the point that taekyung is not some innocent character). its not stockholm syndrome because he has liked hee seo from the start and never truly hated him even when hee seo was literally assaulting and chaining him. is it healthy? no not really. is it fiction and do i still ship them? yes.

’how did taekyung do a 180 and suddenly liked hee seo, it makes no sense.’

the chap where he decides to choose and trust hee seo (ch 86), it opens with him choosing his family thats why he was calling his brother to pick him up, then suddenly he saw the tv of his mum being arrested. reality snd realisation kicks him in the nut. he sees everything clesr as day. this is when he FINALLY decides to walk away from his mum and brother, which was something he had been ignoring snd couldnt do for almost his whole life. and it was something he had always felt bad for, for choosing his own selfish happiness over justice whuch is turning his mum in. “at whom is this rage directed? myself” he hated himself for choosing his own happiness. because deep down he knew that it was his own mum, and he couldnt accept that, so he had no choice but to keep digging and find the real culprit, which he had been doing for soso long (few years). he hated himself for acting that way towarfs hee seo, which is why he kept having the recurring nightmares. and at the same time was also when he saw on tv, hee seo standing beside his mum and his mum being arrested. which is why it finally kicked in that “oh yeah my mum is the killer, what have i been doing lying to myself”. This was something he couldnt realise and act on in season 1, which was precisely what caused him to break down and act the way he did to hee seo which drove hee seo crazy and ripped them apart. this is character growth for taekyung. what is this whole story about? its about regrets and finding a place of solace. taekyung is now tsking steps to “solve” his regrets and finding solace in hee seo. Anyway my point is - it may seem sudden but thats precisely the point. the realisation hit him like a truck, so it felt that way to us too.

thats all! pls let me know if you have any thoughts and i will def love to discuss more with anyone :)