this volume was a masterpiece. the ajinoki island arc was just chefs kiss. I’m sorry but I absolutely love the relationship and dynamic between Zhenya and Taekjoo. they are the definition of enemies to lovers. I know people despise Zhenya for the way he treated Taekjoo in this arc but they need to realise that these two are complete strangers and Taekjoo is trying to steal Zhenya’s valuable possession that makes him the most dangerous person in the world. when Taekjoo figured out Zhenya’s riddle, he ended up destroying the blueprint of “Anastasia”. of course he won’t be lovey dovey with him, thats his enemy. Zhenya was raised as a weapon, the only thing he knows is destruction.
I really loved how in this arc, Zhenya never addressed Taekjoo by his name until the end. He doesn’t view people as humans and this even includes his own sister, Olga. He always called Taekjoo by a nickname here such as “zaika” (rabbit) because he views him rather as an object he wants to dominate, manipulate and control. But as the story goes on, we see parts of him we haven’t. He starts to laugh freely and even starts to take care of Taekjoo. In the end when he escapes from the island, Zhenya screams his name for the first time there, portraying the desperation, devotion, realization and the yearning. Olga herself has never seen the look of desperation on Zhenya and notices the feeling he has for Taekjoo.
Excited for the next volume to see Zhenya chase Taekjoo in korea as well as Taekjoo having to stay hidden due to him being wanted as he’s labelled as a traitor. His being done dirty by his own people that I need him to get his revenge.
Some of my favourite bits from the novel :
𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵.
𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
"𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵?"
𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸 𝗝𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱. 𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁. 𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱.
𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮'𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 - 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗛𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼.
𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸, 𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼'𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. - he was so gentle here 😭 he even stopped when taekjoo said no.
𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗼. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼. 𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝘆, 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.
"𝗧𝗔𝗘𝗞 𝗝𝗢𝗢!"
𝗔 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.
I could feel and see his pain. I’m so excited to see this drawn.
"𝗞𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗶’𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁."
𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲.
"𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗸𝗝𝗼𝗼."