I keep being pleasantly surprised by this series. This volume was delightful.
It's a really good example of how to write a lot of really spicy scenes that (a) don't get boring (b) are important to the plot/characters (c) always show some sort of progress in the relationship. They also don't go on and on endlessly, with five chapters in a row of a single sex scene, which...has definitely been the case with several manhwa I've dropped. There are always substantial breaks for actual conversations and story.
This felt like a particularly hefty volume, and it covered a lot! Now that they're in an exclusive (but not dating) relationship, Jeong is trying his best to figure out how to be in a relationship. He takes Seon-woo to his house (huge, over-the-top expensive) and sits him down to try to talk through the rules of what they're doing. "You can be honest about whatever you want from this," he tells Seon-woo, then assumes Seon-woo is lying when he says he likes what they've been doing and that he wants Jeong to be rough with him.
So Jeong, feeling guilty about how "cruel" he's been, does his best to be more gentle and affectionate, to the extent that he can be. It includes a lot of kissing, and saying things like "stay the night," which shocks them both by making Seon-woo respond even more strongly than he had to any of the kinky stuff he's been spending all his time fantasizing about.
Because the one thing the very real-life-inexperienced Seon-woo has never fantasized about is having a boyfriend...or being in love.
Neither of them is saying it or even really thinking it just yet, but it's obvious that they've both been falling for each other. There are a few pretty big obstacles in their path right now, though. The biggest one is communication: while Jeong is being gentle with Seon-woo and doing his best to listen to him, he's still hearing what he expects to hear whenever the very overwhelmed Seon-woo struggles to put his desires into words.
This includes his continued belief that Seon-woo is from a psychologically abusive family, which he's now decided means he grew up in the yakuza. The reality is that Seon-woo had a completely normal, fairly well-off, extremely loving family: two siblings and accountant parents who all breezed through life believing that the most important thing is to be comfortable and happy, regardless of what other people think. As a young boy, Seon-woo picked up a pair of flower-patterned shorts and said "I like this" and his parents said "awesome, like what you like!" and that was it.
Jeong can't fathom that because his family dynamic was so, so different. He keeps projecting all his pain and familial unhappiness onto Seon-woo, thinking they're a lot alike and bonding with him on that level, and it's...troubling, actually, because it's hard to tell how he'll react when he finds out that Seon-woo is very much not like him at all.
That's the conclusion of this volume, when Seon-woo finally picks up on what Jeong keeps saying to him about family and decides the most effective way to clear up the misunderstanding is to have Jeong meet his family. Which he does, at the end of this volume, with Jeong staring at him in utter shock as he finally understands that Seon-woo was not abused or mentally tormented like him and that, in fact, his whole family is kind of great.
Seon-woo is actually incredibly insightful and emotionally intelligent; he's a complete weirdo who gets in trouble with everyone because of how blunt and straightforward he is, but that's exactly the kind of person Jeong needs. Jeong is completely unable to be honest with himself or to understand his own feelings, so having someone like Seon-woo barge into his life is really, really good for him. Hopefully he can start to realize that once he gets over the shock of Seon-woo's big reveal.
It does come at a really good narrative point for their relationship, because Seon-woo has already been semi-kidnapped and threatened by Jeong's father. Jeong rushed over to protect him and then realized that it really wasn't necessary at all, because Seon-woo is fully capable of taking care of himself.
This was the funniest scene of the series so far, with Seon-woo repeatedly insulting the "ugly old man" who's trying to buy him off. I loved that after they left the building, Seon-woo staggered a little, overwhelmed by how frightening it'd been to speak that way to the head of such a major corporation - but none of those nerves showed at all when he was standing up to Jeong's father. And then he continues, once he and Jeong are alone: telling him that he should be exactly the kind of person he wants to be, and that all of his father's horrible words are wrong and untrue and he shouldn't believe any of them.
I also laughed a lot when Seon-woo kept the money. "Consider this a failed investment," he says - he's not being bought off but he's not going to give the money back, because he is an accountant at heart and he'll use it to help separate Jeong from his father instead of separating himself from Jeong.
The final hurdle is one where it's hard to tell whether Seon-woo will take care of himself, as usual, or whether Jeong will be able to step up and save him. All the team leads at work have banded together in their hatred of Seon-woo, because he's great at his job but tough on them, so they want him out. The head of HR is bowing under the pressure - while there are no grounds to transfer or demote Seon-woo, the team leads are figuring out how to game the system by asking people to start putting in HR complaints to build up a fresh record against him.
Jeong hates this. He thinks it's wrong and deeply unfair, even if it wasn't about a guy he's been sleeping with. But he doesn't really know yet what to do to stop it: his hands are tied to some extent, because if there are enough complaints racked up against Seon-woo, he can't just decide to dismiss those and side with Seon-woo.
But especially after Seon-woo stood up to his father, he wants to do everything he possibly can to save his job and keep him from being treated terribly at work. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out, and if the resolution really will be them both staying at what's clearly an extremely toxic workplace...but would anywhere else be better? Jeong refuses to work at any of his father's companies, and Seon-woo would probably ruffle feathers anywhere he goes. Although he is trying to change little by little to adapt to Jeong's expectations of him, which includes being a little bit friendlier to people at work.
Very excited for the next volume, which unfortunately is about another 3 months' wait.