Hua

Nam Woo-ri knows it.

He's a lucky duck.

In his first run he's an Insta star....for fun! He doesn't need a job. His entrepreneur parents pay his bills! He's a golden only child and...yeah he actually is?

Nam Woo-ri isn't a bully. He's never actually committed a major crime. His greatest crime is being an immature, insensitive prince who brags too much.

Is that really a reason to kill someone?

I mean, not usually, but this author is an excellent writer!

By chapter two you'll be nodding.

Yup.

He had it coming.

You don't have to be comically evil to make enemies.

Nam Woo-ri doesn't know it, but he has a truckload of them.

The mystery isn't who.

It's why.

The murderer is his oldest childhood friend. Shin Su-bin. The one he forgot about. I mean, it was inevitable. They were paired off by their parents at a really young age. Set up on play dates, really. Friendships like that often don't last.

Nam Woo-ri doesn't know, or he didn't bother to know, that Shin Su-bin's financial situation has always been bad. Also, he's been stuck supporting his ungrateful sister since high school.

Nam Woo-ri dies by his hand.

He always does.

Even though they completely lost contact after Shin Su-bin dropped out of high school. He left to work himself to death as a manual laborer, because he never made it out of his financial hell.

When Nam Woo-ri meets him the first time he's working as a server, and he's an Insta star at a celebratory party. He introduces Shin Su-bin to everyone. He's not ashamed of their former closeness. He never calls Shin Su-bin a peasant....but...he's rude and thoughtless and the fond memories are clearly one-sided.

What happened?

Nam Woo-ri bought Shin Su-bin a nice birthday cake.

He genuinely enjoyed the days he did spend with Shin Su-bin, and his bratty sister too.

Nam Woo-ri is the kind of spoiled man that can get along with anybody! Life is easy! Why make it hard!???

He never bothered to think, as Shin Su-bin "naturally" drifted away from him. That's life right? Sometimes friendships don't last!

He never realized just how much he meant to Shin Su-bin. Or how much his spoiled rudeness hurt the student working three jobs to survive.

He dies with a knife in his gut.

Nam Woo-ri isn't a master planner. His luck is next level when he's not near Shin Su-bin. He wants that easy life! In his second life he gives up quick. I mean, it already looks like it's too late. The magic ring zapped him back to high school, but Shin Su-bin already refuses to talk to him. He's already literally mumbling about wishing he would just die.

Nam Woo-ri bails.

He transfers to another high school.

He never does a mean thing or a crime to Shin Su-bin or his sister.

The clock strikes 25. Nam Woo-ri is a successful idol this time.

He dies.

Nam Woo-ri gets really, really pissed. What the fuck did he do? He literally can't remember. He goes out of his way to be extra kind in school, and it doesn't work. What could he have possibly done, as a small child, to deserve a deadly vendetta?

He throws caution to the wind sometimes. Blatantly asking why....but that only gets him killed faster.

How dare he not remember?

The sister becomes the key.

She's the only person related to Shin Su-bin that is willing to speak to Nam Woo-ri.

He has to keep trying, because his magical luck is about to run dry.

He's on his last life.

There's a big number 1 on his wrist.

He'd have to be brain dead to not know that it's time.

To die for good.

Nam Woo-ri finally puts his thinking cap on.

The sister situation is so weird it makes your stomach churn. She confirms that Shin Su-bin is in fact a creepy murderer......but at this point he isn't. At this point he's just a burnt out high schooler who is killing himself to save her future. He doesn't have a criminal record and he's poor as dirt...but she sounds so serious. She claims she's afraid of her brother.

She thinks she needs to be saved, by a prince.

Nam Woo-ri.

She has wanted him since they were little. Only he can save her pretty self from a meager future.

Not her brother.

Not the bloodthirsty creep...

Uh oh.

So on top of everything Shin Su-bin's only sister doesn't love him because she has always preferred the carefree, well-bred and rich Nam Woo-ri.

Shin Su-bin even warns him. He has a moment of humanity. My sister is a gold digger who doesn't see you as a person. Don't go near her. Nam Woo-ri doesn't pick up on it. He's desperate. Last chance.

He wonders why the siblings don't have a good relationship.

He just can't comprehend the fact that it's sort of his fault.

Nam Woo-ri appeared, and his sister turned into a shitty brat obsessed with hunting a man wallet. It's her princess destiny. It's all because she got a taste of wealth thanks to Nam Woo-ri's casual gifts and fancy cars.

We get more of Shin Su-bin's perspective and oh yeah this kid is definitely going to become an obsessed killer with one target.

He looks up at the blazing sun at 6am, and then he stumbles onto a bus with tired 40 something year old laborers.

Then he's gotta go to class.

Where Nam Woo-ri constantly pokes him and asks him why he can't hang out and play video games.

He avoids his sister too. He just can't take her toxic nonsense anymore. She literally only contacts him when she wants to buy something, and he does it. He wants her to appreciate it, and get back on the right path.

It sickens him.

He knows it's wrong.

Why?

Why do both of them have to be obsessed with Nam Woo-ri?

It's so damn pathetic.

Nam Woo-ri was this bright, cool prince in their lives. He came bearing cake, and he left, and they got no more relief from that point.

Nam Woo-ri was that kind of guy. A guy who could hang out with anyone, sincerely. Somebody dumb enough to toss cash at pals who ask.

Shin Su-bin never wanted that. He's not obsessed like his sister.

He's not like that.

It just hurts.

He was Nam Woo-ri's best friend....or was he?

Nam Woo-ri is a social butterfly who can afford to go out every night. He has tons of friends. Shin Su-bin was quickly forgotten.

Pathetic, isn't it?

You both love him so much, but you're both just two blurred faces in his exciting life.

That sucks.

When Nam Woo-ri insists he still likes Shin Su-bin, to save his own skin, it's maddening.

Shin Su-bin can see he's not being sincere.

He knows Nam Woo-ri too well to fool himself.

This new and strange kindness is indeed fake.

The desperate dance of a man clinging to living.

So, how the hell can Nam Woo-ri save himself?

That's his number one goal.

Sure, he feels bad for Shin Su-bin. Just a little bit, but he also knows the man is totally capable of hunting him down like a dog.

He's willing to marry sister gold digger to save himself.

He's willing to play Cinderella matchmaker with Shin Su-bin to save himself. Giving Shin Su-bin a rich bride will surely solve the problem!

Please spare me!

Money? Take it all.

He wants to live.

Too bad Shin Su-bin doesn't want any of that.

Love lives right next to hate, and I don't think Shin Su-bin will be satisfied with just a repaired friendship. Love? Will that work?

I'm not sure.

Shin Su-bin always seems to be at his mental breaking point. Does he hate Nam Woo-ri because of some other supernatural nonsense? Time travel protection objects do exist in this world....

It's so hard to understand why Shin Su-bin is willing to dedicate so much hate to a lazy rich kid who doesn't even think about him.

Before Shin Su-bin became Nam Woo-ri's personal murderer he was just another old friend.

Where are all these feelings coming from?

My only guess is they were born from a good place.

Shin Su-bin probably thought Nam Woo-ri would be his closest friend for life. I'm guessing that they went through alot of traumatic experiences together. Which would explain why a rich kid was hanging out with him in the first place.

Then Nam Woo-ri had to audacity to forget, move on, and have fun. While he had to struggle with his own feelings, his sisters status-climbing obsession, 3 jobs, and a bleak future.

There is no one answer.

It's sad.

disclaimer that the k.lee interactions (29, 30) would also affect Choi’s judgement of Soleum and expectations of how Soleum would react. This wouldn’t show outwardly for obvious reasons: imo it’s important because he probably doesn’t think it’ll be easy to get Soleum to open up, so he would A. Put in more effort and/or B. Have more questionable intentions than just getting a hoobae to open up. B becomes relevant on how he interact with Soleum, and I’ll point it out as needed. Um, for fun. It’s not all that relevant to the focus of this post.

Chapter 143

Choi asks a question showing concern, offers food, removes the room of silence (it’s harder to speak up if it requires breaking silence) and gives a cheerful greeting, gives a compliment + includes Soleum into a group (“that’s exactly the kind of thinking we need”). Soleum doesn’t respond to any of this, so

Choi voluntarily gives up info first (his name). He then goes silent for a quite a while, lol, gauging Soleum’s reaction and letting Soleum respond instead of continuing to fill the silence. This is an example of B; he’s creating pressure instead of continuing to maintain an easy atmosphere. When someone gives you info (name, location, whatever), it makes it easier for you to give that same info, and names are in particular are an expected social nicety especially when someone else just gave theirs. Soleum does not give his name.

Choi switches back to being approachable. He closes the emotional distance (offers to let Soleum call him ‘sunbae’) and shows concern for Soleum’s arm. He then reassures Soleum, and creates a sense of reliability by saying it’ll be taken care of. Soleum doesn’t respond.

so, (maybe thinking that Choi is the issue, Choi) brings in another person. He could’ve brought Bronze in at any point, and there’s no way he forgot Bronze was waiting outside. This does, in fact, work. So Choi continues this route and uses Bronze’s presence to once again compliment Soleum before, um, technically strong-arming Soleum into a decision in the most casual way ever. He holds his hand out. Soleum doesn’t take it. He doesn’t respond to the compliment. Choi prompts Soleum and does the familiarity thing again (‘sunbae’). Soleum avoids eye contact and rejects the offer. [not really related but it’s fun reading Choi’s ‘you have to join!’ desperation with the knowledge of what Choi knows]

Choi has a sense that Soleum is acting. He could call Soleum out or say he’s lying, but both of those things could create distance and make Soleum defensive (defensiveness is the worst enemy to getting someone to open up). So he pretends to accept it. He does his ‘I’m saying this out of concern’ manipulation thing; it’s ruined by Jaekwan. Soleum responds to Jaekwan.

continues creating familiarity. This will be a running theme. Changes tactics by bringing up the people Soleum saved; probably sees a reaction, but Soleum doesn’t respond.

empathizes with Soleum (“Feels good, doesn’t it?”). Soleum doesn’t respond. Soleum does respond to Jaekwan, and Choi lets Jaekwan lead them out interrupting. After all, by this point, it’s quite obvious that Soleum responds more to Jaekwan than to Choi. It’s better to not force it, as that could make Soleum uncomfortable. This is probably why Choi doesn’t say a direct farewell; it could ruin the atmosphere and he probs wouldn’t get a response. Instead, he directs his words to Jaekwan to show how much he wants Soleum on the team.

146+. Choi leans towards intimidation in these chapters due to the circumstances, so part of this focuses more on ‘getting Soleum to talk’ than ‘getting Soleum to open up’

Cheerful voice + smiling eyes, which is more approachable and easier to talk to than something intimidating. Physical contact (also intimidation + prevents running away). Gives information. Asks Soleum an easy, unimportant question (that’s kinda probing) to prompt a response. Soleum doesn’t respond. He switches tactics.

Since first approach doesn’t work, he goes more intimidating. Even in this intimidation he’s pretty friendly; he offers up information when he doesn’t need to, and explains how he figured out who Soleum is. Wouldn’t it be more intimidating if he didn’t explain? Of course, this also ensures that Soleum won’t pretend to be someone else, so it’s multipurpose. To make this clear, giving up info about yourself usually makes the other person more comfortable (and willing to talk). This is pretty case dependent (names, age, pronouns, etc are safe bets), and if you go too far then it goes back to making the person uncomfortable, btw. Still, he goes really heavy on the intimidation. Instead of responding meaningfully, Soleum pretends to not know him

Subtly goes against Soleum’s manipulation, which Soleum realizes and responds to. Intimidation via probing and silence, which Soleum responds to. Haha, Soleum responds pretty well to traps. At a certain point they’d just go in circles, so Choi moves the convo on. Lessens the intimidation. Makes physical contact. Reasonably points out his reasoning without being patronizing or judgmental. Soleum goes quiet. He doesn’t address anything Choi said in his own response, and brushes everything Choi said off very neatly with a “Even so,”.

stuff happens. Soleum does meaningfully affect Choi by handing over the note. Choi spends time showing Soleum around and giving meaningful advice. It’s implied that Soleum is silent during most of this. The next response we’re shown is in relation to the note that Soleum gave. So, Soleum doesn’t respond to any of Choi’s efforts of being helpful and creating familiarity, but does respond when it comes to his own manipulation

152 - Choi talks a bunch and Soleum doesn’t respond to any of it. It’s more Choi being Choi than anything manipulative, but there are like 5 lines of dialogue from Choi and 3 lines of “……” from Soleum. I think this is why fandom perceives Choi as overtly talkative but imo anyone else would have reasonably resounded to at least 4 of those lines. Even Jaekwan probs would have at least said “Shut up.” So, this is more indicative of Soleum and how little he verbally responds to Choi

154 - on one of the rare times that Soleum responds directly to Choi without Choi’s prompting, Choi gives him positive reinforcement, lol

Throughout ocean palace arc, Soleum is more likely to give a direct verbal response, like since it’s a mission. This does show (to us and Choi) that Soleum can be more responsive when needed, and that he… just doesn’t want to normally, when it comes to Choi. 153/early 154 also shows how he’s far more likely to give verbal responses to Jaekwan than to Choi

164- physical contact. Gives praise. Acknowledges a suspicious thing in a light hearted manner without pressing or overtly questioning the issue. In combination with the praise, he creates an opportunity for Soleum to elaborate on how he knew or to be proud of himself. Soleum gives a noncommittal response

165 - introduces Soleum to an important person and heals him quickly, when he didn’t have to. This shows Choi’s care for Soleum. More importantly, introducing Soleum to the Elder is a show of preemptive trust, and would help make Soleum ‘part of the team’. Showing trust is a good way of forming closer bonds, which then leads to comfort and opening up. This is, in particular, is also Choi being vulnerable, since the Elder is important to him and is in a vulnerable position. Well, there a multiple of ways this could be manipulative (forcing Soleum into the team, having the Elder check if Soleum is a good person), but Soleum seems to be under the impression that it isn’t. So it could entirely be a show of genuine faith. Not intentional manipulation so it doesn’t really fit on this list, but it is an example of Choi showing faith that doesn’t respond to

166 - Choi once again lets Soleum know of his accomplishments and the people he’s saved, probably because he can tell how much it means to Soleum. He checks on Soleum is feeling,,, Soleum doesn’t respond LOL. He probs kept talking after Soleum was quiet for long enough, with the assumption that Soleum wouldn’t reply. Accurate assumption, btw. Including a screen shot because it’s funny to remember than Soleum is just awkwardly being silent during this whole monologue, despite being asked a direct question. Isn’t this basically that Death Note meme?

im about halfway thru my Choi appearances list and this post is already long, so ill cut it here and do a second part,,, three parts depending on how much analysis 193-195 ends up being.

to be honest, it might be more effective to make a compilation of screenshots of Soleum responding to Choi with “…” like

come on kiddo. If I somehow calculated the amount of words said to each other, i feel like it’d be a 100:1 ratio, with Choi saying 100 words for 1 of Soleum’s. Not counting their arguments, but you know….