#baek junmin

The conversation with Jaekyung's mother is so heartbreaking. He tried to do everything right: went to school (despite his father clearly not caring/being supportive/giving him a safe home and food), got good grades, did extracurriculars (even when his teachers weren't supportive at all), stayed clean (didn't do drugs or alcohol like his father and at least some of his peers, and he stopped stealing after Byungchul and Byungchul's mother interceded), worked lots of jobs to save money to support him and his mother, won a boxing tournament, didn't even run away from home (permanently, anyway) and was filial to his father... And it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough.

There's this panel in Episode 18 where Jaekyung overreacts to Dan asking why Jaekyung is helping him:

And it always felt like Jaekyung thinking of tropey movies where someone takes in a stray out of deeper affection, and Jaekyung is like no that is not what is happening here and also denying his own affections verbally. But this is encouraged by the fact he watches a lot of old(?) black-and-white movies. Yeah, he does it for the insomnia, but I wonder if he went hunting for happy endings he couldn't have in real life, because he knows they just don't happen.

It would also be a sort of, "I didn't get my tropey happy ending, and neither will you." (Though he avoids that by being extremely supportive of Dan with money and housing, and even supporting Okja; he could have left Dan in the dirt and gone to someone else, but he didn't. He would have given this to his mother if he could have, and she didn't take it).

Of course he assumes no one wouldn't stick by him out of affection.

Though I imagine his assumption people stick by him due to the money/power/connections/maybe his body came later. Potentially due to the fact it worked with other people, just not the one person he wanted it to work for.

Though it makes his anger at Dan during his birthday in Episode 45 ("This isn't what I think it is, right? This has to be a joke.") even more complex... He acts like he's been confessed to before, or he can put two and two together based on what he knows of other relationships/fictional ones. Jaekyung potentially viewed the younger him desperately hoping his mother would come back as pathetic/a fool. If nothing else, I imagine he hates the memory and seemingly buried it so deep he doesn't think about it, hence the fury when he's reminded of anything like it.

Jaekyung on a motorcycle XD Sad as all this is, hehe XD He's a bad boy now. He runs with other criminals, smokes, and wears ripped jeans. I wonder if this how he got his tattoos? But, he doesn't sell drugs! He kept some principles.

I wonder if this is the incident Jaekyung referenced about Junmin and their shared past in Episode 49, “I should’ve just killed him right then and there.” It definitely seems to have nearly come to something. But he decided not to do it.

Byungchul, you're great and all, but physically abusing the minor is um... hmm. Well it's a choice, certainly!

I get what Byungchul is trying to do with, "You think your mom would wanna live with you if she could see you now?!" But um... hmm... I mean sure, maybe Jaekyung was still holding out some hope he could turn things around somehow, even if, on some level, he knew it was just a pipe dream. Because he did everything right and she still said no and told him not to contact her again. Why would it matter now that he's screwing everything up? That's why he gave up in the first place. It's just a really cruel thing to say. I get Byungchul's desperate, and at least it got Jaekyung to stick around, but ://////

I think it says something that it's thoughts about Byungchul's mother (an older, maternal figure in Jaekyung's life), and proving Jaewoong wrong/not becoming more like him, and maybe living up to Byungchul's expectations that gets Jaekyung to turn his life around, not trying to win over his mother's affections. He probably knows that's a dead end: that's why he gave up and just did whatever.

And it's Byungchul who helps get him his new life after all XD Trying to get him out of the toxic environment he grew up in, away from all the pain. And Jaekyung came back to offer thanks and respect. He didn't just vanish.

Dan has a lot to think about now :3 Wonder if he'll go look after Jaekyung mid-reminiscing >:3 The question is, if Jaekyung feels like it's worth trying again, with Dan. He's clearly aware he has feelings of some kind, but it's what he decided to do with them that matters. Unless going down memory lane reminds him that being earnest about his feelings leads to heartbreak, and then the walls go back up. After all, Dan has tried to move on. It's Jaekyung who hasn't. Just like with Jaekyung's mother. I'm not sure it'd happen because it'd put the ball back in Dan's court, and while Dan is going to to need a reason to come back to Jaekyung due to feeling like Jaekyung doesn't care about him and trying to protect himself from more hurt (feeling bad about Jaekyung's life isn't really enough), it's really on Jaekyung to make some movement in their relationship. So if Jaekyung pulls away, they'll just stay separated, because Dan will have no impetus to follow him. Jaekyung can, after all, look after himself. And when he's injured during matches/training, he has other people to look after him. And Dan is otherwise a nobody.

Younger Namwook aldkjalkdjalj He was once a member of the national wrestling team, so... I was hoping we might see how Jaekyung met Namwook and/or Yosep, so that's 1 down. Wonder if we're going to see how Namwook met his wife aldkjalj

Overall, such a good episode. So sad, but so good, too. Wonderful. I'm curious if we're going to see how he gets his jinx, maybe how he figures out he's into guys (or if he's already aware), and maybe what the situation with his military service is? Orphans can be exempt, and he is, seemingly, still an underage orphan (I don't know if it counts given his mother is still alive, just separated, but certainly the police didn't contact her so maybe it does). Does he end up finishing high school and/or do any university? He's 26/27 in the story present, and he would have presumably been 14-15 or so in Episode 73, so this wasn't all that long ago, either. Will we get to see what his birthday charity project is? Or how he met the last guy he was sleeping with O.o Maybe that guy'll finally get a name alkdjalj

I don't know that he'd visit his mother, exactly, but I do wonder if she visits him at some point, maybe to apologize. Maybe because she wants to use his money/position to help her family due to their blood ties (or he assumes that's what she's doing). That could be the thing that leads to him believing even more that love isn't real, or at least it's not something that could be associated with him, or should be.

Mingwa also made an interesting tweet before the update, after her usual pre-update "Jinx Day" tweet:

Google usually translates "Jinx" to "conscription", so this presumably means two Jinx updates, I imagine including Episode 74 (since it was before the episode released). Other folks have commented she's solely referring to the month of August (two updates from the start of a month puts us nearly at the middle of the month, given it's the 3rd and 13th of the month), but I'm not entirely sure...? Mid-game could mean mid-series/narrative (the middle of the game of the story), but it could also mean mid-season. After season 1 ended, Mingwa posted this in the epilogue creator's note:

Season 2, prior to 74's release, was 20 episodes long. Two more updates would make it 22 episodes (if we're adding two updates to 74, then it's 23). Literally doubling the episode count (assuming a halfway point in the narrative also translates to a literal episode count, which it might not) would make the season 44-46 episodes long, which means there's only 25 episodes left in the season (around 8+ months). However, that would make it shorter than season 1, which is 53 episodes long, and Mingwa stated in the season 1 epilogue she expected season 2 to be longer than season 1. Obviously, reality doesn't always align with expectation, but still. Though the season could be longer if she's counting any extras (usually, manhwa creators don't count those in season length, though, hence why the Extras? carrot is after the season marker end in the graphic).

If we're in the halfway point of the narrative from an episode count, including season one, the current series (before 74) was 73 episodes long, and the halfway mark would be 75-76 episodes, which means we potentially have about as much left, which would be a little over 2 more years of updates, and season 2 would be around 97 episodes long, which would make it longer than season 1.

However, that idea, that she's talking about 2 or so updates of Jinx from before 74 or after 74 being middle of the narrative, conflicts with her comment in the creator's note that, "We're about halfway through the story [at the end of season 1]." So I'm not sure the tweet is about two episodes from now being a mid-point either lol

Even ignoring literal numbers, if she's talking about mid-season, she could just mean from a narrative angle, maybe even specifically about Jaekyung and Dan's relationship. Two episodes from 73 or 74 might be the midpoint in them figuring out things. Maybe they get back together to some degree in Episode 75 or 76 (maybe that's around when the flashback ends), but it's not as a typical couple, just maybe their old business relationship or something. But it shows Dan is willing to give things a chance again, and Jaekyung is maybe willing to try to be a partner rather than a boss, and they're trying to figure each other out.

Or maybe she's truly just talking about the length of the month and how time flies. Maybe she's talking about something else. I have no idea lol

Looking forward to Episode 75!

My Jinx fanfics if you'd like some

Other Jinx thoughts:

Episode 63, Episode 64, Episode 65, Episode 66, Episode 67, Episode 68, Episode 69, Episodes 70-71, Episode 72, Episode 73, Episode 74 (you are here), Episode 75, Episode 76, Episode 77, Episode 78, Episode 79, Episode 80, Episode 81, Episode 82, Episode 83, Episode 84, Episode 85, Episode 86, Episode 87, Episode 88, Episode 89, Episode 90, Episode 91, Episode 92, Episode 93, Episode 94, Episode 95, Episode 96, Episode 97, Episode 98, Episode 99, Episode 100, Episode 101, Episode 102

Read the manhwa:

KR : www.lezhin.com/ko/comic/jinx

US : https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/jinx_en

JP : www.lezhin.jp/ja/comic/jinx

beltoon(JP) : www.beltoon.jp/detail/jinx

ES : www.lezhin.es/detail/jinx

TH : www.boomtoon.com/detail/jinx

TW : www.bomtoon.tw/detail/jinx

FR : https://www.bontoon.com/detail/bt_1110970

Jaekyung doing all the work he can because of his deadbeat asshole father T-T High school isn't free in South Korea so he probably had to raise tuition himself (I don't imagine his father would have paid for it). I'm glad that, focused as he is on his boxing career, he's at least trying to get an education. Also, that for all people insist he's dumb - and he is clueless on some things - he's not actually unintelligent (it's important to remember that people can be smart in one area but not in others). Being able to get good grades "even without putting in a ton of effort" is not easy. I kind of wonder if the teacher is just being obnoxious and that's part of why Jaekyung is annoyed; I imagine someone like Jaekyung, who works as much as he does in high school, and who clearly tries hard in boxing, also puts in a ton of effort on his schooling, too. It actually makes a lot of sense for this dismissive attitude in future Jaekyung: he puts all the effort into himself and it's not enough for his own standards built on it not being enough for other people's standards too, and other people (the people who train with him, anyone who works for him, Dan) need to meet those standards, as well. It's the bare minimum of expectation.

Like maybe the teacher is focusing on how Jaekyung doesn't do school-focused extracurriculars or something (who knows; I doubt he'd have the time between boxing, jobs, homework, food prep, and sleeping), but it's interesting to see how this is building him into the guy he is in the present. Teachers and too high expectations :/ I wonder if they know he works, too (they might, sometimes you need permission or something for it, or can get credit at school for doing it, particularly for college admission). I don't even know if that'd make a difference. After all, the teacher is criticizing his choice of sport, not his job (or maybe that was in the part Jaekyung walked out on).

Poor Byungchul and his mom :// They worked so hard and everyone left (though it was likely they were pressured by financial security, parents/other family, peers, and/or an unsupportive government and/or school system; it's hard to get out of that kind of life).

RIP Byungchul's mother. You were great.

It's nice that Jaekyung sticks by Byungchul, though. It must have been hard when Jaekyung left for Seoul, like Byungchul mentioned. Maybe the gym had to close.

I also wonder if Jaekyung's anger at his own failings with a hint of success made him seek out another gym to improve. Maybe he viewed Byungchul's teachings as being the issue (or at least not enough to get where Jaekyung wanted to be) and he went to Seoul to get better. It's entirely possible the radio silence from him was because he didn't want to hurt Byungchul's feelings about it. Or Byungchul sent him off to a better gym in Seoul and then never heard from him again.

It truly is cathartic seeing a character in a comic pointing out how cigarettes impair your lung capacity after reading and watching Let's Go Karaoke! where all the mobsters smoke and not once does Satomi point out, "Hey, maybe if you stopped smoking, you'd be able to sing better". There are so many more comics these days with characters smoking and it's so irritating. Obviously it's fiction, it's just... bothersome, especially in situations where it's relevant to why people aren't doing as well at something like a sport or hobby.

And maybe we'll finally get Baek Junmin's story, and potentially why Jaekyung says in Episode 49, "I should've just killed him right then and there." >:3 I wonder if Junmin is going to try recruiting Jaekyung after Jaewoong's death: maybe they meet at Jaewoong's funeral or something. In Episode 49, Junmin talks about Jaekyung crying when he loses, which, as we've seen, is something that has happened, but it could be an additional comment about like... if they get into a fight at the funeral (maybe Jaekyung was crying then, for whatever reason; losing a parent, even if you hated them, is hard). Maybe Junmin and Jaewoong know each other through a mafia contact or something, which could help explain Junmin's presence at Jaewoong's funeral (or his bothering Jaekyung about Jaewoong's debt to the gang or something afterward). Maybe Jaekyung nearly beats Junmin to death to vent. Or this is the end of Junmin's presence, especially since he already had a chance to see Jaekyung cry when he loses a couple times. But Jaekyung's comment about how he should've just killed Junmin before makes me think they're going to have at least one final confrontation before Jaekyung goes to Seoul. If it was around the funeral, it could help explain why he forgot about it, due to being emotionally compromised and distracted (other than he doesn't seem to have strong attachment to punks he doesn't care about, especially gangsters).,

I also wonder when Jaekyung started getting insomnia. Clearly he doesn't always sleep at home and had to live with his abusive father and in the hoarder junk house, but I wonder when the nightmares started/when he just wasn't able to fall asleep easily. I wonder if it was after his father's death, or after he moved to Seoul given the difference between the quieter town and the big city. He noted in Episode 65 that he's sleeping better in the oceanside town, and I still assume part of that is because he's got Dan back, but I still imagine part of it is the environment as well.

It's kind of left ambiguous, since Jaewoong is comparing Jaekyung's weakness to his mother, but a friend noted it's possible she's dead as well by now ("You are your mother's son, after all. You'll never make it out of here. You'll never succeed. You'll live a shitty life like the rest of us until you eventually croak."). Maybe she tried to get away from Jaewoong, and stayed away for a while, but died in the end. Like Dan's parents, it's very open-ended. But it's notable she's not brought up in terms of Jaekyung calling her or collecting money for her at all. She might be in next episode! Maybe the state gets in contact with her or something after Jaewoong's death, especially given Jaekyung is still in high school. Or maybe we'll get clarification at a potential funeral that both of his parents are deceased or something.

It's sad that Jaewoong is still haunting Jaekyung so much (Episode 54). Jaekyung needs to prove he's stronger than this guy, and it drives him to self-destruction. Because nothing he does is ever enough and he has nothing else and no one (other than Byungchul) to rely on, and if he doesn't show how strong he is, he's proving a scum of a man right.

I guess it's good that at least as an adult, Jaekyung seems to have made some friends. He's still pretty patronizing to the other gym members, but he can be somewhat friendly at times, he's polite (to a certain level) to authority figures like Namwook, and he gets along well enough with Yosep. Although he clearly is always ready to get into fights and doesn't play well with others, and still has that issue in the present (like when he was scaring off members from the gym before the match with Junmin, and of course, his relationship with Dan), he clearly, at some point, made bonds with more people than just Byungchul. He'd likely have to do something to get people to sleep with him beyond just being attractive, rich, and connected.

Jaekyung looks so happy when he wins. He's been given such a losing hand by life, and nearly everyone expects nothing from him, and spits on him even when he tries.

I think it's notable that Jaekyung didn't expect his threat to work. Like who would, honestly, and yeah, he wanted his father dead on some level (or at least for him to back off), but he still wanted to prove himself. He didn't want to kill the guy (and he didn't actually kill the guy, but still). When Jaewoong is hitting him, Jaekyung doesn't fight back, he just briefly knocks Jaewoong's hand away.

Also wonder if this is another aspect of his need to prove himself. A need that can never really be done because the one person he wanted to prove himself to died before Jaekyung could do it.

And how sad is that? Regardless of his feelings for the man, he had to go and die on the day Jaekyung proved everyone wrong and won big. Maybe Jaekyung will be happy about this on some level, free of his worst enemy, his abuser, and the person who hurt and drove away the one parent he loved. But this day is always marred by a mix of feelings that, probably, at best, he'll have to justify by saying it was ultimately for the better.

That's another problem with abusers. Even outside all the terrible things they do, especially given the higher likelihood of their being family members: even an abuser's death isn't exactly freedom for their victims. Even if you wanted it. The trauma remains. And even sometimes you blame yourself for the death. So even their death is more pain. That's not to say this is bad, exactly, but it's hard to wish for the death of another human being, especially a parent or guardian. And it's hard to live with. No matter how terrible they are. It hollows you out, on top of the hatred, which is exhausting on its own. Hatred can make you strong at times, but it can tire you as well.

I'm wondering if this is going to get him back to losing again. Maybe Byungchul or someone else recommends Jaekyung gets laid as a coming of age ritual or to relax after losing his father, and that's how he starts winning again and becomes convinced of his jinx. Before the episode, I wondered if Jaewoong would do it, but clearly that's not happening. I do still wonder if his mother was a prostitute, or still works as one somewhere. That might help explain Jaekyung's messy feelings on sex workers.

Overall a great episode. I'm really enjoying this exploration of Jaekyung's backstory. It all works so well.

Looking forward to episode 74 :D

My Jinx fanfics if you'd like some

Other Jinx thoughts:

Episode 63, Episode 64, Episode 65, Episode 66, Episode 67, Episode 68, Episode 69, Episodes 70-71, Episode 72, Episode 73 (you are here), Episode 74, Episode 75, Episode 76, Episode 77, Episode 78, Episode 79, Episode 80, Episode 81, Episode 82, Episode 83, Episode 84, Episode 85, Episode 86, Episode 87, Episode 88, Episode 89, Episode 90, Episode 91, Episode 92, Episode 93, Episode 94, Episode 95, Episode 96, Episode 97, Episode 98, Episode 99, Episode 100, Episode 101, Episode 102

Read the manhwa:

KR : www.lezhin.com/ko/comic/jinx

US : https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/jinx_en

JP : www.lezhin.jp/ja/comic/jinx

beltoon(JP) : www.beltoon.jp/detail/jinx

ES : www.lezhin.es/detail/jinx

TH : www.boomtoon.com/detail/jinx

TW : www.bomtoon.tw/detail/jinx

FR : https://www.bontoon.com/detail/bt_1110970