This was a longish chapter, and while the end brought my real focus, let’s not skip over the ways in which the interaction between Nakyum and Seungho has continued to shift.

Seungho loves to tease Nakyum, and I’m here for it. Nakyum continues to be overwhelmed by Seungho, and I’m here for it.

Seungho’s worldliness, of which I’ve spoken about in these logs previously, collides beautifully with Nakyum’s innocence, and because Seungho has the drop on Nakyum sexuaally, it’s like easy gravy for Seungho to seduce Nakyum.

His teasing and cajoling are just delightful, and Nakyum’s blushes are delightful.

Plus, Seungho’s debauchery doesn’t just go away because all he wants is Nakyum. Seungho’s still taking Nakyum in whatever form he can have him and sex is still the only real common ground they occupy.

It’s as if, from the beginning, Seungho has reached into Nakyum’s mind and he plucks out the fantasies one by one. This scene evokes one from as early as Season 1, in which Nakyum is fantasizing about seungho expressing tenderness towards him, and calling him Kyum over and over.

Here, when Seungho calls him Kyum and he flinches head to toe curl, it’s clear Nakyum remembers too. And he begs Seungho to stop… because he knows this is what he has been fantasizing about. But does Seungho take pity on Nakyum? No… no he doesn’t. He calls him Kyum over and over.

Annd does it work, yes… Nakyum is brought to the quivering edge of emotional surrender, reaching for Seungho with his eyes and lips, when…. here comes some more bullshit.

Looooook… every time these two advance, I feel like they are forced or required to take half a step backward.

However, if this story went the way other BL titles did, it wouldn’t be superb, exquisite, unmatched storytelling with emotional resonance that defies its genre, its medium and indeed its culture of origin. Most BL titles we read around here, blend into each other. It takes really wonderful writing to penetrate the absolute density of stories we wade through. And well, none are as beautifully executed as this one.

Finally, in context of the smut in this episode: I want to take a moment to again express my deep, profound and complete adoration of every panel that includes Seungho’s Back… naked is preferred, adored, salivated over… but honestly, clothed or unclothed it’s delicious. Just juicy. The only thing I love more than Seungho’s Sword, is Seungho’s Back!

Finally, to my specific focus on this episode in terms of plot development.

In the midst of their lovemaking, Seungho and Nakyum are interrupted.

For the first time, we see the old Seungho return. He is ruthless with the servant who interrupts, and when he hears the reason… we once again see Seungho’s Sword come out to play, coupled with Seunhgo’s hatred of doors.

Under the pretext of a ‘kisaeng looking for Nakyum’, a messenger arrives from the last motherfucker Seungho wants to hear from. The dead last. And the message is not to his liking. At all.

The episode closes with Seungho looking wild eyed and fucking crazy, and ya’ll… this isn’t going to be good. He hasn’t grown enough and enough time hasn’t passed for him not to get wild with that sword, his fist or both.