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Main Characters
Yoon Bum
Yoon Bum
- Ambiguously Bi: Bum seems to be bisexual since he shows interest in both women and men, although this could be maybe even seen as Pansexuality as Gender doesn't matter to him and he fell in love with a female and later on a male because they were the first ones who showed somewhat of affection to Bum, who's never gotten any before. This becomes played with when taking into account his Rape as Backstory. It is possible that the constant sexual abuse that was lashed out on Bum due to his uncle and the guys in the military changed his sexual orientation, as well as warped his perception of love and sexuality, however, it is not exactly clear. It's made repeatedly clear that Bum is willing to believe that he and Sangwoo can be a couple, even despite the abuse and torture that is inflicted on Bum due to Sangwoo. Because he's already been there, due to his uncle. He's been told by Sangwoo that it was his fault for being raped by his uncle, accused of enjoying it and having his pain and shame dismissed or laughed at. Sexuality is intrinsically linked with pain and suffering for him. Expressing that pain and suffering are associated with ridicule. In the mind of a person that confused and broken, it's uncertain if Bum could truly understand what it would even mean to identify as gay/bi/etc. Therefore, he's probably pansexual.
- Animal Lover: He sure
◊ does love◊ frogs, even since childhood◊. - Apologizes a Lot: Bum often shifts the blame onto himself, mostly due to his self-esteem caused by his traumatic past and present experiences.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: After losing his parents, being abused by his uncle in every possible way, and being bullied in school, he began having a crush on a girl in high school because they could relate and were getting close to each other. When her home life got better and they couldn't relate anymore, she abandoned him. Later on, he fell for Sangwoo because he saved him from a rape attempt in the army. Unfortunately, Sangwoo didn't turn out to be the way Bum imagined.
- Book Dumb: He attended college 4 years late, but it's less because of any academic challenge on Bum's part and more of the stress of dealing with his Uncle's abuse.
- Born Unlucky: To a degree that's both Played for Drama and Played for Horror.
- Break the Cutie: Subverted. Bum is naive and somewhat childlike and his life is full of traumatic experiences since the moment he was born. He lost his parents when he was even too young to even remember, his uncle starved, beaten, and raped Bum regularly for years, he never had a single friend and was bullied in school, then he had to do military service despite being underweight and was bullied and sexually abused there. When he thought that Sangwoo was THE person who was kind to him, Bum's expectations were not met and Sangwoo turns out to be a Serial Killer, breaks Bum's ankles, and puts Bum through hell. Yet, Bum never really loses his naivety and childlike personality throughout the story.
- Broken Tears: When Bum sees Sangwoo again after Sangwoo stopped someone's rape attempt on Bum in the army, he sees him with a girl. He goes back home, realizes that he's obsessed with Sangwoo, and breaks down crying. It becomes a pattern over the course of the series.
- Butt-Monkey: Which is entirely Played for Drama, as nothing positive had ever come his way throughout the entire story, and it ends with him either run over by a car or not.
- Creepy Uncle: His Uncle sexually harassed him first by looking at his thighs after he went out of the shower. He then went later on to Bum's bed who woke up from a dream with no pants on, the uncle grabbing his waist and making noises behind him, revealing that he was raping him. This resulted in Bum getting raped by him several times over the years in his room while naked. According to Bum, the Uncle made him drink once, most likely to take advantage of a drunk Bum.
- Dark and Troubled Past: A complete reject in every sense of the word, seemingly since the beginning — presenting borderline personality disorder even as a teenager, likely due to the trauma of his parents dying when he was very young, he was initially raised by his grandparents with whom formed no emotional connection and was then passed off to his uncle who physically, emotionally and sexually abused him and grandmother who emotionally abused him. The severe abuse, combined with his mental illness and intense shyness, singled him out both as a student and as a soldier during his army service, getting bullied in school and sexually abused in the army.
- Desperately Craves Affection: His motivation is to feel loved for once in his life and he becomes easily attached once shown affection.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Averted with a passion. The narration makes it repeatedly clear that Bum being raped by his uncle for years on end, along with the rape by the guys in the military, is never treated in a humorous light, especially how it warps Bum's perception of love and sexuality. On the other hand, it's played straight in-universe for characters who're in the know of Bum's abuse, such as Sangwoo calling him disgusting and accusing Bum of having "consensual sex".
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: His pale skin, demure nature in public, and short, feminine stature make him appear to be feminine, especially when he has women's clothing on - which Sangwoo often forces him to wear to humiliate him even more. At several points in the comic, he had been mistaken for a woman. The panels of his feminine thighs, butt, and curves don't help it exactly either - The dude looks like a lady indeed. Sangwoo used Bum as a replacement for his Mother while his uncle already told Bum back when he was in primary school that Bum looks just like his deceased mother, who was the Ex of the Uncle. This also, unfortunately, resulted in him getting severely abused by his Uncle who fantasized about Bum's mother when raping him for the first time.
- Evil Uncle: Bum's uncle abused him physically, sexually, and emotionally for years and starved him. He takes his anger over losing Bum's mother who left him for his brother, who is Bum's Father, on Bum out and told him right into his face that God "punished" them for that and that Bum is the result of their sins, making Bum cry. His cruelty is in fact so severe that he feels no remorse for any of his actions, even after physically abusing Bum to the point that he made him cry, he proceeds to rape him regularly on top of that. He even attempted to rip Bum's genitals off at one time. He also physically abused his own mother, Bum's Grandmother, sometimes, although to a way lesser degree. Even in the present, Bum's Uncle hasn't changed and the first thing he did when seeing Bum was to make fun of him, try to manipulate him, beat him up, and attempt to rape him.
- Fate Worse than Death: When Bum was found by Sangwoo who was revealed to be a Serial Killer, instead of being killed by him, he got his legs broken by first being shoved down the stairs which caused him to fall unconscious. When he woke up, he was naked and locked up, with the corpse of the woman who he tried to save beside him. Not only is that already terrifying enough, Bum then has to witness how Sangwoo breaks his other leg with a sledgehammer. It only gets worse from here on, with Bum suffering from severe physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of Sangwoo as well as multiple attempted murders.
- And the only reason why Bum wasn't killed at the beginning was that he looks feminine. All of the trauma that Bum had to go through because of Sangwoo could have been spared if Sangwoo just killed him at the beginning of the story.
- Friendless Background: Never had a single friend and was always considered an outsider in school. His bully, Yoon Jae, stated how Bum always cried back when they were in school.
- Incompatible Orientation: Bum is possibly either bisexual or pansexual, and is attracted to Sangwoo, who, according to Word of God, is heterosexual.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Growing up with no parents, getting severely abused by his uncle and the guys in the military, and being bullied everywhere, Bum's motivation is to be loved for once in his life.
- It's All My Fault: Due to his upbringing and traumatic experiences, Bum suffers from low self-esteem, blaming himself for things happening to him, and self-harms.
- The day after his uncle raped him, a traumatized Bum blamed himself and thinks that everything that happened to him is his fault.
- When Sangwoo called him disgusting and accused him of having "consensual sex" with his uncle, Bum breaks down and as Sangwoo is about to leave, Bum tells him that he should hit him if it makes him feel better since he's "disgusting" and then slits his wrist while crying, saying that Sangwoo wouldn't need someone like him.
- Bum blaming himself is a common characteristic he has over the course of the story.
- Looks Like Cesare: He's very pale, has dark hair and heavy eye-bags.
- Loners Are Freaks: Even back in primary school, his bully, Yoon Jae, asked if Bum is "retarded" JUST because Bum is shy and can't keep eye contact.
- Manchild: He is 28-29 years old but doesn't really behave nor look like an adult. Having lost his parents as a kid and being verbally abused by his uncle including being starved, Bum's body is undeveloped, and the lack of education alongside knowing only abuse causes Bum to have low self-esteem, besides his mental illnesses. He blushes easily, loves sweets, adores frogs, and is rather naive.
- Mess of Woe: For the most part of the comic, Bum doesn't care about his appearance or apartment due to his low self-esteem and mental illnesses. It's also mostly because he didn't have the money to take care of himself while he was living in the apartment. While with Sangwoo, Bum was locked in the basement and abused, so he had never the chance to take care of his hygiene. Once he had the opportunity to take care of his hygiene, he did.
- Mind Screw: Because the story is told from his perspective and because Bum experiences hallucinations, it's not always clear if what we see is real or isn't. The reason for that is that people with BPD may when under extreme stress, hear voices or have horrific hallucinations like the body parts Bum has seen in Sangwoo's washing machine. Bum experiences those Mind Screw moments only when stressed, another few examples are a hallucination of Sangwoo killing him, a hallucination of his uncle chasing him, or believing that his uncle is still alive after Sangwoo killed his uncle in front of him and left Bum alone with the corpse for days.
- Mistaken Age: Many characters constantly mistake Bum for being way younger than he actually is, or even his gender when he was forced by Sangwoo to wear women's clothes. Bum is actually 4 years older than Sangwoo, much to the surprise of 2 girls when Sangwoo told them that, as Bum looks so young.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When he kills Jieun in Chapter 19, he only does so because Sangwoo planned it without Bum knowing about it, her triggering intense flashbacks of a female classmate who rejected him, Sangwoo having abused, tortured, and manipulated Bum for a long time before that, and Bum completely disassociating from his surroundings, even drooling. Afterward, he freaked out and felt remorse for Jieun's murder, having a nightmare about it, avoiding to eat any meat after that for some time, and also feeling bad when he met his old female classmate from his high school time again.
- No Social Skills: Like, at all. Due to the lack of needed education from his parents who died when he was very young, being abused while growing up and never having had a single friend, Bum is socially awkward which sometimes brings out the worst, awkward moments in him, and it was shown in flashbacks that he didn't even know how to hold a spoon, at least in the right way.
- Noodle Incident: At some point in the past, Bum ended up in an unknown situation that led to him being incarcerated and having to pay off a fine of 3,000,000 Won.
- Nothing but Skin and Bones: Except for his lower body half, he's skinny everywhere else. His ribs and spine are easily seen, and he's always been that way due to being malnourished by his uncle since he was little, causing his body to be underdeveloped.
- Potty Failure: Wets himself when he was chained in the basement.
- Older Than They Look: His baby-faced looks, naive mentality, and love for frogs don't make it exactly easy for someone to tell that he's in his late twenties and not a middle or high school student. This is due to him being malnourished since childhood by his abusive uncle, causing him to be short in height and underweight.
- Rape as Backstory: Was sexually abused by his uncle for years and then got also sexually abused in the military. He doesn't get away from it either, as Sangwoo continues to abuse him.
- Replacement Goldfish: In a way, to Sangwoo's mother. During the story, he is often forced by Sangwoo to wear her clothes.
- Self-Harm: Bum self-harms because of his loneliness and as a form of dealing with the severe trauma of the abuse from his uncle, Yoon Jae, and the guys in the military. He then slit his wrists in Chapter 26 after Sangwoo forced him to talk about his traumatic past, accusing Bum of having "consensual" sex with his uncle and calling him disgusting, making Bum break down in tears and shortly after attempt suicide.
- Stalker with a Crush: Had it bad for Sangwoo, and Chapter 19 clarifies that he's had another serious obsession before, a former female classmate from his high school time. This is mostly fueled due to the fact that Bum suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and easily gets attached once shown affection since he never got any from anyone. He began having a crush on the girl because it was the first bond he ever had and they could relate and were getting close to each other. When her home life got better and they couldn't relate anymore, she abandoned him. Later on, he fell for Sangwoo because he saved him from a rape attempt in the army. This would make Bum either bisexual or pansexual.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Despite Bum actually loving Sangwoo at first, the moment he realized who Sangwoo actually was, he tried to escape several times, even trying to get help but with nobody believing him, and was basically forced to stay with him, with Sangwoo lashing out severe abuse on Bum and making him his unwilling replacement of his mother. Despite Sangwoo being severely abusive to Bum, Bum still feels empathy and sympathy towards Sangwoo when he acts "kinder" for once. Bum always tried to see the good in Sangwoo, and often thought of ways to change him, but finally realized once and for all at the end that his "love" would never come to be.
- The last chapters showcased how severe his Stockholm Syndrome has gotten. Bum (finally) realized in the hospital that Sangwoo never loved him after Sangwoo tried to stab him to death, and despite the fact that the trauma Bum had because of Sangwoo was so severe that he forgot how Sangwoo looks like, Bum still wanted to see him.
- Tearful Smile: He does this quite often, such as in Chapter 1 when he realized how lonely he is, as well as obsessed with Sangwoo.
- The Runaway: The day after Bum's uncle raped Bum for the first time, Bum began accidentally self-harming and ran away from home. He then returned, with his wrist full of blood, and apologized for running away before going back to his room.
- He eventually ran away from his uncle to escape his abuse, lived in an apartment, and then was forced to do military service. However, it was implied in the beginning of the story that he still lives with his uncle and was being physically&sexually abused by him before Sangwoo kidnapped him, and did the same.
- Trauma Conga Line: His life is in a constant state of falling to pieces. He lost both of his parents when he was a little kid. He got bullied on the regular, physically, sexually, and emotionally abused by his uncle, emotionally abused by his grandmother, sexually abused in the military, kidnapped by the guy he was stalking, and then also got sexually, physically, and mentally abused by him. By the time he escapes Sangwoo's hell, he's even more damaged than when he started out.
- Uncertain Doom: In the ending of the final chapter, there's an implication he would be hit by a car as he's chasing an hallucination of Sangwoo, but the story ends before confirming it. His fate is left open.
- When He Smiles: Bum hardly ever smiles, understandably so due to his traumatic life, but when he does, he looks like an innocent, happy child, especially◊ at the end of Chapter 37.
Oh Sangwoo
Oh Sangwoo
- Abusive Parents: Sangwoo's father was strict and beat his mother. So Sangwoo's Mother killed him.
- Strangely enough, when we actually see Sangwoo's dad in the big revealing flashback, he was actually rather passive and well-meaning, bringing often chocolate home and being a hard-working father. His appearance in the Christmas special shows him in the same light. But this was probably before he went off the deep end and Evil Makes You Ugly happened.
- Sangwoo's mother turns out to be mentally unstable later on, as it has been revealed that she was rather emotionally manipulative towards Sangwoo, tried to smother him when he was little, and attempted to rape Sangwoo (Although he fought her off and was about to kill her) once before she kills herself.
- All Take and No Give: His "relationship" with Bum in a nutshell. After he breaks his legs and kidnaps him, he constantly tortures him and forces him to do the dishes, clean the floor, etc, and whenever Bum makes even the slightest mistake, Sangwoo beats him up for it. While he gives him the slightest crumbs of resources, he only does it so that Bum doesn't break completely or leave him.
- Ax-Crazy: To say nothing of what he's done to other people, he's beaten Bum with a baseball bat, broken both of his ankles (the first by pushing him down the basement stairs, the other by smashing it with a sledgehammer), made him choose between a knife or a meat hook and strung him up when he attempted to deflect Sangwoo with sex in fear of getting abused or killed by him.
- Batter Up!: Uses a baseball bat to beat Bum when he finds him in the basement.
- Big Bad: The story's Deuteragonist but definitive antagonist who keeps Bum prisoner inside his home while subjecting him to physical, psychological, and sexual torture for his own gratification. His murders also make him the primary target for Seungbae.
- Big Man on Campus: On the outside, he's smart, athletic, easy to get along with, and girls love him. This near-perfect persona helps him evade the suspicion of the police.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In public, he appears as a nice, popular, and kind guy. In reality, he's a narcissistic Serial Killer.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Sangwoo uses a sledgehammer to break the ankles of his victims so they can't run away. He breaks one of Bum's ankles with it and later kills Bum's uncle with a hammer.
- Broken Ace: He's considered smart, handsome, and popular in public, but is secretly a psychopathic misogynist serial killer and rapist.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He does whatever he wants by kidnapping innocent people, abusing/torturing them before killing them, abusing and manipulating Bum, or forcing Bum and another victim to play a card game.
- Creepy Basement: His basement is his location of choice for holding his victims captive, torturing them, and eventually killing them. He even sleeps in the room attached to the closet with the basement hatch in order to be near it.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Grew up in a troubled home, and regularly witnessed his father beating his mother. Officer Park mentions that Sangwoo's parents were also murdered while he was in high school, although this probably has less to do with Sangwoo's backstory than Park thinks...
- Death by Irony: Sangwoo spent most of season 3 worrying about dying "a painful death." And yet the thing that ultimately killed him wasn't just getting burned alive in a housefire, but by getting asphyxiated by a pillow, the same way his mother tried to kill him when he was young.
- Dream Melody: The original version of "Killing Me Softly"; its relevance (if it has any) has yet to be revealed.
- Evil Sounds Deep: According to Bum in Chapter 16, his voice is pretty low.
- Fair-Weather Friend: In chapter 16, he actively says he's planning to ditch his friend group and tell Donggyu off for contacting him about Jieun's disappearence
- Fan Disservice: Although physically attractive, most of his scenes are spent on him brutally murdering someone or horribly abusing Bum.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Despite Bum continually bending over backward in order to benefit and protect him, to the point of lying in front of the police to get him out of murder charges, Sangwoo never follows it up with any affection and instead lashes out and abuses Bum further. When Bum saved his ass at the police station, instead of appreciating what Bum did for him, Sangwoo beat him up and raped him.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: The reason why he's so messed up is because of his childhood, where his dad abused his mother. Although as it turns out his mother isn't any better since she emotionally abused him into making him feel attached to her. She tried to smother him when he was little and attempted to kill him again after murdering her husband. Then she made Sangwoo kill her. While he did have a hard childhood, the narration makes it clear that it doesn't depart from the fact that he's a homophobic and misogynistic Abuser, Rapist, and Serial killer. His backstory was never treated as an excuse for anything that he did because Yoon Bum went through much worse things than Sangwoo did and came out broken, but not evil. The fact that he intentionally uses his backstory as emotional leverage to make Bum pity him only makes it all the more telling.
- Hate Sink: While appearing as a charming man in public, he is in truth relentlessly depraved and vile and has next to no positive attributes. A misogynistic abuser, rapist, and serial killer, Sangwoo is demonstrated to have already tortured and killed dozens of people for years by the time the story started. When Yoon Bum, a troubled young man who had developed a crush on him as a result of getting saved by him from being raped, breaks into his house, Sangwoo breaks his legs before murdering the woman he had kidnapped the night before, and raping him. From here, he emotionally, physically, and sexually abuses Bum relentlessly, manipulating and controlling the troubled young man and attempting to force him to carry out his dirty work, and doling out false kindness in order to make him sympathize with him. When he's no longer needed, Sangwoo attempts to kill Bum, only narrowly failing as Seungbae saved Bum's life. While given a horrific backstory, it's presented as insufficient for his numerous reprehensible crimes.
- Hypocrite: Sangwoo breaks Bum's legs, imprisons him, abuses him, tortures him, and rapes him, but then has the gall to be insulted when Bum tries to defend himself to stop Sangwoo from drowning him in Chapter 8.
- In Chapter 25/26, Sangwoo forces Bum to talk about his traumatic past with his uncle. When he did so, Sangwoo gives Bum the fault for what the uncle did to Bum, accuses him of having "consensual sex" with his uncle, and calls him disgusting, leading to Bum breaking down and attempting suicide. Later on, Sangwoo wants Bum to pity him and his circumstances, even though he never showed Bum any sympathy, abuses him and let Bum's Uncle beat and attempt to rape Bum.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Whenever he demonstrates any type of emotional vulnerability or care for Bum, it's soon shown to be for the purposes of keeping him on his side as he emotionally manipulates him. Hell, he didn't hesitate to murder him when he isn't of any use to him anymore.
- Karma Houdini: Had supposedly killed his parents and gotten away with it, and is eluding suspicion for several murders. However, the former is subverted as it is revealed that he did not kill his either of his parents. His mother poisoned his father, and she also forced Sangwoo to kill her.
- Seungbae managed to successfully arrest him in and put him into custody, but he gets released after pulling a Wounded Gazelle Gambit when he was beaten up by Seungbae.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: However, the weight of his actions finally blows in his face in the final chapters. Literally. Not only did Seungbae finally manage to defeat him, but his crimes are brought to light and public opinion of him finally turns sour, but even then he avoids much of the karma he would deserve after his serial killings and severe abuse on Bum. sour. His ultimate fate is being accidentally smothered to death by an old lady who thought she was quieting a babbling nuisance.
- Killed Offscreen: With a good healthy dose of Dropped a Bridge on Him, in the last chapter.
- Kick the Dog: Pretty much his behavior towards Bum and his victims in general. Even when not beating and killing women, he's just outright rude to them, having insulted two girls for the lolz once, leaving them to be disgusted by his rude attitude.
- Lima Syndrome: He "cares" about Bum to some extent, although it's just because Bum is easy to manipulate and developed Stockholm Syndrome because of Sangwoo's abuse.
- The Author later confirmed that Sangwoo always only saw Bum as a replacement, he didn't care about Bum himself at all.
- Mommy Issues: Some of the little motivation Sangwoo receives as an explanation for his behavior is his relationship with his mother who he kind of half murdered (he was forced to, but she still died by his hand). During his childhood, she was the victim of his father's abuse and it gets later revealed that she was mentally unstable to the point where she tried to kill him and attempted to rape him once although he thought her off immediately and was about to kill her. His need to be mothered and to have a mother-figure in his life is a recurring motif in his interactions with Bum, who he used as a replacement.
- Mr. Fanservice: Gets many scenes that emphasize his attractive body. Unfortunately, this can get very problematic.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Raped Bum three times and blamed Bum at the first time. At the second time, he physically abused Bum before raping him without consent who told him to stop several times, even bled, and then had a climax at the end.
- Pet the Dog: Massively Subverted. While the series shows "tender" moments of him, it's quite clear that he isn't doing any of this out of kindness but only to manipulate him further, otherwise he wouldn't abuse, torture and rape him in the first place. Hell, he doesn't even see Bum for who he is. Once Bum wasn't useful to him anymore, he attempted to end his life, permanently.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He is blatantly sexist and shown to be at least somewhat homophobic.
- Pragmatic Pansexuality: Sangwoo is a Serial Killer who seduces his victims so that he can torture and kill them. His victims are always female, but he also once also seduced a man from the bar, however, the only reason he did it was to bring him to his basement and kill him, with Sangwoo insulting him as a "fucking homo", showing his homophobia. He only had a "relationship" with Bum because he sees him as his mom and not for who he is. This is proven several times throughout the story, abuse and torture aside, even when Bum saved his ass at the police station (after sangwoo manipulated him and used jiuen to guilt trip him), Sangwoo still beat Bum up once they got home, blamed him for being beaten up by Seungbae and then raped Bum, being upset because the police now thinks that he's into dudes. Word of God reveals that Sangwoo is 100% straight.
- Really Gets Around: Sleeps around with people, such as Seokho and Jieun.
- Say My Name: He spends his last moments moaning for Bum repeatedly, as he had done since he was admitted into the hospital.
- Slasher Smile: Has one in Chapter 13, when he can't find Bum after Seungbae searches his apartment.
- Straw Misogynist: His victims which he kidnaps are mostly female and he lashes horrible abuse which goes on for days out on them after breaking their legs, until he finally kills them. When he met Bum's old classmate, he threatened to "beat the shit" out of her.
- Stepford Smiler: An Unstable type, as his seeming perfection hides how bugfuck crazy he is.
- Serial Killer: Killed unknown numbers of women for years after breaking their legs and abusing/torturing them. In the present, he killed one of his female victims Bum found in the basement, then one off-screen when Bum was sleeping, then the gay man he picked from the bar, then he intentionally caused Jieun's death, then a mother and her child and then Officer Park, the Father Figure of Seungbae.
- Serial Rapist: Raped Bum 3 times. It's unknown if he raped his other victims or not, but considering that he had no problems with groping the corpses of his victims and sees them as toys, it's likely.
- Self-Made Orphan: Subverted. He admits to having murdered his father, but the circumstances of his mother's death aren't as clear. Seungbae speculates that he may have committed both murders, and there are panels from Sangwoo's perspective of him strangling his mother, but there's nothing concrete to indicate whether these are memories or if he's just hallucinating. As it turns out, he didn't intentionally kill either of them; his father was killed by Sangwoo's mother, and Sangwoo's mother kills herself, although she technically made Sangwoo kill her by impaling herself with the knife he was holding.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's athletic and physically attractive.
- The Sociopath: Sangwoo feels no remorse for any of his crimes and lacks empathy. He breaks the ankles of his victims to prevent them to escape then beats and tortures them for an unknown amount of time until he finally kills them. He is pretty much only out for himself, freaked out once over Bum using self-defense when he attempted to drown Bum and didn't feel empathy when he forced Bum to talk about his traumatic past, even accusing him of having "consensual" sex with his uncle and calling Bum disgusting who breaks down in tears and slit his wrists shortly after. Also highly sadistic as he enjoys abusing, torturing, raping, and killing people. Don't let the trauma bonding during the story fool you. He abused, tortured and raped Bum. His "kindness" towards Bum sometimes is just him manipulating/grooming Bum while also coping with what happened between him and his mother. Sangwoo began beating Bum black and blue again even though Bun comforted Sangwoo after Sangwoo just tried to strangle him to death, and he was ready to kill Bum right then and there when Bum refused to comply with killing Detective Seungbae.
- Stupid Evil: Demonstrates little planning for his murders and often ends up leaving evidence around by accident as well as bragging about his crimes in public with a thin veneer of irony. This is Truth in Television, as most serial killers don't put much thought into their murders, and generally avoid detection due to circumstance and outward charisma preventing people from suspecting them.
- Troubled Abuser: Is severely abusive due to his past.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: As it is shown through flashbacks, Sangwoo used to be a pretty decent kid as opposed to the homicidal maniac he is today, despite growing up in an abusive household. His mother's attempted murder of him, and her (forcibly assisted) suicide is what pushes him off the deep end.
- Undignified Death: He doesn't get the karma for his serial killings and abuse on others, no flashy climactic battle, and no closure; when he does die, it's a complete accident and done by an unrelated old woman who tried to shut him up by putting a pillow over his head, never even realizing she killed him.
- Vorpal Pillow: What finally does him in, via some old lady trying to shut him up.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Spends some chapters wearing minimal clothing.
- Would Hit a Girl: Most of his victims are female and he pulled Jieun by her hair when she tried to escape. When Bum entered Sangwoo's house when he was gone, he found one of his victims in the basement, a bruised female, which he then tried to help. Unfortunately, Sangwoo suddenly appears behind Bum with a bat. When Bum woke up, Sangwoo shit-talks the female which he killed while Bum was unconscious, and saw her nothing more than a toy, even groping her breast.
- Would Hurt a Child: The ski trip features Sangwoo choosing between killing a little boy or killing the boy's mother. While he doesn't actually kill him, Sangwoo does still put snow over the kid's eyes and leaves him out to die in the cold. The ambulance in the next day hinted that the mother and boy both did indeed die due to Sangwoo.
- Wrench Whack: Throws one at Jieun to prevent her from escaping.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Blatantly calls Seungbae's bluff when he "threatens" Sangwoo with a gun he doesn't have.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When Bum refuses to kill Seungbae, he tells Bum that he no longer needs him and then proceed to attempt to murder him.
Yang Seungbae
Yang Seungbae
- All of the Other Reindeer: He doesn't seem to have a good rep among his co-workers, which is probably why he faces Sangwoo alone later.
- Brandishment Bluff: Pretends to have a gun when Sangwoo corners him.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Rather, a clueless guy magnet. He gets pretty flustered around guys hitting on him when he investigates a few gay bars as well.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After having his initial investigation dismissed, all the danger he was put in, and a fall from grace that temporarily cost him his sanity and job, he ends the story with the best possible outcome for any of the main characters. In addition, his heroics in the final confrontation, as well as his ultimately bringing Sangwoo to justice, earn him a promotion and some popularity.
- Fair Cop: He's a very handsome young man who works as a police officer. After getting fired and after he stopped taking care of himself, he looks good with messy hair and scruff.
- Hero Antagonist: To Sangwoo's Villain Protagonist. He is the only one suspicious of Sangwoo's superficial charm and spends the entire story trying to bring him down.
- The Last DJ: Used to be a detective with a knack for investigation, until his slip-ups and refusal to follow police protocol land him into beat cop duty.
- Police Are Useless: Subverted, as he does not trust Sangwoo. Doesn't mean he can do a lot right off the bat, though...
- Put on a Bus: After his brush with Sangwoo, he disappears all the way up until the end of Season 1, although The Bus Came Back in Season 2.
- Sanity Slippage: After getting taken off of the force, he's turned into a mess. He sees Sangwoo in his dreams, became abusive to the only person constantly visiting him, and in general, his guilt is eating him alive
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Despises the police for its failure to catch the murderer responsible for his father's death. It's hard to dislike him considering he was the only one who was always suspicious of Sangwoo and only wanted that he gets the justice he deserves for all of his crimes.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Underestimates Sangwoo, and almost dies for it.
Other Characters
CEO's Daughter
Sangwoo's first on-screen victim.
- Bound and Gagged: When she was discovered by Bum
- Bludgeoned to Death: How Sangwoo finally kills her after strangling her.
- Bribe Backfire / Money Is Not Power: She offers to pay Sangwoo in turn of sparing her but this sours Sangwoo's impression of her.
- Disposable Woman: Exists purely to reveal Sangwoo's true nature and kick off an investigation
- Fan Disservice: Her signature scene has her naked save for her panties and we get shots of her bruised ankles and rope burns across her limbs.
- Informed Flaw: Sangwoo claims that she "thought she was better than him" but the only evidence of this is her threatening to tell her father about him. Given he was going to kill her, that is understandable given her situation. Given this is coming from Sangwoo, take this with a grain of salt.
- No Name Given: Even the news just refers to her as "Daughter Of A Pharmaceutical Company CEO."
- Screaming Woman: Screams as soon as she's ungagged
- Traumatic Haircut: Gets one post-mortem
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She barely lives to Chapter Two
Kim Seokho
Kim Seokho
- Abhorrent Admirer: The Choker Boy recounted how Seokho would harass him to sleep with him.
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: Died after having a knife driven into his stomach once
- Anguished Outburst: Has one when he loses the practice round of the card game
- Card Games / Deadly Game: In the basement, he and Bum are forced to play a card game where the loser forfeit their lives.
- Casanova Wannabe: Trying to hook up with handsome men with his cheesy pick-up lines and lame card tricks. The only man who slept with him was one young man he paid and the guy said he immediately regretted it.
- Confiscated Phone:
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Sangwoo used his phone to lure Jieun. He killed her and traced her disappearance back to Seokho.
- Depraved Homosexual: Seokho has a history of coercing and paying young men to sleep with him and was divorced due to cheating on his wife with prostitutes.
- Dirty Old Man: An inpatient old man who jumps straight to sex with he gets the chance.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Subverted, While Seokho was reported to be coercive when it comes to sex and clearly likes them young, Sangwoo probably only killed him as a fall guy for Jieun's subsequent murder, to train Bum to kill, and simply because he grossed him out.
- Divorce Assets Conflict: His wife kicked him out of her house after he was caught cheating on her with prostitutes
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Was stabbed by the knife he was supposed to kill Bum with
- I Have a Family: Pulls this when Sangwoo throws him in his basement by saying he has a wife and daughter waiting for him at home. Which was a lie since he only has an ex-wife who wants nothing to do with him.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Throughout his stay in Sangwoo's basement, he was sweating and sobbing.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Got down on his knees and begged Sangwoo to let him live.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Was sweating up a storm when he was locked in Sangwoo's basement
- Sex Signals Death: Is kidnapped and killed after coming to Sangwoo's house for a blowjob
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Averted. While his ex-wife absolutely despises the man for betraying her trust by cheating on her. After telling Seungbae off, she cries that she wants him to live.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Even though he has the incentive to go free with his life, he still can't bring himself to kill Bum. This results in his death.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Said to "Basically lived" at one gay bar
Min Jieun
Min Jieun
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, the panel of her dead body is one of the most graphic images of the whole webcomic. Close-ups even showed snot dripping out of her nose.
- Played straight later in the beginning of season 2 as Sangwoo cleaned the blood off of her chest when he takes her out for burial.
- The Bully: She's KIND of a bitch and arrogant. While Sangwoo was gone for a little while and left his friends with Bum, she and another girl made fun of Bum and also didn't care that he had to use crutches (Because Sangwoo broke his legs) and wanted him to go home alone while Sangwoo stays with them.
- Dies Wide Open: When she is killed.
- Disposable Woman: Ironically, her disappearance (and subsequent murder) is what prompts Seungbae to go on a dogged manhunt for Sangwoo.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Subverted. Even though she was a bully to Yoon Bum, Sangwoo had planned her death to happen for months, her subsequent murder had nothing to do with her bullying Bum at all, Sangwoo wanted her dead just because she's a girl. She could have been any other woman that Sangwoo arbitrarily disliked.
- Facial Markings: Has a heart drawn beneath her left eye as part of her performance makeup.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When Yoon Bum stabs her to death. Subverted later however when her corpse is shown in full view.
- Love Martyr: Subverted, she's really attracted to Sangwoo but after he reveals his true colors, she becomes repulsed by him. She does try to convince Sangwoo that she'll do to whatever he says to keep her life, but it doesn't work.
- Ms. Fanservice: Has a curvy body and large breasts, and would often wear cute clothes that accentuate said body. She spends the entirety of chapter 18 naked since she's having sex with Sangwoo. Later becomes Fan Disservice when she is stabbed multiple times naked.
- Performance Anxiety: Clams up in her duet with Sangwoo.
- Sex Signals Death: She was having sex with Sangwoo shortly before being murdered.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Gives one to Sangwoo.
Kim Donggyuu
- Big Fun: The main one laughing and cracking jokes at the after party
- Fat Bastard: Just like Jieun, he too is a bit of a dick to Bum and complains that he's "making Sangwoo's reputation go to shit."
- Fat Comic Relief: His weight is the butt of many jokes
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he’s a prick to Bum, he shows genuine concern when Jieun disappears.
- Rudely Hanging Up: Subjected to this when he vents to Sangwoo about Jieun's case
Jieun's Mother
- Dramatic Irony: She wishes Bum to be happy for Jieun's sake, whilst unaware that he's the one that stabbed her 12 times.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Given the series, she unfortunately goes through this.
- Rich Bitch: Downplayed. While not malicious, she flashes her purse to prove that Jieun had a good upbringing and wouldn't stoop to anything such as selling her body and she describes her daughter's nails as "stubby and ugly". No wonder why Jieun turned out so spoiled.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In the final chapter, she comes to wish Bum happiness and joins a protest against Joosang Hospital when delays surgeries to care for Sangwoo
- The Mourning After: Mentioned. She frequently phones Jieun's friends about her disappearance
- Vanity Is Feminity: A negative example. A well-dressed woman who shows off her luxury goods in a police station. Plus, the only things she mentions about her daughter is that she's pretty, stands out and has stubby nails.
Detective Lee
Detective Lee
A Detective from Seoul looking into the murder case of one of Sangwoo's victims, the daughter of the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. He previously worked with Yang Seungbae and tries to help him apprehend Sangwoo.- Man Hug: Gives one to Seungbae.
- Police Are Useless: Has not made much progress with the CEO's daughter until Seungbae gets involved. Supports Seungbae in arresting Sangwoo but due to a lack of evidence, he is forced to let him go.
- Police Brutality: Manhandles Yoon Bum once who only asked him a question and later on again to make him come down to the police station and accidentally opened the wound on Bum's wrist.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Played with. It's implied he has a sweet tooth but is cutting back due to his high glucose levels.
- Sweet Tooth: Seungbae tries to take advantage of this in order to get information out of him regarding the murder case.
Officer Kwak
- A Father to His Men: Seems to have a way of looking out for his subordinates. Unfortunately, it doesn't end well.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Normally friendly and jovial but when push comes to shove, he's quick to cut people out if they get in the way.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Sports massive black block-shaped ones.
- Clueless Deputy: At least when it comes to Sangwoo, he eventually gets his act together but it's too late.
- Da Chief: Was formerly one until he covered for Seungbae. He still can fire Seungbae.
- Fatal Flaw: He lost his position as police chief, his relationship with his close partner Seungbae, and, ultimately his life by giving people the benefit of the doubt when he really shouldn't.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Gleeful to Seungbae's grumpy.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Hoo boy. He lets Sangwoo play him like a fiddle and even when it's brought up that Sangwoo could have killed his parents, he finds it unbelievable.
- Indignant Slap: Serves one to Seungbae after he attempts to get Sangwoo arrested.
- Killed Offscreen: When Sangwoo goes to kill him we cut to Seungbae receiving news of his "suicide"
- Like a Son to Me: Deconstructed. Due to his projecting the loss of his son onto Sangwoo, he lets his judgment blind him which costs Seungbae a job and later his own life.
- Man Hug: A proxy example when he sent Detective Lee to hug Seungbae for him.
- Must Make Amends: Would've made up with Seungbae if Sangwoo hadn't killed him.
- Never Suicide: His murder was framed as a suicide by Sangwoo and wasn't investigated for fear of ruining the police's reputation
- Old Cop, Young Cop: The Old Cop to Seungbae's.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His son died prior to the beginning of the manhwa.
- Stuffed into the Fridge: His death is what pushes Seungbae to finally take Sangwoo down.
- The Farmer and the Viper: He practically saved Sangwoo's ass but the moment he finds out the truth about Sangwoo, Sangwoo kills him without remorse.
- Tranquil Fury: Slaps Seungbae and calmly tells him to leave the premises.
- You Remind Me of X: Sees his dead son in Sangwoo.
Yoon Jae
Yoon Jae
Bum's Bully from his school days.- The Bully: Bullied Bum in his school days due to his shyness and asked once if Bum "is retarded". Even as an adult, he looks down on Bum and out openly asked him how things would go with his Uncle and said how Bum was always crying in school.
- It's possible that his rude attitude towards people is the reason why his girlfriend left him later on in the story, although this has never been confirmed.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Bullied Bum when they were in primary and middle school and still did so after they meet over a decade later, talking down on Bum in public.
Yoon Jae’s Girlfriend
- Nice Girl: Willing to hand over the only cake during her and Yoon Jae's anniversary and is kind to Bum when she meets him in the final chapter
- No Name Given: Again, she isn't named.
- Offscreen Breakup: Given Jae's less-than-stellar personality, it's not a surprise
- The Bus Came Back: Meets Bum at the hospital in the final chapter
Bum's Highschool Classmate
- Abusive Parents/ Rape as Backstory: Her father repeatedly raped her as a teenager. Fortunately, her mother divorced him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While you can excuse her actions as a teenager as reactions from a traumatized teen. As an adult, she seemed to center herself in her apology, track down Bum's house and rub the fact that Bum found her attractive in Sangwoo's face.
- Commonality Connection: In the supply closet, she reveals her bruises to Bum as she checks his. And sees him as the same as her because of that.
- Domestic Violence: Subjected to this by her father and later her ex husband.
- Fair-Weather Friend: Contrary to popular belief, she did remain friends with Bum after her parents divorced. The moment she left him is when he said they were in a relationship. To add insult to injury, she cut off all contact with him afterwards. Subverted at the end where she stays by Bum's side when he's in the hospital.
- Foil: To Bum. Both were victims of child, sexual, and domestic abuse. Bum lingers in these types of toxic relationships, she abandons and pushes them away even if it hurts someone.
- Heartfelt Apology: Depending on how you view it, she's either genuinely sorry or just wants Bum's forgiveness to feel better about herself.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Sangwoo suspects that Bum is cheating on him with her. Her taunting Sangwoo about Bum eyeing her breasts him doesn't help their case.
- No Name Given: We never got her name.
- Paper Destruction of Anger: Not anger per se but she quickly snatches and chucks the picture of her and her abusive ex out the window.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives this to Sangwoo after he confronts her
- Small Role, Big Impact: While initially only appearing in flashbacks. The trauma from her humiliating Bum triggers him to kill Jieun.
- Slutshaming: In highschool, Bum insisted that men only like her because of she dressed loosely and her chest. This what drove her to the edge.
- Suicide Dare: Shouts at Bum to die after he humiliated her in highschool.
- The Bus Came Back: Runs into Bum in episode 57
- Whole Episode Flashback: Features heavily in Bum's flashback in Chapter 19
Woman and Child From Ski Resort
A woman and child Sangwoo and Bum encounter at the Ski Resort. The woman reminds Sangwoo of his mother, triggering him to kill her.
- Bratty Half-Pint: The kid is KIND of annoying and doesn't respect his stepmother's authority.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Sangwoo covers the kid's eyes with snow before he goes to strangle the woman.
- Death of a Child: Implied
- Good Stepmother: The woman insists Sangwoo should check on the boy even when he demands that she choose her life or his.
- Identical Stranger: The woman heavly resembles Sangwoo's mother
- Mama Bear: When she suspects that Sangwoo will kill her stepson, she screams that she'll kill him
- Nice Gal: The stepmother immediately apologizes for her son's behavior and offers to find Bum's missing ski poles
- No Name Given: The only thing the woman is referred to as "Lady" or "Stepmom"
- Sadistic Choice: Sangwoo makes her choose between her life and her stepson's. She chooses her stepson.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Her appearance contributes to Sangwoo's mental spiral
- Sinister Suffocation: The Stepmother suffers this by Sangwoo
- Snow Means Death: Both the woman and boy are attacked and left for dead in the snow
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The most you can fault these two for is that the stepmom didn't ring in her mischievous son.
- Trauma Button: The woman unintentionally pushes a massive one for Sangwoo with her mere presence
- Uncertain Doom: The ambulance in the subsequent chapter could imply that they either died or less likely were rescued.
Yoon Bum's Uncle and Grandmother
Yoon Bum's Uncle and Grandmother
Yoon Bum's Parental Figures after losing his parents.- Batter Up!: When a traumatized Bum knocked at the door after going out for a walk due to what happened the night before, the Uncle went to get his wooden bat and told his mother/Bum's Grandmother to open the door, wanting to "punish" Bum with the bat for running away from home.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Bum couldn't sleep one night because of how hot it was, so he went into the kitchen and drank something as he suddenly hears noises (The Uncle moaning) and went to check where it came from. Much to his shock, it was the uncle masturbating who noticed Bum who then quickly ran back into his room, ending with the Uncle following him and giving a creepy laugh before going back.
- Creepy Uncle: Sexually harassed Bum by looking at his thighs after he went out of the shower. Secretly went to Bum's bed who woke up from a dream with no pants on, the uncle grabbing his waist and making noises behind him, revealing that he's raping him. This resulted in Bum getting raped by him several times over the years in his room while naked. According to Bum, the Uncle made him drink in his room once, most likely to take advantage of a drunk Bum.
- Evil Uncle: Bum's uncle abused him physically, sexually, and emotionally for years and starved him. He takes his anger over losing Bum's mother who left him for his brother, who is Bum's Father, on Bum out and told him right into his face that God "punished" them for that and that Bum is the result of their sins, making Bum cry. His cruelty is in fact so severe that he feels no remorse for any of his actions, even after physically abusing Bum to the point that he made him cry, he proceeds to rape him regularly on top of that. He even attempted to rip Bum's genitals off at one time. He also physically abused his own mother, Bum's Grandmother, sometimes, although to a way lesser degree. Even in the present, Bum's Uncle hasn't changed and the first thing he did when seeing Bum was to make fun of him, try to manipulate him, beat him up, and attempt to rape him.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason why he's so cruel is because he was neglected by his parents as a child and always had to see his brother get all the love and attention from his parents that he yearned for. When he was older and got together with a girl, she ends up leaving him for his brother who she then has a child with, the child being Yoon Bum who is then soon orphaned because his parents ended up dying in an accident, leaving the uncle as being Bum's parental figure.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While he did have a hard childhood, it doesn't depart from the fact that he's a Abuser and Rapist who abused his nephew Bum for years. His backstory was never treated as an excuse for anything that he did because his nephew Bum went through much worse things than the uncle and yet didn't turn out evil. The uncle's backstory is presented as insufficient for his numerous vile and disgusting actions.
- Hate Sink: The uncle has next to no positive attributes. He's a angry, abusive, and disturbing man who takes his anger out on his nephew Bum by abusing him physically and emotionally even though Bum never did anything to him, and then he starts regularly raping Bum on top of that for years because Bum looks like his ex girlfriend who left him.
- Karmic Death: The uncle finally gets what's coming to him in Chapter 46. After severely abusing Yoon Bum for many years, and nearly raping him again when the two of them meet again, Sangwoo kills him via strangling with a plastic bag and fracturing his skull with a hammer. This was, however, not Bum's wish nor desire, but Sangwoo's who used Bum as bait without him knowing it.
- Kick the Dog: Not that losing his parents was already horrible enough, Bum was then given to his grandparents and uncle, with the grandpa being already dead by the time the flashback took place, with the grandma ending up throwing Bum under the bus and with the uncle just outright despising Bum, with him regurlarly beating, starving and raping Bum for years. Bum isn't spared of emotional abuse either as he had to to deal with his uncle regularly insulting him, being blamed for everything, and saying how his parents deserved to die and that he (Bum) is the result of their sins.
- Parental Neglect: One of the reasons why Bum's uncle hates his brother, Bum's father, is because their parents gave the brother the love and attention during their childhood while Bum's uncle was apparently neglected.
- Pet the Dog: While the uncle he is no doubt an awful human being who is beyond redemption, it is revealed in Chapter 46 that there were some moments of him being "kind" to Yoon Bum when he was young.
- However, it is highly likely that he was just grooming him since he already told Bum back when he was in elementary school that he looks just like his mom (Uncle's ex), Bum was already undernourished back then, there was a panel with an even younger Bum full of bruises, and Bum remembered those "kind" moments during a panic attack after his uncle's death, so his memories of his uncle being kind once are very likely fake, fake memories Bum's brain shortly created to protect Bum from more trauma, although Bum then shortly after that completely realizes that the uncle was never kind to him and did heinous things to him.
- Also, Bum's previous flashback in Chapter 25/26+the way the uncle acted towards Bum in the present contradicts the possibility that the uncle was ever nice to him since Bum's body in the present is undeveloped and the flashback has showed that the uncle starved him since Bum is little (While the possibly fake memories flashback in Chapter 46 shows the uncle supporting Bum, saying that Bum will grow taller than him), as well as does the uncle in the present act just like he did in the flashback from Chapter 25/26, being abusive towards Bum, beating and attempting to rape Bum.
- Resentful Guardian: Bum was given to his Uncle and Grandmother after his parents died. Bum's Uncle hated Bum because he's the child of his Ex, who left him for his brother, Bum's father, so he severely abused him. Bum's Grandmother was rather neutral but told Bum to go like a dog once when he ignored her shortly after the Uncle abused him. She also told Bum that his Uncle wouldn't come one night, so he should sleep in his uncle's room, which resulted in the uncle coming home, stripping Bum off his clothes, violently abusing him with a cane and then raping him.
- Serial Rapist: The Uncle raped Bum for an unknown amount of numbers, but considering Bum still had to live with him after that for years, it wouldn't be dumb to say that he did so every day.
- Single-Target Sexuality: An incredibly dark example. Bum's mother is the only one he truly loves and obsesses over for years on end. After she died, he transfers his unhealthy fixation onto his nephew due to how much he resembles her, leading to the poor boy to become a mess of issues in the current ti.
- Troubled Abuser: Bum's Grandmother told Bum that he should try and understand his Uncle and how his Uncle can't help hurting Bum because he went through a lot as a child, excusing his behavior. Bum's Uncle stated that his parents gave his brother all the love and attention during his childhood.
- Would Hit a Girl: Bum's Uncle was abusive to his own mother, Bum's Grandma, as well, although to a way lesser degree to how abusive he was to Bum. It's possible that he was also abusive to Bum's mother and that might be the reason why she left him, but it's unknown.
- Would Hurt a Child: Bum was physically abused since he's little by his Uncle and always full of bruises.
Sangwoo's parents
Sangwoo's Parents
The parents of Sangwoo.- Abusive Parents: The father was physically abusive to Sangwoo's mother. Meanwhile, the mother herself was emotionally abusive, sexually forced herself on Sangwoo once before her death, not to mention strangling him as a child once.
- Strangely enough, when we actually see Sangwoo's dad in the big revealing flashback, he was actually rather passive and well-meaning, pften bringing chocolate home and being a hard-working father. His appearance in the Christmas special shows him in the same light. These actions were likely set before he went off the deep end.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Sangwoo's dad lost his good looks when he became abusive.
- Freudian Excuse: Sangwoo's mom is said to have been depressed since she's a child, implying that something horrible must have happened to her and when Sangwoo was still a toddler, she was constantly shown with a sad expression on her face. It was later revealed that she never wanted to have a child which explains her state as a result of Postpartum Depression. Then she was constantly abused by her husband which worsened her already unstable mentality.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Played with. Mom ultimately gives birth to Sangwoo, but she tried repeatedly to abort him while she was still pregnant.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Eunseo, ironically enough. Despite suffering domestic abuse, she is far from being a saint considering how she emotionally abused Sangwoo.
- I Was Quite a Looker: When Sangwoo said he looked like his father, he wasn't kidding. Before Dad gained weight and lost his looks, he was Tall, Dark, and Handsome just like his grown son.
- Offing the Offspring: Mom is an interesting case as she had been trying since he was conceived, and kept doing it by trying to poison him post killing Dad.
- The Ophelia: Whatever’s going on in Mom’s head wasn’t disclosed as Word of God confirmed Eunseo was meant to be a character that can’t be understood.
- Parental Incest: Between Mom and Sangwoo.
- Pet the Dog: At the very least, Dad didn't actually want to hurt Sangwoo and protects him from his mother after she tries to strangle him.
- It was also shown that although Sangwoo's mom isn't innocent, she did protect him from Sangwoo's father once but then got called a filthy wretch by him. One time, when she was at the market to buy something, she constantly muttered to the seller that Sangwoo likes both, apples and strawberries, and how she can't choose what to buy. Although she didn't want a child, she kept trying to connect with Sangwoo and try to make him attached to her, but Sangwoo constantly wondered where father is, which worsened her jealously and hatred.
- Posthumous Character: Both parents are long dead by the time the comic starts.
- Resentful Guardian: To some extent, Eunseo hated Sangwoo and never saw him as the son she actually has since she seemingly never wanted a kid in the first place. She tried to kill him even after she had already killed her husband and regularly talked down to him.
- The Reveal: Turns out that Sangwoo didn't actually kill his dad; if anything, Mom did, given the poison tablets spilled on the floor and Dad choking on foam as he was dying.
- Sanity Slippage: For both Eunseo and her husband. Eunseo was already mentally ill to begin with, and she only got worse when she had Sangwoo and was being abused. Her husband is implied to undergo this at one point, causing him to become more abusive.
