Omg yeah I was feeling the same way!!! I was sooooo annoyed at Beom-Seok!!!! Like I get it I feel sorry for you…
as someone who relates to Beomseok and really appreciated the depth of his character, I can’t help but disagree.
Beomseok isn’t a clean-cut character. He exists in that grey space between black (evil, cruel, villainous) and white (kind, heroic, angelic). Psychologically, he’s extremely realistic. And in my opinion, you absolutely cannot look at him just on a surface level and think that’s enough to judge his actions or his character as a whole. Respectfully.
He was raised as a tool, nothing more than a PR piece for his father to look good. "See? The great politician adopting a poor orphan" His worth was tied to how useful he was. Behind closed doors? Beatings, constant invalidation, and being treated like he didn’t matter. That alone can completely twist a person’s perception of themselves and others. especially on how to deal with and regulate emotions, as a child the environment you're raised in shapes you as a person, it's why generational trauma exists.
Then he gets thrown into the world as this awkward, in other peoples povs hes a clearly sheltered rich kid, prime target for bullying. The first “friends” he makes use him for money, and once that wears off, they beat him for fun. Literally. No reason, just violence and mockery.
Then we get to Sieun and Suho, his first actual “friends.” And that meant everything to him. But even here, it’s not as perfect as it seems. Suho only really hung out with Beomseok when Sieun was around (minus one deleted scene), and let’s be honest, Suho has this protective, almost aggressive energy that can feel controlling. That scene where he forces Beomseok to confront his bullies? That wasn’t empowering. That was traumatizing. It was handled with zero care for Beomseok’s mental state. And the way Suho handled things in general wasn’t that far off from how Beomseok’s bullies acted, just masked as “tough love.”
Then you and TONS of other people say, “He wanted to kill Suho over a girl” like it was some dramatic love triangle. (Which lets me know none of you truly paid attention to Beomseok or any character dynamics throughout the series.) That’s just not true.
First of all: He didn’t want to kill Suho. He wanted to humiliate him. He was angry, overwhelmed, and spiraling, trying to reclaim some control, some sense of worth. And the second he realized the damage he caused, you immediately see the regret, guilt, and shock in his face. It wasn’t about "winning" or being evil. It was about desperation.
Second: Beomseok asked Suho to follow him back on Instagram three times. No response. Okay, maybe Suho just doesn’t use social media, right? But then Beomseok checks and sees Suho is following Yeong-i. Probably because she took his phone and did it herself (Lets be honest she totally would lol), but Beomseok doesn’t know that. Then he sees her feed, full of happy pictures with Suho and Sieun, hanging out, laughing, being close. He sees himself replaced in real time. Imagine what that does to someone with his background.
To someone like Beomseok, that situation screams:
“Did they even like me in the first place?”
“Am I that easy to forget?”
“They were just using me again.”
“She took my place and no one noticed.”
“I knew I wasn’t really their friend.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
And that inner voice? It’s not just insecurity. It’s trauma, neglect, rejection, and years of being thrown away by people who were supposed to care. That spiral isn’t about “a girl.” It’s about feeling disposable again.
At the end of the day, Beomseok is a mentally ill teenager. He needs serious help. That doesn’t make what he did justifiable, never will. but it does make it understandable. He wasn’t owed that help from Suho or Sieun. But his actions are excusable in the sense that they come from real, deep-rooted pain, not malice. (after all there's a reason some criminals are sent to psych wards instead of prison isn't there?) In my opinion, that makes him one of the most realistic, down to earth, actual teenage characters in the entire story.
Beomseok isn’t a clean-cut character. He exists in that grey space between black (evil, cruel, villainous) and white (kind, heroic, angelic). Psychologically, he’s extremely realistic. And in my opinion, you absolutely cannot look at him just on a surface level and think that’s enough to judge his actions or his character as a whole. Respectfully.
He was raised as a tool, nothing more than a PR piece for his father to look good. "See? The great politician adopting a poor orphan" His worth was tied to how useful he was. Behind closed doors? Beatings, constant invalidation, and being treated like he didn’t matter. That alone can completely twist a person’s perception of themselves and others. especially on how to deal with and regulate emotions, as a child the environment you're raised in shapes you as a person, it's why generational trauma exists.
Then he gets thrown into the world as this awkward, in other peoples povs hes a clearly sheltered rich kid, prime target for bullying. The first “friends” he makes use him for money, and once that wears off, they beat him for fun. Literally. No reason, just violence and mockery.
Then we get to Sieun and Suho, his first actual “friends.” And that meant everything to him. But even here, it’s not as perfect as it seems. Suho only really hung out with Beomseok when Sieun was around (minus one deleted scene), and let’s be honest, Suho has this protective, almost aggressive energy that can feel controlling. That scene where he forces Beomseok to confront his bullies? That wasn’t empowering. That was traumatizing. It was handled with zero care for Beomseok’s mental state. And the way Suho handled things in general wasn’t that far off from how Beomseok’s bullies acted, just masked as “tough love.”
Then you and TONS of other people say, “He wanted to kill Suho over a girl” like it was some dramatic love triangle. (Which lets me know none of you truly paid attention to Beomseok or any character dynamics throughout the series.) That’s just not true.
First of all: He didn’t want to kill Suho. He wanted to humiliate him. He was angry, overwhelmed, and spiraling, trying to reclaim some control, some sense of worth. And the second he realized the damage he caused, you immediately see the regret, guilt, and shock in his face. It wasn’t about "winning" or being evil. It was about desperation.
Second: Beomseok asked Suho to follow him back on Instagram three times. No response. Okay, maybe Suho just doesn’t use social media, right? But then Beomseok checks and sees Suho is following Yeong-i. Probably because she took his phone and did it herself (Lets be honest she totally would lol), but Beomseok doesn’t know that. Then he sees her feed, full of happy pictures with Suho and Sieun, hanging out, laughing, being close. He sees himself replaced in real time. Imagine what that does to someone with his background.
To someone like Beomseok, that situation screams:
“Did they even like me in the first place?”
“Am I that easy to forget?”
“They were just using me again.”
“She took my place and no one noticed.”
“I knew I wasn’t really their friend.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
And that inner voice? It’s not just insecurity. It’s trauma, neglect, rejection, and years of being thrown away by people who were supposed to care. That spiral isn’t about “a girl.” It’s about feeling disposable again.
At the end of the day, Beomseok is a mentally ill teenager. He needs serious help. That doesn’t make what he did justifiable, never will. but it does make it understandable. He wasn’t owed that help from Suho or Sieun. But his actions are excusable in the sense that they come from real, deep-rooted pain, not malice. (after all there's a reason some criminals are sent to psych wards instead of prison isn't there?) In my opinion, that makes him one of the most realistic, down to earth, actual teenage characters in the entire story.