tbh, i dont consider hee-ryang to be red flag (maybe beige at most?). he was just doing his job (and its not like he has a choice either) and his tactics to keep his subjects in line is also not done out of malice but simply a lord being strict and vigilant. he was also quite gentle and generous with yeonjo (given the circumstances). he is not overly cruel nor does he actively seek to torture or play with yeonjo's feelings/dignity despite the upper hand of his station. h
in here we can even see that despite his gut instinct telling him that something is going on, he still entertains the idea that his mistrust might hurt yeonjo and he wants to give him a chance to earn that trust.
@luna_cy13 Right? I feel my heart throbbing bcz of them, no one was at fault but both are suffering and is gonna suffer even more.. They're in love but they can't say it out loud due to the circumstances.
but i dont think they are in love. not yet, anyway. hee-ryang is really infatuated to yeonjo from the very beginning. he even looks for him in his previous lovers. and he's very open with the possibilities of keeping yeonjo with him. while yeonjo is blinded by his thirst for revenge that i think even if he feels something towards hee-ryang, he will justify and deny it. falling for hee-ryang means letting go of the past and forgiving him. and in essence, i feel like he will feel that he "betrayed" his family if he falls in love with the "enemy" so he will deny and evade as much as he can. no one is at fault but they will both surely suffer. not to mention that even if they get past those feelings, their stations in life are too different to be able to live in harmony
we might have a bittersweet ending here like in the manhwa 'taming the tiger' where they only found happiness in a different timeline with their life starting in a clean slate.
@luna_cy13 also I agree with you, they haven't fell for each other but at the very least Heeryang have some feelings containing love for Yeonjo, what they have rn is perhaps "like" so yeah I agree. Taming the tiger was really something and I certainly don't want a ending like that in this one
