The Makeup Remover - Ch. 39

[Zmk]

Is he jealous of her skills. I don't think he hates her but definitely seems overwhelmed by their differences

 

[Windyfog]

Smh I find his situation hilarious 😂 Like, the moment he saw the photo on the wall, he panicked a little and then after “I showed it to everybody and they all said this photo was the best you made” went full on ‘f*ck it, be as it may’. I think the creepy expression was more of accepting that everything is about to go down if not already, than creating some evil plans to use our MC. If he had said the chosen photo hadn’t been taken by him the first time asked, the situation wouldn’t have escalated so much, but now that he outright lied it was his photo, he’s digging his own grave deeper. I wonder how he’s going to resolve the situation 🤔

 

[Redice]

He should have admitted that it isn't his, not jumping into the rabbit hole of lies.

 

[Zikakuto]

I’m not exactly getting the vibe that he’s a bad guy as yet. He didn’t submit the photo as his because he didn’t take it, so it shows he doesn’t steal another’s work as his own. But I wonder if he’s feeling a sense of jealousy, inferiority, or disappointment because the professor picked Yeseul’s photo over his. We won’t know until the author fleshes him out in later chapters.

Consider how Heewon and Miyoung, though antagonistic, grew into rivals rather than villains. Miyoung, initially a minor antagonist, accepted her flaws and her sense of inferiority, and so was able to be honest with herself and stepped out of the tournament.

By showing different sides to Heewon, we see that though she’s prideful, she’s also fair, generous, and has a clumsy side. She’s also got her own set of insecurities.

Also want to point out the insightful comment by @Dess 👍✌️

 

[lerrein]

I think, he's indeed jealous of the mc's talent and also is insecure about himself. She's a junior, she leart less, but have some innate quality that allows her to see and capture the moment perfectly. He's older and more experienced, but still can't hold up against this.
It's also very scary to find a person, who can capture perfectly everything that you're hiding. He's trying to live up to the kind flawless persona, but in reality he sure isn't flawless.

I won't say he's bad for now—I think the author is purposely trying to make all the characters flawed and imperfect. But he gives me Yoo Jung from 'Cheese in the Trap' vibes. I really like this kind of morally gray characters, so I hope the author will give him justice without turning him into the main asshole 🙏

 

[SGR]

People here in the comments say it's a heel-turn for the nice guy. I don't buy that interpretation.
The context is that it's a guest exhibition within the professor's exhibition and the "nice guy" was already picked as the photographer to guest. There were a few photos that the MC made in that session. Here the professor sings praises to one of those photos and with the phrasing "you should have tried this earlier"... GUT-PUNCH CRITICISM.

The professor doesn't realize this of course, but the "nice guy" clearly heard it: "You suck. You're a failure. You have skill, but no talent." The eyes go empty, the response is automatic, the mind goes blank. This is not a heel-turn - this is the realization. Remember he originally mentioned that "someone helped him with the photos that he would like to introduce to the professor". Now the professor doesn't need to remember this and in this very moment when the "nice guy" gets slammed with the most painful of criticisms - he also blanks out.

From this the likely outcome is that the "nice guy" will start feeling resentful towards the MC and potentially would grow distant and cold, BUT I don't think he will do the standard heel-turn of suddenly going cartoon-villain style and start actively sabotaging her. This manga goes quite deep into issues of disenfranchisement and self-esteem, so we will have another interesting emotional hurdle to jump over for the MC - AND for the "nice guy" too - cause he'll have to accept his photography skills being on sidekick level compared to the MC's talent and that is not something easy to accept.

 

[hamdepaf]

@SGR Agreed, thought the same. I think people Villainize characters that dislike the MC too fast.

 

[Moonstone73]

i do agree with the fact that he’s not a bad person, but the whole credit taking thing just rubs me wrong

 

[Therolyte]

I sort of feel like maybe rather than jealousy he just doesn't want anyone to find out about her? He seems like the monopolizing type. Like the way he fended off those guys silently. If they find out she took the picture, she'll get more attention. More people will be interested. He doesn't want that.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[Nixnaw]

He stole her work, for any creator that is unforgivable.
I'm getting Yandere vibes on how he feels about her. Run!

 

[suchtla]

Oh no.... Well it's not like he can steal her talent.

At first I was wondering why he offered her the (poisoned) apple in the title art(?), but that explains it.

 

[charybdis]

This makes me think about how many famous male writers actually take credit for and publish the work of their wives. For instance Tolstoy.

Many of them loved their wives dearly but in the end, their artistic ego had more value to them.

 

[exxp]

Sigh

 

[zastanna]

isnt she going to find out since she is also going to talk to this teacher???

 

[hunnybunchsugarplum]

this mf-

 

[hazukieru]

Well, now you know why she captured you in that position orz

 

[Roiya]

Looking at the raws

Spoiler

he seems to get his comeuppance in ch 100 when she calls him out on the picture she took showing that in his eyes you can see the reflection of her taking the photo. He then seems remorseful and cries in the next few chapters but she's not ha ING any of it. I can't tell if he also had a thing for her or not since I can't read Korean but he seemed hella sad she dislikes him after what happened.

 

[nobodygattaknow]

I dont care if he was regretful

 

[Pandoot]

@comeonnow Sorry if it wasn't clear, I'm not really sure how else to explain it but Yoo Jung(ml) from Cheese in the Trap was the first example I could think of. The majority of the students perceive Jung to be the smart, nice, and rich dude. However, very quickly you learn that there's something off about him through the mc's perspective

Spoiler

but it was allll just a big whole mess of misunderstandings. Well sorta. The guy had some issues and I'd say he's changed, twas mostly cuz of his past he became the way he was.

The webtoon has over 300 chapters and there was a k drama so if you have time I'd recommend!
What I'm saying ig is that maybe he found it easier to lie and pretend to be friendly rather then showing his true emotions, making him surprised/confused how the fl is able to capture a different side to him that he's believed to have hidden perfectly or maybe a darker side to him he hadn't realized existed

 

[marrrshmelo]

Omg he’s using her 😒 throw him away gurlll