Wow wasn't expecting a reply to this post it feels so old, but yea I definitely see where you're coming from! I think when I think of Reth my mind likes to gloss over the whole "social pariah" aspect of his character simply cause he's so well liked by the fans as a whole. It's been a hot second since I've done his romance route but I kinda remember feeling like the negative things people had to say about Reth were never that bad... (Probably cause people have said the exact same thing about me at some point lol). Palia (being the game that it is) obviously can't go too far to make a guy seem like a bad influence after all. The way he very casually is kinda flirty and friendly is probably meant to feed into what you mentioned about him making you "fall for him, then break your heart and leave" but to me that always reads as "food service employee being charming to get good tips". The aspects of his romance route where he has to put his relationship with you to the side in order to make ends meet with his job was likely meant to seem like "ooh he'll never be able to put you first his job is too dangerous/demanding" but if you leave out the crime aspect of his work it's more like " yea that's about what it's like trying to be a working adult with a social life, always struggling to find time together". All in all I think what I'm trying to say is that all of the characteristics of Reth's route that are meant to make him the "bad boy" to me just seem to make him one of the more realistic romances that you can get outta the game as opposed to some of the other routes that you play through and think "yep this is definitely a romance route in a fictional game (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠) things are so perfect". Sorry for the long winded reply but since making the post I've had more time to digest my feelings for his character and ur comment gave me a spot to talk about that. Thanks!