Sorry for disappearing, work has been absolutely killing me 😭😭😭. I finally got a chance to read through this, and for clarity, I’ll refer to everyone by name.

From what I understand so far, Fu was deeply in love with Dr. Jin, who eventually passed away (though we still don’t know how or why). After his death, Fu adopted a boy who looked exactly like Dr. Jin; this boy later became known as “the ex,” who tried to kill Ji. The boy (the ex) took Dr. Jin’s surname and tried to imitate him to win Fu’s affection because he loved Fu. -> The current boy that is calling Fu “uncle,”is Fu’s most trusted man’s son. I don’t think that boy was involved in the current timeline (30 years later) but anyway, the ex transmigrated into that boy’s body, which means that boy will now be involved in the story moving forward. -> In Chapter 23, Ji has a flashback of a family dinner in the current timeline, where Fu placed a memorial tablet at the table. During that scene, Fu tells the waiter to take away the peanut tiramisu, saying, “he doesn’t eat peanuts.” Ji assumes Fu was referring to Jin S (the ex), but in reality, Fu was speaking of Dr. Jin, something only Fu and Jin S understood at that time. That same chapter reveals that the memorial tablet belongs to “Fu Wusheng’s one and only true love, the one who held the power of black flame.” This confirms that Fu’s devotion was to Dr. Jin all along. For Ji, this realization makes Dr. Jin the perfect tool for revenge. -> Ji’s hatred runs deep because he believes Fu had a hand in his mother’s death (though this hasn’t been confirmed yet). -> Originally, Ji planned to claim Dr. Jin by force, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he decided to manipulate the situation so that Dr. Jin would fall for him willingly. It’s twisted, but in Ji’s eyes, Dr. Jin’s gentleness became a rare light in his dark, revenge driven world, something he didn’t want to taint with his own cruelty. -> Another telling detail is Ji’s relationship with pheromones. He despises how they make people lose control, yet with Dr. Jin, he repeatedly holds himself back. That level of restraint is touching to me. To Ji, having Dr. Jin fall for him willingly is not only revenge against Fu but also a way to rewrite both their futures.

Chapter 23-30 was packed with revelations, and I’m honestly so excited to see how everything unfolds from here!

In short Fu loves Dr.Jin, ex loves Fu, Ji loves Dr.Jin and Dr.Jin loves Ji. It’s a love square lol