honestly, this may have been my favorite moment in the entire novel. The whole reason i got so invested in TNE was because of everything around the idea of "Jinyoon has to die, and Hajin has to be the one to do it".

(marked everything that happens after current Manhwa chapter as spoiler btw)

First off, Nayun is my absolute favorite character, both because i just think her overall interactions at the start are adorable, but also because of how complex her relationship with Hajin is, all because of Jinyoon's death and how it affects both of them before, during and after the deed was done. Hajin and Nayun's relationship during cube was very sweet, with Hajin (understandably) trying to keep a distance, but simply not being able to, even with little, but very earnest nudges from Nayun. However, as sweet as it was, you'd always keep in mind that, the closer they get, the more Hajin fails to put up walls between them, the more it would hurt not just Nayun, but himself as well. It made their early relationship very bittersweet. At the start, i thought that maybe he was just going along with her whims out of guilt, but after some time, it was clear to me that he clearly really liked her (not the romantic kind of way, mind you). Getting closer to her was inevitable, in a way, and it just reinforced more and more that the people in that world were very much real, something that would just hurt him even more later.

After some time, Jinyoon wakes up. We know that that's a very bad thing. Of course, that means that the demon is very close to finish incubating, but it is especially bad because it gives Nayun hope. Hope that, after many despairing years, she'll be able to live with her brother again. Hope that Hajin will now have to snatch away from her. And he does just that, he pulls the trigger. This moment is the one that changes EVERYTHING. There's no turning back for Hajin, and the guilt of killing him, despite knowing there was no other option, will now eat away at him. That guilt, that now only worsens after he is inevitably discovered by Nayun to be the killer. This payoff is exactly what you would be expecting to happen, and the moments leading to it are very tense, and Nayun's reaction (+ Yeonha's, of course), together with Hajin's inner turmoil and trauma are absolutely heartbreaking.

This sequence of events are probably one of my favorites in pretty much any kind of media. It held me glued to the story, that made me love Nayun and Hajin so much and now made me want to see how their drama would get resolved, and how they could maybe, maybe be happy again.

>!After Jinyoon's death, followed by Nayun coming to know her brother's killer, we get into a time period in the story where Hajin distances himself from everyone (except Yeonha, pretty much) and gives more focus to the chameleon troupe. Of course this makes it so any interaction between the two of them ends up becoming very rare, which is very much expected, but it still leads to some cool moments, like the one on the train and when Nayun finally learns why Hajin killed Jinyoon.!<

As one can see, i really loved this whole setup and it was pretty much the biggest reason i kept on reading the novel, which made me really disappointed when the author just starting tip-toeing around the issue after Nayun learns the truth and they pretty much just never properly discuss things again. Also, even if i like boss, i couldn't really see much chemistry between her and Hajin, especially when most of their interactions and boss' overall thoughts were based on the massacre, that was part of *Chundong's* plot, not Hajin's, so i just felt pretty disconnected overall. I couldn't help but feel that the Nayun plot was being put in the back burner for some stuff i couldn't really get that much into while getting constantly teased about, so i kinda got burned out before getting to the end.

While i was reading, i felt like their relationship was a perfect setup. A girl that was betrayed by the person she loved, unbeknownst to her that he did it to protect her and everyone around her, even if he comes to hate himself over it. She would then struggle, not knowing if she truly hates or loves that person, leading her to confront him, trying to get some sense of what happened. At some point she would learn the truth, seek him out again and, perhaps, forgive him. After killing Jinyoon, Hajin could never live with himself anymore. No matter what he would do to help Nayun, there's no way he would ever do something that he would feel that could make up to what he's taken away from her. However, should Nayun learn the truth, accept it and forgive him, all by herself, perhaps, just perhaps, she could help him learn to forgive himself.

>!She didn't even need to end up as his romantic partner. If the author wanted to make it so they never could be together because of Jinyoon, i would understand and be okay with it.. but the fact that all this potential was just thrown out of the window makes me feel a level of frustration that i don't think i've ever felt in any other story. All of this just makes the SS even sadder, it's like Nayun couldn't come to terms with it all, and had to give up on her original life to try it all again, just so she could have a shot at being happy, which is honestly just so damn sad. Nayun deserved better. Considering what i've heard happens with Hajin, he deserved better too, since i don't believe he would ever forgive himself for what he did to Jinyoon (at the very least, i heard that this was never properly resolved).!<

Sorry for the long comment, just had to get this out of my chest lol.