Tropes I Hate Pt 1: Trauma Horniness Syndrome

You know how readers get frustrated when there's no smut. Or specifically, when the Female Lead doesn't give in to sleeping with the Male Lead.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love me some good smut. Especially when there's so much tension atmospheric and the setting feels so right.

But tell me why there are people annoyed and frustrated at the female lead, saying that she’s leading him on for not having sex with the dude who's been making her uneasy since chapter one 👁👄👁.

Like wow. God forbid a woman has boundaries.

A good example is Lee-yeon from Flowers are Bait.

So here's a rundown of the story:

Our MC, So Lee-yeon, is a tree doctor in her 30s - 30 years in the prologue and 32 years in the present timeline.

She was just minding her business in the forest at night, doing her tree doctor shit until BOOM, she witnessed a guy burying one of his victims alive. This guy is our male lead, Kwon Chae-woo, 22 years old in the prologue. 24 years in the present timeline.

So our girl Lee-yeon was scared and stepped on a twig, and obviously Chaewoo noticed. And our girl books it and calls the popo. But she gets caught by Chaewoo with those wire thingies that are used to choke people.

And right when you think she was going to meet Jesus - BOOM - Chaewoo gets hit in the head by one of his escaped victims with a rock, freeing Yeon and rendering Chaewoo unconscious.

Before Lee-yeon can process what's happening, the victim books it. Never to be seen again. Now Lee-yeon was left alone with an unconscious body, which she now had to take care of for two years.

I know what you must be thinking: Why didn’t she call an ambulance or take him to the hospital to deal with him?

You'd be correct. I also thought the same thing coz ain't no way I would WILLINGLY agree to take care of the mofo who ALMOST PUT ME ON A CNN HEADLINE.

But then we find out that Chaewoo is part of what I assume is a mafia gang. And his big bro is the boss.

We also find out that hit to the head put Chaewoo in a vegetative state/coma, and he (big bro) ain't happy about that. Lee-yeon tried to plead her case and was like: no. I didn't hit him. Someone else did it. I'm innocent.

And the big bro was like: girl I don't give a fuck if you did it or didn't do it. It makes no difference to me. Someone has to pay for what happened to my lil bro.

So big bro decides to strike a deal with Yeon. He'll look for the real culprit in exchange for her looking after and taking care of his vegetable bro, and make sure he doesn't leave when he wakes up. And obviously, she agrees.

So she takes care of Chaewoo's vegetable body in secret. Praying that he doesn't wake up.

And one fateful night, the universe decides to give Lee-yeon a big fuck yo peace and Chaewoo wakes up and attacks Lee-yeon. But he's got no memories. And in a desperate attempt to save herself, she tells him she's his wife.

Yada yada, Chaewoo falls unconscious again. A month later, after being admitted to a private doctor, the doctor confirms that Chaewoo might have developed symptoms of KLS (Kleine Levin's Syndrome) and is unsure of when Chaewoo wake up once he falls asleep. And this mofo's been asleep for 12 days. So Lee-yeonis like: HALLELUJAH. SOME PEACE.

That is, until the doctor forgot to add the small detail that one of the symptoms of KLS is hypersexuality. Then we find out the only way to wake Chaewoo up is if Lee-yeon sleeps in the same bed as him.

This manhwa already has the checklist requirements for a dark romance, along with other tropes thrown in:

✅Dark but morally grey ML who's hot, a total eye candy and is obsessively attached with the FMC.

✅Slow burn romantic tension between the FMC and ML.

✅Morally grey and complex FMC with a tragic back story and baggage (which I will get into later).

✅High emotional stakes.

✅A bit of will they won't they.

✅Spicy smut.

I get it. The chemistry and tension between Lee-yeonand Chaewoo is giving, and I am here for it. I do have my moments when I want these two to spice things up and I do have my moments where I'm like, girl come on! We all know you want to let this man hit.

But did y'all forget WHO Kwon Chaewoo was before all this?

Baby girl was unlucky enough to walk in on this guy burying people, dead and alive, and almost got herself killed by this man, but by some miracle, she managed to smack him in the face with her tree cutter before one of his victims finished him off and knocked him out into a coma.

But she gets nabbed, threatened and blackmailed by Chaewoo's brother to look after him in his vegetative state for the past two years.

Chaewoo wakes up. Has amnesia. Lee-yeon lies and tells him that they are married to save herself from potentially getting killed, and Chaewoo buys into it and becomes the biggest golden retriever that can bite if you fuck around with his "wife."

Sure, Lee-yeon does freak out when he does act like the seductive love interest he is and get into some sexily compromising positions and tries to put distance while also feeling conflicted. And the slow burn is slow burning.

BUT HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THAT THIS MAN ALMOST TURNED HER INTO A CNN MURDER HEADLINE IN THE FIRST CHAPTER? LIKE HELLO?!

People really expect her to be hot, thirsty and horny for the man who damn near could have killed her because she unwillingly became a witness to his crimes?

Nah fam. Her reactions are completely rational, normal and justified because SHE IS TRYING TO SURVIVE!

I LOVE ME SOME SMUT BUT LET'S BE REALISTIC HERE 😭