That webcomic always makes me flinch a bit because honestly, the main character Jihoon gets so much focus, but the women around him are where the real drama happens. I mean, Jihoon's basically a hollow shell of anxiety and obsession, but that's by design—he's the lens we watch this messed-up family dynamic through. His mom, Yoojin, is the absolute core; she's not some passive victim but this calculated, manipulative force who built her entire identity on suffocating her son. Then there's the girlfriend, Seoyun, who starts out as a potential escape route but ends up getting tangled in the same emotional web, constantly trying to compete with a ghost of maternal love. It's her slow unraveling that really shows how toxic the situation is.
I'd argue the dad is a crucial, if quieter, key character too. His absence and passive acceptance enabled Yoojin's behavior for years, and the few times he does intervene, it's too little and way too late. He represents the societal pressure to keep up appearances that let this whole thing fester. The grandmother, Yoojin's own mom, pops in with some backstory that hints at generational trauma, which adds another layer. Honestly, the 'key' isn't just about screen time; it's about who applies the pressure in this pressure cooker. Jihoon might be the lid, but Yoojin is the heat, Seoyun is the steam trying to get out, and the dad is the faulty valve that should've released it all ages ago. I still think about that scene where Seoyun tries to make Jihoon's favorite dish and Yoojin just silently remakes it 'correctly'—that's the whole power struggle in a single, chilling moment.