#i may not necessarily fight to the death for self sacrificial jay headcanon

[lokislytherin]

the angel (jay), the witch (daniel), and the audacity of this bitch (gun)

Lookism (2014-) is a South Korean webtoon written and illustrated by Park Taejoon (PTJ). It revolves around Park Hyung Seok / Daniel Park, who was bullied and “an unattractive loner who wakes up in a different body” which is “tall, handsome, and cooler than ever” (Naver Webtoon) when he transfers to J High. Daniel desires to find the secret behind why he now has two bodies, and in the process of doing so, he gets involved with two key characters: Hong Jae Yeol / Jay Hong, who eventually becomes one of his closest friends; and Park Jong Gun / Gun Park, who is a major antagonist of the series. This essay will explore the extent to which Jay and Gun can be seen as character parallels of each other through investigating their similarities and differences.

First and foremost, Jay and Gun have various similarities. Most of these are explicitly shown throughout the webtoon - for example, they are both smokers, as well as trained fighters, with Jay shown using Systema and Kali Arnis, and Gun with a multitude of martial arts including Aikido, Kyokushin Karate, and Capoeira. They are also both affiliated with wealthy families and corporations, as Jay is the second son of chaebol organisation H Group’s CEO Hong Kyeong Yeong / Steve Hong and younger brother of H Group’s future heir Hong Kitae, while Gun is one of the Ten Geniuses raised by Choi Dongsoo / Charles Choi, who is the CEO of H Group’s competitor HNH Company and the hired bodyguard of Charles Choi’s daughter Crystal Choi. But this is not the extent of their similarities.

Moreover, Jay and Gun are both closely linked with Lookism’s main character, Daniel. However, their relationships with Daniel also mark the biggest difference between them: their treatment of Daniel.

In the first chapter of Daniel’s arrival at J High, Jay is shown to have some kind of interest in him compared to the rest of their class: 

The isolated panel of Jay’s parted lips proceeded by a bust-up panel of Jay (Chapter 4) juxtaposes the grouped reactions of the rest of the class. Although Jay never speaks, he is almost always one of the first individuals to come running to Daniel’s aid whenever he is in trouble in future chapters, eventually solidifying his place in Daniel’s friend circle. Daniel is also one of the only characters in the series capable of perfectly interpreting Jay’s silences. Whatever Jay’s exact interest in Daniel is has never explicitly been stated, but PTJ has implied that Jay is homosexual and harbors a crush on Daniel, claiming "큰형석을 짝사랑(?) 한다” (@/ptj.comics on instagram), which roughly translates to “I have a onesided love(?) for Big Hyung Seok”, referring to Daniel’s second body. Time and time again, Jay has shown himself to be willing to sacrifice anything and everything for Daniel, including himself.

Similar to Jay, Gun shows an interest in Daniel almost immediately after meeting him on his own, yet the way he treats Daniel is wildly different. He constantly fights Daniel or the boys in Daniel’s friend group, causing Daniel no small amount of stress and worry. Yet, after Big Daniel is kidnapped by Park Jinyoung, the original Daniel goes to Gun and asks for Gun to train him into becoming a better fighter so he doesn’t “have to solve his own problems” (Chapter 397), this is what Gun says after beating Daniel up:

In the earlier panel, Jay is drawn in bright lighting as he looks at Daniel, suggesting that Daniel brings light to Jay’s life. However, in this panel (Chapter 397: The Kidnapping of Daniel Park - 4) Gun is shown walking into the darkness while dragging Daniel’s bloodied and unconscious body behind him. This suggests that Gun is willing to destroy Daniel - both in mind and body - for his own goals, and ‘for Daniel’s sake’, providing a contrast to Jay.

In conclusion, Jay and Gun have many similarities regarding their backgrounds, but meeting Daniel brings out the self-destructive side of Jay while bringing out the destructive side of Gun at the same time. Thus, Jay and Gun can be interpreted as character parallels through careful analysis of their probably-toxic relationships with Daniel Park. 

This semi-bullshit essay was not proof-read but is dedicated to @lookismaddict​ all the same for enabling this humble writer.