I Love This Official Comic, But What Really Gets Me—aside From The Fact That Young Ivan Is Incredibly

I love this official comic, but what really gets me—aside from the fact that young Ivan is incredibly wild as always (damn, I love him and want to dissect his brain)—is that in this scene, I don’t even think Ivan is deliberately teasing or mocking Till. It feels like he’s just making an observation, but it comes across as brutally honest. After all, Ivan doesn’t really grasp social norms or emotions. He has to watch other kids to figure out how to act (or at least how he interprets things). So maybe Ivan was just saying something like, “I mean, yeah, you don’t have any friend, so by your definition, you’re a loser, right?” I guess for Ivan, it probably doesn’t even cross his mind that Till might feel any kind of affection for him, even just as a friend, right? But Ivan is so often wrong about Till’s emotions—Till actually cares about Ivan deeply. There’s this deep love-hate attachment there, but it’s still a deep attachment. Ivan just doesn’t understand that and assumes he’s unloved - Till don't love him - but that's not true. Similarly, Till doesn’t fully grasp the intense and deep affection and love Ivan has for him either. Naturally, that harsh observation hits Till hard. Till feels disappointed and hurt. Not necessarily because Ivan called him a “loser,” but more because... he’s not completely friendless. Ivan has been his friend forever—his first friend, i think. So of course, Till feels hurt and probably thinks, “But you’re my friend?? Why are you rejecting me again?”

And under the weight of his emotions, he impulsively hits Ivan before storming off. Ivan looks surprised, maybe confused, as if he doesn’t understand why Till reacted that way.

Really, they’re such a mess, and their miscommunication only makes everything worse.