« La pénombre est son alliée mais aussi son ennemie »

« La pénombre est son alliée mais aussi son ennemie » captures how darkness serves Jungkook both as refuge and as a setting for danger. At Ares Garden, he welcomes the night as a place where he can unleash the violence he keeps inside; later, its cover also allows him to collapse and cry. The phrase’s tension becomes clearer beside Shelby’s experience: darkness does not protect her, but presses her toward the fears and memories she wants to escape.

Darkness as Jungkook’s refuge

On the night of September 7, Jungkook enters the underground fights at Ares Garden, where he is presented as the venue’s emblem and fights until his opponent is unconscious. Darkness is his element and hiding place, a time when he can be whoever he wants. The narrative associates it with his unfeeling public face and with the beast he releases in the ring. As he wraps his hands, his inner demons seem to sit on his shoulders; the night makes room for the violence, but does not separate him from it.

The contradiction continues after the fight. Jungkook showers, tending to his sore knuckles, and thinks about how he could have killed the opponent who used racist stereotypes during the bout. He had been restrained and held back, knowing that resisting could bring a sanction. The darkness surrounding his boxing persona thus shelters an anger that remains perilously close to action, even when he does manage to stop himself.

A shelter for vulnerability

In a later scene at Ares Garden, Jungkook responds to a familiar face by retreating to the training room. He wraps his hands and puts on gloves, then strikes the punching bag harder as his rage builds. His shouts become a sustained release; finally, he presses his forehead to the bag, cries, drops to his knees, and lies on the floor looking at the ceiling. Darkness hides this moment of weakness and lets the tears fall, even as Jungkook dislikes crying. The refuge is real, but it is also a means of shutting himself away.

Shelby’s opposing experience

For Shelby, darkness offers no such cover. It makes her feel oppressed and watched, forcing her to face fears and memories she would rather banish, though she knows they cannot simply be erased. During her insomnia, she lies looking at her bedroom’s white ceiling, fidgeting with the fabric of her T-shirt. Her anxiety and sense of oppression persist; Sunmi offers comfort and support, while Dorcas and Cassiopée are friendly, though Shelby does not stay by their sides.

The contrast keeps the expression from becoming a simple emblem of darkness as either safety or threat. For Jungkook, it conceals vulnerability while accompanying the violence he unleashes; for Shelby, it intensifies exposure to distressing recollections. In both cases, darkness changes how each character endures what is already within them, but it does not resolve it.