This seems hugely underrated IMO, people are missing out.The writing is beautiful, and it felt very real. The MCs are good people but not perfect. They don’t immediately fall in love and move in together three days after meeting. They’re important to each other but they’re also adults with their own lives and dreams. They support each other but can’t fix each other’s problems. The main angst point hurt and was frustrating, but I also understood it. It’s uncensored but feels intimate rather than smutty, and there are ZERO consent issues. Bonus points for both MCs being established gay men - none of that “I don’t like guys but it’s okay if it’s you” bs. And god Seung-woo slapping that piece of shit and calling him a homophobe in front of a bar full of people was so fucking satisfying.
One of my favorites. The art is great, the plot is fun, there’s no huge drama. Se-eun is an adorable little pervert, and Jeongwoo is the definition of a puppy seme (while also being HOT AS FUCK, that cosplay robe??). As with 99% of of BL, I do wish he’d listen slightly better during sex, but you can definitely tell they’re both into it. I really want Gyusik to get his own spin-off, he and his goat son are precious and his story would be so fun.
This was actually pretty toxic. I was surprised since everyone says it's so healthy, because I low key felt like I was watching sweet baby Jun get into an abusive relationship. Calling Yoonseul a green flag is fucking WILD. He's awful and Jun deserved so much better.
Yoonseul is an aggressively manipulative asshole who gaslights his partner and only cares about his own pleasure. The first season is cute-ish, I guess, but tbh in my notes I started calling Yoonseul trash in chapter 7 and never stopped. I think it's obvious that he starts out as an asshole, but is he actually supposed to get better? Because people gush about the character development and I just don't see it. Even once you get to the chasing arc, he's still a self-centered narcissist who doesn’t actually want Jun to be happy if it’s not with him.
What finally made me drop it was their first time having sex - it was really upsetting tbh. After cornering Jun into penetrative sex despite knowing he was still nervous about it, Yooneul proceeds to be so aggressuve it almost seemed violent, completely ignoring everything Jun says and just jackhammering on and on despite the fact that Jun is CLEARLY not enjoying it. Having a character think “is it finally over” is NOT HOT or cute or wholesome. It makes me really fucking sad.
I totally agree. I came back to see if there was a psychological tag because it seemed like it was getting dark and rape-y. I don’t understand why so many BL stories and fans are cool with non-consent.
God it should have a psychological tag I see a lot of people brushing it off (especially if it's a dubious consent situation) as just a part of the genre but IMO that only perpetuates the problem. I can overlook a kiss or even drunk sex if both parties are intoxicated for the sake of a good story, but I can't turn my brain off enough to enjoy stuff like this.
It's frustrating because there are some stories I've genuinely really liked but they still have sex scenes that make me uncomfortable. I make notes for myself to skip those chapters if I want to re-read it, but it still keeps me from wholeheartedly recommending them. The most recent one was Tears by Day, Love by Night / Don't Cry Sunbae - the ML is actually amazing IF I ignore the first two sex scenes. Which just makes it feel super out of character.
Idk man, I might be the only person on earth who didn't like this. I gave it a shot because it's universally praised, but dropped it about halfway through. I feel like I was reading a different story or something, because I was promised a green flag top and smut with no consent issues and I personally don't feel like that was the case. The sex scenes really ruined it for me - they made me super uncomfortable and tbh I really don't understand why everyone likes Gunwoo so much. He's not all bad but I will never call a guy who tells his partner to "quit whining" and "tough it out" when they're in pain and ignores them literally saying "please get off, let me go, I want to go home" a green flag. The one time Eui Joon turned down sex because he was so sore Gunwoo's thought process was "would it kill the brat to do it once?" Not cute.
True! It does have consent issues. The BL community tends to hype up anyone who's not a horrible human being as a 'green flag' even if they're a rapist
im also nearly half way and honestly agreed. green flag? like where babes, where? how low are the standards green. on top of that this ahjussi is so bland. he honestly feels like a real ahjussi; you know the type that actually act their age and 20 something years old can't relate to? yep that's them. the author has done fantastic job at portraying what dating someone way older than you looks like. bland and very different. this is what dating someone at a different life stage from you looks like. idk if it will get better but ill see it thru
Though it out
From someone who has read many BL with a green flag top, that is nowhere near green flag. A green flag seme would never say any of that shit to the uke, how the fuck is "would it kill the brat to do it once" a green flag?! You got to be fucking kidding me, really?! The top may not be a bad person, but he's definitely not a green flag. These people don't even know what a green flag top/seme looks like, 9.7 rating my ass. Nah, fuck their comments. I agree with you
This is a really lovely little story - absolutely gorgeous art and some really beautiful writing. Their relationship is sweet and natural and they communicate like they’ve both had therapy.
It's very unbalanced plot-wise though. The majority of time was spent on Sunwoo’s story, and by the time we started to get into Youngwon’s background, it was over. I wouldn’t want to condense Sunwoo’s part, so instead I feel like it needed another 10-15 chapters to give Youngwon’s experience a satisfying amount of coverage. We don’t ever even find out what happened to make him quit swimming - we just get some cryptic flashbacks. Considering that their respective histories are part of why they understand each other so well, it just seems like an odd choice to leave his side unexplored. It would’ve been really nice to see Sunwoo be the one encouraging Youngwon as he tried to reconnect with that part of himself.
The whole thing with Sunwoo staying back a year seemed way overblown IMO. Lying about it was shitty and the wrong way to go, I would definitely be mad about that, but his motivation was just to stay with his friends and I don't think that's a bad thing if it's what's important to him. Taking it as some kind of superiority thing or mocking their hard work says way more about his friends than it does about him.