beta
Doyeon's on the cover, so it makes sense that some of the story dedicated to him. but I hate how the main couple *revolves* around Doyeon.
I wish the story was balanced 50/50 between Doyeon and Daehyung x Yiyoung, or maybe even 40% Doyeon and 60% main couple.
idk how the story could be fixed to achieve that balance, but right now the characters aren't treated equally. Daeyoung and Yiyoung already have interpersonal conflicts that are worth exploring in an entire season (different perspectives on romantic relationships; work-life balance, which is literally in the title; and the need to keep their relationship hidden from outside their circle to ensure career success in a homophobic society)
Doyeon seems like his character was written just so Daehyung and Yiyoung can respond with weak, not-true-to-themselves decisions. Daehyung has an emotional outburst towards Yiyoung with no proper discussion afterwards (Yiyoung didn't mind, but it would develop their characters more if they talked about it meaningfully). Yiyoung is unnecessarily naive, putting in little effort to communicate maturely and clearly, and has zero skill to read between the lines (this is a typical writing pitfall for female leads in straight romance too).
it's hard to sympathize with Doyeon cuz he behaves like an incel: "my first love will never return my affection, so I'll do anything to ruin his romantic pursuit. if he wants a gay partner, why didn't he choose me?" do y'all understand what I mean??? if he was a woman, a lot of readers would jump his ass from Day 1 lol
TLDR: story needs to focus on the main couple. Doyeon should be fleshed out more, instead of being a plot device that can be easily replaced by other existing interpersonal conflicts
P.S. this is just a personal opinion, you are not obligated to agree with me lol