Yours to Claim
bro, the smut is RIDICULOUSLY hot!!! overall, jooin’s remained ‘consistently cute’. well, mostly. annoying and somewhat clingy (?), but cute nonetheless. weirdly enough, i quite liked yahwi from the start, though—despite him being an inconsiderate jerk, aloof and overall toxic af for the longest time. (i’m weak to emotionally unavailable men, i suppose.) on the other hand, i didn't like cain at all in the beginning. i found him low-key creepy-clingy rather than sweetly clingy, and waaaay too excessive when it comes to displaying his sudden affection… well, way back in the day, that is. as it so happens, i’ve changed my mind since then! i actually quite like the guy these days. he’s understanding and kind and super considerate towards jooin—which i suppose are among some of the more important aspects of any relationship. i just don’t like unnecessary drama, ugh… but what can one really expect for a story like this? lol. but, you know… i started reading this manhwa two years ago, and honestly, i definitely wasn’t one for love triangles back then. however, i’d like to think that i’ve grown a little since 2021, and i finally picked this up after 1,5 years of indulging in… other things. i’m definitely relieved that i held off for so long, though! i suspect i probably wouldn’t have continued reading this back then if i’d chosen to keep going; especially knowing how dead-set i was on yahwi and jooin being together. …but anyway. as i’m nearing chapter 70 and yahwi’s FINALLY started to (somewhat) figure himself out emotionally, jooin is the one who pisses me off the most at this point in time. what a hypocrite, my god… yahwi can’t communicate, he says? i get that, but HE’S refusing to see things from yahwi’s perspective, too! he’s not even attempting to!!! yahwi probably suffers from alexithymia (emotional blindness) without realizing it. as someone who has it herself, his tells are pretty obvious. therefore, i’d like to think that his poor ways of expressing himself emotionally—as well as understanding his own feelings and thought-processes—wouldn't exactly be his fault. with that being said: how can jooin expect yahwi to read his mind flawlessly when he can’t seem to understand him, either…? jooin’s already aware of the fact that he's not on the same page as yahwi, man… at least yahwi’s been sincerely trying his best for a good while now. meanwhile, jooin has these IMPOSSIBLE expectations for someone who obviously doesn’t realize what the real problem is… and he won’t understand it unless he’s directly informed about what said issues are!!! he can’t read anyone’s mind. something that frustrates me a lot is this: how come jooin can be so straightforward with cain—who, by the way, doesn’t even seem to need it considering he can clearly read jooin well enough by now either way—but you can’t be straightforward with yahwi; the one who actually NEEDS all the clarity and bluntness the can get? it’s so goddamn ironic i could cry. and even as jooin’s breaking up with yahwi, the latter STILL doesn’t know what the actual problems are. not only that, but jooin’s also insulting him to his face and purposely hurting him in the process. fuck me, yahwi’s completely fucking clueless, man!!! i get that you’re truly hurt, jooin, but you’re not exactly doing your best to salvage the situation you’re in. you’re not even trying—you’re simply judging him; making clueless assumptions about his feelings and emotional state, which you’re obviously unqualified to make. honestly, you deserved that fucking slap, homeboy… (i’m anti-violence, but he had that one coming.) you actively try to provoke him, expect him to get angry with you, and then you get upset because he did exactly what you wAnTeD him to do??? give me a fucking break and stop playing the victim here. you’re not the only one suffering. it takes two to fucking tango. yahwi did wrong by hitting you, undoubtedly, but you’re not any better yourself. don’t get me wrong, though—i’m not saying that yahwi’s always been the one in the right (he hasn’t), or that turning to violence is ever a proactive solution (it’s not.) however, it’s obvious that our two main characters both have major issues and very little self-insight. the way i see it, yahwi’s done a lot of hurtful things, but he wasn’t really ‘intending’ to, was he? well, most of the time, at least. what he needs is proper guidance and straightforwardness in order to ever build himself a solid foundation. he needs time and patience if he’s ever going to learn how to form proper relationships. (yahwi thinks he’s already good at that, by the way. WHICH. HE. ISN’T. that’s the problem.) honestly, at this point, i hope yahwi finds someone else who’s at least (somewhat) understanding about his emotional blindness, blissful ignorance and commitment issues. it’s not his fault that he can’t read minds and do things exactly the exact way you expect him to. and i know i’ve stated this a hundred times already, but the poor guy seriously doesn’t even realize the predicament he’s in, man… i genuinely feel for him, and i get it. 100%. either way, from my perspective (and based on the fact that i’m now fully caught up), jooin’s the more selfish, entitled, immature one out of those two at this point in time. it’s almost as if he’s slowly and intentionally) beginning to turn into a vindictive asshole towards go yahwi. (then we’ll have two, yay!) however much i happen to understand jooin’s frustrations, i relate much more to yahwi’s. i despise it whenever people blame everything on one party and avoids all responsibility—which, in this case, would make kitty sunbae the sole villain with no possible redemption arc. it’s what ticks me off the most, really. simply put, they just shouldn’t be together. i suppose they both deserve better, honestly. …aaaand that was a long ass rant, by the way, but who fucking cares at this point? lol. yahwi deserves his own happiness, too—which i truly hope he’ll find sometime, and i’m pretty sure jooin would be able to stay happy with cain… if they do choose to get together in the end, that is. at this point, i truly have no clue what to expect. it could go either way… jooin and cain seem to have a lot less communication issues as of right now. but hey, like i’ve said a billion times already: i sincerity hope that kitty sunbae finds someone who’ll come to love and appreciate him for who he is; someone who’ll embrace him, all of him, despite his flaws—including his ‘social difficulties’, so to speak. those are all things he can work on and improve with time! (speaking from experience on this one.) yahwi should be in therapy already, ugh. but hey, all in all, it’s been a pretty damn great story thus far! i guess that’s why i’m getting so easily worked up, lol. it’s relatable as hell. i wish these guys the best… i just want them all to be happy, the whole lot. that’d be good enough for me. i suppose we’ll see! edit: man, things are fluctuating like craaazy right now. (ↁ_ↁ) yahwi’s finally realized some things about himself and he’s making honest attempts to explain his point of view to a clueless jooin. jooin’s struggling with these new developments; not knowing how to deal with yahwi’s sudden change in behavior and cain’s inability to be completely upfront with him. cain left temporarily to take care of a ‘family matter’, only to end up being stuck with said family who’s now properly convinced he’s crazy for saying he wants to go back to SK and be with his ‘owner’ from a past life. (understandably so.) man, i have no idea how this’ll end… send help. edit #2: we went from sexy mess to full-on emotional distress throughout this journey... i’m absolute IN LOVE with this plot development, omfg. it feels like we’re nearing the ending now, but i genuinely hope we’ll get some more yahwi + jooin lovey-dovet content before the story’s wholly wrapped up. these past couple of chapters have been resonating with me like CRAAAAZY. i can’t wait for next week to arrive! edit #3: every recent chapter has been a literal knockout. i have a feeling we’re on the last pages now, but wow… the artists are really doing this story justice. these past ten-ish chapters have been so meaningful and beautifully narrated that it almost feels like a different story altogether. don’t get me wrong, it’s always been an amazing reading experience, but never to THIS degree. it’s being wrapped up so nicely, and it’s been quite a long time since i genuinely felt a sense of closure when nearing the end of a fictional journey… and we’re not even at the end yet!!! man, i’m so happy right now. i applaud all of those involved in creating this masterpiece of a manhwa. whenever and however the final chapter is eventually released, i can tell for sure that there’ll be no plot holes or unanswered questions left. perfect closure. i’m so, so unbelievably impressed by the author’s ability to incorporate emotions into visual writing—thus allowing us readers to experience such an array of joys and sorrows in a way that isn’t that commonly experienced within this genre of manhwa. outstanding work, truly!
Blood Link
…why the hell hadn’t i marked this as complete yet? c’: anyway, it’s great!!!
Aporia
ridiculously hot. fucking HELL, man... god. in any case, i absolutely LOVED being able to witness them slowly build up their trust in each other, as well as seeing their relationship steadily grow into something healthy and genuine. (well, i’m comparison to their beginning, at least. they went from semi-toxic mess to a strangely-nice mess. haha) but shieeet, i’m so happyyyy!!! just look at how far they've come! and that breath control aspect, too?! ughhh, that chapter nearly killed me. my babieeees, i love them. this has been such a joy to read. <33 or perhaps ‘thrill’ would be a much more fitting term, knowing the ‘theme’ and overall atmosphere of this manhwa… hah, i don’t even know. great storytelling nonetheless! P.S. i would’ve loved to write a more ‘worthy’ final review for this story than this lacking piece of… literary trash (???), but oh well. my mind’s blanking again, and i’m kinda struggling to conjure up something… coherent. something that’d properly sum up this whole reading experience. i’ll definitely reread it someday, though—mark my words!!! whichever way you look at it, this is a beautifully complex story with perfectly flawed, realistic characters. (with their hot, engaging BDSM sex-life being the cherry on top, heh.) definitely a favorite, no doubt! P.P.S. can’t wait for the epilogue chapter, ahhhh!!! i’m not quite ready to say goodbye to these folks just yet, goddammit.
Sweet As Hell
ughhh. i’m a little vexed, not gonna lie. don’t get me wrong, i DID enjoy this… the smut is SO. FUCKING. HOT, i was constantly turned on, and their chemistry and overall dynamic was nice… but did he really have to rape him that one time?? kinda fucked things up for me. and even though neither of them seemed to think of it as actual rape in the first place (more like a little weird and unexpected), it’s still off-putting knowing that he had sex with him while he was asleep—WITHOUT. CONSENT. it’s even more off-putting knowing that he’d already passed out the night before from having too much sex in the first place!!! looking back now, it probably wasn’t that big of an issue for those two as i’m making it right now, but ughhh. most other couples would’ve had serious problems with trust issues after an ordeal like that. oh, and before we move on for that subject, let’s not forget the fact that eui-hyun was purposefully trying to NOT wake him up during said sex as well?? because he figured he’d be too tired and worn out to say yes??? meaning he obviously KNEW he’d crossed the line before even doing anything since he was worried he’d get angry???? ughhh, what a dick move. all these moral dilemmas!!! i’m actually kinda surprised how bothered i was by this. i mean, these statements originate from someone with supposedly ‘immoral’ tastes; someone who has a lot of dark and twisted sexual fantasies. (i get off on domination—and, on occasion, moral ambiguities.) so, in another context, it’s possible i wouldn’t have minded what he did. but this?? nah, fam. not cool with me at all. BOUNDARIES!!! i mean, it’s one thing if he’d made it clear beforehand that he wouldn’t mind if choi eui-hyun were to do that to him while he was asleep or whatever—where’d it’d be to ‘wake him up’ or for his own pleasure. (knowing jung min and his personality, he quite possibly wouldn’t have had an issue with it—as long as it’s on his terms.) but ughhh, still!!! brooo, i’m so ticked off. so, with that being said: please ask for (and receive) permission from your partners before doing such despicable things, yeah? it’s called respect. just don’t fuck your partners without their fucking consent. oh, or even better yet!!! DON’T. BE. A. DISRESPECTFUL. FUCKING. DOUCHEBAG. ^^ anyway. that’s really the one thing i didn’t like about this manhwa. (i’m going to lower it to a 4/5 star rating instead of 5/5 because of it.) i’m pretty much okay with everything else that’s been going on between the two... i’m not personally into role-playing and such, but it’s always fun witnessing it being enjoyed elsewhere. honestly, i’m just content knowing that things seemed to be working out for them in the end, and that the ‘minor’ incident didn’t strain their relationship at all as much as i thought it would. by the time we’d reached the end of the story, a couple of weeks had already passed since those ‘morally corruptive’ chapters were published, and they really smoothed over the whole ordeal quickly, lol. our couple (kinda?) talked it over and then they just… moved on, i guess. no point stressing over something that doesn’t stress out those directly affected. and if the characters directly involved could move on without any worries, so can i! it’s their (fictional) lives, after all. so, naturally, other than that ONE specific part of this otherwise nice-and-kinky-but-occasionally-emotionally-dull-romance, i actually quite enjoyed the story! i’m not at all hard to please when it comes to books and literature in general, and i suppose a lot of people might call me a generous reviewer—but hey, it is what it is! i liked it. might even reread it someday! who knows? so, in conclusion, i MOSTLY enjoyed it. it was a fun read, and they both seemed genuinely happy by the end of the day, and that’s more than good enough for me. :)
Seventh Strike
the story’s finally completed, y’all!! i’ve thoroughly been enjoying myself here. although the story somewhat weirded me out at first, it quickly morphed into wholesomeness, to be honest with you. and a lot sooner than i expected it to at that! still, i must admit that the ending felt a little rushed—some might even use the word ‘incomplete’—but it wasn’t a bad ending at all. i liked it! if the author were to publish another story, i'll definitely be there to check it out!
When The Yakuza Falls Inlove
well, i didn’t really mind reading it, but it’s kinda boring. 60+ chapters and i’m still uncertain about the general plot or what the characters are striving for… even as we’ve reached the end of the road, so there’s that. it all simply feels… flat, pretty much. no real development or anything, just decently graphic sex and some endearing parent-child moments. that’s about it. well, i DID choose to stick around nonetheless… it’s not like it’s a terrible story; just not very artistically creative or particularly noteworthy. didn’t really see the point in dropping it since i was kinda indifferent throughout the whole thing, so… made no real difference to me, heh. (i LITERALLY didn’t mind it, lol.)
It's Not Like That (Gangto)
Wholesome as hell, lol. It was ridiculously awkward back in the day, too… I remember having quiiite a few anxiety attacks caused by all the second hand embarrassment, haha. Still, I’m low-key a masochist, so things like that keep me engaged and committed for sure. The story ended up being somewhat shorter than I’d originally hoped for, but that’s alright! It was a fair conclusion nonetheless. I’ll be looking forward to the upcoming side stories, though! I have no idea what these few bonus chapters will be about, bull it’ll be nice either way.
Cherry Blossoms After Winter