kyouran's manga / #Unrequited love(131)

Related stories: Aiteru Door kara Shitsurei Shimasu yo (Side Story) Arienai Futari (Spin-Off)

Minjae accidentally catches Hyengjo masturbating to a sleeping Jinhan whom is an assistant professor and Hyeongjo’s childhood friend, whom has harbored an unrequited love for Jinhan since they were children. Unfortunately for Minjae, the event earns him Hyengjo’s enmity and from that moment on Minjae becomes the recipient of Hyengjo’s constant bullying. This is a variation of the popular “Bully falls in love” trope where a sexual attraction that already exists between the two protagonists (or gradually develops) turns into love.

This manga is composed of multiple stories whose central theme is unrequired love within complex love triangles, exploring some of the dark aspects of love and how it can twist (and/or be twisted by) human nature. The main triangle story is about two middle aged college professors (Yashiro and Okuzono) whom have been in love with each other since high school, but unable to confront and admit their feelings honestly to one another, have been playing a twisted “cat and mouse” game, where Okuzono pursues and steals all the people Yashiro gets involved with, and Yashiro in turn, only gets involved with people for the sole purpose of providing Okuzono the opportunity to steal them from him, all with the purpose of maintaining a psychological/emotional connection between the two. The dynamics of their relationship changes when a young detective, Utsugi, comes into the picture. Utsugi met Okuzono when he was younger and fell in love with him but was rejected, and has been carrying with the painful feelings of his unrequited love for 10 years. Through pure chance Utsugi is hired by Yashiro to investigate the affair between his current wife (whom he ends up divorcing) and Okuzono. It doesn’t take long for Utsugi to recognize the twisted nature of Yashiro’s and Okuzono’s relationship, and driven by his own feelings for Okuzono, becomes a new player in their old game, changing the dynamics of their relationship, establishing a complex triangle where all three end up having feelings for each other, where the old game played by Yashiro and Okuzono was replaced by a new one which now included Utsugi. At first I was a little thrown off by the age gap between Utsugi and Yashiro/Oksuzono, and was skeptical I would enjoy it or find anything “sexy” about the story; however, I’m glad I pushed on despite my doubts because the emotional complexity of both Yashiro’s and Okuzono’s characters were realistic, interesting and elicited empathy; I couldn’t tear my eyes away and it kept my curiosity engaged as I wanted to desperately know what would happen next and if there would be any type of satisfactory resolution for all three characters. Despite my doubts regarding the age gap, the sexual depictions between young Utsugi and middle aged Yashiro and Okzuzono turned out to be extremely hot as they were gorgeously drawn, especially Okuzono; so for those that might have the same apprehension as I did, I would urge you to put your fears to the side and give the manga a chance as I feel confident you will find it as compelling as I did. The rest of the separate stories vary in their pathos; however, the last story, also about a love triangle, was especially poignant and had me gushing in tears. In conclusion, this unassuming manga turned out to be for me a real surprise and I consider it to be one of those yaoi mangas that transcends its genre. I wholeheartedly recommend it. This is a solid one from Psyche Delico!