muse ✨'s manga / #friends to lovers(13)

Best friends since childhood escalate their relationship to something a little different when one catches the other jerking off.

Two guys that meet at a goukon become friends and then more, but one has a boyfriend and has to make a decision.

For a decade, Rikuro has harbored feelings for Yasutaka, but has given up on the possibility of a relationship - that is until Yasutaka admits he slept with a male coworker, which makes Rikuro both hopeful and angry. Unlike Kou's "Soredemo" (which you should read if you have not; it's my favorite!) where Onoda seriously considers a relationship out of respect for Deguchi's feelings, this is frustrating since Yasutaka is indecisive. An ultimately happy ending, but it will not be everyone's cup of tea.

Two high-school students realize their feelings are mutual. A man reconnects with his high school's idol on the set of a gay porn video.

Mark me down as a fan of Scarlet Beriko! Best friends wander into murky territory when Masayuki discovers that Kei's legs look good in pantyhose. Their mutual friend Katsumi is in a relationship with the school doctor (lookalike to the tailor in my favorite story by this same author). Scarlet has a way of drawing you into the character's emotions. Her work is wonderfully sensual and moving, and the relationships feel genuine and deep. I laughed out loud and scared the dogs when Katsumi sent a picture of sensei post-sex. Scarlet reverses the genre's stereotypes about who plays what role in the bedroom and I love it. If she ever goes team switch, I'll die.

Two men who have been friends for twenty years have become lovers and play rock-paper-scissors to see who tops.

"The distance between two boys." A guy tolerates his best friend stealing his girlfriends and finally learns it's because (wait for it) his friend is in love with him. Then they have a spat about who will top and sadly do not become team switch. Still really cute.

Ten years after his confession was brushed off as a joke, Ichika is still in love with Shuu, who only sees him as a best friend. Shuu is constantly being dumped; the only constant relationship is with Ichika. He even envisions their families' future together. But after he sees Ichika go into a hotel with a man, Shuu begins to think differently about him. A nice take on the friends-to-lovers trope. A neat surprise was that Ichika had never had penetrative sex with anyone else, so they both had a first experience with each other.

The sequel to Kirishima and Toudou's love story. They're actually affectionate in this one, but Kirishima grows concerned when a friend from Toudou's past appears and Toudou seems to be pulling away from him. Adorable, made me smile before work (and I will be late for work too).