muse ✨'s manga / #neighbors(11)

A chemistry teacher, Jinno, moves into the apartment next to a former student who had often talked to him after school and once said he liked him. Jinno asks him to have dinner so they can catch up, and since they both live alone and Morimoto enjoys cooking, he suggests they eat together sometimes. Their relationship grows sweetly domestic: they have dinner and sometimes lunch together, help each other with household tasks, and go clothes shopping. Jinno likens their relationship to dating and has no fear of that, slowly becoming aware of his own feelings and attraction, which he suspects are mutual. There is no relationship drama in this. Jinno works up the courage to ask Morimoto out and realizes that Morimoto had actually confessed to him in high school. They start dating and get a happy ending. A nice read on a sad day.

Every morning, a man notices another man on the train and one day meets his eyes. A short whirlwind love affair.

I almost dropped this after the first story because the pace was so quick, but this was a cute selection of oneshots. The story about the helpless office worker and his neighbor, who helps him learn to take care of himself, was my favorite. It had the best pacing. The others...not so much.

After he's caught having sex with his neighbor's wife, a man feels guilt when he learns of their divorce and that his neighbor has quit his job due to trauma. (Fun twists, it's not what it seems.) A young man hopelessly in love with his straight best friend meets a gentle, older man who turns out to be a doctor.

Several years after they broke up, Oikawa steps onto his apartment balcony and realizes he and Iwaizumi are neighbors.

A series of one-shots featuring super hot characters, especially the last two.

A lonely office worker boldly asks to pet his next-door-neighbor's cat. After seeing how happy it makes him, the neighbor - a work-from-home designer - gives him a standing invitation. Marked as incomplete, but this is a full story! Maybe there is a missing extra. I feel cleansed after reading this.

I didn't give up on this, so I'll give it a three, and I like that the main character was able to remain friends with the person he's been in love with for years, even though he's found someone else.