muse ✨'s manga / #unrequited love(80)

After his heart is broken by the school nurse, a boy falls in love with his openly gay classmate. Moves quickly but interesting. Surprisingly happy ending.

Prequel to Twittering Birds

Two stories: twenty years after a horrible breakup, two men reunite as coworkers A man being stalked since his rape years earlier has grown fascinated with his attacker

Unemployed and unable to find a job, Misumi drowns his feelings in sake and a one-night-stand with a handsome stranger he knows he'll never see again--only to encounter him at a soba restaurant a few weeks later. Sei gives Misumi a job as sake master in his restaurant and allows him to live above the restaurant with him. Their physical relationship resumes but Misumi, who has been burned by straight men before, is reluctant to grow closer to him and pushes down his feelings until someone from his past surfaces. A+ for slow build, good pacing, FABULOUS work details. Sometimes you know an author has no real idea of the industry where a character works, but that is not the case here. I don't know anything about sake but appreciated the little bits of information in this manga. This is definitely a story I will re-read! My only complaint is I would've loved a bit more of them together in the final chapter. ETA: There was a short 12th chapter added later, where they get to be a bit lovey and intimate!

After ten years apart, Yuuito and Shougo meet by chance and begin dating, but their happiness is tempered by the memory of Aoi, their third friend and Shougo's former lover who died young. Things become complicated when Aoi's younger cousin, his exact image, comes into their lives. Happy ending! I wish they'd had the courage to tell each other how they felt as kids, but...sometimes you keep those things inside. This felt realistic. I wish it could've been more fleshed out! But I enjoyed this for what it is.

Good premise: quiet coworker in love with new/handsome/polite coworker and drunkely confesses after the welcome party. Unfortunately, we saw very little of the emotional build, so the intimate moments held no weight. There was a bit of build on Chii's part in a later chapter, when we got his point of view, but I wish the story had been told a little differently so I could've watched them fall in love. Pretty art, though!

Seven years after his lover Ren died, Maki is still angry at him for his betrayal, because while Maki had been completely devoted to Ren, Ren had used him as a substitute for his straight, married brother. When Maki's brother gives him a gift, a "pet" model robot called Arata designed after the late Ren that even has some of his memories, Maki takes the chance to vent the anger that has kept him trapped in the past. But despite looking like Ren, Arata is nothing like him, and after two weeks of cruel treatment, Maki's anger turns to loneliness when he remembers Arata's affection for him is nothing more than imprinting. Original comment: I think this may have influenced a D/C AI fic I've read, the beginning especially? It's eerily similar. [On researching, I believe the fic predates the manga so it must've been a coincidence.] 2022 ETA: Purchased from SuBLime

When his childhood friend cockblocks him at a group date, a man asks him to take the place of the girl he chased off - and he agrees. This leads to a wishy-washy relationship because of insecurities, but things work out in the end! I wish the author had spent more time on the "substitute for a girlfriend" portion so we could see the emotions build a little bit more before the "omg, i'm in love!" realization, but this was nice. ETA December 2021: I didn’t have any trouble with the timing of relationship revelations this time. This was really sweet. I probably read it too quickly the first time.

Guy nursing a broken heart seeks comfort from his childhood friend, who is in love with him. Unfortunately suffers from pacing issues that keep this from being as effective as it could'd been.