nutty nutz's manga / #webtoon(8)

LR:51

Cheated by her boyfriend, Chu Yaeun* devotes her time and energy to work--work that she loves. In time, however, she notices her superior, Chun Sihyun, who seems to be giving her more attention than a normal manager would. *The Hangul spells her name as Ju Ye Eun, but I'll stick to this spelling because it's the one used in the manhwa, and I would rather not confuse myself in the future. -- LR:46 //At around 20+ chapter, I was about to drop this. It got a bit tedious and repetitive. I decided to stick it out for a couple more chapters, but then came the time skip and I felt things changed. To be very, very honest, Yaeun's struggles and feelings are so close to home right now. Not that I'm being forced to marry, but that the idea of it is lot more serious to me now, it's not always just love and roses and happy colours, and there are many factors to consider. This is completely my preference, but I do like Sihyun more than Hyunmin. I don't find any fault in either, which is why it's hard to take sides, but Sihyun's character is just more to my liking than Hyunmin. I do agree with some of the comments that with Hyunmin, she would probably be happier--for now. He clearly loves her. She could actually go for the "safe" choice by being together with someone who loves her and she's comfortable with. In the future though, it might be that she wouldn't grow. Since she is in her comfort zone, it basically means no challenge, in other words. Well, if she does choose Hyunmin, I wouldn't hold it against her. But now, the story is leaning towards Sihyun, and I won't deny I'm happy about it. Well, Sihyun WAS cruel to expect Yaeun to sacrifice something but hinself not willing to give up anything. In the end, he had to lose their relationship because he chose his career. I can see now, though, that he doesn't think it was the best decision. I'm glad Yaeun voiced out her feelings about that issue. Since I'm a sentimental person, I was sad when she threw out their items, but I figured it might be what she needs to start anew with him. And also, to be fair to Sihyun, he's coming out of his shell by talking more. It's not easy; I know it because I'm like that, too. I think, too, that with Sihyun, Yaeun has the potential to grow more--emotionally and in work. Hopefully, things continue brightly. But with stories like these, I know there are bound to be problems creeping around the corners ready to leap at them and break them apart. *sigh* On an additional note, I'm surprisingly enjoying the second couple, Jihwan and Yunhi.//

I'm not against age gap relationships, and considering this one had a 5-year gap, it's not so bad. (I might be put in jail for saying that though haha.) OK, maybe Touya IS too young to be dating, but hey, most shoujo manga show people dating around that age. In any case, rather than the age gap issue, I was more concerned about how the story went. The characters were all flat, and their roles revolved around the love story, period. I can't even say Akari is simple-minded, because she's way too easily swayed and indecisive. This could have been better if the story was more fleshed out and the people had more to them than just a tag of 'female protag', 'male protag', 'other guy', etc. etc. I don't think they even properly addressed the age-gap matter, even though that was the main plot. The drawing was quite nice, though.

I was honestly surprised at this manhwa's plot. I mean, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The pacing, story-telling, and even the plot is a lot like Korean dramas, which is something I obviously enjoy. I loved how things were all interlinked, one way or another. And am I glad that Soon Jin wasn't in any way blood-related to Hwan (a.k.a Master), because I would rip my hair out otherwise. The only thing I couldn't buy was Hwan's feelings for Soon Jin. First of all, they didn't have as much chemistry as Soon Jin and Philip did; not to say that it was non-existent, just that it lacked for the lead couple. Also, they didn't have many interactions that I can say Hwan really fell for Soon Jin. Although there were scenes where he looked like he had feelings for her, I don't see HOW he came to like her. For me, it felt like, since he's the male lead, it didn't have to showcase how--just give the ending of them together instead. To be honest, I love insane plots like these and sometimes, I could go for a non-romance story, no problem. BUT, if they were going to include it, I'd like some actual romance, too. Welp, that's the only reason I couldn't give it a full rating.