ArtemisFowl's manga / #realistic(28)

A guy who's always pretended that he's straight ends up having a friendship with someone who is openly gay. His feelings end up bubbling up in the end, and when the truth comes out, the openly gay guy doesn't know if he can believe the closeted main character. They must figure out whether they want to keep their armor on or be vulnerable in order to pursue the relationship they both long for with each other. ~ Chapter 6

A kid in a high school named Si Tong likes another kid in high school named Li ZiChen. He thinks his feelings, which started in the middle of high school, will end once they graduate, but he ends up in the same friend group as Li ZiChen in college (which he didn't realize they would be in the same campus in the same major). Suddenly, SiTong is faced with the reality that his feelings won't just go away, like he had planned in high school; instead, he is stuck with his crush, vacillating between wanting to hang out with him and trying to distance himself out of a need to crush his feelings. He ends up spending a lot of time with him, both because they are in the same group and because Li ZiChen wants to. At some point, Li ZiChen realizes that SiTong has a crush on him but doesn't push him away -- first out of reasoning that it's only a tiny crush, then figuring that he wants to have this person in his life (which evolves into wishing this person was perhaps closer to him than he is). What will become of this relationship? Update -- Chapter 22: Ooof! He did NOT drag that out at all. And it was perfectly casual. I thought it was going to be 10, 20 chapters into this (after chapter 20) when he was going to confess. DANNNG you spicy Li ZiChen. Update of update -- wow wow wow he confessed and I was not ready for all that drama to unfold *cries quietly into pillow* Edit (Chapter 43): They got together! Edit (Chapter 44): Start of Season 2! ~Chapter 67

The development of their relationship was fantastic! College student Isumi, who looks like a middle-schooler, gets intercepted by policeman Amasawa, who asks for his ID after seeing a "middle-schooler" drunk and on his way home in the middle of night. They end up having more to do with each other after Mr. Policeman comes to Isumi's place of work, a convenience store, and asks him for recommendations. This kid happens to be a good cook and they mutually decide to have Isumi cook at Amasawa's house. Isumi's place ends up having a water main breakdown, and Amasawa, after hearing the call, asks him to stay at his house. Isumi already feels the pull of attraction towards Amasawa -- and the bond of their friendship strengthens after that. It was so nice to see that the uke was understanding of his attraction towards the seme, that the seme was confused (but also reflective) about his feelings when he was confessed to, and that the development of their relationship wasn't forced. It felt seamless and natural, organic in the way many yaoi relationships often are not. They both communicated with each other, and when there was a point that most yaois would have the characters jump straight into bed (sexually -- read chapter 3), I thought they would too, only for me to be pleasantly surprised that it was platonic. Also, the extras in the other chapters are cute.

A nice salaryman at a high-end company gets caught up in a scandal (one hundred percent not his fault), only to be told that he'll get his job back IF (and only if) he signs a famous reclusive potter to his company. Little did he know that his target -- the reclusive potter -- is a hottie and proceeds to fall in love with him. It's a little bit more complicated and nuanced than my description, but it's a wonderful slow-burn romance -- and the nice salaryman is truly conflicted about the lie that brought him to this person in the first place, but has a hard time telling the truth once they get together. 5/5 for warmth, humor, and depth. Chapters 30 through 38 He's the worst!!! He dragged out a daytime drama into a long, long saga, and I am not here for it *makes devil face emoji* He should have just TOLD the freaking dude! I know the other dude messed up, but there's a point where you just feel sorry for him (especially after the boss changed his mind about what happened and forgave Wonyoung). Don't drag out the drama!!! Just say how you FEEL!!!!! Oooh, Taejoon asked WonYoung to live with him. ~ Chapter 58