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labcat
This review may contain spoilers
Quite lovable, but one support character could have been fleshed out more
I love both the main couple and the side couple in this BL. I wonder, though, if it might be better to make the side couple the main couple instead.
The main couple, Tae Joon and Won Young, have a rather solid if predictable story. I think much of the credit goes to the development of Tae Joon's character. I can understand how he has trust issues after being betrayed by his ex-boyfriend, so I can empathize with him when he finds it very difficult to simply forgive and make up with Won Young after he finds out that Won Young has been originally tasked to try to persuade him to come out of hiding and exhibit his works. Won Young is, on the other hand, also in a predicament we can sympathize with--he is suspended from his job through no fault of his own and can be in serious debt (also not really his own fault) if he does not get back his job. (It's unfortunate that the series seems to neglect the serious problems Won Young is facing after the initial exposition. Some timely reminders would perhaps have been good.)
The side couple, Dong Hee and Ho Tae, are quite economically portrayed. There is so much potential for fleshing out Dong Hee's back story. From the start, we are given hints that Dong Hee is in love with Ho Tae, but when the latter (who keeps changing girlfriends) shows an interest in him, he refuses to accept the love. Dong Hee's main explanation is that Ho Tae is the son of his mother's friend, but one wonders why. This is revealed later in the series in a flashback with Dong Hee suffering from abuse from his parents because of his sexuality and Ho Tae's mother being the only one who comforts him. Why Dong Hee does not accept Ho Tae's courtship because of Ho Tae's mother is less clear. Is he afraid that Ho Tae's mother might blame him if she is unable to accept it if her own son is gay--and she is someone he owes something to? Has he internalized homophobia in some way and thinks that Ho Tae and his family will be better of if Ho Tae goes on dating women? In some ways, Dong Hee can make for a more compelling main character than Tae Joon. The abuse he has suffered and the years of quiet one-sided love for Ho Tae make him the most emotionally complex character in the series. If only he were a more fleshed out side character or the main character!
The main couple, Tae Joon and Won Young, have a rather solid if predictable story. I think much of the credit goes to the development of Tae Joon's character. I can understand how he has trust issues after being betrayed by his ex-boyfriend, so I can empathize with him when he finds it very difficult to simply forgive and make up with Won Young after he finds out that Won Young has been originally tasked to try to persuade him to come out of hiding and exhibit his works. Won Young is, on the other hand, also in a predicament we can sympathize with--he is suspended from his job through no fault of his own and can be in serious debt (also not really his own fault) if he does not get back his job. (It's unfortunate that the series seems to neglect the serious problems Won Young is facing after the initial exposition. Some timely reminders would perhaps have been good.)
The side couple, Dong Hee and Ho Tae, are quite economically portrayed. There is so much potential for fleshing out Dong Hee's back story. From the start, we are given hints that Dong Hee is in love with Ho Tae, but when the latter (who keeps changing girlfriends) shows an interest in him, he refuses to accept the love. Dong Hee's main explanation is that Ho Tae is the son of his mother's friend, but one wonders why. This is revealed later in the series in a flashback with Dong Hee suffering from abuse from his parents because of his sexuality and Ho Tae's mother being the only one who comforts him. Why Dong Hee does not accept Ho Tae's courtship because of Ho Tae's mother is less clear. Is he afraid that Ho Tae's mother might blame him if she is unable to accept it if her own son is gay--and she is someone he owes something to? Has he internalized homophobia in some way and thinks that Ho Tae and his family will be better of if Ho Tae goes on dating women? In some ways, Dong Hee can make for a more compelling main character than Tae Joon. The abuse he has suffered and the years of quiet one-sided love for Ho Tae make him the most emotionally complex character in the series. If only he were a more fleshed out side character or the main character!
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