Bittersweet

Deals with partner abuse (not between the main couple) in a thoughtful and realistic way, but ultimately has a very happy cute ending, but be prepared to cry and feel awful a few times before you get there.

When childhood friends witness their older brothers having sex, Shirou is freaked out about it, but Masami seems calm. A slow and painful friends turned lovers manga. It's a happy end (not yet translated), but a lot of sadness and misunderstandings in the middle.

Yakuza x male prostitute. The relationship between the two is actually pretty fluffy and normal but there's an underlying sadness stemming from their pasts. It doesn't go into much detail about any of that, instead leaving it up to the reader to fill in the gaps and mostly focuses on the couples daily life. This is also the first yaoi I've read where the yakuza aren't glamorized, which was refreshing. Very beautiful and sweet, it'll stick with you long after you've read it.

I've seen the whole getting revenge on someone who used to bully you by getting them to fall in love with you then dumping them setup many times before and the first story here went exactly as you'd expect, but it was still well done despite being so cliche.

The second is why I added this to the list. It deals with Kan-chan, the violently abusive ex-boyfriend from Sabita Yoru. Unlike most yaoi he is acknowledged as abusive and is aware of it himself, but is still human and redeemable.

A beautiful story about two very broken souls. Ichinose Tsukasa is a top student, but years of living with his mentally unstable mother have taken their toll. Tsukasa has a crush on his classmate Matsubara Chitose, seemingly his exact opposite. Chitose is a cruel playboy with few morals, drifting through life and barely surviving, having been essentially abandoned by his parents. They begin a sexual relationship and gradually help each other heal and grow stonger.

A gay lawyer and a playboy yakuza end up on the run together in the Philippines. A memorable story that seamlessly melds romantic comedy with bittersweet drama and action. The two main characters are the highlight, they are both deeply flawed and wonderfully human, you'll miss them as soon as it's over. It ended happily but a bit abruptly, hoping for an extra.