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After underclassman Haru confesses his feelings to Jiseo, Jiseo rejects him, promising to seriously consider him once Haru becomes an adult. Determined to prove himself, Haru grows up and attends the same university as Jiseo.
Now, a few years into their relationship, everything seems to be going well, but lately, Haru has been acting strangely distant. He makes excuses to stay out, barely makes eye contact, and has even asked to sleep in separate rooms. Has Haru fallen out of love?
Maybe it’s time to break up.
Can the two rediscover the passion they once shared, or will their love become nothing more than a painful memory?
One of my favorites. The bittersweet tone + childhood friends combo always gets me. More than the tropes though, I really enjoyed their dynamic and how the author expressed it.
I think it’s because I could feel how much they love each other through their actions and the way they talked with each other. Just as a quick example: Haru gets jealous easily, so Jiseo wrote a love letter to him for him to read whenever it comes up. Rather than shaming Haru for being insecure/obsessive, Jiseo is understanding and does his best to reassure him. There’s TONS of little moments like that sprinkled between their banter, and it was just so enjoyable for me to read!
Another part of their dynamic I loved was that their freakiness was pretty mutual. A lot of times when one side is more obsessive/jealous, they seem to be invested much more. For example, Jiseo gets cuffed to the fridge by Haru, and just thinks, “hm… this isn’t very practical, I should get out.” Moreover, Jiseo chooses to wreck the fridge rather than the matching bracelet Haru gave him. The nonchalant acceptance of getting physically locked up and breaking free only because of practicalities is the PERFECT match for a possessive ML.
And of course, even a perfect relationship would be dragged under if expressed poorly. Luckily, the author here was amazing with their creative panels! There were so many scenes leveraging popular media as visual metaphors that naturally conveys what the characters are feeling. One of them was of Jiseo helping Haru’s brother, and Haru pictures them as little red riding hood deceived by the big bad wolf. Or a reference to Inside Out where different parts of Jiseo try to keep his desires in control.
But, I think you’ll have to read it to really get what I mean! Well, that is if you get through the beginning…Because man, there were some parts that bothered me early on.
For one, the main plot point where they were “falling out of love” felt contrived.
Once you get to know the characters, Haru’s established personality in the later chapters seemed incongruent with his actions in the beginning. For example, while Jiseo was asking about Haru’s plans that day and why he lied about it, Haru says it’s because Jiseo asks too many questions. This seemed less like something Haru would actually say and more just something to sell the “fell out of love” point. Later on, Haru has never expressed anything about feeling like Jiseo was nosy.
Although many actions WERE explained properly later, many of them similar to what I just mentioned were not. These kinds of actions were what caused Jiseo to break up with Haru, so this whole mess in the beginning just felt like it was there to serve the author’s planned plot point, rather than a natural extension of the characters’ actions.
Furthermore, I felt misled when I learned that them “falling out of love” was actually a miscommunication issue. The first few chapters really sold that idea, so I was expecting them to find a way to rekindle their relationship. However, it turns out they broke up because both just assumed the wrong things and wanted to not bother the other. And the way they got back together was through drunk communication? This part of the plot just didn’t feel satisfying to me.
Despite how much I’m hating on the miscommunication in the beginning, this story actually redeemed the miscommunication trope for me because of how it handled miscommunications later on.
I generally feel frustrated and anxious when miscommunication happens, which makes me dislike the story. However, I didn’t mind it here even with its prevalence. Since their relationship dynamic was so full of love and joy, I didn’t feel anxious at all when it happened later in the story. I knew that whatever happened, they’d be able to get through it by expressing themselves and understanding each other. The miscommunication and how they handled it became a display of strength, rather than weakness for their relationship.
The fact that their tendency to miscommunicate remain edconsistent in their relationship and wasn’t magically solved also made their relationship feel more realistic. Many of the character traits that caused the “falling out of love” miscommunication in the beginning were explained, and those remained even after the break up, which makes sense because they’re part of the character and they are still learning to be with each other.
Although it had a rocky start, it pulled me right back in with enjoyable character dynamics, creative paneling, and writing. Top 10 BL for me!