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This review may contain spoilers
this is an unconventional friendship story & i think the "gay romance" tag is misleading (& why people's panties got in a bunch, calling this "queerbaiting"), there was/is no gay romance to be had - maybe a bit of gay curiosity & if u think of the ending, there is a sec u can interpret as a an open ending, with the promise of a romance developing between the mains.
personally given everything - think platonic, as most of this "BL" was, even the bully's motives didn't stem from attraction IMO he genuinely liked Hong Il Tak & treated him like one would do a younger sibling, that they find so cute they wanna squish & bug... the roughhousing given who he was, wasn't mean spirited in his mind/heart/eyes... of course said sibling, doesn't enjoy this treatment & voices their annoyance sooner or later.
Hong Il Tak didn't, cause he genuinely believed he was being bullied cause he was weak & hated, so like any victim he kept quite, cause saying anything could make the situation worse.
Lee Hyeon Wu might have been bi-curious or he liked cute things so much so that gender didn't matter - he fought it long enough, but then just gave in... even though that took on a bullying nature later on... so we don't really know enough about what was going on in his head. but by the end both leads bonded cause of the beat-down.
also i don't think Hong Il Tak was made out to be "as girly as possible", that is such a strawman description. he wasn't effeminate or camp, he was a normal teen that was small of stature & build - the fact his beauty is softer & more boyish then manly, doesn't make him girly - like WTF. & other then one scene, where he thought about some femme fatale from the Joseon era & how she bewitched armies of men - there was no flirting done from my POV. his approaching Lee Hyeon Wu was genuinely how one would approach another in curiosity & trepidation, if u see them as stronger then u & want to befriend them.
there was not an ounce of eyelid batting on Hong Il Tak's part, the fact that there were times from Lee Hyeon Wu's POV it looked like that, it's cause he was charmed by him even before they talked. that doesn't make this "queerbaiting" like plz.
this was a sweet, fun & funny youth, friendship drama. it's not a romance or a BL & i enjoyed it all the same, cause it was sweet & wholesome - pity the bully didn't become Hong Il Tak's friend too, but those wires that were crossed, got disseminated the sec he went to the 3rd yr & got him to beat down Lee Hyeon Wu. so other then that part (were i kinda felt sorry for the bully cause he wasn't a bad guy) i really enjoyed this & i for sure will rewatch this when i want something light & fun to binge watch.
personally given everything - think platonic, as most of this "BL" was, even the bully's motives didn't stem from attraction IMO he genuinely liked Hong Il Tak & treated him like one would do a younger sibling, that they find so cute they wanna squish & bug... the roughhousing given who he was, wasn't mean spirited in his mind/heart/eyes... of course said sibling, doesn't enjoy this treatment & voices their annoyance sooner or later.
Hong Il Tak didn't, cause he genuinely believed he was being bullied cause he was weak & hated, so like any victim he kept quite, cause saying anything could make the situation worse.
Lee Hyeon Wu might have been bi-curious or he liked cute things so much so that gender didn't matter - he fought it long enough, but then just gave in... even though that took on a bullying nature later on... so we don't really know enough about what was going on in his head. but by the end both leads bonded cause of the beat-down.
also i don't think Hong Il Tak was made out to be "as girly as possible", that is such a strawman description. he wasn't effeminate or camp, he was a normal teen that was small of stature & build - the fact his beauty is softer & more boyish then manly, doesn't make him girly - like WTF. & other then one scene, where he thought about some femme fatale from the Joseon era & how she bewitched armies of men - there was no flirting done from my POV. his approaching Lee Hyeon Wu was genuinely how one would approach another in curiosity & trepidation, if u see them as stronger then u & want to befriend them.
there was not an ounce of eyelid batting on Hong Il Tak's part, the fact that there were times from Lee Hyeon Wu's POV it looked like that, it's cause he was charmed by him even before they talked. that doesn't make this "queerbaiting" like plz.
this was a sweet, fun & funny youth, friendship drama. it's not a romance or a BL & i enjoyed it all the same, cause it was sweet & wholesome - pity the bully didn't become Hong Il Tak's friend too, but those wires that were crossed, got disseminated the sec he went to the 3rd yr & got him to beat down Lee Hyeon Wu. so other then that part (were i kinda felt sorry for the bully cause he wasn't a bad guy) i really enjoyed this & i for sure will rewatch this when i want something light & fun to binge watch.
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