The New Recruit is a webtoon which recently got adapted as the drama “The New Employee”. So, here I am with a review of the webtoon and some spoilers. Before diving deeper into the story, let’s see what it’s all about.

Written by Moscareto and illustrated by Zec, The New Recruit is a typical office romance. Our main character, Seung Hyun, scores the internship of his dreams at a big corporation. He’s excited about everything. But there is a catch: a cold-hearted boss, Kim Jong Chan, who assumes that our Hyunnie is like all the other interns he’s had. Kim Jong Chan makes it abundantly clear that he doesn’t like freeloaders in his team. So, needless to say, their first meeting isn’t really great. As the story develops, though, we get more insight into both of their lives and realise that both of them aren’t exactly what they look like.

Now, about the story. As I mentioned above, The New Recruit is like a typical office romance. Right from the start, you’ll see the kind of dynamic both the characters will share with each other, and it is exactly that. There are no surprises. It follows the basics of storytelling. When both the characters are introduced, we get to see how they are and what kind of personalities they have from the start. Kim Jong Chan cannot be called a tsundere per se, but his personality kind of resembles one. Seung Hyun is your classic sunshine character. Predictable, but maybe that’s what the author wanted.

Both characters get to know each other more as the story progresses and realise that they’re much more than what others perceive them. Hyunni isn’t the freeloader he’s thought to be, yet he lacks self-confidence in his work. But well, don’t we all at first?

Jong Chan isn’t the heartless jerk that people think he is. He appreciates hard work and recognises talent. He absolutely hates it if people take advantage of other people and would take it upon himself to correct the wrong, in that aspect. I did think it was amazing that Hyunnie’s talents were recognised right from the start because in the real world, that would have taken years.

After an unfortunate event where Hyunnie is taken advantage of by his seniors and Jong Chan graciously saves him, they get somewhat together. Then comes the complication. What is the reason that they cannot be together? It was hard to understand at first. Eventually, you realise the problem is that Seung Hyun’s senior, who made him realise that maybe he was gay, was Jong Chan’s ex, who was also Hyunnie’s first love. While Hyunnie saw that as a huge and serious complication, I personally disagree. It was a little awkward, but not something that would put me off a relationship. Now, obviously, I’m not the one pursuing the relationship or the one who was in love, so it wouldn’t exactly make me the right person to judge the problem. But since I am a reader and am writing about it, I took it upon myself to comment.

Anyway, then came the rising action. After realising that Jong Chan is the ex, Hyunnie runs away and avoids all confrontation. This leaves both parties confused and miserable. After much consideration, when Hyunnie does go to talk to Jong Chan, it turns out differently from what he imagined it would be. They project their own traumas and insecurities onto each other and things end up bitterly.

The cutesy climax comes when Jong Chan runs to Hyunnie, confesses his feelings for him and asks if they can be together. They decide that they’ll leave their past behind and give each other the benefit of the doubt. Always. The series isn’t just limited to their relationship as a couple but their relationship as a manager and worker as well. Because it is an office romance, most of the chunk of their time and relationship develop due to their work. Jong Chan is happy that he has finally found someone who doesn’t feel lonely when he works more than he’s supposed to. Rather, Hyunnie feels more drawn to him as he respects somebody who is so committed to their work. It’s a capitalistic world after all; work is what makes us … or is it?

The falling action is when Jong Chan asks for a much-deserved promotion and gets Hyunnie to join his team. While it is a place which he rightfully deserves, it feels a little unrealistic. But then again, as Jong Chan says in the end, he doesn’t need to justify his feelings to anybody. He wants Hyunnie by his side and wants to climb to the top with him. Together. It is really cute and made me mad that I will never be able to get a Jong Chan in my life. Maybe I wasn’t mad about the story but about life.

The ending shows Hyunnie going back to work with Jong Chan and introducing himself as the new recruit.

All-in-all The New Recruit is a good readable story. There aren’t a lot of surprises, and it wouldn’t blow you away but rather provide you with the comfort that you need at the end of a hard day. I would like to add one thing, though. I had a problem with the smut. It’s the same problem with almost all BLs: the top having a huge you-know-what, and the bottom wanting to run away at the sight of it; then the bottom asking to stop several times and the top getting further into the action because of the bottom’s ‘erotic’ expression. -sigh-

Anyway, that’s all there is.

Rating- 2.5 out of 5

Official Link- Here

Edited by- Gingerjiejie