Based on the web comic “Handsome Men” by Bae Chul Wan,”The Boy Next Door” follows the misadventures of two single college men, Park Kyu Tae (Choi Woo Shik) and his neighbor Sung Ji Jae (Jang Ki Yong). The two are your average guys who happen to find themselves smoking on the balcony at the same time. Sung Ji Jae, who is typically shy but doesn’t want to be rude and not acknowledge Park Kyu Tae, tries to strike up conversations; which generally lead nowhere. But due to their sense of pride and faulty wiring, they both end up as roommates.

The series has 15 episodes which are 6 minutes long, detailing different moments in their daily lives as roommates. Fate, or just dumb luck, finds the pair of straight (questionable) men in gay situations. Most of their hilarious or awkward circumstances are witnessed by Kyu Tae’s female friend Kim Min Ah (Jang Hee Ryung) too often. The series is well written, and the acting is sitcom style. As you see, the two men learn about each other. Their preconceived notions being displayed and their reality being the real meat of this series. Like Kim Min Ah has a gay boyfriend named Won Hyung (Yoon Jung), who upon seeing the way Ji Jae and Kyu Tae kiss for a contest has a conversation with Ji Jae and decides to act on his feelings for a friend.

That storyline becomes a part of the main as the series progresses. Maybe it’s the spectacular writing or maybe it’s the 6 minute time frame for the episodes, but I remembered the details and names for the characters as I grew more and more invested in the show with the series progression. As the series advances, you begin to notice how close the two men are becoming and begin to wonder if they do like each other but are too stupid to realize it.

As the show reaches its flaming conclusion, the two are living separately again but missing each other. Like before, fate once again unites them to stay in the same apartment. By this point, Kyu Tae acknowledges to himself that he sees Ji Jae as more than a friend and we are left to draw our own conclusions with the open ending.

A very cute comedy featuring two very dumb men and the people who love them is definitely worth a watch. It never gets heavy but does cover some serious topics.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- Dingo K-Drama YouTube Channel