Frankly, I am astonished this series has gotten such poor to mediocre reviews. I loved it. I loved it for two reasons. First, it tells a full story, albeit short and sweet but to the point. Sure, its brevity is both a hinderance and an asset. I wish there would have been greater character development. Nonetheless, this mini-BL accomplished more in a short period of time than most droning on-and-on BLs characteristically do. It had a beginning, middle, and a fine end. Secondly, we saw flawed characters. These are not individuals who are straight from the trope play book. In some sense, they are not at all likeable individuals, yet they are so relatable to who we are as people. In other words, they aPpre untruthful, blemished, and maybe disingenuous. Traits, I am afraid, we all share at one time or another in our lives.

It is a short story about friends and their foibles. Two guys who are inseparable and a female companion. They have all been friends for a long time. However, even in a culture that is not overt in its gay romantic overtures, it was still obvious that the two male friends had an intense and close relationship. Dae Yeong (Jeong Ri U) is the older, and he one day confesses his attraction to Jeong Ha (Choi Seung Jin). Caught off guard, he roundly rejects Dae Yeong’s affection and says he merely wants to remain friends. Unbeknownst to both, their mutual female friend, Min Ji (Lee Soo Ha) confesses her fondness for Dae Yeong and asks him to ‘go out with her’.

Shortly afterwards, these two then decide to ‘date’ which comes as a shock and a surprise to Jeong Ha; whether this was right is a moral dilemma that is not answered here. Jeong Ha does say to Dae Yeong to “not hurt her friendship.” To which Dae Yeong snaps back curtly, “There is nothing in this world you can’t get without getting hurt.”

It does not take long before Min Ji realizes that when Dae Yeong is kissing her, he is thinking of someone else. Even though their relationship is strained, Dae Yeong and Jeong Ha have managed to find ways to get together and with that, nature and hormones took control, and a physical connection ensues and strengthens. Both realize that they are, indeed, deeply in love with each other.

Unfortunately, when Min Ji is not able to contact Dae Yeong, she walks into his apartment and finds them both together and realizes the incontrovertibility of what is in front of her. Dae Yeong, with his typical robotic voice and mannerisms, explains what is happening and that he is sorry. Somehow it all sounds so hollow and shallow, which it is. But also, matter-of-fact rational. Bitter and angry for feeling ‘used’ and obviously hurt by the betrayal, their friendship is now a thing of the past. Dae Yeong and Jeong Ha seem to shrug that off as just something that is inevitable with little remorse. They are only in the moment.

Whether their actions were appropriate or not, is not the story; it is what it is. While I understood and can sympathize with her feelings, Min Ji knew something was amiss. Why fool yourself or pretend or wish for things to be different. Perhaps it is more painful because they were friends, and she could not wrap her brain around the notion that the other person was Jeong Ha. However, if she had looked hard enough, she would have seen the clues. I am not trying to dimnish the abruptness of her discovery, but better to find out like this, then by deliberate design they decided to ‘lie’ about their relationship from her for a longer period.

Here is where the story takes a deliciously twisted turn, and it introduces a character from Dae Yeong’s past. Do Jin (Yoo Jin Seok). He is his former lover and now a successful publisher. And he is diabolical. He deeply wounded and hurt Dae Jeong by leaving him without a word, well into their long-standing relationship. He now finds out that Jeong Ha is Dae Yeong’s lover and is preparing to sabotage his career and future to manipulate their relationship. He does so for two reasons. One is simply because he can and as a sociopath, take pleasure in doing so. And two, he now wants Dae Yeong back because his only care is for himself. Yoo Jin Seok’s performance is simply masterful. With his stoic expressions and laconic mannerisms and sweet talk, he is a masterful manipulator. I have seen my fair share of thespians performing individuals with sociopath tendencies, but none as brilliantly done or as spot-on as Yoo Jin Seok’s. Wow, his performance is one for the books!

I honestly cannot figure out why this series was panned. It has brilliant writing. It is crisp, succent, and precise. For example, when Dae Jeon confronts Do Jin about his nefarious behavior, he says to him with stunning poignancy, “Keep living well like now – selfishly.” The acting to be sure is a bit robotic and does not always feel human-like. Yet, their kissing scenes were very good and better than most other BLs trying to display kisses with trickery or masquerading the kisses. These seemed genuine and honest – for Korean. The story flowed well for the most part although the editing was a bit choppy in parts. This whole series is only about an hour and a half.

I got into the characters. They are human with massive human flaws. The story makes no attempt to justify their actions; it only presents them. You be their judges. I found them to be sad figures and a product of their society and perhaps culture. That does not mean they cannot be happy or deserve happiness. They do. This is a story of two imperfect guys who found each other, fell in love with each other from an early age, could not act on that until they until all the pieces fit together, and now they are partners.

A simple story of life.

Rating- 4.75 out of 5

Streaming on- SUKFILM YouTube Channel