I'm cheating a bit with this one because I only read the last 1/3 of it since I am up to date with the manhwa adaptation, which is one of my favorites BLs of all time. I was thinking of giving it 3.5 but the last 15 chapters were very engaging and I really enjoyed the direction the story took, so now it's 4 stars.

The plot is about Choi Inseop, a guy that travels to Korea hoping to became Lee Wooyeon's manager, a famous actor in the country. The truth is, he has ulterior motives for that, which comes from his past in America, where he first met Wooyeon. He's had a crush on him since many years, and will try to become close to him in order to dig into this person and act according to what he finds out, as a promise he made to someone very important from his past. He doesn't expect that in reality, Wooyeon isn't what the public thinks of him, and he holds more secrets than Inseop imagined.

The premise is well constructed and the slow burn progression is necessary in a story like this, especially when it comes to Inseop's past. Speaking as someone who read 2/3 of it from the manhwa, each reveal is more enganging that the last, and it gets even more interesting when the we get to know the real Wooyeon. I enjoyed the exploration of Inseop having conflicted feelings towards him, a mix of love and resentment due to what happened years ago. I think the guilt sentiment he feels makes his actions understandable. Same for Wooyeon, after we get to know that he

Spoiler

has antisocial personality disorder

, it's not rational to expect him acting like a sane person. Between both of them, I found Wooyeon the most intriguing. It's hard to find a ML as well written as him (and isn't annoying), even more the fact that I grew to like him a lot despite his behaviour. I usually hate his type (which doesn't mean that I hate the story, I am fine with hating main characters or a pairing, if the story is worth it), but here there is a reason behind that and it makes him a more compelling and interesting character.

The relationship between both starts slow since Wooyeon doesn't care about people. On the other hand, the more Inseop is himself and opens up to the guy, the more Wooyeon finds himself growing obsessed with his manager. The element of possessivenes is crazy good, and the thing I loved the most is that towards the end, Wooyeon

Spoiler

realizes that Inseop represents someone important to him. While he doesn't understand feelings, he doesn't want Inseop away from him, and never wants to hurt him again

. It's an interesting take about mentally unwell people, even fictional ones, and there is a promise of more exploration about how much a relationship like this can handle in the next volumes. A glimpse of that is shown in Hawaii's arc, my favorite from this one. I loved the climax, unfortunately it was bound to happen but I believe it was necessary for their relationship. I did wish the effects of such event wouldn't have been brushed off that fast though, so here is one flaw.

I also need to mention other reasons to why this isn't perfect. While the plot and pacing were great, my problem is the writting. This might be due to the lack of an official translation (crossing fingers it happens at some point), but I also believe at times the writting felt flat especially when certain scenes should have been more emotional, at least from Inseop's side. Another pet peeve, which I usually don't point out but here it was too obvious to let it pass, is that at times some scenes didn't have a good transition into another. For example, in Hawaii's arc, when Wooyeon

Spoiler

hurts Inseop and makes him bleed, he then goes to the bathroom to throw up, and then Inseop follows him, but seconds later they're having sex again after Wooyeon's confession. No mention of Inseop's injury (only about hurting), nor if Wooyeon even washed himself

. It felt disjointed, and I couldn't stop thinking about those things while the next scene played.

Other than that, I have no complaints. I really liked the ending because it ties up the most important question which is the relationship status and their future.

PS. I couldn't end this review without mentioning Wooyeon's breeding kink and his dirty talk lol. I didn't know where to add it but he's freaking funny to me whenever he thinks about getting Inseop pregnant (someone tell this dude this isn't omegaverse), and even more when it comes to the dirty things he says. It's both silly but also hot, he has the best mouth of out all the MLs I've read, no one compares to his level.