Love in Protocol (2026)

very well done production leaving the standard storyarcs of BL...

We all know the tropé of love as a teenager which will come to fruition may years later on. But in this series, they have done it in a mature dramafree way. The story progresses naturally and you may need to watch it twice to get all of it, but this was a very needed change of pace to normal series. I would consider this more a gay story than a BL, it feels more real then most.

The acting and chemistry was great, you can always feel some tension between them and even it feels like a slow pacing show, it's quite fast considering 3 episodes around 8 minutes and the finale with around 14 minutes. Production quality was also much better than any shows before even when I doubt they had a big budget. They just made the most of it. Yes there are some lapses with unlit monitors and cuts/countercuts not fitting exactly, but it does not take away from the storytelling.

So for me this is a little marvel outside of the normal bounds a "BL" has. It's a slowly, meticulously told story without any drama at all, it's mellow and relaxing and everything makes sense and they do not have a kiss just to cater to the fanbase. I recommand to watch this!

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mixed feelings

Overall: there was something pretty sinister with the plot. 4 episodes 10 minutes each. Airing on GND Studio YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UjFgW8TJEfcBaYLr8jyN_Dn00ScQ6CW&si=GCBj-UKy7QQwzd0w

Content Warning: manhandling, manipulation/intimate partner emotional abuse/grooming, minor/non-minor relationship, teacher/student relationship

What I Liked
- visuals
- tension in the past

Room For Improvement
- the one guy was super manipulative in the past and then in the present as well, and my heart broke for the other guy in episode 4, I don't trust the researcher guy to not be manipulative again

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Vibes and one clinically concerning finale.

Up till the last 5 minutes of the drama it’s just full of “nothing” and cliche, vibes and feelings with little substance. I’m not mad, the chemistry between Lee Sang Min and Jeong Jae Jong was good enough to actually carry the non-existing plot. The set up with the VR set was a bit awkward, but I can even turn a blind eye to that. They never truly explain what he is even testing and why, the boss/co-worker seems to not care what others do during working hours either. They don’t care, why should I?

But then the ending happens and I’m sitting in front of the laptop laughing like a maniac. So what you are saying is: Ha Yu Geon tried to magically manipulate Jeong Yeon into being completely in love with me with this magic experiment and Jeong Yeon was like: I'm okay with that. They need help. What an interesting twist that I truly did not expect at all. The longer I think about it, the more ridiculous it is. I want to send them into mandatory therapy.

And by dropping this unexpected revelation the drama ended. No time to adjust your thinking, understand what you just witnessed - just left in a state of shock. Pure form of entertainment. I mean, there is also the issue of Yu Geon conducting an experiment on Jeong Yeon when he was a minor without getting permission from him or his parents. The level of questionable ethics here is fascinating.

I’m not gonna pretend like the production or acting was masterclass quality. It was fine. Nothing stood out neither in a positive nor negative way. That said, they did a fairly good job with the placement of flashbacks and balancing them with the present timeline - it was easy to follow the story and how the character's feelings are changing. With extremely limited screentime and being able to show only snippets of interactions they made wise choices of what was important to highlight the story.

Overall, a decent watch with an amazing ending. The way that last episode changes everything. I expected questionable romance that might have started when one of the characters was still a minor, but what I’ve got was a whole ass manipulation and complicity that goes beyond what anyone would view as normal. What I mean is - fun!

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Calculated

The story was ok, but it was pretty predictable. I saw revieuws saying sinister, but i think those people don't kow what sinister means. The actions in this drama were calculated, by both mains.
The visuals were very good, the music was ok, but anoying at some moments.

The acting was not bad, but it very emotionless most of the times and there was hardly any chemistry. And it's so dissapointng when there is a one sided kiss...one person puts in all the effort and the other just holds his lips together and doensn't move his mouth.

No a very bad drama, but if you don't watch it, you won't miss a lot.

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I will be real with you, I was a bit confused

MC reunites with his tutor from back when he was still in high school and the LI was already in university. It is really unclear what the age gap is here, just a few years or sometimes steeper? It never really gets mentioned.

MC does some experiments with the LI at his new workplace and has to answer a bunch of personal questions. during these he confesses to LI and we see some flashbacks, where we learn that after LI threated him to study better, MC actually turned around his life, and fell for LI

now we get to the confusing part - apparently, LI was only tutoring him as part of a school experiment about at-risk kids, which involved making the MC get attached to him. however, MC found out about this back then and still was in love with LI and was greatful to him about helping his sht get together, even if it was through lowkey manipulation and for selfish reasons

and apparently at their reunion LI fell for him too, and only did this new experiment to make MC fall for him?

idk, but they were both into the whole manipulative experiment thing, so I guess they do belong together

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Wow~ sometimes the smaller, independent series really surprise you, and this one did! 😍
I liked it so much more than I expected — the story, the chemistry, everything just worked 💖
Proof that sometimes the best gems don’t come from big companies 🌸✨

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🌸✨🌈 Hiii~ Welcome to my kawaii corner~ ♡(≧▽≦)ﾉ✨🌸

You can find more of my reviews on Instagram~ 🌟💖

Check my homepage for my account~ (｡♥‿♥｡) 🌷

Some reviews are under 500 words, so I can’t post them here~ (≧ω≦)ﾉ💫

Thank you sooo much~ ☆:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:☆ 💕🌸

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The Experiment That Revealed Yeon's True Feelings

I randomly discovered this on YouTube and instantly clicked the moment I saw Lee Sang Min on the thumbnail who also starred in Why R U: South Korean version. I must commend him that he really did well as Jeong Yeon in this series. Upon watching the first episode, I wondered why Yu Geon was so cold towards Jeong Yeon when they met for the first time after high school, even though he was his private tutor. Yeon joins him as an intern in the research lab.

Yes, Yeon might have been detached or uncaring to Yu Geon before, but it seems history is repeating itself now. Moving on to the second episode, it was a genius idea of Geon to use the Delphi Questionnaire to measure emotional responses. He discovered Jeong Yeon's true feelings that he still likes him through the responses made, without this he would have kept guessing.

Jeong Yeon sounds like someone who regrets his past-self because he rejected Yu Geon, now he's matured and so sure about his future. He even initiated in kissing him first, and Yu Geon went with the flow.

This is good in terms of acting and directing, 8 /10! You should definitely watch it.

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