Carla

I agree with you. I think SW is very worried about the public's perception of him, especially as a gay man, getting into a relationship with a 'boy' 12 years younger - even though that boy is technically a man who's bigger than him, who's completed military training, a former brilliant athlete and a very mature person as a whole. It's interesting how JW, who probably spent more time in America rather than Korea, is completely fine with pursuing a man 13 years younger than him, compared to SW who probably stayed in Korea his whole life.

He absolutely is not. He was just keeping his options open which he has a right to in a dating show. If you notice, SH and MS do the same thing.

Yeah I feel like SW is really aware about the age gap and can't seem to get over it. =( Maybe he's overly worried about what people will think.

Not me rooting for Yeonhee and Seonwoo to end up together, only for Seonwoo to wipe Yeonhee's nose like he's a little kid. 😭
Yeonhee may be young but he's shown that he's so much more mature than some of the others in the house - just look at how kindly and sensitively he speaks to Jeongwook. Why can't Seonwoo see how wonderful Yeonhee would be as a partner - Yeonhee would definitely be able to give Seonwoo the affirmation he craves for. Maybe Yeonhee should show off some of his taekwondo moves haha.

Fair enough, we can't help who we like or dislike 😂

Also bear in mind the show is edited - the writers know that the JS and SH ship would be popular and would naturally lean more towards making SW seem more unlikeable. We have no idea how many missed conversations SW had in the house with the others where he might have clarified or cleared up things with them.

Weirdly, I didn't like SW at first but grew to really like how complex his character is. Yes, he can come off as somewhat manipulative but I think it's more because he's anxious about other people's feelings and insecure about himself. (Also, it's a dating show - I don't understand why he gets hate for keeping his options open - both Sungho and Minseong do the same). He's also consistently shown to be caring for the other contestants - cleaning up after them, setting them up (Minseong and Hyeongjoon) and talking to them. The house would be very quiet if he wasn't there.

I've watched up to episode 7 so far and rather than the big love triangles, I'm just really rooting for Yunhee. I hope SW wakes up to how mature and interesting of a person Yunhee is, despite their 12 year age gap. It's so adorable the way Yunhee looks at SW and their chemistry is interesting - it reminds me of the strong, serious and silent type paired with the insecure and complex social butterfly type haha.

Will we ever get subs for this? =(

Great variety show that seems to have gone under the radar for many! The cast has such good chemistry! I laughed so much in the first episode! Especially when Baekgoon's fiery passion (he gets super into character) clashes with his other teammates' realism. My favourite part was where Baekgoon arms himself to beat up the kidnappers (actors) while his teammate is like "erm, dude, you realise you're in a reality tv show"

Last 2 episodes were way too rushed with too much drama packed in, but otherwise, I really liked this drama! Very mature, touching and good chemistry between the leads, who actually looked and spoke like adults! Beautiful cinematography. One of the best BLs this year - way better than Boss and a Babe or Bedfriends. I don't understand how these other BLs get millions of views with their childish plots and dialogue, but 'The Promise' only averaged 500K on youtube. I suppose the other BLs are catering more towards a younger fanbase. I feel like 'The Promise' would be more popular with people over 30 years old.

I guessed straight away that Mai was Thana, and Ryou was Pathis from the first episode - it felt too random for the show to have two different couples that didn't even interact. I liked how things connected - like how Ryou was always studying and nerdy so of course, he became a doctor, and Mai was always apologising - a trait he carried to adulthood. I thought the twist that Ryou actually wished for Mai to love him, thus dooming Thana to always be devoted to Pathis, was really dark - though I'm sure Mai did fall in love with Ryou at some point anyway. I do feel that Ryou would have been happier if he'd chosen Nak over Mai - especially since Nak grew up to be more on Ryou's level and they would have matched. In fact I thought the real plot twist would be that Nak was Thana instead of Mai!

Maybe because I watched it after guessing what the plot twist would be, but I really enjoyed this series. Yes, Gun is still not a great actor (though his crying scenes have improved a lot), but this series was original and you can tell the writer had put a lot of thought into the plot points. I liked that it depicted characters in a more mature way. Rather than the typical sweet and innocent BL characters, these characters were messy and complicated. Their arguments were realistic. The ending felt rushed and a bit open ended but still, this story felt to me less like a BL, but more like a cautionary tale.

I understand but the writer could have had more diversified victims, rather than making every episode be about a woman being tortured or raped or killed.

I do think Gun's acting has improved a lot since the Golden Blood series!

But even though I liked the series, I wish the writers had put more thought into some things seriously:
- What even was the point of Ken's character except to be the guy Lue pined after and wanted to protect? Why did Ken even learn to fight for revenge when he never even tried to go against the real villain? All Ken did was cry over Din and mop around and get choked by multiple people lol. Even in the series's climax, Ken played no role - it was Lue's sister who got kidnapped, not Ken.
- Din and Hin's brotherly relationship should have gotten way more screentime - that part where Hin drinks with Lue was excellently acted.
- Though I really liked the Payu and Hin pairing, they contributed so little to the story
- What even was Din's plan in the end? It didn't really justify a complete plastic surgery face change. If he wanted to get rid of the villain, couldn't Din have just gone away for a while, recuperated, and just kill the bad guy.
- I struggle to understand Din's motives - like why go up against a big bad villain for the sake of some trees, which leads to his lover and family members being threatened with their lives.
- so many scenes where the bad guy literally has a gun but decide to run away from the main characters purely cause they got beaten up a bit haha
- the ending should have at least hinted at Lue and Ken meeting up secretly once a year instead of being so ambiguous.
The worse thing is you can tell how much money was invested into this show - the sceneries are so beautiful. All it needed was a smarter writer to re-write a few scenes...

Sad but open ended I think

Subtitles are completely improved on IQIYI - would definitely recommend watching it. I could follow the story easily.

I understood the plot throughout and enjoyed watching it. It wasn't a BL - it was more a crime/thriller with some romance. The visuals, the sceneries and the fight scenes were very impressive. The story itself was interesting but could have been edited a lot better - a few things didn't add up.
To those wondering whether to watch this or not - please do. The actor who plays Lue is one of the best I've ever seen - his eyes show everything, and he has good chemistry with his partner.

I don't understand the people so opposed to this drama. From what I saw in the manga (got about halfway through) and heard about the ending, Yoon Bum and Sangwoo's relationship was never romanticised. Rather, it felt like the author kept emphasising to the readers how twisted and scary Sangwoo really is, and how terrifying it would be to be in Yoonbum's position. If this drama series is made in the vein and is careful not to romanticise the relationship and makes sure to portray Sangwoo as the psychopath he is, and Yoonbum as the victim in need of help, then I don't see what's the problem. It would be a standard horror/thriller genre drama. Yes, it would involve sexual assault/violence, but as if female characters are not constantly subject to sexual assault/violence in thriller korean dramas? I couldn't finish 'Through the Darkness', which was praised by so many, purely because it felt like every episode was about a woman being raped or killed by a man. Or how 'All of us are dead' had a gratuitous sexual assault scene. Or the sexual harassment in 'sweet home' where the female characters were threatened with rape. Or 'My name' - where the villain who tried to rape the female lead got a fan following. Jdrama 'Alice in Borderland' really hit big but the female characters in it get subjected to sexual harassment explicitly multiple times, and I was really disappointed that nobody was calling it out. And there're plenty of korean movies where the female lead gets sexually threatened or locked up by their stalkers etc - seriously, there're so many in the thriller genre.

I think some people dislike dark themes in BL because they're viewing the work as a BL genre predominantly rather than as its primary genre of horror or thriller or suspense. Now, I completely understand the problem when sexual violence is romanticised - like in Jinx for example. But for me, Killing Stalking is not really a BL but more a horror/thriller, and I hope that if it does get adapted, the writers/directors would be careful in the portrayal of the main leads' relationship.