CurlyFries

I have mixed feelings about what I'd personally rate this drama. There were parts about it that I absolutely commend it for, but then there are parts that I felt were too rushed or poorly done. That being said, I still think I liked more about this show than I disliked.

I personally really liked how they showed how there are different ways of being abusive to someone, whether it be physical, financial, verbal, or emotional; Daon when through it all with dealing with his parents and his "so-called" best friends from university. He very much was a victim of the people in his life and I really commend this show for actually giving him his happy ending with Seonghyeon. Unfortunately, a lot of romances (especially BL for whatever reason) love to give their protagonists an ending with the people that treated them poorly compared to someone that treated them well.

And, in comparison to many romance stories with protagonists stuck in an unfortunate situation, Daon doesn't really feel like a blank state. He actually learns respect for himself by the end and it was genuinely satisfying to see considering how much control his abusers thought they had over him. Seeing him not giving in to his parents' demands because he knew it would ultimately be for the worse was extremely satisfying to witness because of how often characters in stories are shown to let avoidable circumstances have power over them. Yes, he was gullible when it came to Jaemin, but that was easily because of the way Jaemin molded him and strung him along to be the way he wanted him to be. With Seohyun, Daon learned not to stretch his hope out thin that he would return or change, and that scene when he returned the ring was really powerful. He decided to be straightforward and honest with Seohyun and that showed just how mature Daon was in comparison to him and Jaemin.

Jaemin and Seohyun are a good example of what to avoid in a partner or friend. The series did well to show how although they have many differences, they are both two different types of abusive. Seohyun was stubborn, extremely ill-tempered, demanding, and impulsive. His anger issues made his attempts to win Daon over fall void and this would cause him to lash out as a result. Daon knew to just distance himself from someone like this whenever he acted this way, which seemed to start back when he pretend dated Jaemin. Jaemin, on the other hand, was far more intimidating as he actually paid off on his threats. He was manipulative, obsessive, selfish, and unhinged. He really was far more selfish than Seohyun to the point that he wanted to keep Daon pining after him forever without ever giving him the satisfaction of confirming his feelings for him. He would put his own self-satisfaction above ever making Daon truly happy because he was only concerned with what he wanted in the long run and naturally assumed Daon would comply with that. Oh boy the way he was on edge when he realized that Daon was learning to respect himself and move on from him after Jaemin was cruel with his rejection. He only had eyes for one thing ("thing" as a word choice because both Seohyun and Jaemin seemed to view Daon as a prize to win), and once he realized he was losing it, he wanted to take it with him into his grave. He had an extremely perverse nature that he hid behind a flawless facade. People like that are truly terrifying and I think the show did a good job of showing that.

Seonghyeon was an actual green flag that was refreshing to see in BL land. You rarely get to see a healthy romance flourish but Secret Relationships was clear about writing him in a way that felt possible yet also idealistic. I enjoyed how much he contrasted with the toxic duo because it showed all the more what traits in a healthy partner should look like. He was caring, playful, earnest, and loyal. He never wanted to usurp control over Daon from the other guys and he was honest about his intentions with Daon. Daon truly deserved to be with someone that actually valued his opinion and respected him as a person like Seonghyeon did. I commend them breaking the tropes that are sadly attached to much of BL media.

That being said, I have a few issues with the show. First, I feel like the runtime was the main issue that spawned the other issues as a result. Much of the characters' backstories felt underdeveloped which left me wanting to know more. If we got to see more of Daon's life growing up then his current actions would be better explained and he would be more sympathetic. As for Jaemin, we never get to see much of anything about him past a few vague memories of Daon seeing him when he was younger. We never get to see what Jaemin was like before Daon nor what all caused his obsession to begin and persist for 11 years. However, I'm inclined to believe it may have been done on purpose to show that Jaemin had always been perverse and selfish deep down; something that a backstory might take away from by making him seem "misunderstood" or "sympathetic." I was still curious to see the extent he went through for 11 years to possess Daon though, so much so that I felt his insanity break at the end felt a little misplaced and spontaneous. Seohyun's backstory was alluded to being demanding because of his family situation, which definitely explains how he got a personality as ill-mannered as he has, but I still feel like there was such a drastic change between when Daon knew him in university versus the present time that I wanted more context of what happened when he was abroad to cause that. Seonghyeon's backstory being included would have also been nice but I understand it wasn't a necessity compared to the other three because his kindness was much more blatantly caused by a kind influence like his grandmother in his life.

Also, why did Daon jump in Seohyun's ride just to avoid Seonghyeon? That seemed too dangerous for him to use just as an out.....and although it was very vague, I think in like episode 6 Daon and Seohyun were alluded to have slept together after Daon dragged him into his house to stop him from fighting Seonghyeon. And if that's true, that was most definitely forced and changes how I'd view Seohyun from being a potential threat to an actual one. It made me really uncomfortable because of how forceful and intimidating Seohyun had been with Daon just moments prior; especially the forced kissing. That scene was the one that made me the most uncomfortable in the entire show-that and when Jaemin forcefully gave Daon a hickey. Daon really did just serve to please these two in their eyes.

My other issue is why the hell did he give a presentation when his love is knocking on death's door???? I don't think I would be mentally well enough to do that considering how his best friend of 11 years he was in love with just attempted to murder-suicide him after chloroforming him, his psycho ex-friend tormenting him recently and coming out of nowhere, and oh of course his lover was just STABBED by his psycho bff of 11 years. What the fuck Daon!?!??! I got to know what was going through the author's head at that point, man.

In conclusion, I really liked the message of this show: have respect for yourself and don't let people treat you terribly, regardless of how long you've known them. Find someone that will treat you with mutual respect and don't let people have control over how you view yourself.

Would I recommend this show? I don't know. I think that the idea was great, but the short runtime took away from the impact it deserved to have. If the Webtoon it is based off of is more complete (and the art style isn't terrible), then I'd recommend reading that instead. Also, the actor who played Jaemin was unsettling as hell and I 100% want to watch anything else he appears in because he did really well (though they all did well).