I wanted to add the full factual context because this article is so short that it makes the situation sound much more settled than it actually is. Lee Yi-kyung’s agency did confirm on May 13 that a tax audit resulted in an additional tax assessment connected to a corporation established for his activities. It also said that the amount would be paid without delay. However, the amount was never disclosed, the audited tax years were never disclosed, the assessment notice was never published, and there is no public breakdown showing which income, expenses, penalties or interest were included. The agency said that Lee submitted the requested documents transparently, that the disagreement concerned the standards used to recognise corporate expenses, and that there was no intentional omission of income or tax evasion through fraudulent means. The full Korean statement can be read here: https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0117_202605140912439787 and Yonhap’s report confirming that the amount was not disclosed is here: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260513149500005
There are also two translation problems in the English reporting that make this sound worse than the Korean wording. The Korean expression “비정기 세무조사” means a non-periodic or non-routine tax audit. Translating it as an “irregular tax audit” may make English readers think there was something improper or unlawful about the audit itself, which is not what the Korean term means. The word “추징금” is also repeatedly translated as a “tax penalty,” but in this context it refers more broadly to an additional amount assessed and collected after an audit. It may include additional tax, interest or penalty components, but no breakdown has been released in Lee’s case. It is therefore more accurate to say that he received an additional tax assessment, not that he was given a criminal fine or convicted of tax evasion. SBS’s English report uses the clearer expression “additional tax payments”: https://news.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?news_id=N1008560021
The article also presents the National Tax Service’s supposed conclusion as though an official audit report had been released. It had not. The original exclusive report said that the authorities were “believed” to have considered part of Lee’s personal income to have been recorded as corporate revenue, allowing the lower corporate tax rate to be applied. That claim was then repeated by other outlets. Lee’s agency gave a slightly different explanation, saying the dispute concerned the standards for processing corporate expenses. Both issues could have formed part of the same reassessment, but the public does not have the documents needed to know that. The National Tax Service cannot normally publish an individual taxpayer’s audit records because Article 81-13 of the Framework Act on National Taxes requires tax officials to keep taxpayer information confidential. The law can be checked here: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1033525939
The legal issue behind these cases is the “substance over form” principle in Article 14 of the Framework Act on National Taxes. It allows the tax authority to look beyond the name or legal form of a transaction and tax the income according to its real economic owner. In other words, creating a corporation is not illegal, and using a company to manage contracts, staff, intellectual property, vehicles, offices and business risks is not automatically tax evasion. The problem arises when the authority decides that the company did not perform enough real business activity to justify receiving income generated primarily by the celebrity’s personal services. Article 14 can be read here: https://www.law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1029615893
There is obviously a tax difference involved. Korea’s highest personal income-tax rate is 45%, while the corporate rates applying to fiscal years beginning in 2026 range from 10% to 25%, before local taxes. The audited years in Lee’s case have not been disclosed, so nobody should pretend to know which exact rates or calculations were used. The current individual rates are in Article 55 of the Income Tax Act: https://law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?chrClsCd=010202&lsJoLnkSeq=1023583825 and the current corporate rates are in Article 55 of the Corporate Tax Act: https://www.law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?chrClsCd=010202&lsJoLnkSeq=1029619807
This still does not make every reassessment a criminal tax-evasion case. Article 3 of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act requires tax to have been evaded through fraud or another improper act, such as false accounting records, fabricated evidence, destroyed records, hidden assets or deliberately manipulated transactions. Nothing currently public says that Lee Yi-kyung was referred for a tax crime, investigated as a criminal suspect, indicted or convicted under that law. His agency specifically denied intentional concealment and fraudulent conduct. Calling this proven “tax evasion” therefore goes further than the available evidence. The criminal provision can be read here: https://law.go.kr/LSW/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1032258071
It is also important not to confuse this with the government’s December 31, 2025 deadline for one-person entertainment agencies. That was not a new tax-law deadline allowing celebrities to correct their taxes before a crackdown. It was a Ministry of Culture guidance period for entertainment businesses that had failed to register under Article 26 of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act. Registration as an entertainment-planning business and the tax classification of income are two separate legal matters. The Ministry’s official announcement is here: https://www.mcst.go.kr/site/s_notice/press/pressView.jsp?pMenuCD=0302000000&pSeq=22006 and Article 26 is here: https://law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1021149115
There is, however, a genuine industry-wide dispute about how these corporations should be assessed. At a National Assembly policy meeting in February, representatives of the entertainment industry argued that legitimate one-person corporations were being too easily labelled as paper companies, while a National Tax Service official said that income from an artist’s non-transferable personal services should normally belong to the artist and that the same substance-over-form standard was being applied to one-person corporations in general, not only to entertainers. The participants agreed that clearer guidelines were needed. This does not automatically prove that Lee’s accounting was correct, but it does show why reducing every case to “celebrity caught evading taxes” is dishonest. The full report is here: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260227099700005
As of August 6, there is still no public Tax Tribunal ruling, administrative-court judgment or criminal judgment concerning Lee Yi-kyung’s assessment. His agency said it respected the audit findings and intended to pay, but that statement did not publish the assessment and did not expressly waive every possible appeal. Paying an assessed amount is not automatically an admission of criminal guilt and does not necessarily prevent a taxpayer from contesting the assessment afterward. Yoo Yeon-seok, for example, paid his reassessed tax and still filed a Tax Tribunal appeal, whose rejection only became public on August 5. Lee has not been reported as having filed an equivalent public appeal. Korean law normally allows a Tax Tribunal petition within 90 days of receiving the assessment notice, but Lee’s actual notice date is not public. Article 68 of the Framework Act on National Taxes is here: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsSideInfoP.do?docCls=jo&joBrNo=00&joNo=0068&lsiSeq=286425&urlMode=lsScJoRltInfoR and the latest report about Yoo’s separate case is here: https://news.nate.com/view/20260805n14414
So the accurate version is much simpler. Lee Yi-kyung’s corporation received an additional tax assessment following a non-routine audit concerning the tax treatment of income and corporate expenses. His agency denied intentional income concealment or fraudulent evasion, said that Lee cooperated with the audit, and announced that the assessed amount would be paid. The amount and detailed findings have not been disclosed, and there is currently no public criminal charge, Tax Tribunal decision or court ruling against him. That does not prove the accounting was perfect, but it also does not justify presenting him as someone who has been found guilty of criminal tax evasion.
Calling an adult man a “pussy” because his agency is taking legal action is not the fearless defence of free…
That explains the quality of your original four takes. Reading the facts would have required more effort than performing confidence.
You asked for a rebuttal with counterarguments, received one, and then announced that you would not read it. So the problem was never that nobody could answer you. The problem is that you only wanted the appearance of a debate, without the inconvenience of understanding the reply.
He has done exactly what is appropriate in this situation. He paid the taxes the government believes he owes,…
You almost reached the correct point, then immediately tripped over your own sentence. Yes, the law decides the outcome. Which means you do not get to write “dummy companies set up to evade tax” as though that has already been legally proven. That is the allegation being disputed, not the final result. Also, this is currently a tax appeal before the Tax Tribunal, not a criminal trial deciding whether he is “guilty,” and calling the payment “taxes and fines” does not magically make every part of your comment accurate. As for the “parasocial fans” line, that is just what people use when they have run out of facts but still want to sound superior. You are telling everyone else to wait for the law while confidently announcing the verdict yourself. That is not legal knowledge. That is gossip wearing reading glasses.
He has been caught lying about tax shelters, and trying to evade paying tax - so it will be interesting to see…
Let’s try this with blocks, since full sentences seem to be causing trouble. Block one: the NTS issued an assessment. Block two: he paid approximately ₩13 billion. Block three: he filed a legal appeal. There is no block saying he was “caught lying,” no block proving a “tax shelter,” and no public court, prosecutor or Tax Tribunal decision finding deliberate tax evasion. You added those pieces yourself and then called everyone else an idiot for not admiring your imaginary tower.
Appealing does not “open a can of worms.” It asks the Tax Tribunal to review whether the assessment was correct. And nobody needs to pay his tax for him, because—this part is especially easy—he already paid it. “Rich and pretty” is not a provision of Korean tax law, and “Korean citizens are unhappy” is not evidence. Telling other people they do not understand the law while replacing law with gossip, resentment and made-up conclusions is a remarkable level of confidence for someone who has not even understood the article.
If he has already paid he should have quietly let the matter close..what's the point of suing the tax service…
He did not pay a parking ticket. He paid about ₩13 billion—roughly €7.8 million or US$9 million. If “a few months” means three, you are casually claiming he personally takes home around ₩52 billion a year—about €31 million or US$36 million—without offering a single figure to support it. Korean actors do not pocket the full value of every drama, advertisement and song; contract revenue is divided, expenses can be deducted, and taxes still apply. He paid because the assessment was enforceable, then appealed because he believes it was wrong. That is not “suing the tax service”; it is the normal Tax Tribunal procedure. Being successful does not turn nine million dollars into loose change or cancel his legal rights. Apparently, “he’s rich” is now a complete accounting method.
Great PR whether it's successful or not, he's paid but made it public that he maintains he did nothing wrong.…
Great PR? Let’s make this preschool-simple. He paid because the tax bill had to be paid. He appealed because he believes the bill was wrong. He apologised for not checking everything carefully enough; he never said, “I did nothing wrong.” Paying, apologising and appealing are three different things, and adults are normally capable of understanding more than one thing at a time. Calling all of it “PR” is what happens when someone reads the headline, skips the article and still feels qualified to explain it. Good luck with the next paragraph lol.
Before discussing Cha Eun-woo, people should stop talking about celebrity money as though it magically grows back the moment it is taken away. Kim Sae-ron should have taught everyone how dangerous that assumption is. She had worked since childhood and was once considered a successful actress, yet after her 2022 DUI, her career collapsed and she faced serious financial problems. Court records later showed that she was also listed as a creditor in her father’s bankruptcy for approximately ₩250 million, roughly €152,000 or US$176,000. Police ruled her February 2025 death a suicide. That does not mean her debts or her family caused her death, because no official investigation established that, and her mother specifically denied claims that the family had squandered the money she earned.
Cha Eun-woo’s situation is not Kim Sae-ron’s, and I am not pretending that the circumstances are identical. The relevant point is much narrower: the celebrity may be the person earning the money while relatives, agencies, accountants and other professionals are involved in managing the structures around that income. When something goes wrong, however, the public usually places every decision directly into the celebrity’s hands because that is the only face they recognise. In this case, the disputed company was established by Cha Eun-woo’s mother, and its former registered address was linked in Korean reporting to an eel restaurant operated by his parents. That does not automatically prove that the company was legitimate, but it also does not prove that Cha Eun-woo personally designed a criminal scheme. https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/01/22/7CXNJF6XCFG2XHJBZ4IAPCFZI4/https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/nts-alleges-actor-cha-eun-woos-mother-runs-shell-company-for-tax-reduction-purposes/12001366
What matters is that Cha Eun-woo did not respond by hiding behind his parents, his agency or his advisers. In his April statement, he said that he had not examined the process carefully enough and that the responsibility belonged to him, not to his family or company. That was the responsible position for an adult whose income and name were involved, regardless of who handled the practical arrangements. It was an acceptance of responsibility for his lack of oversight, not an admission that he had knowingly designed a criminal tax scheme.
The business context also needs to be described accurately. The eel restaurant connected to his family was a genuine operating restaurant, not a fictitious storefront or a paper company. It had operated for years, was publicly profiled in 2023 as a 150-seat restaurant on a large site, and had real customers, staff and restaurant activity. The separate company involved in the tax dispute was registered at the same address for a period, but it was also a legally incorporated entity whose representative obtained official registration as a popular-culture and entertainment-planning business in 2022. Fantagio has stated that the company had a management-services agreement with the agency, performed management and support work for Cha Eun-woo’s activities, and submitted evidence of those services during the tax proceedings. The unresolved question is therefore not whether the restaurant existed—it clearly did—but whether the separate management company performed enough genuine, independent services to justify the income allocated to it and the way that income was taxed. That is precisely the issue now being reviewed, and it is very different from claiming that the restaurant was fake or that Cha Eun-woo personally created a proven criminal scheme. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260408181051005 https://jstart.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=school_news&wr_id=1059 https://www.mt.co.kr/society/2026/01/28/2026012819361285820 https://www.dispatch.co.kr/2338101 https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/straight/6805784_28993.html
With that human context understood, the legal context still needs to be reported correctly. Lily Alice’s article is very short, and the expression “legal proceedings” may make readers think that Cha Eun-woo has sued the National Tax Service in court. That is not what has happened at this stage. Fantagio confirmed on August 2 that he filed a petition with the Korean Tax Tribunal in July, asking it to review whether the National Tax Service’s income-tax assessment was legally justified. The Tax Tribunal is an administrative tax adjudication body. This is therefore an administrative appeal against a tax assessment, not currently a criminal trial or a court lawsuit. No Tax Tribunal decision has yet been announced. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260802017000005 and https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260802002400315
The amount also needs to be explained more clearly. The figure originally reported in January was more than ₩20 billion (roughly €12.2 million or US$14 million), but that was not Cha Eun-woo’s final financial burden. Fantagio later confirmed that previously paid corporate tax and VAT had to be adjusted or refunded because part of the calculation overlapped. The effective amount paid was therefore approximately ₩13 billion (roughly €7.8 million or US$9 million). He paid the assessed taxes in April after receiving the official payment notice. https://www.chosun.com/english/kpop-culture-en/2026/04/09/B3FFZURX6BAA7LFDEEHMEO7AFQ/ and https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10713205
Reports now state that his earlier pre-assessment review did not overturn the National Tax Service’s central position. After the final assessment and the tax adjustments, he paid approximately ₩13 billion (roughly €7.8 million or US$9 million) and later filed the Tax Tribunal petition. This means that the current stage is different from the pre-assessment review discussed in January. It is now a formal challenge to an assessment that has already been issued and paid. https://v.daum.net/v/9mGwginQw9?f=p and https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/cha-eunwoo-files-appeal-over-13-billion-won-tax-bill/12803532
Cha Eun-woo’s April 8 statement confirmed that the taxes had been paid, accepted personal responsibility for not examining the company’s establishment and operation carefully enough, and stated that the remaining procedures would continue. His later appeal is therefore not proof that the April statement was withdrawn. He complied with the assessment while preserving his right to request a legal review of it. The result could uphold, reduce or cancel the assessment, but no decision is public at this time.
Finally, I found no public court case, criminal indictment, prosecution announcement or Tax Tribunal ruling concerning this dispute as of August 5, 2026. The only newly confirmed proceeding is the pending Tax Tribunal petition. Calling it an “appeal” is accurate, but describing it simply as “legal proceedings” without explaining that it is an administrative tax appeal may create the false impression that a criminal or court case is already underway.
I agree that agencies should normally protect their artists against fabricated allegations, sexual harassment, invasions of privacy and genuinely unlawful attacks. However, this article needs an important correction because it has made the announcement look as though it was issued specifically for Doh Kyungsoo. It was not. Blitzway consistently used “our affiliated artists” in the plural and never named Kyungsoo anywhere in the statement. This was a general legal notice covering the agency’s roster: Ju Ji-hoon, Jung Ryeo-won, Chun Woo-hee, Doh Kyungsoo, Woo Do-hwan, Chae Jong-hyeop, Kim Ye-rim, In Gyo-jin, Moon Chae-won, Son Dam-bi, So Yi-hyun, Yoon Bak, Park Ha-sun, Han Bo-reum, Jung In-sun, Kang Min-ah, Kim Woo-seok, Jeong Ji-hoon, Yoon Ha-young, Cha Joo-wan, Lee Yoon-hwan, Chae Seo-an, Choi Tae-joon and Lee Ga-yeon.
The agency said it had found numerous posts involving alleged false information, defamation, insults, malicious attacks, sexual harassment and privacy violations, and that civil and criminal proceedings were already underway. It did not say which artists were targeted by which posts, nor did it announce a new incident involving Kyungsoo. As Usual Lily Alice simply took an agency-wide notice and placed its most recognisable name at the centre of the story, creating confusion that was not present in the original statement.
So yes, this kind of protection should be normal rather than exceptional. But accurate reporting should also be the norm. Kyungsoo should not be made to look as though he personally demanded legal protection over a new controversy when the announcement concerned Blitzway Entertainment’s artists collectively.
Calling an adult man a “pussy” because his agency is taking legal action is not the fearless defence of free speech you seem to think it is. It is simply childish mockery dressed up as social commentary. You looked at a promotional photograph, invented an emotional state for him, and then used your own invention as evidence that he is weak. That is not analysis. It is playground behaviour with longer sentences. Your second point might have been worth discussing if you had actually understood the announcement. Nobody said celebrities should be protected from criticism. People are free to dislike Kyungsoo’s acting, music, personality, career choices or public behaviour. The agency’s notice concerns alleged false information, defamation, personal attacks, sexual harassment and invasions of privacy. Criticism and deliberate harassment are not the same thing, no matter how convenient it would be for you to pretend otherwise.
Blitzway is also not “abusing the legal system.” It collected evidence and submitted it to the appropriate authorities. The police, prosecutors and courts will decide whether the reported material violates Korean law. Apparently, allowing judges to evaluate evidence becomes an abuse of justice only when the person seeking protection is someone you have already decided to ridicule. That is a remarkably selective understanding of the legal system. As for the courts having “more important issues,” courts do not operate by choosing one single important case and abandoning every other offence. Different courts, departments and investigators handle different matters. Reputation, privacy, threats and sexual harassment are also legal rights, even when the victim is famous. Being successful does not turn a human being into public property.
And quoting “sticks and stones” as though a children’s rhyme settles questions of law, harassment and reputational damage is probably the weakest part of an already very weak performance. Words can destroy careers, spread false accusations, damage families and encourage thousands of strangers to target one person. Children are taught that rhyme to help them cope with teasing. Adults are generally expected to develop a more sophisticated understanding of consequences. You presented four “takes” as though their number somehow compensated for their lack of substance. In reality, you gave us one childish insult, one argument against a claim nobody made, one misunderstanding of how courts function, and one nursery rhyme. That is not intellectual provocation. It is confidence arriving several pages before comprehension.
I honestly wish this article had been checked against the original Korean notice before being posted, because the headline and the wording give people the impression that something new has happened specifically to Doh Kyung-soo. That is not what Blitzway Entertainment announced.
The Korean title of the notice is “Legal Response Regarding Infringement of the Rights of Our Artists.” Throughout the statement, Blitzway refers to its artists in the plural. It says the company found numerous posts and comments involving alleged false information, defamation, insults, malicious attacks, sexual harassment and privacy violations against artists represented by the agency. Doh Kyung-soo is one of those artists, but he is never individually named in the notice. The same statement also concerns the rest of Blitzway’s roster, which includes Ju Ji-hoon, Jung Ryeo-won, Chun Woo-hee, Woo Do-hwan, Moon Chae-won, Chae Jong-hyeop, Park Ha-sun and many others. The complete statement was also reproduced by Star News. Unlike this article, the Korean report clearly explains that this is an agency-wide announcement and lists several of the artists represented by Blitzway: https://v.daum.net/v/20260805210143900
There is another difference in the wording. The article says that the agency “will pursue” legal action, but Blitzway actually said that civil and criminal legal procedures are already being carried out. The agency also warned that deleting a post or making an account private does not necessarily remove responsibility when the evidence has already been collected, and that anonymous writers may still be identified through legal procedures. Fans can submit the URL, author information and screenshots of relevant posts to [email protected]. Most importantly, Blitzway did not reveal any particular rumour, post, suspect or new incident involving Kyungsoo. Therefore, the answer to people asking “What happened?” is that no new personal scandal or case concerning him has been announced. kisskh has taken a general notice protecting all Blitzway artists and presented it as a story specifically about Doh Kyung-soo, probably because his name attracts more attention. Even Soompi made the same misleading choice by claiming that the content was directed at him when the original Korean notice does not say that.
There was a separate case involving Kyungsoo under his former agency, Company Soosoo. Complaints were filed against malicious posters in 2024, and on February 25, 2025, the agency announced that investigators had identified a suspect accused of repeatedly spreading false and defamatory material. Further legal proceedings were expected, with no settlement or leniency. That information is real, but it is an older and separate case. Blitzway did not say that its current agency-wide notice was an update on that investigation. The previous case can be checked here: https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20250225/131104745/1
So yes, Blitzway is genuinely taking legal action, and Kyungsoo is protected by that policy as one of its artists. But no, the official announcement was not made only for him, and there is currently no confirmed new event involving him that would explain the way this article was written. That distinction matters, especially when a misleading headline immediately causes readers to assume that he is involved in another controversy.
Reading these comments made me realise that I had never written a proper review of Burnout Syndrome, even though I liked it very much. Some viewers described the characters as flat, poorly explained, or impossible to connect with, while others saw the same behaviour as realistic complexity. Ritual’s comparison to entering a conversation halfway through particularly stayed with me.
Psychologically, burnout, emotional avoidance and unhealthy attachment can make people withdrawn, contradictory and difficult to understand. They often act before they can explain what they feel, which can resemble inconsistent writing. I do not think the series was perfect, but I believe much of that emotional distance was intentional rather than accidental.
I have now written a full review explaining why Koh, Jira and Pheem worked for me, why Dew impressed me so much, and why some viewers may understand the series differently after revisiting it. I would genuinely like to know whether the review changes anyone’s perspective, or confirms why the drama still did not work for them.
I feel like the problem is with the characters, they aren't well written. They don't give us anything to bite…
Thank you for this comment. I liked Burnout Syndrome, but somehow never wrote a proper review until your words made me reconsider why these characters worked for me despite feeling incomplete to others.
Psychologically, emotionally exhausted people often become withdrawn, contradictory and difficult to understand because they no longer explain themselves clearly. That can look like weak characterization, but I saw it as part of the series’ portrayal of burnout, avoidance and unhealthy attachment. I explained this more fully in my review, and I would genuinely like to know whether it changes your perspective at all.
The cameos were hilarious, especially because nobody can play Pond better than Pond. 😂 But they also showed how much potential there was for a full series: different couples, ridiculous acting jobs and all that chaos could easily have supported far more than four episodes.
You were right—there are 8 episodes. The figure of 10 came from the DramaBL listing, but I checked the official platforms again, and both iQIYI and Viu confirm a total of 8 episodes. I have corrected the information. Thank you for pointing it out.
The production has one important advantage: its story is appropriately small. A first-love drama centred on two classmates, a few school locations and intimate conversations is much better suited to Lovememory’s resources than the supernatural world attempted in Sweet Blood. The studio does not need expensive sets or complex effects to make this particular story work.
However, its greatest weakness remains the extremely short format. Eight episodes lasting roughly six to eleven minutes will probably produce only about seventy minutes of finished drama. That leaves very little time to establish the friendship, develop reciprocal feelings, explain the separation and provide a satisfying present-day resolution. Lovememory’s weaker series were criticised precisely for missing important backstory and replacing emotional development with repetitive dialogue.
The first episode attracted approximately 55,000 views and 1,600 likes during its first weeks. That is respectable for an independent channel, but it does not indicate a major breakout, especially compared with Lovememory’s 131,000 subscribers. Since only four episodes have been released and reliable audience scores remain scarce, judging the finished series would be premature.
My current assessment is therefore cautiously average. The title, emotional structure and two-character focus give Love Hurts more potential than some of Lovememory’s weaker projects. However, it still visibly belongs to the low-budget Korean YouTube BL category that many viewers are beginning to ignore. Unless the second half provides a strong explanation for the separation and gives the actors enough material to make the relationship emotionally convincing, it risks becoming another pleasant but forgettable short drama rather than a series capable of rebuilding international interest in Korean BL.
Love Hurts (2026) Original title: 첫사랑니 Alternative titles: First Love Tooth, First Wisdom Tooth, Cheotsarangni
The production has not released a detailed official synopsis. This version is therefore based on the first four episodes, the trailer and the confirmed character information, without inventing events from the unreleased second half.
Synopsis
Kim Dojin has never been a particularly successful student. After receiving the worst grades in his class, he is placed beside Lee Jaewon, one of the school’s strongest students, and ordered to study with him. For Jaewon, helping Dojin should be nothing more than another responsibility given to him by a teacher. For Dojin, it initially feels like another humiliation. They are not friends, they have little reason to spend time together, and Dojin has no interest in being constantly reminded of how far behind everyone else he has fallen. Yet forced proximity has a way of revealing what distance keeps hidden.
Behind Jaewon’s serious and dependable appearance is someone far gentler than Dojin expected. Jaewon does not simply correct his work or lecture him about his grades. He listens, notices the details others overlook and gradually becomes the person beside whom Dojin feels most comfortable being himself. Their study sessions begin to matter for reasons that have nothing to do with school. Ordinary conversations become memories Dojin returns to long afterward. A glance lasts slightly too long, physical closeness becomes difficult to ignore, and the friendship developing between them begins to carry feelings neither boy knows how to name. For Dojin, falling for Jaewon is both exciting and frightening. Jaewon becomes his first experience of being genuinely seen, but first love also arrives with the constant fear that he may be misunderstanding everything. Kindness is not necessarily attraction, and the person who makes his heart race may never have imagined their relationship in the same way. Jaewon appears more controlled, but silence does not mean the absence of emotion. As Dojin’s feelings become increasingly visible, Jaewon must decide whether to protect the friendship they already have or admit that their closeness has changed him as well.
The story is not told only through the innocence of their school years. An older Dojin remains unable to forget Jaewon, suggesting that whatever began between them did not end cleanly. Their past survives through memories that return unexpectedly, carrying both the excitement of first love and the pain of knowing that something important was left unfinished. The Korean title gives that emotional wound a physical form. 첫사랑니 plays with the words for first love and wisdom tooth: something growing quietly beneath the surface until its presence becomes impossible to ignore. It can be removed, but the empty space remains—and even years later, touching that place may still hurt. Love Hurts therefore treats first love as more than a sweet memory. It is the person who taught Dojin what attraction felt like, but also the person whose absence continues to shape him. Meeting Jaewon changed his youth; understanding what happened between them may be the only way for him to finally move beyond it. The central question is not simply whether two former classmates loved each other. It is whether feelings left unspoken can survive the years between them—and whether returning to a first love can heal an old wound or only make it painful again.
Series information
Production company: Lovememory Main cast: Kim Changyu as Kim Dojin and Kang Seonho as Lee Jaewon Number of episodes: 8 Current runtime: Approximately 6–11 minutes per episode Members’ premiere: July 8, 2026 Free public premiere: July 10, 2026 Public release: Fridays at 6:30 p.m. KST Time in metropolitan France: Fridays at 11:30 a.m. CEST Platform: Lovememory’s official YouTube channel Expected members’ finale: August 26, 2026 Expected public finale: August 28, 2026
After Moving Seats, the Boy Behind Me Has a Crush on Me (2026) Original title: 席替えしたら、どうやら後ろの男が俺のこと好きらしい Romanized title: Sekigae Shitara, Douyara Ushiro no Otoko ga Ore no Koto Suki Rashii Japanese short title: Sekisuki
Synopsis
For Hare Mayama, changing seats should be one of the most insignificant moments of the school year. He is a quiet second-year student who rarely attracts attention and is comfortable remaining somewhere in the background. Being placed near the back of the classroom therefore seems like a small piece of good luck—until the first worksheet is passed forward from the desk behind him. Written across it is a confession: “I like you.” Hare assumes it cannot possibly be intended for him. The student sitting behind him is Kosei Asamiya, one of the most attractive and popular boys in their class. Kosei moves easily among the confident students at the centre of school life, while Hare has never imagined that someone like him would even notice him. When Hare finally asks whether the message was a mistake, Kosei answers without hesitation: he wrote it for Hare.
For Kosei, the confession is not the beginning of his feelings. It is the moment he finally stops hiding them. He has apparently liked Hare for much longer than Hare ever realised, and sitting directly behind him removes the distance that previously allowed Kosei to remain silent. Once the truth is spoken, he does not know how—or perhaps does not want—to restrain himself anymore. His attention becomes increasingly direct, his jealousy more visible and his affection sometimes so intense that Hare has no idea how to respond. Hare’s confusion is not simply caused by discovering that another boy likes him. He genuinely cannot understand why Kosei would choose him. Hare sees himself as ordinary and unremarkable, and the original novel gives him insecurities connected to always feeling less noticeable than the people around him. Being loved by someone as confident as Kosei therefore feels almost more frightening than being rejected. Accepting the confession would also mean accepting that Kosei sees something valuable in him that Hare has never been able to recognise in himself.
Kosei may appear fearless, but his confidence disappears whenever Hare fails to understand what he means. His feelings are obvious through everything he does, yet the two boys are inexperienced enough to misunderstand even the clearest words. Hare sometimes wonders whether Kosei’s affection is really romantic, while Kosei struggles to express his devotion without making Hare feel trapped by it. Their romance develops through the smallest parts of school life: worksheets passed between desks, conversations that would never have happened before the seat change, walks home, shared umbrellas and the constant awareness that the person they are thinking about is only a few centimetres away. What was once an ordinary classroom slowly becomes a private world built between two desks.
Kosei’s friends, Toma Sakaki and Mitsuki Tsunekawada, understand the situation far more quickly than Hare does. Toma uses humour to reduce the awkwardness and gently pushes his friends forward, while the calmer Mitsuki often sees directly through the misunderstandings neither boy can explain. Rather than creating another romantic rivalry, they appear positioned as observers and supporters of a relationship that is already obvious to almost everyone except the person being pursued. The story is therefore not really about whether Kosei will confess. He has already made his choice from the beginning. It is about how Hare gradually learns to believe him. Kosei has spent too long holding back and now loves with an intensity that can become overwhelming. Hare has spent too long assuming that no one would choose him and cannot immediately trust something that appears too good to be real. One needs to slow down enough to let the other understand, while the other must stop searching for reasons why such affection cannot possibly belong to him.
After Moving Seats, the Boy Behind Me Has a Crush on Me turns a very simple school event into the beginning of a relationship neither boy expected to experience in the same way. For Kosei, the new seating arrangement finally places him close enough to say what he has wanted to say for a long time. For Hare, it becomes the first step toward seeing himself through the eyes of someone who has apparently been looking at him all along.
Series information
The drama is adapted from Mashiro Ito’s novel of the same name, illustrated by Ayukawa. The story won the top prize in the first Novema! BL Short Story Contest before being published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label. A manga adaptation has also been announced, while a second novel is scheduled for publication on August 20, 2026. The television production officially credits the first novel as its source.
Eito Konishi plays Hare Mayama, while Gennosuke plays Kosei Asamiya. Ken Hiramoto appears as Toma Sakaki and Hayate Iijima as Mitsuki Tsunekawada. The series is directed by Yoshika Nakayama and Yudai Nara, with a screenplay by Kento Goto.
The opening song is “Hakugei” by Kimino Virus, written specifically for the drama. The main theme is “NPC” by SUPER★DRAGON.
Airing information
Number of episodes: 8 Episode length: Approximately 30 minutes Japanese streaming premiere: Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 25:30 JST—technically Thursday, August 6 at 1:30 a.m. in Japan International platforms: Viki, GagaOOLala and Youku Taiwan: LINE TV Japanese television: TV Aichi from August 5 at 25:00; BS Fuji from August 7 at 25:00 Japanese catch-up streaming: TVer after the BS Fuji broadcast Projected finale: Wednesday, September 24 in Japan. Viki and GagaOOLala have already created official international pages for the series. Availability can still vary slightly according to regional licensing, but both platforms currently list the drama for international release.
Episode schedule Episode International release Japanese calendar date Episode 1 August 5, 2026 August 6 Episode 2 August 12, 2026 August 13 Episode 3 August 19, 2026 August 20 Episode 4 August 26, 2026 August 27 Episode 5 September 2, 2026 September 3 Episode 6 September 9, 2026 September 10 Episode 7 September 16, 2026 September 17 Episode 8 September 23, 2026 September 24
Summer Fever (2026) Original title: 썸머 피버 Also known as: Winter Fever Season 2
Synopsis
Winter was the season in which Yeonho and Yujun almost destroyed a relationship that had taken fifteen years to build. They had grown up together, moving so naturally from childhood friendship into love that neither of them had ever learned how to imagine a life without the other. Yet familiarity did not protect them from fear. Yujun became convinced that Yeonho remained beside him out of responsibility rather than love, while Yeonho’s terror of losing him gradually turned devotion into something more desperate and possessive. What should have been a simple conversation became a breakup, and what should have been temporary distance nearly erased everything they had shared.
Summer Fever begins after they have survived that emotional winter and chosen to return to each other. The coldness between them has been replaced by a much warmer season, but reconciliation does not immediately remove the wounds that caused their separation. Yeonho and Yujun may be together again, yet both must learn how to love without allowing insecurity, guilt or fear of abandonment to make their decisions for them. The official description presents the sequel as the beginning of a new season for the couple, following them as they finally enter the passionate summer they were previously too frightened to enjoy.
For Yeonho, loving Yujun has never been the difficult part. His struggle is accepting that love cannot be preserved through force, control or the refusal to let someone leave. He has to understand that choosing Yujun every day is not the same as making Yujun responsible for his entire happiness. Yujun faces the opposite problem. He has spent so long believing that he is a burden that even sincere affection can feel like pity. Returning to Yeonho therefore means more than accepting that he is loved. It requires him to believe that he deserves that love without constantly searching for reasons why it must eventually disappear.
Summer gives them the opportunity to experience the side of their relationship that winter repeatedly interrupted. They can finally enjoy ordinary intimacy, playful affection and the physical warmth of being together without treating every happy moment as something temporary. However, the history between them remains present. A relationship formed over fifteen years cannot simply begin again as though nothing painful happened. Their love is no longer about discovering their feelings. They already know how deeply they are connected. The real question is whether they can build a healthier relationship from something that once became dangerously dependent—and whether two people who have spent most of their lives together can remain individuals while continuing to share the same future.
The sequel also introduces Sooeon, played by Kim Joo-young, while Lee Hajin returns as Kang Jiseok, a character previously seen in Laundry Romance. Their presence connects Summer Fever to True Film’s wider shared universe, although the production has not yet explained exactly how their story will affect Yeonho and Yujun. Summer Fever is therefore not simply a happier continuation of Winter Fever. It follows two men after reconciliation, when saying “I still love you” is no longer enough. Yeonho and Yujun must now prove that their relationship can survive outside the fear that once held it together.
After enduring the season that nearly separated them, summer becomes their chance to stop loving as though every day might be the last—and finally learn how to remain together without losing themselves.
Series information
Summer Fever is a South Korean short-form BL produced by True Film and the direct sequel to Winter Fever. Seo Jeong Hyeon returns as Seo Yujun, while Kwak Geon Hee returns as Kim Yeonho. The supporting cast includes Kim Joo Young as Sooeon and Lee Hajin as Kang Jiseok.
Airing information
Public premiere: Thursday, August 6, 2026 Public release time: 6:00 p.m. KST, corresponding to 11:00 a.m. in metropolitan France Membership early release: Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at the same time Platform: True Film’s official YouTube channel Expected episode count: 4 episodes Estimated runtime: Approximately 10 minutes per episode Total estimated duration: Approximately 40 minutes
True Film has officially confirmed the membership and public premiere dates. The four-episode count is listed by DramaBL and is consistent with Winter Fever and True Film’s usual short-form format, although True Film’s initial promotional announcements did not explicitly state the total number of episodes.
Expected release schedule Episode Members Free public release Episode 1 August 4 August 6 Episode 2 August 11 August 13 Episode 3 August 18 August 20 Episode 4 August 25 August 27
The projected membership finale is August 25, 2026, while the final episode should become publicly available on August 27, 2026, assuming True Film maintains its usual weekly schedule without interruption.
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There are also two translation problems in the English reporting that make this sound worse than the Korean wording. The Korean expression “비정기 세무조사” means a non-periodic or non-routine tax audit. Translating it as an “irregular tax audit” may make English readers think there was something improper or unlawful about the audit itself, which is not what the Korean term means. The word “추징금” is also repeatedly translated as a “tax penalty,” but in this context it refers more broadly to an additional amount assessed and collected after an audit. It may include additional tax, interest or penalty components, but no breakdown has been released in Lee’s case. It is therefore more accurate to say that he received an additional tax assessment, not that he was given a criminal fine or convicted of tax evasion. SBS’s English report uses the clearer expression “additional tax payments”: https://news.sbs.co.kr/english/article.do?news_id=N1008560021
The article also presents the National Tax Service’s supposed conclusion as though an official audit report had been released. It had not. The original exclusive report said that the authorities were “believed” to have considered part of Lee’s personal income to have been recorded as corporate revenue, allowing the lower corporate tax rate to be applied. That claim was then repeated by other outlets. Lee’s agency gave a slightly different explanation, saying the dispute concerned the standards for processing corporate expenses. Both issues could have formed part of the same reassessment, but the public does not have the documents needed to know that. The National Tax Service cannot normally publish an individual taxpayer’s audit records because Article 81-13 of the Framework Act on National Taxes requires tax officials to keep taxpayer information confidential. The law can be checked here: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1033525939
The legal issue behind these cases is the “substance over form” principle in Article 14 of the Framework Act on National Taxes. It allows the tax authority to look beyond the name or legal form of a transaction and tax the income according to its real economic owner. In other words, creating a corporation is not illegal, and using a company to manage contracts, staff, intellectual property, vehicles, offices and business risks is not automatically tax evasion. The problem arises when the authority decides that the company did not perform enough real business activity to justify receiving income generated primarily by the celebrity’s personal services. Article 14 can be read here: https://www.law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1029615893
There is obviously a tax difference involved. Korea’s highest personal income-tax rate is 45%, while the corporate rates applying to fiscal years beginning in 2026 range from 10% to 25%, before local taxes. The audited years in Lee’s case have not been disclosed, so nobody should pretend to know which exact rates or calculations were used. The current individual rates are in Article 55 of the Income Tax Act: https://law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?chrClsCd=010202&lsJoLnkSeq=1023583825 and the current corporate rates are in Article 55 of the Corporate Tax Act: https://www.law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?chrClsCd=010202&lsJoLnkSeq=1029619807
This still does not make every reassessment a criminal tax-evasion case. Article 3 of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act requires tax to have been evaded through fraud or another improper act, such as false accounting records, fabricated evidence, destroyed records, hidden assets or deliberately manipulated transactions. Nothing currently public says that Lee Yi-kyung was referred for a tax crime, investigated as a criminal suspect, indicted or convicted under that law. His agency specifically denied intentional concealment and fraudulent conduct. Calling this proven “tax evasion” therefore goes further than the available evidence. The criminal provision can be read here: https://law.go.kr/LSW/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1032258071
It is also important not to confuse this with the government’s December 31, 2025 deadline for one-person entertainment agencies. That was not a new tax-law deadline allowing celebrities to correct their taxes before a crackdown. It was a Ministry of Culture guidance period for entertainment businesses that had failed to register under Article 26 of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act. Registration as an entertainment-planning business and the tax classification of income are two separate legal matters. The Ministry’s official announcement is here: https://www.mcst.go.kr/site/s_notice/press/pressView.jsp?pMenuCD=0302000000&pSeq=22006 and Article 26 is here: https://law.go.kr/lsLinkCommonInfo.do?lsJoLnkSeq=1021149115
There is, however, a genuine industry-wide dispute about how these corporations should be assessed. At a National Assembly policy meeting in February, representatives of the entertainment industry argued that legitimate one-person corporations were being too easily labelled as paper companies, while a National Tax Service official said that income from an artist’s non-transferable personal services should normally belong to the artist and that the same substance-over-form standard was being applied to one-person corporations in general, not only to entertainers. The participants agreed that clearer guidelines were needed. This does not automatically prove that Lee’s accounting was correct, but it does show why reducing every case to “celebrity caught evading taxes” is dishonest. The full report is here: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260227099700005
As of August 6, there is still no public Tax Tribunal ruling, administrative-court judgment or criminal judgment concerning Lee Yi-kyung’s assessment. His agency said it respected the audit findings and intended to pay, but that statement did not publish the assessment and did not expressly waive every possible appeal. Paying an assessed amount is not automatically an admission of criminal guilt and does not necessarily prevent a taxpayer from contesting the assessment afterward. Yoo Yeon-seok, for example, paid his reassessed tax and still filed a Tax Tribunal appeal, whose rejection only became public on August 5. Lee has not been reported as having filed an equivalent public appeal. Korean law normally allows a Tax Tribunal petition within 90 days of receiving the assessment notice, but Lee’s actual notice date is not public. Article 68 of the Framework Act on National Taxes is here: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsSideInfoP.do?docCls=jo&joBrNo=00&joNo=0068&lsiSeq=286425&urlMode=lsScJoRltInfoR and the latest report about Yoo’s separate case is here: https://news.nate.com/view/20260805n14414
So the accurate version is much simpler. Lee Yi-kyung’s corporation received an additional tax assessment following a non-routine audit concerning the tax treatment of income and corporate expenses. His agency denied intentional income concealment or fraudulent evasion, said that Lee cooperated with the audit, and announced that the assessed amount would be paid. The amount and detailed findings have not been disclosed, and there is currently no public criminal charge, Tax Tribunal decision or court ruling against him. That does not prove the accounting was perfect, but it also does not justify presenting him as someone who has been found guilty of criminal tax evasion.
You asked for a rebuttal with counterarguments, received one, and then announced that you would not read it. So the problem was never that nobody could answer you. The problem is that you only wanted the appearance of a debate, without the inconvenience of understanding the reply.
Thank you for confirming it so efficiently.
Appealing does not “open a can of worms.” It asks the Tax Tribunal to review whether the assessment was correct. And nobody needs to pay his tax for him, because—this part is especially easy—he already paid it. “Rich and pretty” is not a provision of Korean tax law, and “Korean citizens are unhappy” is not evidence. Telling other people they do not understand the law while replacing law with gossip, resentment and made-up conclusions is a remarkable level of confidence for someone who has not even understood the article.
However, her story should at least have ended this childish idea that fame means unlimited money, permanent employment and the ability to recover millions whenever the public decides the loss does not matter. Cha Eun-woo has now paid about ₩13 billion—more than 50 times that amount, or approximately €7.8 million/US$9 million. So no, this is not money that even a successful Korean actor can casually lose and “make back in a few months,” especially when one wrong decision involving family, agencies or financial advisers can damage both a career and everything earned over many years.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20250217005000315
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/others/20250609/actress-kim-sae-ron-was-listed-as-creditor-in-fathers-bankruptcy-lost-over-180000
https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1008130556
Cha Eun-woo’s situation is not Kim Sae-ron’s, and I am not pretending that the circumstances are identical. The relevant point is much narrower: the celebrity may be the person earning the money while relatives, agencies, accountants and other professionals are involved in managing the structures around that income. When something goes wrong, however, the public usually places every decision directly into the celebrity’s hands because that is the only face they recognise. In this case, the disputed company was established by Cha Eun-woo’s mother, and its former registered address was linked in Korean reporting to an eel restaurant operated by his parents. That does not automatically prove that the company was legitimate, but it also does not prove that Cha Eun-woo personally designed a criminal scheme. https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/01/22/7CXNJF6XCFG2XHJBZ4IAPCFZI4/ https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/nts-alleges-actor-cha-eun-woos-mother-runs-shell-company-for-tax-reduction-purposes/12001366
What matters is that Cha Eun-woo did not respond by hiding behind his parents, his agency or his advisers. In his April statement, he said that he had not examined the process carefully enough and that the responsibility belonged to him, not to his family or company. That was the responsible position for an adult whose income and name were involved, regardless of who handled the practical arrangements. It was an acceptance of responsibility for his lack of oversight, not an admission that he had knowingly designed a criminal tax scheme.
The business context also needs to be described accurately. The eel restaurant connected to his family was a genuine operating restaurant, not a fictitious storefront or a paper company. It had operated for years, was publicly profiled in 2023 as a 150-seat restaurant on a large site, and had real customers, staff and restaurant activity. The separate company involved in the tax dispute was registered at the same address for a period, but it was also a legally incorporated entity whose representative obtained official registration as a popular-culture and entertainment-planning business in 2022. Fantagio has stated that the company had a management-services agreement with the agency, performed management and support work for Cha Eun-woo’s activities, and submitted evidence of those services during the tax proceedings. The unresolved question is therefore not whether the restaurant existed—it clearly did—but whether the separate management company performed enough genuine, independent services to justify the income allocated to it and the way that income was taxed. That is precisely the issue now being reviewed, and it is very different from claiming that the restaurant was fake or that Cha Eun-woo personally created a proven criminal scheme.
https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260408181051005
https://jstart.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=school_news&wr_id=1059
https://www.mt.co.kr/society/2026/01/28/2026012819361285820
https://www.dispatch.co.kr/2338101
https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/straight/6805784_28993.html
With that human context understood, the legal context still needs to be reported correctly. Lily Alice’s article is very short, and the expression “legal proceedings” may make readers think that Cha Eun-woo has sued the National Tax Service in court. That is not what has happened at this stage. Fantagio confirmed on August 2 that he filed a petition with the Korean Tax Tribunal in July, asking it to review whether the National Tax Service’s income-tax assessment was legally justified. The Tax Tribunal is an administrative tax adjudication body. This is therefore an administrative appeal against a tax assessment, not currently a criminal trial or a court lawsuit. No Tax Tribunal decision has yet been announced. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260802017000005 and https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260802002400315
The amount also needs to be explained more clearly. The figure originally reported in January was more than ₩20 billion (roughly €12.2 million or US$14 million), but that was not Cha Eun-woo’s final financial burden. Fantagio later confirmed that previously paid corporate tax and VAT had to be adjusted or refunded because part of the calculation overlapped. The effective amount paid was therefore approximately ₩13 billion (roughly €7.8 million or US$9 million). He paid the assessed taxes in April after receiving the official payment notice. https://www.chosun.com/english/kpop-culture-en/2026/04/09/B3FFZURX6BAA7LFDEEHMEO7AFQ/ and https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10713205
Reports now state that his earlier pre-assessment review did not overturn the National Tax Service’s central position. After the final assessment and the tax adjustments, he paid approximately ₩13 billion (roughly €7.8 million or US$9 million) and later filed the Tax Tribunal petition. This means that the current stage is different from the pre-assessment review discussed in January. It is now a formal challenge to an assessment that has already been issued and paid. https://v.daum.net/v/9mGwginQw9?f=p and https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/cha-eunwoo-files-appeal-over-13-billion-won-tax-bill/12803532
Paying the assessment did not legally remove his right to challenge it. Under Article 57 of South Korea’s Framework Act on National Taxes, filing an objection, review request or Tax Tribunal petition does not normally suspend enforcement of the tax disposition. Article 68 gives the taxpayer 90 days from learning of or receiving notice of the disposition to file a Tax Tribunal petition. Fantagio’s statement indicates that Cha Eun-woo used this procedure within the legal period. https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?joNo=004704&lsId=001586 and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsSideInfoP.do?docCls=jo&joBrNo=00&joNo=0068&lsiSeq=286425&urlMode=lsScJoRltInfoR
The underlying dispute has not changed. According to the reports, the National Tax Service concluded that the company established by his mother did not provide sufficient independent services and treated the income attributed to it as Cha Eun-woo’s personal income. Fantagio’s position is that the central question is whether the company was a legitimate entity with sufficient economic substance and whether the relevant tax rules were applied correctly. The Tax Tribunal will now review that issue, but the parties have not released the evidence submitted in the case. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20260122/cha-eun-woo-faces-allegations-of-20-billion-won-tax-evasion and https://news.tvchosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2026/08/02/2026080290038.html
Cha Eun-woo’s April 8 statement confirmed that the taxes had been paid, accepted personal responsibility for not examining the company’s establishment and operation carefully enough, and stated that the remaining procedures would continue. His later appeal is therefore not proof that the April statement was withdrawn. He complied with the assessment while preserving his right to request a legal review of it. The result could uphold, reduce or cancel the assessment, but no decision is public at this time.
Finally, I found no public court case, criminal indictment, prosecution announcement or Tax Tribunal ruling concerning this dispute as of August 5, 2026. The only newly confirmed proceeding is the pending Tax Tribunal petition. Calling it an “appeal” is accurate, but describing it simply as “legal proceedings” without explaining that it is an administrative tax appeal may create the false impression that a criminal or court case is already underway.
The agency said it had found numerous posts involving alleged false information, defamation, insults, malicious attacks, sexual harassment and privacy violations, and that civil and criminal proceedings were already underway. It did not say which artists were targeted by which posts, nor did it announce a new incident involving Kyungsoo. As Usual Lily Alice simply took an agency-wide notice and placed its most recognisable name at the centre of the story, creating confusion that was not present in the original statement.
So yes, this kind of protection should be normal rather than exceptional. But accurate reporting should also be the norm. Kyungsoo should not be made to look as though he personally demanded legal protection over a new controversy when the announcement concerned Blitzway Entertainment’s artists collectively.
Blitzway is also not “abusing the legal system.” It collected evidence and submitted it to the appropriate authorities. The police, prosecutors and courts will decide whether the reported material violates Korean law. Apparently, allowing judges to evaluate evidence becomes an abuse of justice only when the person seeking protection is someone you have already decided to ridicule. That is a remarkably selective understanding of the legal system. As for the courts having “more important issues,” courts do not operate by choosing one single important case and abandoning every other offence. Different courts, departments and investigators handle different matters. Reputation, privacy, threats and sexual harassment are also legal rights, even when the victim is famous. Being successful does not turn a human being into public property.
And quoting “sticks and stones” as though a children’s rhyme settles questions of law, harassment and reputational damage is probably the weakest part of an already very weak performance. Words can destroy careers, spread false accusations, damage families and encourage thousands of strangers to target one person. Children are taught that rhyme to help them cope with teasing. Adults are generally expected to develop a more sophisticated understanding of consequences. You presented four “takes” as though their number somehow compensated for their lack of substance. In reality, you gave us one childish insult, one argument against a claim nobody made, one misunderstanding of how courts function, and one nursery rhyme. That is not intellectual provocation. It is confidence arriving several pages before comprehension.
The Korean title of the notice is “Legal Response Regarding Infringement of the Rights of Our Artists.” Throughout the statement, Blitzway refers to its artists in the plural. It says the company found numerous posts and comments involving alleged false information, defamation, insults, malicious attacks, sexual harassment and privacy violations against artists represented by the agency. Doh Kyung-soo is one of those artists, but he is never individually named in the notice. The same statement also concerns the rest of Blitzway’s roster, which includes Ju Ji-hoon, Jung Ryeo-won, Chun Woo-hee, Woo Do-hwan, Moon Chae-won, Chae Jong-hyeop, Park Ha-sun and many others. The complete statement was also reproduced by Star News. Unlike this article, the Korean report clearly explains that this is an agency-wide announcement and lists several of the artists represented by Blitzway: https://v.daum.net/v/20260805210143900
There is another difference in the wording. The article says that the agency “will pursue” legal action, but Blitzway actually said that civil and criminal legal procedures are already being carried out. The agency also warned that deleting a post or making an account private does not necessarily remove responsibility when the evidence has already been collected, and that anonymous writers may still be identified through legal procedures. Fans can submit the URL, author information and screenshots of relevant posts to [email protected]. Most importantly, Blitzway did not reveal any particular rumour, post, suspect or new incident involving Kyungsoo. Therefore, the answer to people asking “What happened?” is that no new personal scandal or case concerning him has been announced. kisskh has taken a general notice protecting all Blitzway artists and presented it as a story specifically about Doh Kyung-soo, probably because his name attracts more attention. Even Soompi made the same misleading choice by claiming that the content was directed at him when the original Korean notice does not say that.
There was a separate case involving Kyungsoo under his former agency, Company Soosoo. Complaints were filed against malicious posters in 2024, and on February 25, 2025, the agency announced that investigators had identified a suspect accused of repeatedly spreading false and defamatory material. Further legal proceedings were expected, with no settlement or leniency. That information is real, but it is an older and separate case. Blitzway did not say that its current agency-wide notice was an update on that investigation.
The previous case can be checked here: https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20250225/131104745/1
So yes, Blitzway is genuinely taking legal action, and Kyungsoo is protected by that policy as one of its artists. But no, the official announcement was not made only for him, and there is currently no confirmed new event involving him that would explain the way this article was written. That distinction matters, especially when a misleading headline immediately causes readers to assume that he is involved in another controversy.
Psychologically, burnout, emotional avoidance and unhealthy attachment can make people withdrawn, contradictory and difficult to understand. They often act before they can explain what they feel, which can resemble inconsistent writing. I do not think the series was perfect, but I believe much of that emotional distance was intentional rather than accidental.
I have now written a full review explaining why Koh, Jira and Pheem worked for me, why Dew impressed me so much, and why some viewers may understand the series differently after revisiting it. I would genuinely like to know whether the review changes anyone’s perspective, or confirms why the drama still did not work for them.
Psychologically, emotionally exhausted people often become withdrawn, contradictory and difficult to understand because they no longer explain themselves clearly. That can look like weak characterization, but I saw it as part of the series’ portrayal of burnout, avoidance and unhealthy attachment. I explained this more fully in my review, and I would genuinely like to know whether it changes your perspective at all.
However, its greatest weakness remains the extremely short format. Eight episodes lasting roughly six to eleven minutes will probably produce only about seventy minutes of finished drama. That leaves very little time to establish the friendship, develop reciprocal feelings, explain the separation and provide a satisfying present-day resolution. Lovememory’s weaker series were criticised precisely for missing important backstory and replacing emotional development with repetitive dialogue.
The first episode attracted approximately 55,000 views and 1,600 likes during its first weeks. That is respectable for an independent channel, but it does not indicate a major breakout, especially compared with Lovememory’s 131,000 subscribers. Since only four episodes have been released and reliable audience scores remain scarce, judging the finished series would be premature.
My current assessment is therefore cautiously average. The title, emotional structure and two-character focus give Love Hurts more potential than some of Lovememory’s weaker projects. However, it still visibly belongs to the low-budget Korean YouTube BL category that many viewers are beginning to ignore. Unless the second half provides a strong explanation for the separation and gives the actors enough material to make the relationship emotionally convincing, it risks becoming another pleasant but forgettable short drama rather than a series capable of rebuilding international interest in Korean BL.
Original title: 첫사랑니
Alternative titles: First Love Tooth, First Wisdom Tooth, Cheotsarangni
The production has not released a detailed official synopsis. This version is therefore based on the first four episodes, the trailer and the confirmed character information, without inventing events from the unreleased second half.
Synopsis
Kim Dojin has never been a particularly successful student. After receiving the worst grades in his class, he is placed beside Lee Jaewon, one of the school’s strongest students, and ordered to study with him. For Jaewon, helping Dojin should be nothing more than another responsibility given to him by a teacher. For Dojin, it initially feels like another humiliation. They are not friends, they have little reason to spend time together, and Dojin has no interest in being constantly reminded of how far behind everyone else he has fallen. Yet forced proximity has a way of revealing what distance keeps hidden.
Behind Jaewon’s serious and dependable appearance is someone far gentler than Dojin expected. Jaewon does not simply correct his work or lecture him about his grades. He listens, notices the details others overlook and gradually becomes the person beside whom Dojin feels most comfortable being himself. Their study sessions begin to matter for reasons that have nothing to do with school. Ordinary conversations become memories Dojin returns to long afterward. A glance lasts slightly too long, physical closeness becomes difficult to ignore, and the friendship developing between them begins to carry feelings neither boy knows how to name. For Dojin, falling for Jaewon is both exciting and frightening. Jaewon becomes his first experience of being genuinely seen, but first love also arrives with the constant fear that he may be misunderstanding everything. Kindness is not necessarily attraction, and the person who makes his heart race may never have imagined their relationship in the same way. Jaewon appears more controlled, but silence does not mean the absence of emotion. As Dojin’s feelings become increasingly visible, Jaewon must decide whether to protect the friendship they already have or admit that their closeness has changed him as well.
The story is not told only through the innocence of their school years. An older Dojin remains unable to forget Jaewon, suggesting that whatever began between them did not end cleanly. Their past survives through memories that return unexpectedly, carrying both the excitement of first love and the pain of knowing that something important was left unfinished. The Korean title gives that emotional wound a physical form. 첫사랑니 plays with the words for first love and wisdom tooth: something growing quietly beneath the surface until its presence becomes impossible to ignore. It can be removed, but the empty space remains—and even years later, touching that place may still hurt. Love Hurts therefore treats first love as more than a sweet memory. It is the person who taught Dojin what attraction felt like, but also the person whose absence continues to shape him. Meeting Jaewon changed his youth; understanding what happened between them may be the only way for him to finally move beyond it. The central question is not simply whether two former classmates loved each other. It is whether feelings left unspoken can survive the years between them—and whether returning to a first love can heal an old wound or only make it painful again.
Series information
Production company: Lovememory
Main cast: Kim Changyu as Kim Dojin and Kang Seonho as Lee Jaewon
Number of episodes: 8
Current runtime: Approximately 6–11 minutes per episode
Members’ premiere: July 8, 2026
Free public premiere: July 10, 2026
Public release: Fridays at 6:30 p.m. KST
Time in metropolitan France: Fridays at 11:30 a.m. CEST
Platform: Lovememory’s official YouTube channel
Expected members’ finale: August 26, 2026
Expected public finale: August 28, 2026
Original title: 席替えしたら、どうやら後ろの男が俺のこと好きらしい
Romanized title: Sekigae Shitara, Douyara Ushiro no Otoko ga Ore no Koto Suki Rashii
Japanese short title: Sekisuki
Synopsis
For Hare Mayama, changing seats should be one of the most insignificant moments of the school year. He is a quiet second-year student who rarely attracts attention and is comfortable remaining somewhere in the background. Being placed near the back of the classroom therefore seems like a small piece of good luck—until the first worksheet is passed forward from the desk behind him. Written across it is a confession: “I like you.” Hare assumes it cannot possibly be intended for him. The student sitting behind him is Kosei Asamiya, one of the most attractive and popular boys in their class. Kosei moves easily among the confident students at the centre of school life, while Hare has never imagined that someone like him would even notice him. When Hare finally asks whether the message was a mistake, Kosei answers without hesitation: he wrote it for Hare.
For Kosei, the confession is not the beginning of his feelings. It is the moment he finally stops hiding them. He has apparently liked Hare for much longer than Hare ever realised, and sitting directly behind him removes the distance that previously allowed Kosei to remain silent. Once the truth is spoken, he does not know how—or perhaps does not want—to restrain himself anymore. His attention becomes increasingly direct, his jealousy more visible and his affection sometimes so intense that Hare has no idea how to respond. Hare’s confusion is not simply caused by discovering that another boy likes him. He genuinely cannot understand why Kosei would choose him. Hare sees himself as ordinary and unremarkable, and the original novel gives him insecurities connected to always feeling less noticeable than the people around him. Being loved by someone as confident as Kosei therefore feels almost more frightening than being rejected. Accepting the confession would also mean accepting that Kosei sees something valuable in him that Hare has never been able to recognise in himself.
Kosei may appear fearless, but his confidence disappears whenever Hare fails to understand what he means. His feelings are obvious through everything he does, yet the two boys are inexperienced enough to misunderstand even the clearest words. Hare sometimes wonders whether Kosei’s affection is really romantic, while Kosei struggles to express his devotion without making Hare feel trapped by it. Their romance develops through the smallest parts of school life: worksheets passed between desks, conversations that would never have happened before the seat change, walks home, shared umbrellas and the constant awareness that the person they are thinking about is only a few centimetres away. What was once an ordinary classroom slowly becomes a private world built between two desks.
Kosei’s friends, Toma Sakaki and Mitsuki Tsunekawada, understand the situation far more quickly than Hare does. Toma uses humour to reduce the awkwardness and gently pushes his friends forward, while the calmer Mitsuki often sees directly through the misunderstandings neither boy can explain. Rather than creating another romantic rivalry, they appear positioned as observers and supporters of a relationship that is already obvious to almost everyone except the person being pursued. The story is therefore not really about whether Kosei will confess. He has already made his choice from the beginning. It is about how Hare gradually learns to believe him. Kosei has spent too long holding back and now loves with an intensity that can become overwhelming. Hare has spent too long assuming that no one would choose him and cannot immediately trust something that appears too good to be real. One needs to slow down enough to let the other understand, while the other must stop searching for reasons why such affection cannot possibly belong to him.
After Moving Seats, the Boy Behind Me Has a Crush on Me turns a very simple school event into the beginning of a relationship neither boy expected to experience in the same way. For Kosei, the new seating arrangement finally places him close enough to say what he has wanted to say for a long time. For Hare, it becomes the first step toward seeing himself through the eyes of someone who has apparently been looking at him all along.
Series information
The drama is adapted from Mashiro Ito’s novel of the same name, illustrated by Ayukawa. The story won the top prize in the first Novema! BL Short Story Contest before being published by Starts Publishing under its BeLuck Bunko label. A manga adaptation has also been announced, while a second novel is scheduled for publication on August 20, 2026. The television production officially credits the first novel as its source.
Eito Konishi plays Hare Mayama, while Gennosuke plays Kosei Asamiya. Ken Hiramoto appears as Toma Sakaki and Hayate Iijima as Mitsuki Tsunekawada. The series is directed by Yoshika Nakayama and Yudai Nara, with a screenplay by Kento Goto.
The opening song is “Hakugei” by Kimino Virus, written specifically for the drama. The main theme is “NPC” by SUPER★DRAGON.
Airing information
Number of episodes: 8
Episode length: Approximately 30 minutes
Japanese streaming premiere: Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 25:30 JST—technically Thursday, August 6 at 1:30 a.m. in Japan
International platforms: Viki, GagaOOLala and Youku
Taiwan: LINE TV
Japanese television: TV Aichi from August 5 at 25:00; BS Fuji from August 7 at 25:00
Japanese catch-up streaming: TVer after the BS Fuji broadcast
Projected finale: Wednesday, September 24 in Japan.
Viki and GagaOOLala have already created official international pages for the series. Availability can still vary slightly according to regional licensing, but both platforms currently list the drama for international release.
Episode schedule
Episode International release Japanese calendar date
Episode 1 August 5, 2026 August 6
Episode 2 August 12, 2026 August 13
Episode 3 August 19, 2026 August 20
Episode 4 August 26, 2026 August 27
Episode 5 September 2, 2026 September 3
Episode 6 September 9, 2026 September 10
Episode 7 September 16, 2026 September 17
Episode 8 September 23, 2026 September 24
Original title: 썸머 피버
Also known as: Winter Fever Season 2
Synopsis
Winter was the season in which Yeonho and Yujun almost destroyed a relationship that had taken fifteen years to build. They had grown up together, moving so naturally from childhood friendship into love that neither of them had ever learned how to imagine a life without the other. Yet familiarity did not protect them from fear. Yujun became convinced that Yeonho remained beside him out of responsibility rather than love, while Yeonho’s terror of losing him gradually turned devotion into something more desperate and possessive. What should have been a simple conversation became a breakup, and what should have been temporary distance nearly erased everything they had shared.
Summer Fever begins after they have survived that emotional winter and chosen to return to each other. The coldness between them has been replaced by a much warmer season, but reconciliation does not immediately remove the wounds that caused their separation. Yeonho and Yujun may be together again, yet both must learn how to love without allowing insecurity, guilt or fear of abandonment to make their decisions for them. The official description presents the sequel as the beginning of a new season for the couple, following them as they finally enter the passionate summer they were previously too frightened to enjoy.
For Yeonho, loving Yujun has never been the difficult part. His struggle is accepting that love cannot be preserved through force, control or the refusal to let someone leave. He has to understand that choosing Yujun every day is not the same as making Yujun responsible for his entire happiness. Yujun faces the opposite problem. He has spent so long believing that he is a burden that even sincere affection can feel like pity. Returning to Yeonho therefore means more than accepting that he is loved. It requires him to believe that he deserves that love without constantly searching for reasons why it must eventually disappear.
Summer gives them the opportunity to experience the side of their relationship that winter repeatedly interrupted. They can finally enjoy ordinary intimacy, playful affection and the physical warmth of being together without treating every happy moment as something temporary. However, the history between them remains present. A relationship formed over fifteen years cannot simply begin again as though nothing painful happened. Their love is no longer about discovering their feelings. They already know how deeply they are connected. The real question is whether they can build a healthier relationship from something that once became dangerously dependent—and whether two people who have spent most of their lives together can remain individuals while continuing to share the same future.
The sequel also introduces Sooeon, played by Kim Joo-young, while Lee Hajin returns as Kang Jiseok, a character previously seen in Laundry Romance. Their presence connects Summer Fever to True Film’s wider shared universe, although the production has not yet explained exactly how their story will affect Yeonho and Yujun. Summer Fever is therefore not simply a happier continuation of Winter Fever. It follows two men after reconciliation, when saying “I still love you” is no longer enough. Yeonho and Yujun must now prove that their relationship can survive outside the fear that once held it together.
After enduring the season that nearly separated them, summer becomes their chance to stop loving as though every day might be the last—and finally learn how to remain together without losing themselves.
Series information
Summer Fever is a South Korean short-form BL produced by True Film and the direct sequel to Winter Fever. Seo Jeong Hyeon returns as Seo Yujun, while Kwak Geon Hee returns as Kim Yeonho. The supporting cast includes Kim Joo Young as Sooeon and Lee Hajin as Kang Jiseok.
Airing information
Public premiere: Thursday, August 6, 2026
Public release time: 6:00 p.m. KST, corresponding to 11:00 a.m. in metropolitan France
Membership early release: Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at the same time
Platform: True Film’s official YouTube channel
Expected episode count: 4 episodes
Estimated runtime: Approximately 10 minutes per episode
Total estimated duration: Approximately 40 minutes
True Film has officially confirmed the membership and public premiere dates. The four-episode count is listed by DramaBL and is consistent with Winter Fever and True Film’s usual short-form format, although True Film’s initial promotional announcements did not explicitly state the total number of episodes.
Expected release schedule
Episode Members Free public release
Episode 1 August 4 August 6
Episode 2 August 11 August 13
Episode 3 August 18 August 20
Episode 4 August 25 August 27
The projected membership finale is August 25, 2026, while the final episode should become publicly available on August 27, 2026, assuming True Film maintains its usual weekly schedule without interruption.