먼 길을 돌고 돌아 함께하게 된 공현과 청순. 그동안 놓친 시간들을 보상받겠다는 듯 따뜻하고 낭만적인 연말을 즐긴다. 이 휴일과도 같은 날을 영원히 만끽하기 위해 자신의 모든 것을 쏟아부어 서로의 곁을 지키고자 한다. 그러던 어느 날, 청순의 인터뷰 방송을 보고 어린 시절 청순을 돌봐준 적 있는 삼촌이 청순을 찾아온다. 그의 등장에 청순이 가진 가족에 대한 그리움과 결핍을 아는 공현은 마음속 깊이 짓눌러왔던 두려움과 초조함을 터뜨린다. 버려질까 봐, 다시 아프기 싫어서. 말다툼과 같이 되어버린 대화 속에서 공현과 청순은 각자의 두려움을 분노처럼 표출한다. 그들의 갈등을 부추기듯 공현의 어머니가 청순을 불러 관계의 포기를 강요하는데….
This is one of those stories that the more I think of it the more I love everything about it.
In my honest opinion it's one of the best second chance romance alongside Banana Scandal as well as one of the best description of 1st love trope- right people, wrong place, wrong time.
1st love arc was done with such gentle and thorough way of understanding how young, inexperienced people who only are starting their adulthood journey can hurt each other simply by not knowing how to communicate their feelings in a proper way. Because let's be honest here; every young love is full of insecurities of heart, unspoken vows hidden between casual halfwords and thick sexual tension that appears from seemingly unmindful light brush of fingers. This story has it all and excels at it.
But what I love even more about it, is how it progress and continues with 10 years gap after the heart wrenching breakup. Showing how young lovers have changed and matured, seemingly moved on yet when they met up again after the decade all the love is still there, burning and not letting them to forget. This time is right people, right place and right time. The only thing that has changed is the way how they communicate and talk about their feelings, not hiding anything, even embarrassing insecurities. And that skill is something all humans learn with time. This part of the story is crafted so convincingly that when one of the main characters states without hesitation that they can't be separated because he would die without other and his lover would do the same without him, I undeniably believed that in this universe it would happen.
Lasty, what struck me while reading is how the simplicity of the art added the whole new level to the whole story. The artist has outstanding skills at understanding how to convey deep and complex emotions with a few lines and a burst of color. Not only smut was aesthetically pleasing to read but also made me blush like crazy with how tender and close to reality it was. Honestly its was less like reading boring porn but more like watching sweet, very intimate love making. 10/10
For Hyeon Gonghyeon, a prodigy at playing the piano, the only person he needed was Shim Cheong-soon, his one and only love. The intimacy of their scenes is probably one of my favourite things about this manhwa. The hand holding, hugs and kisses exuded so much warmth into the story. They were content with just being together.
The character development for SCS was gradual so I didn't realise it until almost the end of the story, but I was glad that he grew courageous enough to not care about other people's opinions about his relationship with HGH. He also grew more confident in himself and their relationship that he wasn't afraid of being greedy and asking for more. But let it be known that HGH had always been unapologetic about their relationship, whether family or friends. I was impressed with how he used his power and position to protect SCS.
They went through a rough patch this time around but it resulted in them growing closer and understanding each other on a deeper level. Also, I can't believe SCS threw away his journal 😭 if he had read what HGH had written, maybe they would've been able to realise how they felt about each other earlier. Then again, things did work out in the end eventually. They even became a family even though the method was unorthodox, SCS being adopted by HGH.
I absolutely adored this series! Which is too be expected since it's the same creator as Wolf in the House. Beautiful art. Tragic lonely lovely muffins who fall back in love. Inject it into my veins!!
Solo puedo decir que de lo único que me arrepiento es de no haber leído este manhwa mucho antes. Es de lo más bonito que he leído en mi vida. Elegancia y exquisitez en su dibujo, belleza, drama, alegría, lo tiene todo 🩶