Lover Boy, Vol. 3

사랑하는 소년 #3

by Zec, Chana Conley (Letterer)

Eunho and Jaeha are closer than ever before, their relationship blossoming and basking in the warmth of their shared feelings for each other. But after an unexpected visit from Eunho’s mother and sister, a creeping coldness envelopes Jaeha. Will the pair survive the winter, or will Jaeha’s struggle to let love in lead them to crash and burn?’

Genres: Manga, Manhwa, Romance

352 pages, Paperback

Published October 21, 2025

Reviews

[⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

what the fuck. my heart is ripped up, chewed and spat out (not in a good way). GIVE ME VOL 4 NOW

[Akansha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see a time skip coming.

Jaeha has low self esteem and I do feel bad for him but it's worse for Eunho especially with the kind of dedication he has shown towards Jaeha. Also that professor was a creep.

There is one thing bothering me and it’s Jaeha's marriage. It ended because he has been with men or was he currently cheating on his wife? Second one makes sense but if it's the first one what does it mean? I wish authors were more clear about their characters sexuality.

[Swathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

They finally got together at the end of book two and then this. I get that there has to be ups and downs but I'm starting to really dislike Jaeha's cowardly ways. He never seems to have an opinion and always goes with whatever is the easiest. It makes Eunho seem almost like a doormat.
Saying that, the artwork is great and I love the silk pages. I hope that this story turns around soon

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaeha! He has such low self esteem… It makes me so damn sad. And Eunho… he’s trying so hard to reassure Jaeha but you can tell he’s anxious that Jaeha’s going to run away..
Time apart can help but Jaeha definitely needs to help himself…

[Ryofire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great volume in this series, though it is a very sad one. I know it's partially explained later, but the flashback of Hyesun getting upset about what appears to be a photo of her much older than that husband who was still an adult at the time sleeping with a professor we don't know she even had, is very odd in context, and people have good reason to be weirded out by this. Without context, it looks like she's mad that Jaeha is secretly queer. The same thing happened with Hanjoon: absent context, Hanjoon running into Jaeha in the parking lot made it look like Hanjoon was physically abusing Jaeha, rather than someone else hit Jaeha. I get it's all for drama, but the Hyesun moment is a lot worse, because we're supposed to have more context in this flashback, but still don't. I think it's one of the weaker moments of the story.

Yen Press/Ize Press needs to update their translation standards for their Korean books and keep honorifics. There's a line Hanjoon has that makes no sense in context and even in the "translation notes" at the end because the publisher is so stupid about removing honorifics from Korean works. The publisher at least some of the time keep honorifics in their Japanese works, so the publisher knows honorifics matter. There is truly no reason to have a different policy for Korean works, even if this translation isn't as ridiculous as the nonsense they're doing for "Semantic Error". It's especially worrisome as they turn to getting into translating Chinese works, as well. I appreciate the diversity and that more English publishers are getting into translating Korean and Chinese works, but this policy of removing honorifics - and as many Korean cultural markers as possible, I was honestly pleasantly surprised one of the dishes this volume kept its Korean name, given how bad the policy of removal is - is dumb and needs to be removed entirely.

[Kris Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know honestly the fact they break up literally reminds me of an ex-friend of mine who fucking had me and our friends come over to setup and play a brand new board game, and then afterwards shut everything down and say he needs space all of a sudden without any fucking context or reason or anything. Literally dropped this on us like why even play the fucking game?! And then left for good in the group chat days later. That’s what Jeaha fucking did. And for what?! Both my ex-friend and Jaeha need help, sincerely and truly. You don’t have people make an effort to “make good memories” to then do emotional whiplash. GTFO of here!! 😡 Poor Eunho…

Reading the side story is pretty bad. However, it’s no excuse for his behavior towards anyone really. People being led around and being a passenger instead of a driver of their now life is how you “hurt people” and even yourself. I know he got taken advantage of by the teacher and the Dad was a piece of shit and this made him open up to his teacher for something he was missing: care and love. However, treating others around you that genuinely care like it’s transactional and even taking for granted is awful. Also, he certainly should’ve told Hyesun, because most cishet women are not cool with being with any level of LGBTQ man. Like at all. It’s sad and ridiculous, but so is how Jeaha is being. Basically “hurt people, hurt people”…

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, Jaeha really had a lot of experience with unhealthy relationships, which combined with his desperate need to be loved mixes for a very dangerous combo. It's no wonder he second guesses himself so much, though it's too bad it's at the risk of costing both him and Eunho their new happiness. It's not too surprising then when Eunho makes his decision at the end of this volume. Hopefully the time apart will be even more revealing and Jaeha won't fall back into more unhealthy relationships. It's rather concerning that they're both withdrawing so completely and so suddenly, even when Eunho is able to at least sort of figure out some of Jaeha's fears of hurting him even more. Don't think this is exactly what Eunho's sister had in mind when she issued her warning to Jaeha, but she doesn't know how their relationship had changed either.

[Rainbow · Rating 5 out of 5]

recuerdo que cuando se publicaba cada semana yo odiaba a Jaeha, después la autora publicó su pasado y lo entendí pero lo seguí odiando porque yo no soy objetiva y mi personaje favorito claramente es Eunho.
ahora sólo estoy esperando a que me llegue el siguiente volúmen🙂‍↔️.

[Eve Healy]

Spoiler-Included Reviews:

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[Kayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending pissed me off. I appreciated the bonus backstory.

[Cheyenne Davey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart is so sad 😭