Manhwa Review | Love or Hate by Youngha

Title: Love or Hate



Haesoo is in a rut. He used to be highly praised as a young writer, considered a prodigy, and expected to do amazing things even at a young age. But after some good progress with writing smutty stories in a column, his work has become stale, and his column is gone. Frustrated but unsure what to do, Haesoo works freelance for a gossip magazine. His professional life seems to mimic his personal one, too. He’s also in a relationship rut with none other than famous actor Choi Joowon. But to Haesoo, Joowon isn’t an actor: he’s his stepbrother and casual sex partner.

The two have gone from mortal enemies in their teens to each other’s firsts, only to become whatever this cold and casual situationship is as adults. Haesoo loves Joowon, but he hates him, too. He hates that Joowon is more successful than he is, that Joowon still has this hold on him, and that he won’t ever love him. Haesoo jumps from relationship to relationship, but in the end, he runs back to Joowon – or Joowon runs back to him. It’s a neverending cycle of pleasure and pain that Haesoo can’t see a way out of.

That is until he’s tasked with interviewing mysterious and provocative photographer K. K, whose real name is Song Taekyung, is strange. He stares at Haesoo as if he’s looking at something Haesoo wants to keep hidden. But there is a strange magnetism between the two of them that Haesoo just can’t seem to shake. Is the photographer Haesoo’s chance to break out of this rut, both professionally and personally? Or will his obsession with Joowon hold him back?

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