Heartbroken Older Man is Pursued by His Biggest Fan
About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Sparkling Baby.
Content Warning: There may be references to age gap, break up, excessive drinking, commentary on eating habits, slut shaming, rape (not between the main couple), implied drugging (not between the main couple), and manipulation, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
This is a spin-off of Lover Boy. While they can be read independently of one another, I do recommend reading Lover Boy first.
Hanjoon is at the top of his game when it comes to his career, but his personal life is down in the dumps. He spent most of his romantic life pursuing someone with whom he ended up in a situationship, only to lose him to a much younger man in the end. As a result, Hanjoon is jaded by love and has no intention of falling for it ever again. But then he’s approached by Yujin, a younger man with a talent for photography. Hanjoon fully intended on bedding him the night they met in New York, but then he realized Yujin hadn’t approached him with such intentions and truly just wanted a place to hang out for the night. Hanjoon chalks it all up to an embarrassing meeting and assumes the two will never meet again.
Three years later, Hanjoon has stepped down from his illustrious position as director of a famous magazine to a lesser brand as editor and writer, but he’s much happier for it. To his surprise, however, he ends up hiring freelance photographer Yujin Seo, the very same Yujin he happened to meet in New York. The two recognize each other, and though Hanjoon wants nothing more than to fire Yujin and find another photographer, he can’t deny that Yujin has immense talent. But that then begs the question. Yujin is talented and praised in the industry, and he could get a much more lucrative job anywhere else.
So, why did he choose to work for Hanjoon’s?
Review:
The style is very inconsistent and boxy, which isn’t all that surprising to me. I think that’s been my key complaint about ZEC‘s style since the first thing I’ve read from them, and it’s not different here. However, Yujin might just be the most attractive character ZEC has ever designed. Granted, he fits my preferences more closely than any other, but that’s because most of their other characters are similar. Yujin is very unique design-wise for ZEC, which not only shows their growth as an artist but also shows that their style can be much more dynamic. It makes me really excited to read future works from them.
However, something I never realized before is how important open mouths are in panels. I’m not sure if this is characteristic of ZEC‘s work, and I just never noticed it, but it is a constant thing in this series. There will be long conversations between characters, but many panels show closed mouths. I never would’ve thought this was a big deal, but it made a huge difference once I noticed it. It makes the panels much more lifeless, and it can be hard to discern who is speaking since many of the speech bubbles have no directional tail to show who is speaking. This ultimately really bothered me. There are, of course, panels with open mouths, but the number that don’t have them is jarring.
I gotta say though, story-wise, this is super strong. While there is tension in the series, it’s not your usual stomach-turning, super dramatic, knock-out-drag-out tension (which is completely counter to how Lover Boy, its predecessor, plays out). These two actually communicate quite a lot, and while some conversations are painful, they are honest and serve to move the story along rather than create needless misunderstandings and drag things out. Hanjoon has been hurt, but he does his best to ensure Jin isn’t hurt in the same way. Similarly, rather than running away or trying to convince Hanjoon that he can fix his trauma, Jin mourns with Hanjoon and accepts things as they are. This feels like two adults navigating a scary, new relationship and supporting each other in their growth. It’s very refreshing.
It’s very subtle in its angst and struggle, and even the chemistry and romance are subtle. If you’re looking for your typical whirlwind romance with electric attraction from the very beginning, this isn’t it. Even in such a small package of only 26 episodes, the romance and attraction grow gradually. This honestly might be a disappointment for most BL readers on this front, as much of BL is focused on huge romantic gestures, intense sexual attraction and chemistry, and drama that shakes to the core. What romantic gestures do appear are based on an undercurrent of serious or controlled characters, so they are restrained even if they are grand. The sexual attraction is mainly followed up with self-satisfaction or self-preservation rather than impulse. And though there is drama, it’s mature and understandable rather than hyper-emotional and packed with misunderstanding. For an emotional story, it is very restrained when it comes to the emotions, but that’s its greatest strength in my opinion. Many might find it boring for that reason, but for me, it’s immensely satisfying.
Results:
With the Lover Boy print releasing soon, I felt compelled to finally give this a read, and I’m very glad I did. This truly felt like a mature romance, and I don’t mean in the dirty, sexy way (though there is some fun sexy time here). There have been suggestions that side stories are on the way, but it’s been a hot minute since then, and I couldn’t bring myself to wait anymore. If there are any side stories in the future, I may do an update, but the side stories don’t change the succinct and satisfying main story. I’m a fan, through and through.
Have you read Sparkling Baby? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!