About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series .
Trigger Warning: There may be references to excessive drinking, manipulation, arranged marriage (not between main characters), controlling and possessive behavior, perceived cheating, and sexual assault, as it appears in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Kyungwon sees love every day. He's a wedding planner, and though he's good at his job, it isn't always fun for him, as usually the grooms are just his type. Desperate for love, Kyungwon goes out to a gay bar with a friend and drinks his pain away. Emboldened by the alcohol, when a popular hottie comes into the club, he walks right up and introduces himself. The two drink together, and there is an immediate connection, which leads to them climbing into a hotel bed together. The sex is excellent, but Kyungwon doesn't remember much else and leaves the man in the hotel room the following day.
After their hot and heavy encounter, Kyungwon forgets everything else about his partner from that night. That is until, while at work, he's approached by a stranger who introduces himself as Kangwoo, the brother of a former client. Kyungwon is stunned, and just when he thinks this is his chance to fall in love, Kangwoo says he wants Kyungwon to be his wedding planner. Kyungwon is heartbroken but happy to assist. But as they go through the process of planning a wedding, Kangwoo becomes more and more suspicious. He doesn't ever bring his bride, he hates everything that Kyungwon shows him, and it seems that he has no intention of getting married to anyone. If his intention isn't to get married, what exactly is his intention?
Review:
The cover art does this 0 justice. I almost didn't read this because the cover art just isn't very nice. Kyungwon, in particular, looks nothing like how he does on this cover art, which is great. That's not to say the art is perfect by any means, but it's much nicer than what the cover might suggest. Kangwoo usually looks pretty similar to how he appears on the cover, but I'm so mad at him. I don't really care what he looks like, and we'll get into that. Overall, the art style is inconsistent, and the smut scenes feel stiff. However, my boy Kyungwon has some absolute stunner panels during the smut scenes, which are the peak when it comes to art in this, bringing my degenerate soul joy.
Story-wise, this is “Misunderstanding the Manhwa.” I once gave that title to Mistaken Lover, but this is so much worse, in my opinion. Kangwoo has to be the leader of the bad plan red flag tops. He hears a drunken Kyungwon say he hates men and immediately assumes that means he literally hates all men. Rather than ask Kyungwon if that's true when they end up running into each other again, he starts this whole ruse of needing a wedding planner so he can stay close to Kyungwon. I've seen some stupid red flags, but this one annoyed me the most thus far because it makes Kyungwon feel like he's “the other partner” in a cheating scenario. It also wastes all of his time as he spends weekends and evenings trying to please a client who can't be pleased and then essentially hijacks his life by forcing him to go on a “honeymoon survey.” All for a bride and wedding that doesn't exist. This is so manipulative and cruel I can't stand it.
Don't get me wrong, the foundation of this is charming. I love that Kangwoo asks Kyungwon what his preferences are for a wedding as if he's trying to plan theirs. But then, it devolves into nonsense as Kangwoo monopolizes Kyungwon's life as a fake client rather than a potential partner. If it had started with Kangwoo pretending to be a client, but then at the end of the initial meeting admitting he isn't getting married and just wanted to see Kangwoo again, I think this could've led down a really cute path of Kangwoo trying to woo Kyungwon into marriage, making him plan their own wedding. Would it still be completely unbelievable? Of course, but it would be that sweet, romantic, mushy, gushy, possibly green-flag romance rather than the manipulative, cruel, and nonsensical route this takes. And then, as if that wasn't enough, even after Kangwoo confesses he wants Kyungwon, Kangwoo doesn't make it clear that he broke off his engagement long ago, so Kyungwon is stuck feeling guilty that he might have broken up his client's marriage only to feel horrible when he thinks the wedding is still happening. It makes me sick.
Yeonju, the fake bride, is the hero we desperately need in this series. She comes in and tells Kangwoo what we all think while reading this title: just tell him the truth. Once she appears, she constantly guides this man on what to say or do, and it truly makes me wonder how this man has survived any length of time on this Earth alone. Then comes the side stories, which I hoped would be fluffy and smutty fun, but it ends up being more, albeit minor in comparison, misunderstandings. Once again, Yeonju comes to the rescue, guiding Kangwoo on how to communicate and when to do so. I do love that he uses his pretty face, and it makes me smile when that happens, but his character is far too annoying to come even close to a full-on funny. Not even Yeonju could save this story, unfortunately.
Results:
Admittedly, I got a bit more heated than I probably should have with this, but it was just so annoying. If Kyungwon didn't hate men before, he should hate them now after dealing with Kangwoo. I think part of the reason it was so irritating is that the explanation of the misunderstanding is so flippant. Then they are just happily ever after like none of this traumatizing manipulation ever happened. As someone who works with clients, I also have to admit that the idea of someone pretending to be a client and taking over my private and professional life for no reason burns my biscuits. This was a hard miss.
Have you read Wedding Plans for Mr. & Mr.? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!
You’re so right about Kangwoo — manipulative as hell. Yet… something about Rotten Green T’s work has attached to me brain lol. And Greg’s artwork I did enjoy in this. I both 100% agree with your criticisms and yet somehow still had this at about 3-stars for me as some guilty pleasure.
I would say read RGT’s other stuff but… the secretary one, their longest work, is full of even more red flag and annoying behavior LOL.
Hehe, Gege*. Whoops, autocorrect.
I will forever refer to Gege as Greg, haha.
I totally feel you on that 3-star. I loved the initial set up for this, with Kangwoo planning their wedding, and I really, really wanted to like this because of my feelings for that set up, but I ended up feeling way too heated for even 3-stars, haha.
I enjoyed RGT’s Pleasure Principle, and I’d consider that one to be my guilty pleasure. I was hoping for something similar here, but no dice. I have read their title about the secretary and his boss (it’s in my backlog to review), which leads me to say… there is something about RGT I love and hate at the same time. I don’t know what it is. I’ll probably be questioning why for the rest of my days, haha.