Baristas
The main character or multiple leads are baristas as their primary source of income.
Manhwa Review | The Words In Your Snare by Chepali
Title: The Words In Your Snare
Jooin is just trying to enjoy his life. He’s running a little cafe in the middle of the country, enjoying spending time with the locals. But more than anything, he enjoys the words, and that doesn’t mean conversation. One of the main reasons Jooin enjoys the conversation so much is because he can read minds. His ability is limited to physical words that spawn off people and linger around where they hang out. In the city, Jooin was often bombarded with negative and positive thoughts. In the rural areas, Jooin sees more positive words than any other kind, and there are fewer, making his life much more peaceful.
However, that peace is disrupted when a strange bag of coffee beans appears at his cafe. Not long after, a group of police officers and a handsome man in a suit come looking for that bag of coffee. It’s an odd scenario for a random bag of coffee, but nothing is stranger than the man who, for whatever reason, doesn’t give off any words at all. Jooin has never encountered anyone whose thoughts he couldn’t see, but no matter how much he looks, he can’t see any of his thoughts. Things only get stranger as the man returns time and time again, lingering around Jooin for a reason he can’t even fathom. The man then makes a request, one that Jooin has no intention of complying with.
This stranger, Mookya, wants to date Jooin.
Thankfully, Mookya works hours away in the city, so Jooin plans to let their odd relationship fade away. But then a young man with a knife drops by, looking for drugs. Jooin can only assume that the random bag of coffee beans was actually a bag of drugs, and after subduing the young man, Jooin has no choice but to go back to the city. He ends up right back where he started, working alongside the police to read possible criminal’s minds. Unlike before, though, Mookya is there, too. As Jooin spends more and more time in the city, with the gangster Mookya wooing him, Jooin feels himself softening up to the mystery man, but love can’t cover up the dark feelings and thoughts lurking around the city Jooin has left behind.
Manhwa Review | Room to Room by Lee Aru
Title: Room to Room
Dowan fell in love with Chamin the first time he saw him. But Chamin is straight, and Dowan is happy to simply live within his orbit as a friend. Unfortunately, this comfortable distance is strained when Dowan, while looking for a new roommate, is overheard by Chamin. As it turns out, Chamin wants to move closer to campus but isn’t allowed to live alone due to his parents’ worries. Hoping Chamin’s parents will say “no,” Dowan gives Chamin all the details.
Unfortunately for Dowan, Chamin’s parents were all too happy to approve the move, and now Dowan faces his crush day in and day out. Everything is going well, but Dowan suffers as he sees and hears Chamin talking to and about his girlfriend. He’s happy that Chamin is happy, but Dowan’s heart aches all the same. Then, the day comes when Chamin’s girlfriend breaks up with him. Depressed and hurt, Chamin is all too happy to run into Dowan’s arms for comfort, and Dowan is happy to comfort him.
But when Chamin starts coming to Dowan’s bedroom at night, asking to have sex, that distance Dowan so carefully puts between him and his crush falls away.
Manhwa Review | Tenth Time’s the Charm by gom
Title: Tenth Time's the Charm
Hyunwoo is doing everything he can to get by. As a poor college student with chronic health issues, including amnesia and fainting spells, it’s hard to make ends meet, much less to keep a job. Unfortunately, his situation comes to a head when he returns home to find his door locked, his stuff sitting outside, and a note from the landlord kicking him out. With nowhere else to go, Hyunwoo heads out to the street with his few belongings, trying to determine his next course of action.
While out on the street, Hyunwoo comes upon a flyer looking to hire someone with room and board provided at a garden-themed cafe named The Flower Garden of Memory. As a lover of flowers and plants and needing a home, Hyunwoo has no intention of letting the opportunity pass him by. He heads straight to the cafe, only to discover the owner is someone he already knows. The night before, while at a bar, Hyunwoo saw the owner, Hansung, kissing another man in the alleyway. They both are stunned to see each other again. As if his chances of getting the job aren’t already bad enough, he passes out after smelling what Hyunwoo can only assume is Hansung.
Needless to say, when he wakes up, he’s pretty sure he’s lost the job. But after Hyunwoo begs, and coincidentally after he mentions his love of hydrangeas, Hansung gives him a chance. So begins Hyunwoo’s new job at the cafe. But it’s not all flowers and coffee; the longer he works there, the more he learns about his past and how Hansung might have been part of it. His memory seems to be intrinsically tied to this garden of memory.
Manga Review | I Caught Him Getting Off Online! by Megane
Title: I Caught Him Getting Off Online!
Hayato was just perusing cam sites when he came upon a camboy. Hayato wouldn’t consider himself gay, but upon seeing this particular camboy streaming while pleasuring himself, Hayato can’t help but be attracted to him. He’s entirely enraptured by the camboy, going so far as to memorize the moles on his finger. Hayato watches the camboy stream late into the night until the camboy finishes and ends the stream. Only then does Hayato finally go to sleep.
The next day, while at work, Hayato runs into part-timer Mamiya. They’ve worked together for a long time but haven’t worked the same shifts since Mamiya was in college. But now that they can work the same shifts, Hayato can finally get close to his coworker. While getting to know him, Hayato happens to notice that there are moles on the same finger as the camboy. What are the odds that Mamiya is the same camboy Hayato watched? And even if he is, why should Hayato even care?
Manhwa Review | Tiger Lily by Nire
Title: Tiger Lily
Yoon lives a hard life. His mother despises his existence after his father died in a car accident while getting his birthday cake when Yoon was a child. His brother mercilessly bullied him before going missing, which their mother blames Yoon for since it occurred when he moved out. Plus, he has to take a leave of absence from college to work, save up, and pay his tuition. Yeah, life can’t get much worse. He thinks so until he encounters a mysterious man named Jay.
As it turns out, Jay is a tiger goblin. This creature hunts humans, stealing their vitality until they are no more. Once consumed, their souls become tied to the tiger goblin, enslaved, and forced to bring new sacrifices in exchange for their freedom to the afterlife. As it turns out, Yoon’s missing brother was Jay’s previous victim, and the person his brother chose for his freedom is Yoon. He thought he could escape his brother’s torment when he left home, but even in the afterlife, his brother wants nothing more than to torture Yoon.
The only thing keeping Yoon alive is that humans are best consumed at the peak of happiness. While Yoon is anything but happy, Jay is determined to make him the most delectable prey possible before consuming him whole. Unfortunately, it seems Yoon doesn’t have a single wish in the world, and as such, Jay can’t make Yoon happy. So, without any other course of action, Jay decides to go down the one path he thinks can brighten up Yoon’s lonely life: pretend to love him.
Manhwa Review | Unintentional Love Story by PIBI
Title: Unintentional Love Story
Wonyoung’s successful career is put on hold after his superior gets caught in a scandal. The company, Taepyung Group, is unsure if Wonyoung played a role in the scandal, so to hedge their bets, they fire him. Needless to say, Wonyoung is heartbroken. His parents were beyond proud of him for getting a job at such a prolific company, so he can’t bring himself to tell them about his situation. Rather than finding a new job, he desperately wants to get back into Taepyung Group. To gather his thoughts and wait out the ensuing investigation, with little hope that he’ll be brought back, Wonyoung leaves Seoul for the countryside, where he tries to relax.
While checking out the area, Wonyoung happens upon a pottery studio and store where a potter sells all manner of bowls, cups, and the like. It just so happens that the man who owns this store is none other than Yoon Taejun, the chairman of Taepyung’s favorite potter who has been missing for a long time. However, he isn’t going by Taejun anymore. Instead, the name he answers to is Joohun. Is this the same guy? There’s no question in Wonyoung’s mind that it is, but why is he hiding out in the countryside?
Seeing this as an opportunity to win back favor with the chairman and get his job back, Wonyoung relays Taejun’s location to his former coworker, who talks Wonyoung into getting close to Taejun in hopes of winning an exclusive contract with Taepyung. While Wonyoung feels this is unethical, his desperation pushes him forward.
Manhwa Review | Welcome to the Café of Love by Churrr
Title: Welcome to the Café of Love
Ingyu is an incubus. He survives off of the vitality of all manner of beings by having sex with them. Unfortunately, due to the barrier created by the divine beings around humanity’s world, Ingyu is limited to the beasts and monsters that live in Devildom to get vitality. It’s often gross, painful, and dangerous, and Ingyu longs to get vitality from humans. So, one day, he finally takes the plunge. He ends up getting a chance from the ruler of Devildom to break through the barrier and live among the humans. Thanks to the fallen divine being, Taegyu is able to move through the barrier and protect Ingyu.
Once in the human world, Ingyu wastes no time getting his vitality buffet going by opening up a late-night café. He charms the coffee lids, so when unsuspecting customers take a sip, he can take the form of the one they want the most and take his time sampling them before sending them off as if they had just woken from a dream. All of this is routine until Ingyu encounters Kangin. Kangin is a tired and overworked office drone, and one of his few comforts is coffee. He is precisely Ingyu’s type.
Unfortunately, Kangin isn’t that easily charmed, as every attempt Ingyu makes to charm him fails. Sure, Ingyu could just move on and charm the next passerby, but he doesn’t want just anyone anymore. He wants Kangin, and he’s determined to get him. Even if he gets a taste, though, will that be enough? And if it’s not, what happens to a human that gets targeted again and again by an incubus?
Manhwa Review | BJ Alex by Mingwa
Title: BJ Alex
Dong-Gyun is a returning student in college. When he’s not getting back into the swing of things for school, he spends his time on Nutworthy, a cam site with lots of camboys to ogle at. Though he’s spoiled for choice, Dong-gyun only has eyes for one specific camboy named BJ Alex. Alex is muscular, lusty, and kind in his streams, and he wears a mask, which adds an air of mystique to the already perfect package. Dong-Gyun loves Alex so much that he even gets a part-time job to send him tips. Though Dong-Gyun dreams of someday meeting Alex in real life, he knows that’s only a dream, and he’s happy just to be able to see him every day on his stream.
One evening, Dong-Gyun goes out to drink with his department and ends up absolutely wasted. His sunbae, Jiwon, offers to help take him home. While bringing a drunken Dong-Gyun home, Jiwon ends up covered in puke. So, while at Dong-Gyun’s house, Jiwon cleans himself up and even helps clean up his drunken hoobae. Eventually, Dong-Gyun sobers up enough to realize where he is and sees Jiwon half-naked.
The first thing he notices is the substantial birthmark on Jiwon’s side, the same exact birthmark on Alex. When he tells Jiwon that he knows he’s Alex, he realizes the mask he wears on stream isn’t the only mask. Will Dong-Gyun be able to love Jiwon despite the fact he isn’t anything like the Alex he’s known on stream? And will Jiwon be able to keep a safe distance from Dong-Gyun, so neither of them falls in love with the other?
Manhwa Review | Sign by Ker
Title: Sign
Kang Soohwa’s life isn’t all that great right now. He has almost no money left in his bank account, his laptop is broken, and he doesn’t have a job. So, to better his situation, he goes out on the hunt for a job, trying to find someone with free WiFi so he can apply to jobs on his phone. The moment he does find a connection, though, he is hosed down by a strange man on the balcony of a cafe. Absolutely shocked by his terrible luck, he passes out.
When he wakes up, he’s in the cafe, and the strange man is looking over him with an equally odd little man beside him. It turns out they are workers at Cafe Goyo – Yohan is the owner who sprayed Soohwa down, and Gyoon is an employee helping out. As retribution for being assaulted with a water hose, Soohwa begs for a part-time job at the cafe. At first, Gyoon refuses, but after some desperate persuasion from Soohwa and some pitying tears from Yohan, Gyoon relents.
On his first day, Soohwa tries to communicate with Yohan only to discover that Yohan is deaf. However, that isn’t the only thing Soohwa learns. It turns out that Soohwa is attracted to Yohan’s voice, which, of course, makes working together incredibly awkward. So, to avoid more embarrassing scenarios, Soohwa makes it a point to learn sign language, but he has to learn from Yohan. So Soohwa must do his best to learn sign language from Yohan without ever hearing his voice. Easier said than done. What would Yohan think if he found out about Soohwa’s weird fetish?