Love Triangle
When two people are pining after the affections of a single person. This may result in a polyamorous relationship, but often the person being pined after picks one of the two.
Manhwa Review | Bound to Be Fools by gahyun
Sex Worker Stuck Between Former High School Lover and Gangster Lover
Novel Review | Limerence by Jiang Zi Bei
Title: Limerence
Pei Ran and Luo Qingshan have been together since high school, three years and counting. Luo Qingshan is extroverted and overly affectionate, while Pei Ran is the opposite, more shy and reserved, and has mysophobia, making him averse to most of Luo Qingshan’s affections. This often leads to them disagreeing or Luo Qingshan pleading and begging Pei Ran to relent, but they are otherwise comfortable. However, Pei Ran will give in as much as possible when Luo Qingshan’s birthday comes around.
As much as he hates it, he goes out to a karaoke place with Luo Qingshan, along with a group of his friends. Everyone is drinking and smoking, two things Pei Ran has trouble being around. Another person who happens to be there is Su Nian, Luo Qingshan’s close friend, who is more forward and affectionate with Luo Qingshan than Pei Ran would like. After a lot of drinking, Luo Qingshan heads to the bathroom. After a while, Pei Ran checks on him, only to find him and Su Nian kissing outside the bathroom.
Stunned, Pei Ran isn’t sure what to do until Luo Qingshan’s roommate Yan Zhun comes by and gets Pei Ran out of there. Comforted by Yan Zhun, Pei Ran spares no time to gather all of Luo Qingshan’s things and break up with him the next time they meet. Luo Qingshan isn’t ready to give up just yet, going out of his way to get close to Pei Ran and beg for his forgiveness. Pei Ran holds firm, thanks in part to the friendship he’s found in Yan Zhun, but it isn’t long before Yan Zhun makes it clear: he likes Pei Ran more than a friend.
Fresh out of a painful breakup, with an ex still hot on his heels and a love rival in Su Nian who bad-mouthes him any chance he gets, can Pei Ran find it in himself to fall for someone else? Or has the well of love been poisoned for good?
Manhwa Review | Stage of the Dark Souls by Guacamole
Title: Stage of the Dark Souls
Mihael is a devil that lives among humans. Though he shouldn’t, he ends up falling in love with a particular human, a man named Adonel Schravant. He is particularly in love with his stunning soul, which Mihael desperately wants for himself. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, Adonel is always being swept away by other humans. Unwilling to share Adonel anymore, Mihael goes to the clergy and tells them that Adonel’s family is practicing pagan worship, which leads to their execution. Alone and desperate, Adonel is ripe for the picking, so Mihael makes him an offer he knows Adonel can’t refuse: Mihael will tie himself to the Schravant line, granting them all of his powers. In exchange, once the Schravant has fallen in love with Mihael and willingly given his soul, Mihael will take it, and they will be bound for eternity.
So Mihael lives in Adonel’s shadow, helping rebuild the fallen Schravant name. All the while, Adonel has a child, despite Mihael’s hate over it, and grows to a ripe old age. Finally, at the end of Adonel’s life, Mihael broaches the subject of Adonel handing over his soul. Only then does Adonel reveal that he never loved Mihael and would not give up his soul, meaning Mihael would remain tied to the Schravant bloodline until he can convince another descendent to fall in love with him and willingly give their soul to him. Mihael is devastated but far from willing to give up.
Three hundred years later, after the death of the head of the Schravant conglomerate, Mihael finds his two sons: the firstborn, Evan, and the second, Victor. Mihael has been watching over the family all this time, biding his time and waiting for the ideal soul. Finally, after all this time, Mihael has found it. Two of them, in fact, and he isn’t willing to give either of them up. One way or another, he will make them fall for him and then take their souls, but not until he destroys them from the inside out.
Manhwa Review | One-way Romance by TESIK
Title: One-way Romance
Jae-hwan is a reporter. A broke reporter, more specifically, having lost all of his money in the stocks. Looking for a huge scoop to score a huge payday, he turns his attention to the upper crust. More specifically, he focuses on Hong Kong mogul and CEO Heo Chung. He’s gotten a tip from a colleague that Heo Chung is going to be at a rooftop party, and Jae-hwan is determined to go and schmooze with Heo Chung, hoping to unearth some juicy gossip at least but to also expose his company’s ties to the mafia.
Unfortunately, Jae-hwan isn’t the only one looking to hang out with the hot-shot CEO. Every time Jae-hwan tries to get close, a whole gaggle of people surrounds Heo Chung, making it impossible for Jae-hwan to get in to talk to him. Add to the problem that he’s been ensnared by a beautiful woman, buying round after round of drinks, and this mission has become impossible if it wasn’t already. Sloshed, Jae-hwan’s sense of decorum has gone out the window, and he decides to just go for it. He grabs two glasses of wine and makes his way over to Heo Chung, but he, unfortunately, bumps into someone else the media has kept their eye on: Liu Yuan, leader of the Hong Kong mafia group 13.
Jae-hwan spills all of the wine on Liu Yuan just before passing out. When he wakes up, he finds himself chained and in bed, with Liu Yuan explaining that he owes him around $90,000 for the ruined clothes. It goes without saying that Jae-hwan has gotten much more than he ever bargained for. Not only will he probably not get the scoop and subsequent payday he was hoping for, but there’s a chance he doesn’t make it out of this with his life, either.
Manhwa Review | Staff Only by soorak
Title: Staff Only
Hansol is a teacher and has lived his whole life under the assumption he’s a beta. That is, until he starts experiencing some concerning symptoms. He goes to the doctor, assuming he’s just got a cold, maybe the start of the flu, or he is dying when he receives an unexpected diagnosis: he’s a late bloomer omega. While he’s thankful that he isn’t dying, he’s a bit shocked that he’s an omega after reaching adulthood. Still, it’s better than the alternative. While the doctor tries to impress upon Hansol the importance of taking his suppressants, Hansol is busy thinking about dinner and any other mundane thing he has to worry over rather than the very pertinent issue of him being a newly manifested omega.
His laissez-faire attitude comes back to bite him when he forgets his suppressants. He barely makes it through class when he crumples to the ground. Thankfully, the gym teacher Chan is there to help Hansol get to the school nurse, Hansol’s friend Yesung. There, Yesung realizes Hansol has manifested as an omega, something he had no idea about until now. Uncontrolled pheromones are a rarity in modern society, with most people legally obliged to have implants to keep them in control. Still, Hansol hasn’t gotten his implant yet, so his pheromones are wild, and as it happens, Chan and Yesung are alphas. Will they be able to hold themselves back, or will Hansol’s pheromones be too much to bear?
Manhwa Review | Kinks in Development by NAS
Title: Kinks in Development
Jaewon’s life has been pretty smooth since moving in with his casual sex partner. In exchange for sex, he’s fed, clothed, and housed without having to do much else, which is a great deal as far as Jaewon is concerned. He spends his days idly until his partner asks him to sign up for martial arts classes at the dojang he works at. Jaewon isn’t interested, but if that’s all he asks, he could do that, at least. He joins a class, inadvertently joining under the tutelage of a former classmate, Jung-wook.
For whatever reason, Jung-wook seems to have it out for Jaewon, not that Jaewon is making it hard for him. Jaewon is lazy and self-important, spending class time napping or playing around, and while that’s enough to draw the ire of Jung-wook, the reasons are so much deeper than that. Jung-wook and Jaewon got close in middle school, far closer than friends. They kissed and shared some of the most intimate moments of their lives, both when they needed it the most. Jung-wook was ruthlessly bullied and tortured in school, and though Jaewon never came to his defense, he often lessened the bullying as much as he could by hanging out with the bullies. Jung-wook was fine with this arrangement, and he was fine even when Jaewon ended up spreading a rumor around the school, making the bullying worse.
What Jung-wook couldn’t stand was Jaewon moving on and abandoning him. Jung-wook wants revenge, and he’s willing to give Jaewon his body if he can get revenge. What Jung-wook doesn’t know is that Jaewon doesn’t remember anything about his betrayal. He hardly remembers Jung-wook at all, and he’s all too happy to go on this lusty ride of vengeance.