Novel Review | Lip and Sword by Jin Shisi Chai

Title: Lip and Sword


Xing Ming is the host of Pearl Line, a news analysis show for the station Pearl TV Station News Center. He’s attractive, talented, and truly cares about the news he puts out. As a result, during the end-of-the-year banquet for the station, Xing Ming is awarded the Top Ten News Centers of the Year award. However, not everyone feels he is deserving of it. Director Chen Linan, who actually recruited Xing Ming initially and put him in the position of hosting Pearl Line, now no longer feels he is worthy of his accolades or role on the show. This is all because Zhuang Lei, rumored to be Chen Linan’s niece or lover, was the host of Pearl Line before she went on maternity leave, which allowed Xing Ming to be her replacement. Even though she has recovered and is ready to return, Xing Ming refuses to give up his spot.

Due to his frustration and drunkness, Chen Linan confronts Xing Ming at the party. At first, Xing Ming isn’t worried over the drunken Chen Linan’s pestering… until Chen Linan brings up Xing Ming’s dead father, a convicted rapist. In a blind rage, Xing Ming beats Chen Linan over the head with a wine bottle in front of everyone at the party. In a panic, knowing his job is on the line, Xing Ming reaches out to the station chairman, Yu Zhongye, and offers himself up in exchange for leniency regarding his punishment. While Yu Zhongye does take him up on his offer, and they spend a night together, the director and chairman are set to fire him the following day. Once more, in a fit of rage, Xing Ming fights off the security guards and poses an offer to the chairman: let me create my own show with my own team from scratch. If he doesn’t get decent ratings during a six-month period, he will leave on his own.

Yu Zhongye agrees, but as Xing Ming faces setback after setback, he constantly has to return to Yu Zhongye for favors. As he gives himself over to the chairman repeatedly, Xing Ming begins to question if this is all worth it and what his sexuality is. However, more than anything, Xing Ming wonders if what he feels for Yu Zhongye is truly admiration or if it is something deeper? And is Yu Zhongye capable of loving anyone for more than their body?

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Manhwa Review | You Jin by Fujoking

Title: You Jin



You Jin isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but even he finds it a bit weird when his female childhood friend Lee Sejin turns up on his doorstep, claiming to have contracted a potentially fatal disease with the convenient side effect of switching his gender. Sejin has been living his life as a man since the change but has run into some trouble with his gaggle of girlfriends. So he begs Jin to take him in until he can figure out what to do with his life moving forward. Of course, Jin is suspicious but lets Sejin stay with him all the same.

Once Sejin establishes himself in Jin’s life, he asks him for one more favor: help him grant his last wish. Naturally, Jin isn’t unwilling to help until Sejin tries to kiss him. As it turns out, Sejin’s last wish is a bit more than Jin realized. How far is Jin willing to go to help a childhood friend, if that even is who this person actually is?

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Manga Review | Pink Heart Jam by Shikke

Title: Pink Heart Jam



Haiga is experiencing many firsts. It is his first time in , it is his first time living in the city away from his rural home, and it is his first time faced with his sexuality. While touring his campus for the first time, Haiga sees Kanae, a beautiful man and Haiga’s upperclassman. Haiga is immediately attracted to him, but he isn’t sure if he simply admires Kanae or if he really is attracted to him as a man. Without any real reason to find out, Haiga is left on his own to wonder.

That is until his peers give him money to visit a box spa after a night of drinking. However, this particular box spa is located in the gay district, which Haiga uses to his advantage to help answer the question: does he like men or not? Of course, Haiga doesn’t expect that the person servicing him is none other than Kanae. So, this is a chance for Haiga to discover his sexuality and determine if his feelings for Kanae are more than simple admiration for his upperclassman. While he is figuring that out, another question lingers in the back of Haiga’s mind: how does Kanae feel about him?

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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?

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Novel Review | Salad Days by Jing Shuibian

Title: Salad Days


Jiang Shen is a poor boy in a rural village. He spends his days playing with friends out in the rice paddy fields, helping his father work the fields, chasing wild chickens, and fishing. The most time he ever spends in the city is when his mother takes the vegetable harvest to sell. While his mother is busy in the city, Jiang Shen usually spends his time exploring the Children’s Center, where he stumbles upon a ballet class. The teacher catches him looking and invites him in, where she discovers he may have an innate talent for ballet. It isn’t long before Jiang Shen’s focus goes from his idyllic village days to something much larger and grander.

On the other end of the spectrum is Bai Jinyi. He comes from a filthy rich family and wants for nothing. He spends his days training at the Children’s Center in boxing, with his goal being to go international and win the gold belt. However, while attending training one day, an unusual sight catches his eye: a little boy among a gaggle of girls in a ballet class. Inexplicably, Bai Jinyi becomes drawn to this little boy, and for once in his life, Jiang Shen is the one thing he wants, even more than boxing.

They say the rich never box and the poor never dance. Yet, Jiang Shen and Bai Jinyi are set to defy those odds. As the two grow and change and their dreams grow more and more focused, the one thing that keeps them tethered together is their growing feelings for each other. So, can these happy days continue for two boys whose paths would never have crossed otherwise? And can they grasp their dreams while holding onto each other?

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Manhwa Review | The Devil’s Temptation by Youn

Title: The Devil's Temptation



All Hyun of the owl tribe wants out of life is yummy food, comfy furniture, and never having to leave the house. But unfortunately, he has to work to survive. To keep up with his corporate job, he has to attend the holiday party at the end of the year. What makes it worse is his archnemesis from the snake tribe, Ivan, is there and makes it a point to tease Hyun as much as he can. To survive the night, Hyun drinks himself into a tizzy, only to embarrass himself in front of the director of the company and his crush from the snake tribe, Alek. Thankfully, Hyun doesn’t have to suffer the party for too long as he passes out.

When he wakes up, not only is he in bed with Ivan, but he has a weird mark on his neck. This is an imprint specific to the snake tribe that binds the marker to the marked so that the marked craves physical intimacy with their marker. It’s okay, though, because there is a cure, but it could take months to develop, and in the meantime, Hyun could experience flu-like symptoms… or possibly go blind if he doesn’t get enough pheromones from Ivan. The worst part, though, is that the mark also attracts other members of the snake tribe and him to them, so he has to juggle intimacy with his enemy Ivan and try to keep from pouncing on his crush and boss Alek, too.

Can an owl like Hyun survive in the snake pit? And even if Hyun does survive, what does this new level of intimacy mean for his relationship with Ivan and Alek? Do they only like him for the mark, or is there something more?

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Manhwa Review | If You Hate Me So by Fargo

Title: If You Hate Me So



Minjae is doing his best to get through school as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, that goes all out the window when he walks in on Hyung-jo doing something… inappropriate while the T.A., Jinhan, is asleep. Hyung-jo is obsessively in love with the T.A., and when he realizes Minjae has caught him, Hyung-jo is willing to go to any length to protect his secret crush from ridicule, even if it means hurting Minjae. Hyung-jo clarifies that he doesn’t care what anyone says about him, but he won’t tolerate anyone bad-mouthing Jinhan.

If that isn’t bad enough, Minjae also develops a crush on Jinhan, but Minjae refuses to back down. Only to make matters worse, Jinhan constantly brings Minjae and Hyung-jo together, forcing the two to interact even when they would both instead do anything but be in the same room with each other. Somehow, while they are fighting each other over Jinhan, Jinhan slowly stops being their focus. Instead, the only people in their view are each other. But, from enemies to lovers, is that even possible?

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Manhwa Review | See You Again by Pppallet

Title: See You Again



Shiwoo is an actor constantly surrounded by adoring fans and admirers, some more welcome than others. Even with all this love around him, though, he’s only ever had one special person, Yujin. However, the day Shiwoo graduated high school, Yujin confessed that he loved Shiwoo as more than a friend, upperclassman, or even brother figure. Unfortunately, Shiwoo could not reciprocate Yujin’s feelings. Yujin, of course, was heartbroken, and Shiwoo did what he thought was best and disappeared from Yujin’s life.

Eight years have passed, and Shiwoo, now in the dregs of the , is on the market for a new manager and a new partner. When he hears his manager is a girl, he hopes that she might be able to fill both roles. Thankfully, she is exactly his type, and he spares no time trying to woo her. While out to drink, Shiwoo gets blackout drunk and embarrassingly propositions his manager. While the manager isn’t necessarily pleased, she doesn’t say no. When Shiwoo regains his senses, though, it turns out the pretty girl manager is a pretty boy manager… a boy that he happens to know very well.

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Manhwa Review | Seven Days of Lust by Fujoking, Hato, Hoben, Lee Aru, MEL, Pyoryu

Title: Seven Days of Lust



This is an series with six stories, all based in the omegaverse. There are supposed to be seven, which explains the title, but I cannot find a legal way to read the missing story; as a result, only the 6 available on Lezhin Comics will be reviewed. If a legal avenue becomes available with the missing story, I will add it to this review. The following are the stories in this anthology, with a short description of each:

Beta Test by

Two betas experiment with a new drug that can make someone an alpha or omega. The results end up being much more than either of them expected.

Love is Love by

A supposed beta has a crush on an alpha. The alpha’s cousin has a crush on the beta. With the beta stuck in the middle, who will he choose? Or will he even have to?

Melting Point by

An omega professor hasn’t gone into heat for months. After seeing the doctor and receiving some intimate tools to fix this problem, an alpha student finds it and decides to help the professor himself.

Sleepless Nights by

An alpha is mistaken as an omega in a beta school when a rumor goes around that an omega has transferred in. Then, many years later, the alpha meets the omega, which turns out to be one of the people who hung out with the bullies. This time, though, the turf has changed. The alpha is the omega’s boss, and it is time for some revenge.

Mutual Enemy by

A recessive alpha and a dominant alpha butt heads, but when the recessive alpha is drugged by an omega that has a crush on him, the dominant alpha is there to lend a hand.

Clinical Matters of the Heart by

A dominant alpha signs up to test a new medication that can turn alphas into omegas to earn $500. Unfortunately, the test requires him to go into heat with some alphas around. What could go wrong?

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Manhwa Review | Love on My Terms by GYEUL

Title: Love on My Terms



Mogyum is a former child star trying to make a comeback as an adult. However, the unfortunate accident that led him to drop out of the limelight haunts him, hindering his acting. However, what makes acting that much harder is Mogyum’s co-star, Chamin, who seems oddly fixated on Mogyum. Chamin is an established A-lister who acted with Mogyum when they were kids on the same set where the traumatic accident occurred. What Mogyum doesn’t know about Chamin is that Chamin can read minds, which is part of the reason he has become such a great actor.

However, Chamin is so drawn to Mogyum in the first place because Mogyum is the only person whose thoughts Chamin can’t read. So, to learn why and to better their chemistry on screen, Chamin offers Mogyum a contract. A dating contract, which would allow Chamin and Mogyum to intimately act out their scenes together as if they were actually dating while the two live together at Chamin’s house. While Mogyum is hesitant at first, learning more about acting from an A-lister like Chamin is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Things start to get a little too real, though, and soon, the lines between characters and reality begin to blur. While Mogyum and Chamin are sorting out their feelings, the mystery of Mogyum’s accident looms in the background, threatening to destroy everything for them once more.

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