BL Library - Red-Light District / Sex Work / Prostitution

Manga Review | The Demon And The Goblin’s Love Story by Tengoku

Title: The Demon And The Goblin's Love Story

Author(s): Tengoku

Artist(s): Tengoku

Kurama is a demon who protects the mountain he lives on. His existence is a lonely one, as he's often joined only by the animals that call the mountain home too. But he spends his time fulfilling his duties, patrolling the mountain, and ensuring everything is as it should be. On one such patrol, however, he finds that his mountain is not as it should be. There's trash and garbage littering the mountainside. Enraged, Kurama takes his time to clean it all up, then he goes on the hunt to find just who caused it.

Much to his chagrin, he discovers a gang of goblins taking refuge in a cave on the mountain. Kurama has dealt with goblins before, and it has never gone well. Still, this is his mountain to protect, so he takes the bag of trash and confronts the goblins. Immediately, he's introduced to their leader, Hijiri, who apologizes on his people's behalf. They have no intention of harming the mountain and hope Kurama will allow them to stay. It's a pleasant surprise, to say the least.

While Kurama is pleased that his mountain will be protected, he's more taken by Hijiri. For the first time ever, Kurama is hopelessly in love with the goblin leader. But how can an awkward demon win over someone so charming?

Title: Amaregulus: Soldier & Soother

Author(s): Aion Kiu

Artist(s): Aion Kiu

Anton was once one of the most powerful and skilled warriors in the kingdom's army. However, after an injury, Anton could not continue fighting within the military. Thankfully, as a praised warrior, Anton is put into a coveted and high-ranking position: Soother. Soothers are retired warriors who, thanks to their immense stamina and unquenchable libido, train their bodies to help sexually satisfy and train the nobility and royalty in the bedroom. It's an honorable role that Anton happily accepts, and after intense training, Anton is finally ready for his first partner. Anton doesn't expect to be posted to the 4th prince, Julius, who just had his coming-of-age ceremony.

Anton's task is to teach Julius about sex and take his virginity, something Anton considers an immense honor. Julius also seems ready and willing, but when Anton tries to do his job, Julius refuses to let him. Julius believes Anton still wants to be a warrior and is determined to get Julius back on the field. He has no intention of using Anton as a Soother, leaving Anton at a loss. While he appreciates how much Julius cares about him, he longs to fulfill his role. Is Julius just not attracted to him? Or is there something deeper that Anton isn't even aware of?

Title: Limited Run

Author(s): Eeej

Artist(s): Eeej

Yeon-oh is not just a struggling actor. As the eldest son in his family, he is compelled to try and pay off his father's neverending gambling debt, constantly compounded and recurring thanks to loan sharks who willingly lend him money. They know his father can't pay it off, but they also know Yeon-oh will do what he can to pay it off, including providing them sexual favors. His life is a neverending rat race, and he sees no end to it until he gets invited to speak to the CEO of the conglomerate Haekang. There's no doubt what a CEO wants with a struggling actor. It's a sponsorship, which equates to a celebrity being showered with gifts and opportunities in exchange for, often, sexual and physical favors. Yeon-oh initially wants to refuse, but after being pressured by his father, he decides to go.

The CEO, Jaehyuk, decides to make the offer. But Jaehyuk tells Yeon-oh what he expects. He doesn't want just simple physical pleasure, though that would be part of it. He wants Yeon-oh to use his acting skills to pretend to be his boyfriend in public. As it turns out, Jaehyuk is determined to rebel against his grandfather and tear down the upper echelon of Haekang's public image. The ultimate goal is to ruin his grandfather, though for what reason Yeon-oh doesn't know. The two start off rocky, with Yeon-oh struggling to put on a front in public, but over time, it grows easier, and as lucrative work starts coming in, Yeon-oh's life takes a positive turn. Neither Jaehyuk nor Yeon-oh realizes that there is a growing target on Yeon-oh's back, not just from Jaehyuk's family but all of the people watching Yeon-oh.

Meanwhile, Yeon-oh is beginning to struggle not with acting or being Jaehyuk's bedmate. He's struggling with his own feelings. What started as an act is slowly beginning to feel like reality. While he knows Jaehyuk has no intention of being with him for real, Yeon-oh can't help feeling hopeful that Jaehyuk cares about him as a real lover somewhere deep inside.

Title: Reward Me with Your Body, Sir

Author(s): Reo Ohno

Artist(s): Reo Ohno

Ookami is doing his best to please his clients, but his secretaries are making it difficult. They are often incompetent at best and unreliable at worst, making Ookami's working life impossible. He is desperate for a solution and willing to hire anyone just so long as they don't get in his way. As a result, Ookami looks to… an unconventional source. He checks out an app to rent a boyfriend.

There is a seemingly neverending supply of potential boyfriends, which means an unending supply of potential secretaries. At a cursory glance, Ookami lands on Mao. He's beautiful, and, for no reason in particular, he is Ookami's first choice. When they meet in person, it starts out more awkward than he would like. Mao immediately tries to jump Ookami's bones, which almost puts Ookami off this plan altogether. But once Ookami sees Mao all cleaned up and in action, he knows he made the right choice.

That is until Mao asks for a reward afterward.

Title: Kuroe and the Garden of Feminine Pleasures

Author(s): Chifuyu

Artist(s): Chifuyu

Sonogi Eda woke up after a night out drinking in a shocking predicament. He has a vagina. Thankfully, he still has all his other parts, too, but that is a small comfort during this horrifying discovery. What's worse is that Sonogi doesn't have insurance, so he can't even afford to go to the doctor to get it checked out. Desperate for an outlet and anyone to confide in who can help, Sonogi goes in to work at the host club and asks his boss if he knows anyone with medical knowledge he could talk to.

As it turns out, the boss recommends the number one host of the club: Kuroe. While Sonogi's not convinced Kuroe can actually help, he has nowhere else to go and asks Kuroe to meet him in private. After disclosing his current predicament, Kuroe talks Sonogi into showing him his new body part. While all Kuroe does is humiliate and tease Sonogi, as well as blackmail him with this new secret, Kuroe does have some information about what is going on with Sonogi's body. There is an illegal drug going around that gives the person who takes it the opposite sex's genitals. Thankfully, it isn't permanent, but it won't go away in less than a month.

Relieved that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Sonogi is comforted… except that now he's forced into Kuroe's servitude in exchange for keeping his secret. Can Sonogi withstand Kuroe's sadistic, womanizing tendencies?

Title: Wails of the Bound ;β

Author(s): Keri Kusabi

Artist(s): Keri Kusabi

This is the sequel to Wails of the Bound.

No longer feeling compelled to protect his chief anymore, Miyabi, having finally met his alpha partner and being marked, Shingo Utou decides to take a promotion, putting him into the chief position of division two. Utou hopes his time of pining after and protecting omegas, who could never love him in return because he's a beta, is finally over for the foreseeable future, but then he meets the new hire: Sumito Sasabe.

Sasabe is an omega, and though he's not planning on disclosing his secondary gender at work, he has to disclose it to his bosses. Sasabe hates being an omega, as any success he has is always attributed to his ability to seduce and pleasure. But he hates betas even more as they can do nothing for him, unable to mark him and protect him from other alphas, so he'd rather hate them so he doesn't mistakenly fall in love with one.

Utou is having flashbacks of working with Miyabi, and after talking to his boss, it's clear that the intent of hiring Sasabe is to replace Miyabi and what he offered the company: his body. Utou has no intention of seeing another omega be used by clients again. But every time Utou tries to help, Sasabe sees him as just another predator trying to take advantage of him. Still, as time goes on and the two grow closer and closer, they find themselves falling for each other. But Sasabe's role in the company is already becoming that of a sex worker, and he's desperate to take that opportunity away. A beta can't mark an omega, so there is only so much Utou can do for Sasabe. Thankfully, there is an alpha from another company lingering around that Sasabe could use.

Title: Wails of the Bound

Author(s): Keri Kusabi

Artist(s): Keri Kusabi

Keisuke Takaba is an alpha, and he's recently been hired at a company. As the new guy, Takaba is still feeling out the office hierarchy, but all of his assumptions go out the window when he finds out his chief is an omega. Takaba has an aversion to omegas due to his childhood, having to see and hear his omega father being used and abused by various customers. Add in the unfortunate fact that Takaba doesn't even know who sired him, and this has created an intense hatred and phobia of omegas. But Chief Miyabi Karasuma isn't concerned with being well-liked, especially by alphas.

Miyabi Karasuma, chief of his department, didn't get where he is by being a well-mannered omega. Having been hidden away and confined by his father for most of his young life, the moment he became an adult, he was determined to build a life for himself where he used every advantage his omega body afforded him. He has sex with clients, many of his client's subordinates, and even the higher-ups in his own company, securing contracts and money that keep him at the top of his company's sales reports. His sales tactics are an open secret around the office, and most people despise him for his unconventional methods, none more so than Takaba.

But as Takaba spends more and more time with (and beneath) Karasuma, Takaba is beginning to realize that Karasuma isn't just any omega. Karasuma is strong. But even the strong need a place to rest, and Takaba wants nothing more than to be Karasuma's place. Can Takaba break through Karasuma's disgust for alphas?

Title: Bound to Be Fools

Author(s): gahyun

Artist(s): gahyun

Kangjin Cha was on the cusp of taking his own life in high school. He was ready to jump off the top of a building at school, hoping to embarrass his overbearing and cruel father as well as escape his suffering. Before he can go through with his plan, Jungkwon Jang, another student, rushes to the rooftop and snatches Kangjin down back to the safety of the roof. Having been rescued by a stranger, Kangjin is desperate to learn more about his savior and, to do so demands that Jungkwon take responsibility for the life he saved. Jungkwon reluctantly agrees.

Over time, the two become the best of friends. It isn't long after that that the two end up becoming boyfriends. They are the epitome of happiness with each other. But outside of their relationship, their individual lives are fraught with pain and suffering. Jungkwon, in particular, is struggling with the immense debt left behind by his late father, who committed suicide. The debt collectors are once again hounding his mother, and he is desperately trying to protect both his sister and his mother from the violence, only for Kangjin to come in and bear witness to one of the most embarrassing times in his life. He loves Kangjin, but he never wanted him to see him so low.

In a fit of rage, Jungkwon breaks up with Kangjin and refuses to see him ever again. Kangjin is absolutely heartbroken, Jungkwon's love being the one bright spot in his life. Kangjin's sorrow eventually swells into rage, and even years later, as an adult working as a host and sex worker, he still finds his life being directed by the trauma that abandonment caused him. When Kangjin ends up running into Jungkwon, all of those feelings come back to the surface, and Kangjin wants nothing more than to finally get revenge. As it happens, Jungkwon is still struggling with debt and desperate for a way to dig himself and his family back out, and what better way to get his vengeance than to drag Jungkwon into the same muck Kangjin is rolling in?

Title: Cover-up

Author(s): GyaGa

Artist(s): GyaGa

Yeon Geum-hwa is a tattoo artist and a highly sought-after one at that. Unfortunately, he learned his craft from his ex-boyfriend, an obsessive and controlling man whom Geum-hwa would love nothing more than to escape from. That opportunity arises when he gets a call about a potential client in Japan. They want to fly Geum-hwa out there to perform a cover-up for someone. While it's not explicitly stated, it's not hard to figure out that this client is part of a gang or yakuza.

It's a dangerous prospect, but if it will free Geum-hwa from his ex's influence, the danger is well worth it. So, after designing the tattoo, Geum-hwa is flown out to Japan, where he meets his client, Katamoto Seung-jae, the second son of the Katamoto family's head. Geum-hwa inadvertently ends up in the middle of a power struggle between the first son and the second son, being used as leverage by the first son when Geum-hwa and Seung-jae begin a physical relationship. While he's no longer any safer in Japan than he would be at home, Geum-hwa is hopelessly in love with Seung-jae, and while Seung-jae feels the same, he isn't willing to risk Geum-hwa's life.

Even though Geum-hwa is willing to risk everything to be with Seung-jae, Seung-jae feels compelled to let him go. Will Seung-jae be able to follow through, or will he be unable to let Geum-hwa go?

Title: Aggressive Sex with an Angelic Smile

Author(s): Io Kaziwara

Artist(s): Io Kaziwara

Tatsumi is a fisherman, and he enjoys it for the most part. Unfortunately, it isn't the most stable or consistent way of making money, and when he's finally reached the end of his finances, Tatsumi takes the leap and applies for a higher-paying job in the city. After getting invited for an interview, Tatsumi packs a few essentials and makes his way out there. His friends berate him over the phone, telling him that he will get scammed… again, apparently having a history of being lured by beautiful women.

As if the world has it out for him, after hanging up, a pretty girl runs up to Tatsumi, begging for help. He remembers his friends' warnings and intends to walk away, but then he sees a pair of men in black heading in their direction. Without knowing where he's going, he takes the girl's hand and runs into the city. The girl directs him to a warehouse where they lock themselves up to hide from the men pursuing them. There, Tatsumi does his best to comfort the girl… only for her to reveal she is a pretty man, and he has been drugged with an aphrodisiac and has no intention of letting Tatsumi go without having his way with him.

After all is said and done, it turns out that this was the interview for the job, the job being a gay pornstar as Yuki's debut partner. To say Tatsumi is stunned is an understatement, but without a dime in his pocket and nothing left of his pride, Tatsumi takes the position. Can Tatsumi make it as Yuki's beefy bottom, or will it all be too much for him to handle?

Red-Light District / Sex Work / Prostitution

Manga Review | The Demon And The Goblin’s Love Story by Tengoku

Manhwa Review | Limited Run by Eeej

Manga Review | Reward Me with Your Body, Sir by Reo Ohno

Manga Review | Kuroe and the Garden of Feminine Pleasures by Chifuyu

Manga Review | Wails of the Bound ;β by Keri Kusabi

Manga Review | Wails of the Bound by Keri Kusabi

Manhwa Review | Bound to Be Fools by gahyun

Manhwa Review | Cover-up by GyaGa

Manga Review | Aggressive Sex with an Angelic Smile by Io Kaziwara

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