BL Library - Series / Long-Form / Long-Running

Manhwa Review | Checkmate by TAN

Title: Checkmate

Author(s): TAN

Artist(s): TAN

Lee Soohyun’s life has been guided by one thing: his inferiority complex. But this inferiority really only took root when he was in high school. It was then his position as first in academics was shaken by Jung Eunsung. Suddenly, Soohyun goes from first to second, and when this only source of pride he has left is gone, he becomes nothing more than a pariah among his classmates, who incessantly pick on him for being a social outcast and the fallen first place. Soohyun has no choice but to focus all of his hate and sorrow on the source of all of his trouble: Eunsung.

For the remainder of their high school careers, Soohyun is in a one-sided rivalry with Eunsung, never once able to trump him. So, this grand rivalry ends with a whisper as the two graduate, attend different colleges, and presumably move along with their adult lives. But even after all this time, Eunsung is never far from Soohyun’s mind. So, when Eunsung suddenly makes headlines as an art thief, Soohyun drops everything to reconnect with his rival. He quits his job, gets one as a reporter, and starts hunting down Eunsung and how he fell so far. But Soohyun doesn’t plan on stopping there.

Soohyun wants to save Eunsung from all his problems, only so Soohyun can tear Eunsung down into the mud with him. But Soohyun soon finds out that the art world that Eunsung has been sucked into is much darker and more deplorable than Soohyun could have ever imagined. Will Soohyun even be able to keep himself safe?

Title: Park Hanhoo's Manager

Author(s): KIM TAC

Artist(s): KIM TAC

Baek Chansol has finally moved back to his home country. The only reason he left was because, as a teenager, the infamous serial killer August murdered everyone at his orphanage, leaving him as the sole survivor. Fearing August might return to finish the job, Chansol was carted out of the country. But Chansol didn’t spend that time hiding. He’s spent all of his time looking for information about August because he plans to get revenge for the family he destroyed, and now that he’s back in the country, his first step is to get a job at weapon manufacturer UM.

Why? Because there is an employee there that supposedly has been hunting for information on August, too, and Chansol wants to steal as much of that information as possible. But that isn’t the only mission Chansol has. Before Chansol had to escape the country, he had a friend named Park Hanhoo. Chansol promised Hanhoo he would be by his side forever, but he obviously had broken that promise. So, Chansol wants to find his one and only friend to finally make amends for this broken promise. While Chansol is determined to achieve both goals, his new boss at UM might make it rather difficult.

Han Yooem is violent and unrestrained. He happily confines people, is willing to stab someone on a whim, and even tests out UM weapons on random citizens. Plus, most of UM’s top clients are either the government or mafia members, so every day is a risk for Chansol. But maybe the strangest of all is Yooem’s weird obsession with Chansol. Everything seems to be a game to Yooem, and even when he’s aware of all of Chansol’s plans to steal and invade his privacy, Yooem only encourages him. Just what is Yooem up to? And will Chansol ever be able to find August and his friend?

Title: Blind Play

Author(s): YD

Artist(s): Like

Ah-in wants one thing: love. Coming from an abusive home, eventually orphaned due to his abusive father’s death, and then experiencing intense prejudice due to being an orphan, true love is something Ah-in has never experienced and desperately wants. He does have a boyfriend, but even in this relationship, Ah-in knows the love is one-sided. His boyfriend, a college student, frequently exchanges money with Ah-in for sex and affection. Ah-in is fully aware of this arrangement, yet he still wants love from him. So, he continues to pay his boyfriend, hoping one day that this fake love will become something real.

Unfortunately, his boyfriend’s tastes are pretty rich, and Ah-in’s only means of affording his expensive expectations is selling his body. In Korea, the only way to become a licensed massage therapist is to be visually disabled. So, Ah-in pretends to be blind and picks up customers under the guise of giving them a massage, only to have sex with them. He makes good money doing so and gets some nice items he gives his boyfriend as gifts after stealing them from his clients. Most of his customers are in upper society, so he doesn’t worry much about his safety.

But then he gets picked up by prolific author Seo Ilmo. Ah-in isn’t worried at first, but then the author begins to test him, holding out his hand, trying to point him around places, offering things to him without a word, as if he knows Ah-in isn’t actually blind. It’s uncomfortable but not the worst thing in the world, and Ah-in does his best to keep up the charade. But Ah-in is really put to the test when he enters Ilmo’s apartment, only to find a rotting corpse on the couch. It’s the ultimate game of cat and mouse as Ilmo tries to scare Ah-in into revealing his disability is fake so he can kill him. At the same time, Ah-in maintains the ruse, determined to survive each and every encounter while trying to expose Ilmo for the murderer he is.

It’s a deadly game of lust and blood. Who will win?

Title: Love or Hate

Author(s): Youngha

Artist(s): Bakdam

Haesoo is in a rut. He used to be highly praised as a young writer, considered a prodigy, and expected to do amazing things even at a young age. But after some good progress with writing smutty stories in a column, his work has become stale, and his column is gone. Frustrated but unsure what to do, Haesoo works freelance for a gossip magazine. His professional life seems to mimic his personal one, too. He’s also in a relationship rut with none other than famous actor Choi Joowon. But to Haesoo, Joowon isn’t an actor: he’s his stepbrother and casual sex partner.

The two have gone from mortal enemies in their teens to each other’s firsts, only to become whatever this cold and casual situationship is as adults. Haesoo loves Joowon, but he hates him, too. He hates that Joowon is more successful than he is, that Joowon still has this hold on him, and that he won’t ever love him. Haesoo jumps from relationship to relationship, but in the end, he runs back to Joowon – or Joowon runs back to him. It’s a neverending cycle of pleasure and pain that Haesoo can’t see a way out of.

That is until he’s tasked with interviewing mysterious and provocative photographer K. K, whose real name is Song Taekyung, is strange. He stares at Haesoo as if he’s looking at something Haesoo wants to keep hidden. But there is a strange magnetism between the two of them that Haesoo just can’t seem to shake. Is the photographer Haesoo’s chance to break out of this rut, both professionally and personally? Or will his obsession with Joowon hold him back?

Title: Third Ending

Author(s): chovom

Artist(s): chovom

This review is for Third Ending, the all-ages main story, and Third Ending – Extended, the mature side story. The main story can be read without the extended content.

Yoonseul is being haunted. No, not by a ghost. His past is haunting him. Back in high school, Yoonseul was unnecessarily cruel to a fellow classmate, and ever since, the boy has haunted his dreams. It’s not every night, but on the nights the boy does show up, Yoonseul is cursed to have a bad day. Whether it’s something as small as spilling his coffee or even more major like having his work files deleted, the day is bound to go wrong when he sees that boy in his dreams.

As expected, after a night of haunting dreams, he spends the day fielding problem after problem, leading to Yoonseul working well into the night. But even when he’s done with work, it happens to be his turn to pick up sandwich bread for his siblings whom he lives with, so his night gets even longer as he goes out to shop. Almost every bakery nearby is closed already, but by chance, a bakery a few minutes away is on the cusp of closing for the day.

Relieved that the end of his day is finally in sight, Yoonseul goes in, grabs the first loaf of bread he sees, and then goes up to pay. But as he’s about to pull out his card, he finds the cashier staring at him. Yoonseul can’t begin to understand why until he realizes that the cashier is none other than Kang Jun, the boy, now a man, who haunts his dreams. Is this just one more curse from his dreams? Or is this the key to finally ending the nightmares for good? Yoonseul wants to know, but Kang Jun doesn’t seem at all interested in getting to know Yoonseul again.

Can Yoonseul win Kang Jun’s favor so he can finally apologize? Or is their past too painful to overcome?

Title: Scent of a Witch

Author(s): R

Artist(s): R

In the Kingdom of Yarke, right along its borders, there is a place called Uren. There, men frequently disappear. Like the silver grass in Uren, rumors have grown that witches live there. They are actually old women but can take the form of beautiful maidens during the full moon. In this way, they lure men into their arms, kill them, and then sacrifice them to help increase their power. All of this is actually true, but one thing the rumors aren’t aware of is the lone man born from and living amongst the witches. He, too, turns into a woman during the full moon but returns to his male form afterward.

It is one full moon night when the only male witch encounters prey that might just be too powerful for him: the third prince, Ryan Yarke. Princes are naturally born with the protection of the palace, so a witch’s power isn’t as potent as it might be with any other person. Still, Ryan is taken by the male witch, and they spend a lustful full moon together. Thankfully, Ryan leaves before daybreak, so the male witch’s identity remains a secret. But the other witches in his coven are upset that he let the prince go. The male witch explains that killing a prince would draw too much attention to them and hopes that the prince never returns.

But even though the prince has returned to the palace, full of enemies, schemes, and drama, his mind returns to one place: the beautiful witch he met during the full moon. Prince Ryan’s only goal is to ascend the throne by any means necessary, yet a strange woman has somehow bewitched him. Ryan’s visits to his beloved witch become increasingly frequent, drawing the eyes of his enemies in the palace. Meanwhile, the male witch is working up the courage to kill the prince, which he should’ve done from the beginning. But for whatever reason, he’s not sure that he can.

Title: Rix Vanus

Author(s): Chanseong

Artist(s): Chanseong

The royal family’s third child, second son, Rix Vanus, has just returned home after defeating the demon king, a monstrous demon who had been consuming human hearts to gain power. The people celebrate him as a hero, but those nobles who hoped he would die quietly return to plotting how best to remove him from power. Rix isn’t worried about trying to survive, though. After killing the demon king, Rix was cursed with dreams full of sexual assault and rape at the hands of his closest friends and family. He’s grown weak, trying his best to avoid sleep, and the dreams are beginning to mix with reality, causing him to avoid and rebuff any support from those he holds dear. Rix is ready to run off and either find a cure or die trying, but while sleeping in the woods, he encounters a glowing wolf that makes all terrible dreams disappear.

When he wakes up, he reencounters the wolf. The wolf explains that he is a divine beast named Nuah, and he has the ability to stave off the curse for a period of time. But the only way to do it is if Nuah has sex with Rix. Rix is not keen on that idea; sex is no longer a pleasurable experience after the endless nights of rape-filled dreams. Still, Rix is desperate, and he ends up agreeing. As Nuah promised, the dreams stop for a time, but only for a while. He still has to find a cure, and with Nuah by his side, it seems like it might be a real possibility. In exchange, all Nuah wants is to see a festival. Rix finds Nuah to be silly and not all that divine for a divine beast, but over time, those are the things he falls in love with.

But love could never happen between a divine beast and a human. At least, that’s what Rix believes. Nuah, though, is under no assumptions about who can or can’t fall in love.

Title: He Calls Me Every Night

Author(s): Bond Mitsuya

Artist(s): Bond Mitsuya

Sumito Tokitsu has returned to his rural hometown after being sent to his grandmother’s house to attend school while his father works back in the city. He isn’t excited or upset, having very little recollection of his time there, and his relationship with his parents is tenuous at best. But his relationship with his grandma is very close, and he’s glad to be doted on for a change. Unfortunately, his peaceful days are followed by less-than-peaceful nights. When he leaves his window open one night, he ends up with an uninvited guest. The guest doesn’t seem to want to steal or hurt Sumito, but he has an odd obsession with touching him instead. What’s even stranger is how much Sumito enjoys their nightly romps.

The village Sumito has returned to praise a being known as the crow demon. It’s a silly story that Sumito doesn’t put much stock in until he meets his nightly visitor at school. The stranger introduces himself as Gaku, the next head of the crow demons. Sumito quickly dismisses such a claim, even as Gaku shows off his wings. But after some magical nudging, Sumito has no choice but to accept that crow demons are real. However, what he can’t accept is that, by Gaku’s claim, Sumito is his fiancee. Sumito has no intention of marrying a strange demon, but as a love rival makes himself known, Sumito finds himself wanting to defend his unwanted position; all the while, his body reacts to Gaku like it knows something Sumito doesn’t.

Title: Love So Pure

Author(s): Plan B

Artist(s): Plan B

Jihyun isn’t the best student. He’d prefer to just have sex, sleep, and work at his part-time job as a bartender, but his mother wants nothing more than for her son to get an education. So, after taking extended periods off, he’s forced to return to college or risk being expelled entirely. But it isn’t necessarily that he hates school that he took so much time off. In reality, Jihyun has gone through a traumatic event with an ex-boyfriend, where much of his personal and private information was leaked, forcing him to leave or risk being bullied and ostracized by his peers. With so much time having passed, Jihyun is hopeful that most people who knew about the situation have graduated or, at the very least, moved on from campus.

Still, he’s not looking forward to waking up early and attending class. However, some of that frustration is alleviated when he finds that one of his classmates, Yohan, is a hulking beefcake – his soldier, as he likes to refer to him. Jihyun would love nothing more than to climb around that giant tree of a man, but he’s pretty sure Yohan is straight. Thankfully for Jihyun, Yohan finds himself entranced by Jihyun, too. But the two want very different things. Yohan, a softy at heart, wants to woo and date Jihyun, and while Jihyun, deep down, would love a relationship, he feels he is incapable of having one due to his trauma. Can these two find common ground, or will they perpetually be stuck in situationship limbo?

Title: Ang Ang : Hard-Boiled Love

Author(s): Gwendolyn

Kim Gyuwon has seen all manner of horrors, having worked as a mercenary for most of his adult life. He’s big and buff and has a cool and calm demeanor. Add on the scars on his face, and he’s feared by most people who come into contact with him. What people don’t know, though, is that contrary to his external appearance, Gyuwon is soft and submissive inside. He also longs to be in a gay, dominant/submissive relationship with someone. Specifically, he wants to be a sub. But Gyuwon knows that the odds of finding a man who wants to dominate someone who looks like him are slim. So, as a last-ditch effort to find happiness in his personal life, he quits his job and takes a job as a bodyguard for the infamous Yoon family in hopes that he will be able to save up money, get plastic surgery, and finally seek out a dom for himself.

Gyuwon’s charge is the youngest son of the Yoon family, Yoon Hwayoung. Hwayoung, as his name suggests, is gorgeous, and he is beyond beloved by his family. Though Gyuwon knows he’d be underserving of having such a partner, romantic or otherwise, he can’t help finding himself attracted to him. The two get along just fine for a time until Hwayoung makes Gyuwon swear to him that Hwayoung’s personal life is private and shouldn’t be reported to his family. Gyuwon was only hired to protect him, so he agrees. What Gyuwon doesn’t realize is that they are about to take a trip to a place called Dungeon, and it is none other than an underground gay BDSM club.

Gyuwon is simultaneously stunned and excited. Never has he seen something like this, much less from someone like Hwayoung. He once again hopes to find a dom like Hwayoung, but little does Gyuwon know that Hwayoung is acutely aware of Gyuwon’s preferences. Furthermore, just as Hwayoung is Gyuwon’s type, Gyuwon is exactly the kind of person Hwayoung wants to dominate. Hwayoung fully intends to make Gyuwon’s dreams a painful and pleasurable reality.

Series / Long-Form / Long-Running

Manhwa Review | Checkmate by TAN

Manhwa Review | Love or Hate by Youngha

Manhwa Review | Third Ending by chovom

Manhwa Review | Rix Vanus by Chanseong

Manhwa Review | Love So Pure by Plan B

Novel Review | Ang Ang : Hard-Boiled Love by Gwendolyn

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