Social Gap – Page 9

Manga Review | Sating the Wolf by Troy Arukuno

Title: Sating the Wolf

Tags: Eve's Faves
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Noah is a wolf, a carnivore, and in this world, most carnivores end up as betas or alphas, while herbivores manifest as betas and omegas. Noah, though, ends up manifesting as an omega, and due to his pack’s history with male omegas being the cause of violence and death, he is banished. On his own, he travels from village to village, trying to hide the fact that he is both a carnivore and an omega to survive. After some time wandering about, Noah finds himself in a herbivore village. He tries to stock up to move on to the next village.

While shopping in town, he encounters a shopkeeper, holding two young rabbit children by their ears and accusing them of stealing his wares. The children claim they did no such thing, but they have no way of proving otherwise. Standing amid the growing crowd, Noah sees the true culprit, a weasel, trying to slip away. Wanting to help the kids, Noah captures the weasel and reveals that he is the one who stole. Thankful for his help, the rabbit children insist that Noah come with them to meet their brother Henri so he can cook a meal for Noah as thanks.

Henri and Noah meet, and although Noah is a wolf, the same species that killed his parents, and the village ostracizes Henri’s family, Henri wants to take responsibility for Noah. Even more so when Henri manifests as an alpha because of Noah’s heat. Can a rabbit alpha and a wolf omega make it work? And can their love withstand the prejudice and judgment of the society around them?

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Manhwa Review | From Points of Three by White Eared

Title: From Points of Three

White Eared

Jisuh is in a lot of debt. Due to his last relationship, which ended in Jisuh having to bail out his cheating boyfriend from some thugs using all of his savings and loans, Jisuh has trouble trusting anyone. He is more than happy to form a physical relationship with someone, but if there’s even a chance he could get hurt, he’s quick to cut ties and run. This rule applies to the famous actor Woo Heejae.

Jisuh happens to meet Heejae on a drama set where Jisuh is filming, and Heejae is the lead actor. Heejae isn’t initially drawn to him as he’s pretty plain-looking, but then Jisuh calls Heejae a snake. Having never been perceived in such a way, Heejae is immediately attracted to Jisuh’s view of things. So, Heejae comes up with a plan to pull Jisuh into his grasp.

In exchange for helping pay off Jisuh’s debt, Heejae wants Jisuh to film him and his partner Sun-yool during their BDSM play. And while Jisuh’s role is a viewer, he imagines himself as a participant. What a surprise it is when Heejae reaches out to him and invites him to join them. It’s just a physical relationship. Nothing could go wrong, right?

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Manga Review | Kabukicho Bad Trip by Eiji Nagisa

Title: Kabukicho Bad Trip

Eiji Nagisa

Tags: Eve's Faves
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Toru is a top-rated host. That’s not surprising, seeing how attractive and personable he is. However, he can’t give all of the credit to those things. In fact, most of his success comes from his unique ability to read minds. Using this ability, he sways the masses and becomes one of the most popular hosts in Kabukicho. Of course, he could have any woman or even man if he wanted them, but Toru doesn’t want just any person. He wants Mizuki Hikawa.

Mizuki is a popular and equally attractive male model, and Toru is obsessed with him. He is so obsessed with him that Toru uses “Mizuki” as his name while hosting. But Toru does his best to keep it under wraps, even going so far as to travel out of his way to pick up magazines with him on the cover. On one such occasion, at a convenience store, Toru runs into Mizuki – literally. They end up falling over each other and, in turn, start talking. It turns out Mizuki needs some help getting to a shoot, and Toru is more than happy to be his knight in shining armor.

After all of Toru’s help, Mizuki makes an effort to keep in touch, and the more they meet up, the more Toru can see into Mizuki’s private thoughts. Of course, Toru is beyond pleased that Mizuki is attracted to him. What he isn’t as pleased with is that almost everything Mizuki imagines or wants has to do with BDSM and absolutely dominating Toru. Though scared of this new territory, if it means being with Mizuki, Toru is willing to give everything a try, and he does mean anything.

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Manhwa Review | On or Off by A1

Title: On or Off

Tags: Eve's Faves
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College, for some people, is a time to live it up and have fun before going out into the world and settling down. In the case of Yiyoung and his friends, it is their chance to start their own company. More specifically, they form a game development company, initially led by Yiyoung’s oldest and dearest friend, Mina. Unfortunately, due to a family issue, Mina has to leave the company to help support her family. Still, she leaves it in the hands of Yiyoung to manage the rag-tag group and make it a success with minimal funds and very little time. The goal for the company is to create a game for SJ Corporation, one of the biggest companies in the country, but they have to present the game to the company leaders, and for most of the team, social interactions aren’t their strongest suit.

In comes Yiyoung, the bubbly and affable leader. Confident in his presenting abilities and social skills, he goes out to SJ Corporation, ready to sell them their game. While preparing for the presentation, in walks Director Kang Daehyung, and he is everything Yiyoung could want in a man and more. But, unfortunately, he is also the man who has the final say on whether Yiyoung’s game is worth picking or not. Now full of nerves, Yiyoung fears the worst for the presentation but ends up starting strong. As luck would have it, though, his computer starts going through an update in the middle of the presentation. With time out and the leaders frustrated, Yiyoung is excused from the meeting with no hope of being chosen.

Disheartened, Yiyoung is prepared to call it quits and beg for forgiveness, but a sudden stroke of desperation sends him scrambling to fix his mistake for his team members. He writes up a proposal with a link to the game, sneaks it into Director Kang’s office, discovers from his calendar where Director Kang will be that evening, then “coincidentally” runs into him at the bar, where he begs for another chance. Director Kang, suspicious of Yiyoung’s intentions, throws out some bait to scare him off: sleep with me, then I’ll consider your game proposal. Much to the director’s surprise, Yiyoung takes the bait. But just how far is Yiyoung willing to go for his friends? And will he be able to face the director again after their night of passion?

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Manhwa Review | Siren’s Song by Clarju

Title: Siren's Song

Clarju

Yul has lived his entire life hopelessly strung along by others. “Lived” is a generous term. With his life never fully in his control, he has always been forced to follow the whims and commands of those around him. Even as an adult, that hasn’t changed. He currently lives in an apartment owned by his adopted brother, who has an unhealthy obsession with him that goes beyond a sibling relationship. In that home, alone and unable to leave, Yul spends his day under surveillance and composing music that is presented to the world under his brother’s name. His only solace is out on the apartment balcony, where he can sing and smoke to his heart’s content.

Yul’s small world is rocked, though, when one evening on the balcony, his singing is overheard by a neighbor on the balcony above. The neighbor Luan is immediately drawn to Yul for an inexplicable reason. However, Yul allows Luan to begin his plan for revenge against everyone who made his life hell, even if he has to destroy Yul in the process. Luan doesn’t expect that as he grows closer to Yul and begins to uncover the history behind his existence, Luan not only wants revenge for himself but for Yul as well. But what he fears more than anything now is losing or hurting Yul amid his vengeful warpath.

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Manhwa Review | The King and the Paladin by IRINBI

Title: The King and the Paladin

IRINBI

Park JiEun

Ezekiel is a noble paladin. For years now, he has been steadily building up his reputation, wealth, and standing in society in hopes of one day reuniting with his long-lost love Calli, and finally establishing a life with her. However, before finding her, he is appointed as the heir to a dukedom as the illegitimate son. Ezekiel accepts his role, and as the heir, he meets with the newly appointed queen of the kingdom. To his surprise, though, the bloody queen Calliope is none other than his long-lost love Calli. Before he can even express his joy, Calli captures him and forces him into a marriage ceremony right then and there.

Calliope has suffered for years under the power of her father’s concubine and her children. Her only reprieve from the suffering was the company of a mysterious man named Ezekiel, who was being kept and trained by the church. The two shared many sweet and intimate moments. After discovering the corrupt and salacious nature of the church, Calliope’s goal is to help rescue Ezekiel and take over her rightful place on the throne as its only direct descendent. However, upon making this decision for herself, she discovers Ezekiel has disappeared, and all she has to go on is the rumors that he has left to become a noblewoman’s concubine. Betrayed by her only love, Calliope goes on the warpath, ascends the throne, and with Ezekiel back under her thumb, she is determined to keep him by her side, even if it means destroying him in the process.

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Manhwa Review | A Thousand Cranes by Jeong Seokchan

Murderer Hires His Almost-Victim

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Novel Review | Look at Me by Tansan

Title: Look at Me

Tansan

Tags: Eve's Faves
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Heerak is a well-known alpha. He’s a successful restauranteur and social media influencer, which leaves him spoiled for choice when it comes to partners. However, one evening, he wakes from a drunken stupor to find himself in the throes of passion with a cute omega. Well, cute from what parts of him he can see. Before he can identify the anonymous bed-partner, he blacks out again. The following day, the omega of his dreams is nowhere to be found.

This sends Heerak on a search, which results in finding the omega, except he wasn’t an omega at all. It turns out the person in question was Dooseon, a beta and one of Heerak’s employees at his company. Wanting to avoid a scandal, Heerak goes into protection mode, offering to pay any price for Dooseon to keep quiet. However, to his surprise, Dooseon doesn’t want anything. If anything, he got what he wanted out of the deal: a night with Heerak, for whom he always had some level of attraction.

Stunned by this revelation and by Dooseon’s refusal of compensation, Heerak finds himself drawn to the beta. It is no longer a game of protecting his image or burying a scandal; instead, it’s all about getting Dooseon to fall for Heerak. As Heerak does his best to shower Dooseon with time and affection, Dooseon struggles with this new suitor. Why does Heerak spend so much time on him? What could a dominant alpha get from a beta like him?

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Manhwa Review | A Kind Goblin’s Bird by 8cat

Title: A Kind Goblin's Bird

8cat

There is a tale about a woman who can help grant wishes in people’s sleep. All she has to do is sing as the person falls asleep, and in their dreams, they will see their wishes granted. She is an oracle and one that Sah Heonyoung seeks out to test her powers. When he sees her, they are inexplicably drawn to each other; Sah Heonyoung, in particular, is drawn to the oracle. However, his identity as the twin of the crown prince, a goblin, makes it impossible to want anything without fear of losing it.

The oracle in question has never had a name. She is forced to live out in the woods of the mountain, surviving on weeds and grass in between the few times she is called to perform her wish-granting ceremony. Over time, her body has accumulated many scars, her legs have weakened to the point that she can’t stand for long, and her eyesight is poor at night. Her life is an endless struggle until she meets the goblin in the red mask. He whisks her away, gives her a name, and asks her to be his bride. In an instant, her life has changed, but the imperial family, his family, threatens to steal away her happiness forever.

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Manhwa Review | Lack of Love by Okdongi

Title: Lack of Love

Okdongi

Seoil

Hajin Park is trying his best to start his online fashion store, but it’s a lot more complicated than he realized. His sister, a dentist with her own business, offers to help him out and set up his store online, but only if he does her a huge favor. She is a huge stan for the idol group 89, and while she has a ticket to one of their meet and greets, she’s unable to attend due to work. So, she asks Hajin to go instead to get all of the members’ autographs. While Hajin isn’t looking forward to it, he agrees.

As Hajin is the only man there, he draws a lot of unwanted attention, including from the members of 89. To escape some of the crowds, he goes to the bathroom. While trying to find an open stall, he runs into Hangyum, the hottest member of 89, in quite a compromising position. After escaping the awkward encounter and the meet and greet, Hajin is all set to put all this idol business behind him when he is pulled aside by the manager of 89. The manager noticed how put together Hajin is and wants Hajin to become the personal stylist for the 89 members because their style is seriously bad.

Hajin is hesitant at first, but after discussing it with his roommate and sister and finding that it would eventually help his online business, Hajin calls back the manager’s number. The manager is not the one who answers, though. Instead, Hangyum picks up and ends up personally striking a deal with Hajin. As a result, Hajin becomes Hangyum’s stylist while also assisting the other members from time to time. But Hangyum doesn’t intend for Hajin to just help him with styling. Hangyum and Hajin have a past, and Hangyum intends to heal the wounds they share.

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Manhwa Review | The Thorn That Pierces Me by MaCherie

Title: The Thorn That Pierces Me

MaCherie

Piggyback

Heesoo was just trying to find an escape. Having just toured America and decided to go back home and better her life, Heesoo is finally seeing the brighter side of life. However, on the way back to Korea, the plane she’s on ends up getting sucked into a strange portal that transports the plane and everyone on it to a fantasy world. Heesoo is one of the few to survive the crash, but just surviving the crash isn’t enough. She ends up running into creatures called maenok, which are zombie-like creatures that attack the living and that can’t be killed. When she isn’t running from zombies, though, she faces enslavement, starvation, assault, and misunderstandings due to her inability to communicate with the locals since she can’t speak their language.

Things aren’t going so well in the new world. Resigned to the fact that she probably won’t survive, Heesoo plans to stop fighting and accept her fate. That is until a super sexy paladin appears to save the day. Finally faced with a glimmer of hope, Heesoo is determined to latch onto Calix in the hopes that he will keep her safe, and she does that the best way she knows how: by seducing the chaste paladin. Unfortunately, Calix isn’t all that receptive to her feminine wiles, but Heesoo’s persistence slowly but surely wears down the wall her savior has put up. However, as that wall begins to fall, it reveals that Calix may not be as pure as he appears to be.

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Manhwa Review | Undercover Partners by JayJay

Title: Undercover Partners

JayJay

Luvloo Otae

Tags: Eve's Faves
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Kyuho Je is over being a conglomerate family heir. He is looking for any way possible to get out from under his family while maintaining his lifestyle for himself. He finds the answer to all his problems through a money-laundering expert by the codename “Smurf,” who, in the real world, is known as Kangha Nam. Once Kyuho catches Kangha, he extorts him into entering a contract. Kangha will help Kyuho launder money from Jeho corporation, his family’s corporation, while acting as Kyuho’s lover. Kangha isn’t all that willing to go along with it at first, but when Kyuho offers to compensate him at any price Kangha sees fit, the offer is just too good to be true.

Kyuho gets to work on his plan immediately. He gets Kangha on at work as his secretary and begins setting the stage for their very fake but very public romance. Kangha charges for every touch, every event, and every favor, which grows his nest egg exponentially. However, as time goes on and they spend more and more time in these compromising scenarios, it becomes much harder to distinguish what emotions are real and which are just part of the act. While Kyuho and Kangha try to identify the legitimacy of their feelings and relationship, the looming threat of their illegal schemes being discovered is ready to ruin everything.

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Trope: Social Gap

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