Dark_Chocolate_7076 - Profile

Choi Woojin is a quiet, reserved assistant manager that has trouble feeling and expressing emotions. But when Shin shows up, he is flooded with memories that fill him with longing. Shin is a womanizing new employee that is bewildered, but slowly intrigued by Woojin's gaze on him. As Woojin and Shin draw closer, they find it hard to stay away from each other. As they open up about their pasts, they also discover that the past is not what it seems.

I think the world building is pretty interesting and seems pretty original. I had trouble reading the entire thing though because it was hard for me to find the characters believable. Like how Ramuja was so carefree in the beginning and nice to Aster, because even if Aster was nice to him, in reality no one in his situation could let go of their trauma from that kind of abuse so easily. There were lots of little cliches, such as the disdainful mother, Ramuja not wanting to pollute the master with filth, Ramuja's instant liking to Aster, etc. I tried skipping to the later chapters and also found other little cliches here and there. Honestly, I don't completely mind these cliches, and again, I think the world building and backstories seem pretty complex, but I wasn't interested/invested enough in the characters to find out what would happen.

MC has a very cute and earnest character. I don't think we know enough about ML yet in this season to completely see his character. Romance seems a tad shallow just bc the reason that they like each other isn't super well explained. Hoping there's a season 2 out there or in progress!

Would have loved to see more interactions between the first couple! In general, the romance between the two couples felt a little underdeveloped: while I understood why Mingkyu fell in love and why Youngji liked Eunho (not even a main pairing!) I didn't really get why the other characters fell in love with their final partners. It was kind of addressed but kind of shallow and underdeveloped. Other than that, I can see why the author said that they got negative comments on Eunho: while visually attractive and seemingly gentle he seems kind of cold and slightly calculative given how strongly he follows his own rules in his personal life. Overall not as angsty as I had feared, but still has that typical love triangle drama. I liked the way the author chose to approach the theme of secrets, with each character having their own approach, though it isn't super profound or anything, but it's still interesting.