Welp. It was a little underwhelming, though I'd had high-ish hopes after the first episode, which was ridiculous but charming. Basically, Seon Ho (Song Seung Hyun) is a writer/artist of a webtoon. For reasons they don't really go into in the show (but probably do in the webtoon this is based on), he makes 19+ webtoons. Because a guy's gotta eat, I suppose. He's been doing that for two years and now he needs an assistant. Also in the last two years or maybe more, he hasn't dated or even had the urge too. All the libido has been sucked right out of him.
Anyway, he winds up hiring Mu Young (Ko Chan Bin) as his assistant. He has an immediate reaction to his handsome assistant, which surprises him. And Mu Young seems to be trying to be all stoic and straight-faced but you soon see he's already got a crush on Seon Ho (which, turns out, he's had since secondary school days). Complicating things (as always) is Mu Young's longtime friend, who has a fiance, but seems to have suddenly realised that maybe he wants more than friendship.
The first episode was fun in a hijinks sort of way and seemed to be headed in a good direction. There's Seon Ho's confusion about whether or not he's attracted to Mu Young and his awkward puppy-ness. But...over the next few episodes, it basically devolves into the standard ridiculous misunderstanding that literally makes no sense. Mu Young gets it into his head that Seon Ho is dating his editor (played by Seo Min Seo, and one of the bright spots in the show as she was consistently over the top and hilarious) and doesn't want to come in between them EVEN AFTER SEON HO CONFESSES HE LIKES HIM and also after the editor overhears something and is making finger hearts at Mu Young. Like, seriously, how does that not give him a clue? When the supposed girlfriend is all "tee-hee, let me leave you two alone so you have some you time." It makes no sense at all. I mean, he bases his assumption on the barest of facts (she left a makeup bag behind once, for instance).
That said, I did enjoy the scenes between them when they weren't obsessing over the misunderstanding. When Ko Chan loosened up and smiled, it felt genuine. But most of it he had to play like an unblinking block of wood. I don't think it's particularly the actor's fault. I think it was the writing and direction. Though, seriously, for a 2022 show this one sure does harken back to the days of limp fish kissing.
I did also like that Seon Ho's character was so open minded (as was his editor). He'd never liked a guy before but even in the small flashbacks we got of him, it's obvious that he didn't have an preconceptions against it. He truly is just a "this is the right person for me" kind of guy and once he figures out he's legitimately attracted and likes Mu Young, he's all in. He's a total puppy.
So, am I glad I watched it? Eh, it was okay. Given the episode length, it really wasn't enough time to develop much, though I do think they could have gone a number of different ways and actually had a reasonable thing keeping them apart rather than a very ridiculous misunderstanding. Would I watch it again? Nah. There's apparently also a movie version but it sounds like it's just all the episodes edited together.
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