It looks like fans will never know about Jaeyoung’s birthday and is a Sangwoo-only fact.
A few months ago, Ize Press, the manhwa imprint of Yen Press, opened up the floor forfans to send in their questions to the author of the Semantic Error novel, J. Soori. Fans were eager to show their love for the book and characters as well as finally get answers to all of their burning questions—well… all but one.
J.Soori had always loved storytelling since they were young. It seemed only natural that they “began imagining things and eventually started telling stories myself.” Prior to Semantic Error, a lot of their published works were more on the fantasy genre which was why they decided to go in a different direction for SE.
“I wanted to challenge myself with a romance that was more intense and focused on emotional shifts,” J. Soori said. “Sangwoo and Jaeyoung began with the idea of ‘contrast.’ I wanted to write a story about two very different characters colliding and gradually blending into each other.”
Semantic Error came out around 2018 on Beyond Books and Ridibooks, but despite the nearly seven year gap between the original version and the English translation, the novel has an enduring quality that still has fans talking about it to this day with many readers citing the series as their gateway title to BL. Part of it, according to the author, is because it’s fairly easy to get into with a lot of jokes to get readers engaged.
“However, I believe the novel’s popularity didn’t come from the story alone. The adaptations into audio drama, webtoon, animation, and drama were also important.”
Not long after the novel came out, it was adapted into a webcomic with Angy as the artist. The popularity of the webcomic and novel combined led to an audio drama adaptation a few years later, an animation in 2021 that can be streamed on LAFTEL, and most recently the drama adaptation starring Park Seoham and Park Jaechan. The drama adaptation, in particular, became a massive success in Korea with the actors earning multiple awards.
As it happens during the drafting process, Semantic Error went through some changes. Initially, Sangwoo was supposed to Jaeyoung’s sunbae/hyung before it was switched. The computer science major was also supposed to have an “ordinary appearance” but he eventually became “a cute and handsome character.”
Perhaps it was inevitable considering that J. Soori said they related more to Jaeyoung’s actions as their personality more closely aligned with the graphic designer (Jaeyoung will find anything that Sangwoo does adorable).
Fans will know Sangwoo’s birthday—October 1–and it fits his personality to a tee since it’s a symmetrical binary code but the story has never divulged Jaeyoung’s birthday. Fans had to know, but unfortunately…
“I’m curious too,” J. Soori said. “He didn’t even tell me.”
The first volume of Semantic Error is out on January 20. Fans can read the rest of J. Soori’s answers on Ize Press.
Source: Ize Press
