This review is for Lover Boy Volume 2 and contains spoilers. Ize Press provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Volume 1 of Zec’s debut BL manhwa Lover Boy brought Jaeha Yoo and his lover boy, Eunho Jung, together but not in the way either of them ever thought would happen. Still harboring feelings for Jaeha despite having witnessed his crush marry someone else, Eunho confesses to him, but Jaeha dismisses him. But the two quickly fall into bed with each other with neither any clearer about their relationship.
The second volume continues where we left off from the first and starts with the two having sex. Volume 2 contains more smut than the previous volume, and along with it, Eunho’s devastation and despair. Even though this is only their second time, Eunho, already and heartbreakingly, knows that this is all he’ll ever get with Jaeha. This is what their relationship will ever amount to. He’ll never have Jaeha in the way he wants–both heart and body.
Yet, Eunho still tries. He asks about Jaeha’s relationship with Hanjoon; he asks why his marriage with Hyesun fell apart when it was clear he loved her. But every time he does that, Jaeha deflects, pushes Eunho away and behind the walls that he erected to protect himself. Eunho also accidentally hit the bulls-eye on why Jaeha seems so set on doing that:
“It feels like you’re keeping yourself lonely–punishing yourself when you’re such a good person.”
Sex, for Eunho, is the only way he can get close to Jaeha emotionally because that’s the only time Jaeha seems to let himself go. But for Jaeha, sex is meaningless. Even though he has a dedicated FWB in Hanjoon, he has no intention of ever becoming something more with him–a fact that surprises and hurts Hanjoon who had been gradually developing feelings for Jaeha.
There are some similarities between Hanjoon and Eunho. Both have fallen for a man who won’t give them a piece of his heart and both have somewhat come to terms with it. The difference between them is that Eunho has loved Jaeha far longer and he has weathered a lot more heartbreak.
This is actually the first volume that we get a sliver of an insight into Jaeha’s feelings. He starts making a little more of an effort to not be an asshole toward Eunho. Little things like taking him on a movie date, which he vehemently denies is a date but who are you lying to, and treating him to ice cream that show Eunho is, at least, isn’t just a FWB. In the little flashes of the past, we can see that he treated his ex-wife Hyesun well, but from what we’ve seen with Hanjoon, this level of care wasn’t extended toward him.
Jaeha’s affection hurts more than relieves Eunho, though, because he doesn’t know why Jaeha is suddenly being nice to him. Out of pity? Is Jaeha still seeing Eunho as the little boy who lived next door? Or because… maybe, maybe, Jaeha returns his feelings?
To his credit, Eunho does try to give up on Jaeha because he knows he’s just hurting himself by staying in this relationship but he’s not exactly trying too hard. He always seems to put himself just in reach, still pining, still yearning, still hoping. I would’ve felt so frustrated had it not been for the ending.
There’s an uncomfortable scene in this volume when Jaeha, once again, tries to run away from his feelings and into Hanjoon’s arms (TW: sexual assault). It parallels a scene in Volume 1 when Jaeha slept with Hanjoon because he felt unbearably lonely. This time, Hanjoon stops before the situation goes too far, but I wish Jaeha was the one who stopped him. It felt like if Hanjoon hadn’t let him go, Jaeha would have let him continue even though he did not want him to. It could be another example of self-punishment that Jaeha is inflicting because he feels like he deserves it.
His conversation with Hanjoon is what finally spurs him into action and pushes him into the rare few times of reaching out to Eunho. My absolute favorite page isn’t any of the spicy scenes; it’s their reunion after not seeing each other for a few weeks. By purposefully not showing Jaeha’s features in the first panel and just focusing on their embrace, it evokes such a sense of relief, like a weight has been lifted off both their shoulders.
Then when the panel zooms into Jaeha’s eyes and the look of peaceful content in them, it highlights what he says later on: when he thinks of happiness, he thinks of Eunho.
Unfortunately, even though by the end of the volume, Jaeha finally reciprocates Eunho’s feelings and they officially start dating, there’s a sense of foreboding. Jaeha teasingly but also seriously asks Eunho to stop growing and to stay as he is now. Jaeha still has the painting he painted of Hyesun back when they were in college. His past nightmares of Hyesun leaving him have now turned into Eunho leaving him. It still feels like Jaeha hasn’t moved on from the past. If Jaeha doesn’t eventually do that, the fragile happy ending he and Eunho have created together will crumble soon.
