Where Your Eyes Linger (2020)

I would rarely give out almost-perfect and perfect scores, but Where Your Eyes Linger deserves it. I am not exactly a fan of friends to lovers trope (hence the 9.5 rating) but mutual pining? The angst? It's what makes this drama enjoyable for me. When you thought Korea couldn't produce good homosexual dramas/films on national TV, the team of WYEL proved us wrong. Everything they incorporated here was perfect. And the fact that they weren't exactly friends makes it more interesting. A bodyguard falling in love with his boss, who would eventually fly out to another country? Damn, sign me up! Not to mention the angst they gave us on Episode 7. There was intimacy, there was yearning, there was tenderness, and above all, the love between them was present. And the ending? God knows how much I cried when they reunited. I may be a sucker for angsty plots without happy endings, but still, WYEL brought me to tears despite having the ending we all hoped for. A big applause to everyone who worked hard for Korea's first ever BL drama.

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Beautiful, Sweet, the Feels! Three small words to describe this immaculate drama. For 8 - 10/15 minute episodes you would think I was unsatisfied, especially by the title of this review. No, No, No, I want more of the two male leads! These two individuals legit SPOKE VOLUMES with just their eyes, I was overwhelmed and giddy with joy!

Watching these two every week, I was like a kid in the candy store - always coming back for more! The storyline, tells of two men who have grown up together one rich and the other poor but they have a serious friendship/partnership which is developed from a necessity for the bad boy to be protected by his bodyguard (you will know who is who when you watch).

The cast is funny and precious. Even though these were short episodes there was humor, seriousness, happiness, sadness. How can one pack all of these emotions into ONE episode - you'd be surprised. Now stop reading and start watching! <3

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Korean BL ... what to say about it? I love Korean storytelling. And seeing Korea is making BL series is a reason to be excited. Talking about "Where your eyes linger": the chemistry was great, the acting, the music. The plot was nothing revolutionary, but they added some angst like you don't see it in Thai BL (for example). In general, it was a great watch with very complex characters. It was hard to guess their motives most of the time, but it all came together pretty well at the end. There were still many plotholes and looking back I get the impression they were beating around the bush. It was obviously a BL story, but many people wondered until the very end if it will be only bromance - that tells you a lot about how their relationship was portrayed. Korea still isn't very clear and straight forward about gay love. But that's okay. With this series they only tested the waters. Hopefully we will see more Korean BL series in the future. This was a pretty good start.

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Some cute chemistry and a straightforward short story

What strikes you as soon as you start watching is the sizzling chemistry between the two men. The show is very straightforward about its purpose: showing how the two boys who have been friends for a very long time become overwhelmed with feelings and desire for each other.

The casting is perfect, and both the leads have given a wonderful performance. Han Gi Chan shines as Tae Joo with his charming persona. The style of the drama is like other kdramas, aesthetics are great and the colour palette just right.

UPDATE: I somehow found the last two episodes kind of cringey, their acting seemed to lack as they were forced to show more emotions. The kiss wasn't necessary if it wasn't going to be convincing... they could have just added an implicated kiss or a hug.

Either ways, fans of BL will definitely enjoy this short web drama. Well worth 80 minutes of your time!

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Short & Sweet

I normally don't like to judge a web series too harshly because of two primarily reasons:

1. The time constraints it has for fuller character development (especially if there's conflict thrown into the story-line) & 2. The episode count. If it is under 5 episodes I usually feel like it can fail to capture major themes or at least have the opportunity to explore more of what is going on in the story because there's usually so much they are trying to do in under an hour and it really shows sometimes.

Thus, depending on the writing and production it can can be a hit or a miss. And can make us feel like why would they even bother making this into a series when they could have just made it into a short film. It would have been cohesive at least.

But I was pleasantly surprised with Where Your Eyes Linger.

I usually avoid Korean BL's because to be honest there's only a few series out there that focus entirely on the relationship between two men and of those series they are hard to watch because the characters usually end up unhappy or ambivalent (and with only a few of them out there among a zillion stories about hetero couples it's like... come on). We need MORE stories to encompass the complexity and beauty within the LGBTQ community and not less. So when I watched this (with zero expectation) I was shocked. For a Korean web series to focus solely on the relationship between two high school guys in a rather non-toxic way... I would say this is quite the rare gem.

Aside from the beautiful cinematography that captures you during each episode we learn a little more about what has been inside the hearts of Kang Gook and Tae Joo during each episode. After being 'friends' for nearly 15 years, we see our main characters attempt to navigate their changing relationship when Kang Gook slightly shifts their seemingly static relationship.

While getting a glimpse of their insecurities, passions, and the unbreakable bond shared between these two, I couldn't help but appreciate the story at face value and I really enjoyed watching it. Since we get to see the progression of those subtle, but affections glances transform into something so beautiful and very sweet between them, even when the conflict rose, I was left feeling very happy I watched this series.

The actors did very well in portraying their part (there was zero stiffness or awkwardness between them which quite frankly was a relief). So it felt sincere and authentic while you are watching.

I could only imagine if the episodes were even 20 minutes each instead of 10 because then this series would have easily been a 10/10 for me. But this seems like a baby step for Korean BL's... but it is in the right direction.

If you enjoy watching BL's this is definitely not one to miss. It's sweet & short, but it's definitely not void of raw emotion or character development. It did feel slightly rushed at some points (especially some plot points: like what happened to Tae Joo's mom?) but even so it felt like they did their best to make sure Tae Joo and Kang Gook's story feel in-sync at least. Although I would love a second season I'm sure we won't get it :(

Nevertheless I stayed for the solid acting and of course Kang Gook. They both deserved all the love in the world but especially our Kang Gook.

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Short but Direct

What I LIKE most about this show is that all the moments are important moments. I would rather have a short BL series with important, impactful scenes and storyline than a long BL series with a lot of unnecessary side story. The storyline is quite unique for a BL series, The actors were pretty good in acting and I like that there were no cliché moments used, it was so real and relatable.

What I DONT LIKE about this series is that I wanted more romantic moments from them but I understand as I feel it’s one of the first BL series in Korea.

Overall this is a very good BL Series, would highly recommend it!

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Para ser el segundo BL coreano, no fue nada malo, y se la historia fue más BL que la anterior.
La música me encanto.
Es una linda historia, de como se acepta el amor después de 15 años de convivencia, y de como solo hace falta un tercero que perturbe para que los verdaderos sentimientos salgan a la luz.
Aunque la mayoría del drama parece ser un bromance, se percibe ese amor entre los personajes, entre dos "amigos" que desde la infancia han estado juntos, que no han tenido más amigos que ellos mismos.
Me llamo mucho la atención el hecho de que la familia del prota permitiera que ellos vivieran juntos, visto desde la perspectiva cultural coreana... es bastante interesante.
Por ultimo, los coreanos nos creyeron pendejas, tontos, y ciegos... o sea, cambian al actor para la escena final y principal... eso fue muy chistoso.
Pero en resumen, es un buen drama.

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Han Gi Chan and Jang Eui Soo are just wonderful cutie-pies, yet still have the ability to act with a strong aura/presence of seriousness! I love everything about these two, and I want to see them in a full length drama!

For the amount of script, and time this drama had to convey its message, it's a complete 10/10. They nailed every aspect of this, and made this such a beautiful little gem!!

Even if the concept was a standard cliche South Korean chaebol drama, the added element of it being gay is the cherry on top. If you're expecting a story that breaks new ground, ask yourselves if KBS, SBS, JBTC are STILL giving you the chaebol cliche dramas??? Then thank your lucky stars that, in a nation that STILL stigmatizes this topic, the producers put this out for you. Let's break the ground first and worry about full length trailblazing screenwriting later!

Baby steps... and, again, for what this drama had to work with, this was fantastic. Best part is that, unlike other newbie LGBTQ actors in dramas, these two newbies have some serious acting chops, and not one time did I feel cringed out by them.

Thank you to the producers for finding this talent and giving us this treat!

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Let me say this in the start " it's the best BL drama i watched" okay i don't watch much because it's always so cringey and the story unrealistic but this one is really well made from story to acting and visual. we all know how Kdrama level of Quality is way better that other asian shows and they prove that with this short but perfect drama.

in most BL drama they wrote the show as boy and girl and make one of them act girly -_- in this drama this didn't happen the boys have clear characters as boys and even the cute one "Han Tae Joo " we see him protecting Kang Gook in first scene and clearly pushing the relationship since the start, it was amazing point.

the story not that new (the bodyguard /friend to lover) but it was made so well with details of characters and how some react different to their own feeling. and the use of Sexual tension between them and the react of small touches in some places like ear and again use the same touch that cause discomfort to show jealous. the push and pull between them and how they know each other weak points well..

this drama being short is plus if you want to watch it in one shout it will be like move and if you watch it already it's easy to rewatch and enjoy it again and again.

acting was great the talk with eyes, the way they look at each other was believable. can't wait to watch more of those actors.

the ost was so good too.. Again kdrama please give us this kind of drama again.

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