If you are in the boy’s love manhwa space long enough, there are certain titles that exist in the fandom that everyone recognizes as required reading. In some point or another in your BL journey, you must read BJ Alex, Under the Greenlight and Lover Boy, to name a few. Without a doubt, Reunion is one of those titles.
I’ve heard a lot about Reunion but was hesitant to read it because of the deception plot point. I don’t like lies, okay! But when Ize Press sent me a copy of volume one, it was finally time to put my anxieties aside. Right away, I was kicking myself for not having read this sooner because now I’m hooked. Reunion has a lot of mystery and intrigue, and as the story goes on, you just don’t know who is telling the truth.
Thank you Ize Press for sending me a copy. The following thoughts are all my own.
Reunion, Vol 1
Artist: DeulSum
Original author: 2coin
Translation: Manta Comics
Lettering: Chana Conley
Publisher: Ize Press
Hakyung Lee is a young guy living on the margins. He’s in need of money for his mother’s medical treatments, and is working odd jobs here and there to make ends meet.
One day, he’s approached by the vice president of Taewon Group named Myeongsu Jang. Myeongsu has a lucrative offer for Hakyung: pretend to be a female childhood friend who passed in order to give his ailing father and chairman, Cheolwoong Jang, peace of mind before he dies. Hakyung thinks this is wild, but is desperate for money. Plus, it’s only a few weeks and then he can put this behind him.
Hakyung learns that Myeongsu has tried to fool the chairman many times, and as a result, the chairman is skeptical of Hakyung, who’s posing as Jiyoung. But because Hakyung was raised with Jiyoung, he knows a lot of details about her family and manages to convince the chairman. All is going well until Yoonsung Jang, Myeongsu’s son, returns from abroad and threatens to expose that Jiyoung is a fake. Against all odds, Yoonsung and Hakyung as Jiyoung start growing closer and Yoonsung does not reveal the secret.
The story flips between present Hakyung and the past, as he recalls this one summer. The reason he’s remembering everything now is because Yoonsung Jang has appeared before him and doesn’t seem to want to leave him alone. According to Yoonsung, he had an accident and lost his memories. And for some reason, Hakyung may be the key to regaining them. Hakyung, on the other hand, is dead set of leaving that summer in the past.
Impressions on the first volume
This first volume covers the prologue and 14 chapters, so there’s a lot that as reader we don’t see yet. It’s obvious that something more happened between Hakyung and Yoonsung, but not enough has been revealed for us to know what that is. We don’t know how Hakyung and Yoonsung parted ways 7 years ago, or if the chairman ended up finding out Hakyung was a fake. Although Yoonsung knew Jiyoung was a fake, Hakyung never revealed his identity as a man.
This was one of those reads I was head down into and didn’t come up for air until the last page. Each chapter only adds to the confusing relationship between Hakyung and Yoonsung, and the flashbacks to the past leave a lot unanswered. I’m curious as to why Hakyung wants to put as much distance between himself and Yoonsung as possible, because in the flashbacks it feels as if he was falling for Yoonsung.
On Yoonsung’s end, I’m not sure if I buy his memory loss just yet. How did he know to hunt Hakyung down? His father could have easily revealed Hakyung’s identity too, so I’m not entirely certain what he says makes sense or if it is just a ploy to get closer to Hakyung. For someone who is essentially meeting a “stranger,” Yoonsung is behaving as if he’s reuniting with a long lost lover.
This first volume ends with Hakyung and Yoonsung making a deal to spend time together in order to help Yoonsung regain his memories. I’m looking forward to what this time together will entail, and how this will trigger Yoonsung’s lost memories. Up to this point, all the chapters have been from Hankyung’s point-of-view, so I’m also wondering if we will get Yoongsung’s POV in the future.
This story seems to ask if the things we do in the past, the good and the bad, can stay there forever. Hakyung is determined to leave it all behind but so far, it seems as if he wont be able to outrun that one summer after all.
Either way, I’m excited to find out.
Reunion Volume 1 is available now at a bookstore and/or public library near you.
