Our Relationship Ended Before It Began (2022)

A reflection on misgendering and gender roles in queer relationships.

Despite the hanging threads and loose ends, this miniseries does a decent job of highlighting queer issues that aren't often discussed through a queer lens in dramas.

Ah Young discovering and coming into her sexuality is a tale as old as time, but through Yoon's thoughts we see another side of the story. Yoon presents as androgynous and is often misgendered as a result; even partners expect her to act "like a man" in their relationship. Although there is too little time to properly explore the topic through the course of these short episodes, we are shown the effect this has on someone who just wants to be seen and accepted for who she is.

Both characters are easy to sympathize with, but I couldn't help putting myself into Ah Young's shoes and being frustrated on her behalf. She is just trying to do her job and figure out why her manager is playing around with her all the time. The lack of effective communication that comes across as mind games really put a damper on my enjoyment of the story because the ending didn't provide satisfying closure.

If you're a fan of the "cool lead picks on the sweet lead to show their feelings" trope, you'll probably wind up liking this. Even through the lack of communication, they do have some very cute moments together by the end. It's definitely worth checking out!

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Warm & sweet latte on a winter day

Definitely SUPER cute and lovely and funny!

I really has a lot of fun with this web drama. It's so short but is enough to fall in love, I swear, sooo lovely!

The characters is one super energetic and another more introvert and I really love this kind of couples. In this drama we have a cute and pure romance, don't have a big plot, just four episodes of just their feelings. One of them was very hurt in a previous relationship so now is afraid to love again, that's something that happens a lot, we know. And the other is confused by her first love for a girl.

Till now we don't have a lot GL kdramas yet, so please give a chance for this one! You can find it on YouTube!

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Cute and short: perfect!

Actually there is not much to say about this short GL web drama. Between the synopsis and the coments, everything that can be said, has been. So why am I writing this review? I wanted to gush about so much cuteness in a korean drama. Definitely something new and refreshing!

It could be said that this is an office or better yet, a workplace romance. A boss/employee kind of a series. True, this year has been the year of office romance bl/gl series. This one takes place in a cafe. Not much of a budget so no customers in this café. The manager teases her employee so much that they fall in love but are scared to say anything. The arrival of the ex girlfriend pushes the relationship in the right direction.

The manager is very masculine looking: tall, thin, very short hair, dark clothing and no make up and even her voice is rather deep. People (customers) often mistake her for a man. She feels hurt because of that but we are still conditioned by certain ideas about gender that the mistakes of this kind are easy to make. In her previous relationship as well she was assigned the role of a man which displeased her immensely. Her employee is a very short, petite and very feminine girl (long hair, girly clothes, make up). In a way they look like your typical manga characters!

The drama obviously did not have much of a budget but they managed to tell the story correctly. As usual, the sound in korean web dramas is atrocious, it is cavernous and has a slight echo to it. Music is generic, probably free elevator music heard many times before.

Nevertheless, it is a cute short watch, a very good gl mini drama leaving you wishing for more but, storywise, perfect as it is. Well almost! I do not get the title: what does it mean?

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Cute coffee shop romance!

I found this title by chance and I'm so glad I did!

It's already hard to find wlw shows in the first place for me, so I was hoping I would enjoy it without setting my expectations too high, but I believe that despite the short screentime, the writers did a good job with the material they had. In the span of the first few minutes I grew to like the main characters and started rooting for them.
The story is very simple and romance-focused: a girl who fell in love with her manager at work, and said manager who keeps giving her mixed signals for mysterious reasons.
The atmosphere is very light-hearted and most of the drama focuses on the cute interactions between the two main characters, but it never gets silly and even incorporates queer themes properly without making things overly heavy for the viewer. The actresses did a good job, especially the two protagonists, and their interactions are just adorable - I can't count the number of times they got me smiling like an idiot at my screen.

Since it's a short web drama (there's even a short movie version that is less than 30 minutes long), it's ideal for whenever you have some time to spare. If you'd like to watch a cute and light queer romance, this is for you!

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Short, sweet, authentically queer

Ah, but I will never get tired of stories that depict realistic queer characters facing realistic queer issues.
There's just nothing quite like that sudden flash of recognition, that moment of "Oh, that's me isn't it".
This series shows some of the realities of being in a queer relationship - the feeling of alienation, constantly being forced into constrictive hetero-normative roles, even misgendering.
It depicts all these things with great incisiveness and sensitivity, and quite honestly just seems presented from such a distinctly queer viewpoint that I would be surprised if there weren't queer people involved in this production. Which, to me, seems like a clear point in the show's favour.
If you're looking to spend half an hour watching two very likeable people fumble their way towards a romance with one another, then you've found what you've been searching for.
I would also just generally recommend this to anyone looking for a short, light watch which nevertheless feels firmly grounded in reality.

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