Korea is really borrowing other country’s styles of BL this year. With this one they took on origin Japanese yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette. I can’t get over the visuals of this show, the beautiful pastels, the sun-saturated over-exposure, the elegant staging. Combine that with manga framing style, some prototypical BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope (in this case it’s adopted son of best friend) and it was, in a word, classic.

Orphaned uke, HaeBom (Ok Jin Uk, trot idol group SUPERFIVE) is small, sweet-natured, and adorable, but also timid and bullied and desperate to be loved. The seme, TaeSung (Kang Hui Thumping Spike), is tall and reserved, depicted pumping iron and sporty and desired by all. In typical yaoi fashion it’s TaeSung who is the passionate one, who has adored HaeBom since childhood, who wants him desperately.

At first I discounted CBAW because it was so quiet (did I learn nothing from Oxygen?) and then I realized it’s just sophisticated and understated - with occasional flashes of *holy gratuitous shower scene, batman!* Don’t misconstrue me, it’s not slow, it’s just subtle. It ended up being both sadder and more whimsical than I was expecting - dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really.

The chemistry is awkward but I’m learning that awkward is something Korea enjoys putting in its romances. I wonder sometimes if they don’t think awkward = romantic. Regardless, it works for this couple since TaeSung has always known what he wanted (just been in denial and rejection mode) and HaeBom must play catchup. There’s always a power imbalance with this extreme of a seme/uke pairing, but it’s even more so with these two since it encompasses not just the height difference but desire. (I happen to really enjoy power imbalances.) TaeSung was always going to be too much for HaeBom - more demanding, more in love, just more. It is only his adoration of HaeBom that keeps him from becoming too much for everyone. TaeSung knows this, he’s self aware, which is why he holds onto HaeBom with such desperation. HaeBom’s journey is one of learning to accept that he is the the quiet softness that tempers TaeSong’s extremes, and is just as necessary for all he goes unnoticed. When they are just together as a couple, they’re ridiculously cute and visually nostalgic and I grew to really love them as a couple.

Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show.

This BL is VERY traditional, almost pastiche. As I watched I could feel that song from Fiddler on the Roof running through my head.

In case you can’t guess, I absolutely loved CBAW, but I can’t separate it from my relationship journey with this medium as a whole. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s beautiful and I loved it for what it was and how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED