My Damn Business (2024)

The Ten Commandments of KBLs

These are the commandments that have been handed down to us by the gods of Korean BLs. They shall be the commandments by which any present and all future KBLs may be judged. (N. B. See below for an explanation of my ratings.)

1. Thou shalt not kiss. Thou shalt not, in any meaningful sense of that word, "kiss". Thou mayst, however, press thy lips against another man’s as you would a leper’s.

2. Thou shalt not utter the word ‘gay’. For it is a sin. Thou mayst love another man, but if any man shall ask of you if you do, thou mayst answer, “I like not men, I like only you.”

3. Thou shalt refrain from all carnal desires. For it is a sin. The submissive shall resist all attempts at intimacy, and the dominant may not pursue the submissive unless it is known that all his attempts shall prove fruitless. (Aptly mayst thou call this 'ironical'.)

4. Thou shalt respect the difference in height between the dominant and the submissive. Six inches will suffice, a foot too much, three inches too little. As below, so above.

5. Remember thou that there exist only three acceptable settings for a KBL. School, university, and office. For these do encompass all of life. Thou shalt invest thy characters in white jackets with blue borders if at school, leather jackets and hooded sweaters at university, and ill-fitted suits for work.

6. Remember thou that there exist only three acceptable plots for a KBL. Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and (adopted) brothers to lovers. Thou shalt entertain no other plots besides these.

7. Thou shalt employ no actor that is not thin, wanting of water, and starved for nutriments. The actors must have defined chests, six (or better yet, eight) pack abdominals, and flawless skin. Thou mayst coat the skin with three inches of wall paint to whitewash all flaws.

8. The writer shall inscribe in each tale at least one instance of timejump, forced separation or miscommunication. The unimaginative shall employ all three.

9. Thou shalt choose from among the following ornaments at least three to embellish thy tale: the slipping towel, the towel bath, an accidental fall or catch, sleeping-beauty false-kiss, somnolent confession, gentle lock-of-hair restoration, alcoholic amnesia, and rain-born fever.

10. Thou shalt by no means indicate homophobia in thy tale — in this, our most homophobic realm — unless it furthereth thy plot and our cynical purpose. Friends and family shall be universally supportive, unless it force a separation between thy characters. Remember thou always that this is a world of pandering fantasy, not reality.

Biblical Proportions:
Commandments Broken: 1 (!!!).
Commandments Obeyed: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Ratings:
*For the first commandment broken, I'll add a whole extra star. Again, what?!? They're allowed to do this in KBLs?
*For each of the commandments obeyed, I'll deduct half a point from the story, which brings it down to 1.
*I'll give the cast a 6, purely because I'm in love with Jung Jae Bin. But because I didn't get to see him shirtless, one point deducted. As for Jeon Yu Bin, did he have to look so constipated all the time?
*Was there music in this show? I don't remember.
*I'll give 5 stars for 'rewatch value', because I'm going to watch that kiss over and over and over again.

Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: I am the Lord, thy God.
DON'T SAY: Thou shalt lie with mankind as with womankind. That is love. Scratch that. That's fucking sexy.

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an indie mini series done right

Overall: I enjoyed how this was centered on the main leads (no love triangles/cliche female characters/random side plots). 7 episodes about 10 minutes each. Aired on GND Studio YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UjFgW8TJEcVMXRV63uoHXg7rXv7mwll&si=9uCOLI4bRiXQRyBd

Content Warning: non con touching

What I Liked
- centered on the 2 leads
- made me chuckle a few times
- good way to show time passing
- realistic way to show a character was queer
- protagonists apologized
- good kissing (that last kiss was awesome)
- production value

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward
- with such short episodes, they should have released at least 2 per week
- a continuity error with hand placement when the one guy was reading the comic
- the not respecting boundaries/acting a little too carefree (it made a little more sense with the revelation in the final episode but the other character didn't know that earlier)
- odd that they camera blocked the cheek kiss
- episode 6 could have been better spent instead of the jealousy stuff
- cliche end of episode 4 plot point (had plenty of time to explain)

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Love on the clock, but don’t expect overtime! Short and sweet! !!

My Damn Business is a mini-series that blends light-hearted humour with a sweet office romance. Despite its short runtime of around 10 minutes per episode, the series does a good job of developing its two leads, Han Yu Jin and Yoon Su An and crafting an engaging story that kept me hooked every week.

The chemistry between the leads is the highlight of the series for me. From the first episode, it was evident. Han Yu Jin is confident, assertive and just a bit dominant while Su An is reserved, shy and cautious. Their contrasting personalities created a fun and sort of affectionate push-and-pull dynamics.
The romance here is not in grand gestures but in small, meaningful moments, in those quiet glances, subtle touches and tender conversations over drinks.

However, I wish the episodes were a little longer. It would have allowed for more depth to the characters and the workplace setting and also made the pacing a lot smoother. Also, waiting for a single episode per week made the story feel a bit disjointed.

The cinematography and production were good that it felt much larger and more polished than you'd expect from a short format.
Also that ending shot was beautiful! <3

Overall, this mini-series was a guilty pleasure with a satisfying romantic comedy that delivered even though it has pacing issues considering its short run time. Hoping to see more dramas with longer runtime.
Recommended if you are looking for a light, sweet and feel-good romance. There is nothing groundbreaking or deep here but few cliche tropes that are done well.

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Short and Sweet

"My Damn Business" is a short, tropey-but-sweet romance drama, that could happen "next door to you".

With "My Damn Business", GND studio (formerly Guy Next Door) have released their second multi-episode mini drama. Before this one, "Fake Buddies" was released as seven loosely connected episodes, and before "Fake Buddies", they only made short comedic skits.
It's maybe also a good idea to keep in mind that they posted a note on YouTube in summer 2024 (unfortunately deleted by now), in which they mentioned that the "channel is run by three people who handle all the content creation".
So, GND Studio is very much a small start-up, with extremely limited ressources and even less experience with longer dramas.

As with "Fake Buddies", they used their experience with the short form and with working with a minuscule budget to their advantage:
1. They chose a plot that did not require a lot of actors, only few simple sets, and that could be told in a few short scenes.
2. Each episode was comprised of one simple and short story arc, which could begin and end within the same episode -- and still moved the relationship forward.

Other things I noticed:
* I mostly like the chosen background music -- especially the percussion piece in the first episode but also the melancholic piano piece. The jazzy tune at the bar was a bit annoying but we've heard worse.
* The company is called GND International.
* Acting, wrinting and editing came together to create a story that gets to the point quickly but is still slow enough in the important moments for the emotions to unfold.
* One thing that should have been made clearer for the viewers was the intention of Han U Jin in the first two episodes. I think quite a few viewers (me included) felt his actions toward Yoon Su An were too much -- when it was just his extremely awkward way of flirting, where he tried to use any opneing he saw to get closer to Yoon Su An.
* Both Han U Jin and Yoon Su An were a bit awkward, fumbled interactions, and still managed to solve their issues in the end by expressing their concerns and desires. Apart from their too good looks, they really felt like two "guys next door" to me.

With an overall runtime of just over an hour, this drama is a quick sweet snack in between longer and heavier dramas.

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This short but unsullied movie, broken into 7 episodes, is surprisingly effective and very entertaining. While a few cringe worthy scenarios brought it down a few notches, there is one big framework that catapults it back up into the stratosphere, making it exceptionally rare for a KBL. This is an obviously low-budget production that has essentially two main characters and only a smattering of other characters. Thus, it is character driven.

Sales Team 2 has just received word of its dissolution because of a management crisis. Han U Jin (Jung Jae Bin) is the team leader and must wrap things up with all the partners in a few months. With no one left to assist him, Yun Su An (Jeon Ju Bin) is assigned to help him with closing details. Unbeknownst to Yun, Han harbored a previous fascination with him. For reasons unknown, he has awakened within Han memories of meeting him many years ago while Yun was working at a coffee shop. He became enamored with him then. Han is now surprised and delighted to see him standing before him as his new assistant. Han is rather inept at trying to win Yun’s attention over and comes dangerously close to harassment on several occasions. That indeed could have been handled better. The term ‘awkward’ comes to mind immediately.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/11/23/my-damn-business-series-review-ep-1-to-7/

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None of my damn business

The best thing about this was the chemistry between the leads, it just worked. And when you have seven episodes, around 10 minutes each, you're kind of depending on the chemistry to pull through and lucky for them, it did.

Because the story tried to fit ten different tropes into one series and I honestly couldn't right up to the finale if they resolved everything or not. You had your phone call misunderstandings, you're jealousy of an ex who's not really an ex, the kiss after a drunken night out, and of course, the moment where your boss discovers an 18+ webtoon on your pen drive which was supposed to have documents. And I'm racking my brain to see if they resolved everything as I write this review, and I guess they did..? Kind of, because once you get past the point where the writer and the audience (me), stops bothering about the story, you hinge on good acting, and good chemistry, which two thumbs up.

It's a K BL, the cinematography was obviously beautiful and it's so incredibly short that it can be watched in one sitting. Or you can take your time. It's just basic, trope filled fun and.. yeah. It's good, fun and you can watch it or not, it's none of my damn business.
(See what I did there? Yeah?)

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A cute, short web series

So, let me start off by saying that I understand some of the earlier concerns about one of the main characters and how he was portrayed. Personally, it didn't bother me that much as a viewer because I just took that to mean that's the kind of character he is in the series.

But, the series itself...the two main characters together were cute. I also enojyed it when the co-worker from another section visited them and also found them in somewhat compromising positions- that was always hilarious to me.

While they may have met some small hurdles in the development of thier relationship, they were always able to sort that out in a quick manner, which is a plus for me compared to another series that I am watching and its feeling like its just dragging.

So, all in all, it was a cute fluff series with a few things that can be swen questionable but they still delievered in thier acting and story telling.

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Foi legal dentro da sua proposta

Bem, acredito que este foi um dos Bls da Coreia que fugiu um pouco. E porque falo isso, todos sabem que não é muito comum no estilo coreano o "beijaço" que todos vibraram entre outros elementos, os BLS da Coreia tendem, quase sempre, ser oposto da produção da Tailândia, embora a mesma esteja exportando as suas produções para os demais países asiáticos.

Embora a história esteja repleta de clichês, eles não são assustadores. A química entre os dois atores principais é ótima. Além disso, Jeon melhorou em comparação com suas interpretações anteriores.

Não há muito o que contar sobre este "curta série", me senti entretido e os 80mins não foram uma perda de tempo total, diga-se de passagem (rsrsrs)

Então, se você quiser desligar o cérebro, relaxar depois de um dia difícil, esse show vai te acalmar, você vai arrancar alguns sorrisos e no geral é fofo de assistir.

Vale ressaltar que nos BLs Coreanos aos invés do grande beijo eles sempre colocam algo mais suave (exemplo, dois lábios encostando). Outro ponto importante na mudança desta produção é o cenário, as séries deste tipo produzidas na Coreia gira em torno de Escola, universidade e escritório. Pois estes abrangem toda a vida, isto do ponto de vista dos BLS que passaram e o que tudo indica a nova tendencia que está vindo.

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Two co-workers pass like ships in the night

I really wanted to like this drama. It looked promising in the previews. On the plus side, it gets right to the action without unnecessary side characters. This is primarily a two-character study. Jung Jae Bin as Mr. Han is unlikeable from the start. He's the cliche dirty old man stereotype. The twist here is Yun Su, played by Jeon Hu Bin, is the handsome office assistant instead of the cliche woman-as-sex-object character. There's never sufficient motivation for YunSu to be attracted to Han and, true to the way Han's character is drawn, YunSu is mostly repelled by his leering advances as bad habits like smoking and drinking to excess. Things get more interesting in Episode 5 when Mr. Park appears, but he comes too late to save this story. Also the female interest, the character Choi, is wasted. She could have been a confidant and advisor to Yun Su. In fact, it's never clear what their relationship is. The mysterious recruiter Hwang provides the comic relief, always appearing at embarssing moments. Given that Yun Su was never really interested in Mr. Han, I speculated that he'd end up with recruiter Hwang in a surprise twist. No such luck. The photography and settings are stunning, but the music is a bit elementary. They would have been better off with stock music. I look forward to seeing Jeon Yu Bin in a BL story with a stronger script. The kissing scenes were unusually bold here. Some reviewers have complained these BL dramas aren't "gay" enough but frankly any story where two guys are actually friendly to each other is unusual enough without getting bogged down in romantic love cliches. We've seen all of those tropes a million times in straight dramas.

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Our Damn Business

This was fun. It was light. It was humorous. It was also very predictable. One thing it definitely wasn't, it wasn't boring. From the moment Jin laid eyes on Su An it was off to a great chase of how to get Su An interested in him. From massages to stretches to after work drinking. He tried it all. He was his late night bestie, bad mouthing Su An's exes as if he knew any of them. The one thing he was sure of, he was lost to Su An and the only solution, was to make him his. Su An, fearful of being hurt, was not going to be rushed or played with. Hwang, their office co-worker, resigned himself to be the unwilling viewer and with his penchant of walking in at the wrong time, provided some of the comedic charm.

Jeon Yu Bin (Su An) is a good actor and together with Jung Jae Bin (Jin) had great connectivity. It was a pleasure seeing them interact with each other. Su An's blank stoic expressions were the exact opposite of Jin's continual happiness. Even when angry, his face still invited Su An in.

What I truly liked about this short series was that it knew what it was and didn't have grandiose plans. It kept within the boundaries of a light comedic office romance and every moment wasn't wasted. JYB seems to fit well into these shorts and anyone viewing any would not be disappointed.

It's worth the watch.

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