'Love With Flaws' is a rarity: a full-length Korean drama featuring a bonafide BL side story. The m/m relationship between 20-something Won Seok and uni student Ho Dol develops as a slow burn over the course of the 32 episodes, and it is only during the final episode that we learn that the two are actually a couple, but it's during that final episode that we also hear Won Seok's older brother use the word 'love' to describe how Won Seok feels about Ho Dol. They even get their own little happy ending during the montage that ends the series.

Generally speaking, 'Love With Flaws' is a romantic comedy, with the comedic element pitched at a level that might remind you of the American TV series 'Shameless'. Like in 'Shameless' the characters in 'Love With Flaws' are larger than life. Their behavior is often outrageous, but also like in 'Shameless' there are moments of drama and tenderness that stand out in bold relief against the humorous backdrop.

This is part of what makes the character of Won Seok particularly interesting. Won Seok is the gay middle brother of the female lead, and as 'Love With Flaws' progresses it turns out that he's the one exception to the outrageousness of the other characters. Throughout the series he's never held up for ridicule or embarrassment. In fact I can't recall any instance where Won Seok is placed in the kind of madcap situation that requires him to make a fool of himself -- something that every other major character does at some point (including Ho Dol). Won Seok is always taken seriously.

In the first episode we see that Won Seok's job is tending bar at an upscale gay lounge in the city. He and Ho Dol first meet when university student Ho Dol ventures into the establishment for the first time -- a rite of passage that many gay men will recognize from their own coming-out. Ho Dol is almost overwhelmingly nervous, and after Won Seok realizes what he's there for he serves him a beer at no charge and tells him to drink up and get lost. (Ho Dol ends up leaving money to pay for the beer anyway, but leaves the beer untouched.)

A few weeks later, when Won Seok's youngest brother needs a tutor for school, the tutor that the family hires turns out to be none other than Ho Dol. The surprise meeting between Won Seok and Ho Dol in Won Seok's home is played for laughs, with Ho Dol assuming that Won Seok's siblings don't know that he's gay and that Won Seok will want to get him fired as a tutor in order to keep his secret safe. By this point we've seen that the family actually does, in fact, know that Won Seok is gay, and that they have absolutely no problem with it. Ho Dol's misreading of the entire situation is handled with broad humor, but there's no denying that Won Seok doesn't help matters when his reaction to seeing Ho Dol on home territory is to remain cold and unapproachable. This only manages to feed Ho Dol's fear that Won Seok will be out to get him.

Things between them begin to change when another closeted gay uni student (who we've earlier seen pursuing Won Seok only to be rebuffed) spots Won Seok and Ho Dol together on campus. He mistakenly thinks that Won Seok is romantically interested in Ho Dol, and for revenge on the two of them he subjects Ho Dol to a cruel prank that results in some humiliating video footage of Ho Dol. The video gets posted online, outing Ho Dol to his fellow students and anyone else who happens to see it -- a list that eventually includes Ho Dol's family back home.

When the humiliated Ho Dol suddenly stops showing up to tutor Won Seok's younger brother, Won Seok goes back to the campus to confront him over leaving the job needlessly. He then follows Ho Dol to his lecture hall, where he sits with him and puts on a public display of behaving like his boyfriend. The ensuing scenes are particularly gratifying as Won Seok takes Ho Dol's side (literally) and afterward harshly confronts the closeted student who'd pranked him.

I won't give any details about the turn of events that ends up bringing Won Seok and Ho Dol closer, but suffice to say that the scenes that follow the campus confrontation provide Jang Yoo Sang (who plays Ho Dol) with the opportunity to show us that his acting chops aren't by any means limited to comedy.

Eventually we also learn of the dark moments that occurred during Won Soek's own coming out, and once this revelation occurs it puts much of his earlier behavior in perspective, including the stand-offish treatment he gives to Ho Dol at the outset. Perhaps Ho Dol reminds him too much of himself at a younger age, when he struggled with his own sexuality and made some very bad choices. After enduring so much and seeking to put all of the unpleasantness behind him, the sudden appearance of the confused and timid Ho Dol must have shaken him -- especially since the kid was turning up at both his place of employment and his home.

While Won Seok and Ho Dol do eventually end up in a relationship, I have to admit that when I first watched the series I didn't expect that to happen. I thought instead that Won Seok would end up mentoring Ho Dol as he finally meets someone at the university. Initially, of course, there was no relationship between Won Seok and Ho Dol at all, not even a friendship, and while this can be a starting point for the 'opposites attract' trope, what did manage to develop between them at first felt a lot like it had a 'big brother' vibe to it. Fortunately, the series does end up showing us the ways in which Ho Dol also makes a (very) profound difference in Won Seok's life. The underlying theme of redemption through love flows in both directions.

I've come this far without mentioning the untimely death of Cha In Ha, who plays Won Seok. In some ways it has ended up casting a tragic shadow over 'Love With Flaws', and I've wondered if this could be one of the reasons the series is not often mentioned when BL-friendly dramas are discussed. Cha In Ha's death occurred while 'Love With Flaws' was first airing, and at the time there was some speculation that the broadcast might be halted out of respect. I'm glad it wasn't. He is truly wonderful in the role of Won Seok, and this along with the fact that the role was part of a groundbreaking BL side story in a Kdrama makes 'Love With Flaws' a fitting memorial to his art and his humanity.