My (Spoiler-ridden) Gashiyeon review 1/3
I can't believe I'm doing this in 2024.
Gashiyeon is a YunJae fan fiction by the Korean author Maio that became super iconic in the fandom and even outside of it, yadda yadda you know the story or if you don't I humbly suggest you read this to get up to date... I read an English version of it here.
It's divided into 3 parts that span Jaejoong and Yunho's lives. Part one, Reduced Horizons, focuses on the beginning of their relationship in high school.
*there will be triggers so check tags beforehand if you don't know the story of Gashiyeon.
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REDUCED HORIZONS (2006)
In terms of plot and characterization, I found part one to be decent-ish and entertaining. This goes for the entire work, but Maio's writing is creative--even from the English version, the structure of her writing and use of metaphors is good quality. Even the smallest details of her writing add to Gashiyeon, something like describing Yunho's nose or Jaejoong's hands in a way only a TVXQ fan would know, takes it from generic to something a fan would write, specific to YunJae.
The plot
Now, Reduced Horizons. It starts with Yunho seeing Jaejoong from afar, at a school ceremony. He beats up this other guy Soo Hun and demands to know the name of the beautiful student. Jaejoong is in love with Yunho's elder brother Eunho (who is fictional--irl Yunho having 1 sibling, a little sister) actually Yunho has 3 older brothers in this AU. Eunho is the third oldest and anemic/in ill health. Anyways, Yunho overhears Jaejoong confessing to him and becomes jealous. As fate would have it, Eunho gets hit by a car and Yunho, the sole bystander watching from afar, decides to leave instead of call for help because he wants Jaejoong for himself. Eunho-hyung dies, and we get the iconic 'It's you the beauty of class 8' line while Jaejoong is puffy from crying and Eunho's remains are being scattered in the charnel house. R.I.P Eunho-hyung.
It progresses like a standard high school AU. Hello smut scenes. In the climax of the story, there's a transfer student, Nam Hun, who provokes Yunho's ire by grabbing Jaejoong by the wrist...? Then Yunho throws his logbook at him. Adding to the tension, Nam Hun reveals that he's been watching YunJae having sex at school. Also he's a gangster. So, Jaejoong goes to the convenience store one day after school and hasn't returned. Yunho gets worried. He goes and finds Jaejoong, bloody and beaten and surrounded by goons (Nam Hun's) and so Yunho beats them up and brings Jae home. His heroic-seme moment comes to a shocking halt when he insinuates Jaejoong must've flirted with the guys, so in a way he deserved it. Dick move there Yunho. Jaejoong gets his revenge by using a cigarette to burn Yunho's d--- I am not kidding.
Finally we get Yunho's revenge against Nam Hun. During a free school period of P.E. he ambushes Nam Hun and beats him up. Screw the honour of a fair fight I guess. Actually the scene isn't bad. Jaejoong hypes him up beforehand and as Yunho's raining punches on Nam Hun, he stops to ask Jaejoong where the goons hit him and then hits Nam Hun there as revenge, and keeps going. Jaejoong gets a bit sadistic, gleefully telling Yunho where to hit Nam Hun. I was a bit into this depiction. It has potential: them as 2 halves of a hyper-jealous, protective, toxic battle couple.
Aaaaaand that's part one finished.
Characters
Since Yunho narrates part one I'll start with his characterization. We witness him falling in love with Jaejoong--from a school meeting, he notes Jaejoong's feminine appearance and mannerisms (lost count of how many times Jae is compared to a woman/wife/etc) and then decides he wants Jaejoong no matter what. He gets into fistfights constantly (basically winning all of them), has a motorbike, calls Jaejoong a bitch and every other demeaning term you can think of, but on the flip side he's also a diligent student and becomes the student council president. Credit to Maio for not making him a super OOC seme the whole way through. The 'double-life' of him as a good student is intriguing, but a touch unbelievable.
His mounting violent tendencies coincide with his growing interest in Jaejoong. I'm not sure if you can call it attraction or love or lust or what, but he pretty much sees Jaejoong as a thing to be won. It can be hard to sympathize with him because of how ruthless and unfeeling he is, but... I guess he's meant to be a hot-blooded teenage boy. His narration is to-the-point and never lingers on one thing for too long.
Jaejoong on the other hand... he's the cunning fox. The thorn lily. He screams and whines and pouts and sobs. Okay, he has a backbone (sometimes) and teases Yunho, but in essence Yunho is active and Jaejoong is passive (in more ways than one). Jae gets beaten up, Yunho comes and saves him. Etc etc. He's bad at school, flirty, easily bored, emotional and weak-willed.
They do have chemistry in part one. In the scope of the Gashiyeon-verse, Reduced Horizons only covers two-ish years of high school life with YunJae together. The physical aspect of their relationship is... definitely there and works in Maio's action-filled writing style. You get couple moments, like Yunho riding Jaejoong home on his motorbike after school. It feels open-ended because although a lot happens, so much is left ambiguous at the end. I've seen people say that part 1 seems to hint at the messery that comes in parts 2 and 3, but there wasn't much mind-fuckery or even abusive tendencies imo. It's rash high school boy behaviour with a healthy dose of yaoi tropes. On its own, it stands as a decent YJ fanfic.
TOO BAD IT GETS SO MUCH WORSE!!!
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Quote of the day: (in the POV of sociopathic Yunho after just meeting Jaejoong)
Beautiful people are always stiff-backed, I should have broken his nose, I was regretting now.
Maio, Gashiyeon
