Quick Guide to This Review:
- 📚 Basic Info about the Work
- 🧡 Why I Love This Comic
- 🎯 Ratings & Memorable Quotes
- 📘 Learn a Korean Phrase
- 🟦 Recommendations & Warnings
Official Summary Translation
(The following is the English translation of the official summary for 호호상박 from Bomtoon. It is provided for reference only. All rights to the original text belong to the author and the publisher.)
After getting caught up in a gang fight, Kang Jihwan is forced to transfer schools.
Hoping to catch up on the studies he’s long neglected, he turns to Han Yuseong—the top student in class—for help. But in the process, he accidentally tears Yuseong’s school uniform… only to discover a massive tiger tattoo on the so-called model student’s back?!
To keep Yuseong’s tattoo—and true identity—a secret, Jihwan offers a deal: tutor me in return.
But instead of teaching, Yuseong starts making overly touchy advances, hoping to scare Jihwan off…
Or is there another reason behind all that skinship?
✨ 1. Introduction
“Tiger vs. Tiger (Temporary Translation)” is a short series with just 9 episodes. It was originally planned to return as a side story but is now confirmed to be extended into a full-length webtoon, expected to begin serialization within 2025.
After reading it, I honestly felt like I’d consumed the content of a 15-episode series — that’s how packed the story is.
The webtoon doesn’t explicitly define the top or bottom, so I’m speculating based on their dynamics. The two leads aren’t officially a couple by the end of the short story, either. Han Yuseong clearly enjoys blurring lines with ambiguous touches toward Kang Jihwan — he’s more affectionate than a regular friend, but the overall tone still leans more toward classic high school banter than romance.
I’m personally looking forward to seeing how their feelings develop in the upcoming long version — especially if we get to watch Jihwan slowly fall for Yuseong.
ℹ️ 2. Basic Info
- Title: Tiger vs. Tiger (Temporary Translation) / 호호상박
- Author: BAMSIK 밤식
- Platform: Bomtoon (Korean)
- Status: Short version complete (9 episodes); long version coming in 2025
- Tags: School Romance
- The Top (Han Yuseong/한유성): Mafia background．Honor student．Model student
- The Bottom (Kang Jihwan/강지환): Family trauma．Spirited．Quick-tempered.
🧡 3. What I Loved About It
Han Yuseong constantly ambushes Jihwan just to tease him and make him lose his temper — the chaotic energy of high school boys bickering is one of my favorite tropes!
In the final episode, he even considers announcing his feelings to the entire school over the intercom just to make Jihwan confess — absolutely unhinged behavior, I love it.
Also, Yuseong’s motivation to study hard and leave the mafia life behind is such a fun twist. Although he’s an honor student in high school, the short version doesn’t really highlight that part much. I really hope the full series shows him becoming a college heartthrob who only has eyes for one person: the annoyed and clingy Jihwan!
🎯 4. Rating
🎨 Art – ★★★
1. Panel Flow – 7.5/10
Three scenes felt a little choppy:
- Jihwan falling down the stairs
- The first frame of Yuseong’s house
- When Yuseong takes a hit for Jihwan
While understandable, these moments needed a second look to fully grasp what was happening. The artist could improve on sudden visual transitions.
2. Character Design – ★★★★
The faces are gorgeous and expressive from every angle. However, full-body shots — especially when characters are lying down — lack some depth in anatomy and clothing folds, so I deducted one star.
🎬 Story & Pacing – ★★★
As mentioned, it feels more like 15 episodes than 9. There are too many side characters for such a short series, and the emotional development between the leads is a bit thin. You don’t really feel like you’re reading a romance. The pacing is logical, but I hope the long version deepens their relationship.
💬 Memorable Line
한 번 더 집중 못 하면 다음에는 볼 말고…
[Translation]: “If you can’t focus again, it won’t just be a kiss on the cheek next time…”
Yuseong gets fed up with Jihwan repeatedly getting answers wrong and kisses him on the cheek as a “punishment” — then warns him that next time, it’ll be somewhere else 👀
📚 5. Korean Phrase Spotlight: What does 볼 mean?
In the line “한 번 더 집중 못 하면 다음에는 볼 말고…”,
볼 means cheek.
✔️ Bonus Notes:
- To say “kiss on the cheek”:
→ 볼에 뽀뽀하다 or 볼에 키스하다 - Example:
→ 그녀는 아이의 볼에 뽀뽀했어요. (She kissed the child’s cheek.)
🎥 This line will appear in my [Korean with BL Webtoons] Shorts series — it’s clip #8! Wanna learn how to pronounce it? Follow me and check it out!
🟦 6. Who Should Read It (and Who Might Not)
✅ Recommended if you:
- Love chaotic high school boy dynamics
- Enjoy bickering + slow-burn flirting
🚫 Maybe not for you if:
- You want clear relationship progression
- You’re only here for sweet, fluffy romance
🔚 7. Final Thoughts
Overall rating: ★★★
I’m looking forward to the upcoming full-length serialization of this series. The short version doesn’t feel much like a romance comic.
In the final scene, Yuseong confesses and casually announces they’ll be living together — Jihwan’s about to lose this battle of resistance 😂
So that’s my take on “Tiger vs. Tiger”! What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments 💬
✍️ Got a webtoon you want me to review next? Drop it in the comments!
📌 Cover image source: Tiger vs. Tiger (호호상박) on Bomtoon . Copyright belongs to the original creator.
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