Title: The Odd One Next Door / Your Neighbor‘s Preference
Author: Seo Jeongyoon
Art: Hee
Chapters: 73
Status: Completed
Tags: josei, first love, enemies to lovers
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The Odd One Next Door: Official Summary
Yoo Gaeun is done with dating. After her ex left her to marry a famous actress, she now spends her days running her late mother’s studio and cleaning up after her twin’s messes. But her quiet life changes drastically when crude and cranky Kang Siwan moves into a nearby house. Though Gaeun tries to be civil to her odd neighbor, sparks fly every time they meet, causing one argument after another. Will she ever manage to make peace with Siwan, or will the sparks set fire to something else in her?
Why You Should Read The Odd One Next Door
Story‘s Pacing
The story takes place in a small village, where the main characters live as neighbors. Kang Siwan moves into the house directly across the street from Yoo Gaeun, but their first meeting doesn’t go well. When Gaeun tries to welcome her new neighbor, he is anything but friendly. For this reason, she completely ignores him from then on, and he immediately regrets how he treated her.
As the story progresses, the two constantly argue and bicker. Eventually they agree agree to start over. After that, they begin treating each other with kindness, and their relationship slowly develops into a romance. Overall, the romance is definitely a slow burn, which I really enjoyed.
Meanwhile, Gaeun’s twin sister and Kang Siwan’s nephew become the secondary couple. At first, Siwan doesn’t realize that Gaeun has a twin. This is because no one bothers to tell him, which I found a bit odd. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t spend much time developing the secondary couple’s relationship. Both characters appear quite frequently at first, but then they suddenly disappear from the story. Although an explanation is provided later, I still wish their relationship had received more attention.
Characters
Male Lead
Kang Siwan works from home as a photographer for supermodels. When he moves into his new home, he builds a wall around the property and completely renovates the old house into a modern one. His blunt demeanor often comes across as rude and disrespectful, but in reality, he simply values his peace and quiet.
Whenever he travels for work, you can see how much he enjoys being a photographer. He smiles often and seems much more relaxed, showing a different side of his personality.
Despite his reserved nature, he falls for Yoo Gaeun surprisingly quickly. Since he has never dated anyone before, his attempts to win her over often lead to hilarious moments. Even so, he genuinely tries his best and is always honest about his feelings, which made him a very likable character.
Female Lead
Yoo Gaeun has a twin sister who looks just like her but has a completely different personality. Their relationship mostly consists of yelling at each other and worrying about one another. Gaeun runs her late mother’s studio and teaches baking and cake decorating classes. At the beginning of the story, she is still grieving the loss of her mother and lives a very withdrawn life. This is especially reflected in both her appearance and the way she neglects herself.
As she spends more time with Kang Siwan, she gradually begins to let go of the past, move forward, and take better care of herself.
However, I have one major issue with her character. She is 30 years old, and her previous relationship ended in heartbreak. I understand that this is a painful experience, and it clearly had a strong impact on her. However, I don’t understand why it completely shuts her down emotionally to the point where she seems almost depressed and refuses to open up to anyone again. It feels a bit exaggerated, especially considering how long she holds onto this fear.
Also, when Kang Siwan asks her out, she refuses because she says she feels pressured. Even after he tells her he’ll wait until she’s ready, she still feels pressured simply because she knows how he feels about her. That was especially frustrating for me because it feels like she misinterprets his patience and sincerity as pressure, even though he isn’t forcing anything on her. As a result, she constantly doubts his intentions and overanalyzes every small action because of one past experience, which eventually became really frustrating to watch.
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Art
The artist draws characters with very pointed chins and large, expressive eyes, which gives the art style a slightly exaggerated look. At the beginning, the panels often consist of just a single small frame or sometimes even only speech bubbles, which makes some scenes feel very minimalistic or visually empty.
Also, I’m not sure why, but the two main characters often have very silly facial expressions and look completely dumbfounded, almost as if they have no idea what’s going on. It can be a bit distracting at times, especially in more emotional scenes where stronger or more fitting expressions would have helped convey the mood better.
Other than that, the artwork is good overall. The style is clean, and the character designs are consistent, even if it takes a little getting used to at first.
The Odd One Next Door Review: My Personal Reading Experience
I couldn’t help but get the impression that teenagers are dating here rather than adults in their 30s. Not to mention all the exaggerated blushing and running away from embarrassing moments. In my opinion, it was too much and came across as childish.
Moreover, Yoo Gaeun wants to slowly build up their relationship, which is fine, but nothing ever really happens between them. In truth, they mostly just eat meals together or talk—that’s it. How much slower can it get? He really tries hard and must genuinely like her; otherwise, any other man would have already given up.
She, on the other hand, never really opens up or explains situations properly, which becomes frustrating as a reader.
However, the story still has its charm. The chemistry between the main characters is easy to follow, and there are moments where their awkward interactions feel genuinely entertaining rather than frustrating. Kang Siwan, in particular, is a very likable character because of how sincere and straightforward he is, even when he doesn’t quite know how to handle his feelings.
The overall atmosphere is also quite cozy, with the small village setting and the focus on everyday life giving the story a calm, slice-of-life feeling. Even if the pacing can feel too slow at times, it does allow for small character moments that are pleasant to read and help build the relationship in a more relaxed way.
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