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I had to make this post after seeing this amazing post because this needs to be said for all new viewers of TDJ.
I can actually confirm that the writer did intend for Yohan and Gaon’s relationship to be gay.
Ji Sung said their relationship was one of “seduction”. At the Devil Judge press-con, he confirmed that his role was that of Mephistopheles (around the 23 min mark but I’m at work and can’t pinpoint rn loL) who “seduces” Gaon who is Faust. I’ve analyzed this in more detail in this post.
Writer Moon Yoo Seok has been very open about his influences in crafting Yohan and Gaon’s relationship being: Beauty and the Beast, Goethe’s Faust, and the movie Let The Right One In .
All these influences are either romantic or homoerotic. All of them.
The writer has also confirmed that Gaon occupies a traditionally female character and feminine gender role. He’s used tropes that we normally only see in heterosexual romances for Yohan and Gaon’s romance. A non-exhaustive list:
living together
snooping through the mysterious house of the man who’s whisked you away
undressing your partner and wound-tending
making him food, refusing let anyone eat unless said man returns
understanding him like no other, being the only one who sees through his facade to the loneliness within
choosing him over everyone else (ep 8 and then end of 15)
trying to die for him (twice)
defending him to the het love/past love, everyone around really
PINING, yearning (Gaon literally looked at the bed in ep 16 and thought back to shirtless Yohan okay)
taking care of each other
being vulnerable before and for each other
oogling him shirtless (both of them did this)
hand holding
DEEP. STARES.
sexy bomb defusal
love triangles (K and Soohyun)
Homosexuality is so taboo in Korea that the closest we’ve gotten to proper rep is the wlw couple from Nevertheless and Kim Seo Hyung’s character from Mine, and even then that’s because men find it easier to see women in love with each other than men being in love. And men finance drama production.
Writer Moon Yooseok (who has 25 years of writing experience) has literally done everything he can to get a queer story out there. Heck he’s even including stuff in the TDJ comic (spanking, anyone?) that wouldn’t fly on TV because he has more freedom there.
Ji Sung and Jinyoung have known this from the start as well (that poster photoshoot), and it’s hard not to know that your character is gay when they’re staring at another for 95% of the show and undressing and oogling each other, or when the ending is 2 minutes of sappy staring. They knew.
The director in episode 8′s bts at 6:04 as Jinyoung and Jisung rehearse Gaon ditching Min Jung Ho: “Gaon’s become cute now that Yohan’s here”.
Jinyoung: nods.
Me: Okay we’re all in agreement clearly.
Rather than new fans being disappointed for it not being gay enough, I hope they can uplift this for what it is: a serious attempt to bring a gorgeous romance onscreen. Writer Moon Yoo Seok really said lawful husbands. He’s been saying it from the beginning.