Jaeyoung x Sangwoo

Jaeyoung x Sangwoo is the slash ship between Jang Jae-young and Chu Sang-woo from the Semantic Error fandom.

Drama
Jaeyong and Sangwoo are students studying at the same college. They have been placed on a group project together, however, Sangwoo is the only student to partake in the project. For the final presentation, Sangwoo removes all of the freeloaders' names including Jaeyong. This prevents them from graduating. They first meet at an art exhibition, and Jaeyong wrongly assumes he wants a photo. After Jaeyong finds out he is unable to graduate, he calls Jaeyong, but there is no response. He tries to find him and even puts wanted posters up, but no luck.

Sangwoo is advertising a position to work on a mobile game, and Jaeyong agrees to the project. He is late for the meeting. He arrives and calls Sangwoo handsome. They talk, and Sangwoo admits he is a good designer. They decide to exchange phone numbers, and this is when Sangwoo learns that the man is one of the freeloaders. He decides to leave, but Jaeyong stops him and incites a rivalry between the two. He tells him to stay sorry, but Sangwoo refuses. Jaeyong asks what colour he hates and the place.

Jaeyong moves to a new apartment and is neighbours with Sangwoo. The next day, Sangwoo completes his morning routine but runs into several problems. First, outside of his door are boxes placed by Jaeyong. Next, the vending machine is out of Black Holic, his favourite drink. Jaeyong bulk purchased all of the coffee to prevent Sangwoo from buying it. Lastly, Sangwoo's seat has been taken in class. Jaeyong arrives dressed entirely in red since it is the colour Sangwoo hates. They have lunch together, and Jaeyong annoys Sangwoo. Jaeyong has Sangwoo's class schedule memorised and takes Sangwoo's seat in every class. They are paired together for a French exercise. They both return to their apartments, and Jaeyong accidentally frightens Sangwoo. They talk, and Sangwoo calls him 'Senior Psycho'.

The next day, Sangwoo fell asleep on his desk. Jaeyong decides to draw on his face using a marker pen. They argue outside. Jaeyong tells him to take the cap off, but he refuses, and Jaeyong finds it cute.

Sangwoo arrives at school at 6:30 am and beats Jaeyong to his seat. Once Jaeyong arrives, Sangwoo retrieves a wooden panel and places it between them, preventing Jaeyong from talking to him. The two are acting like rivals now. Jaeyong continues to annoy Jaeyong by throwing food wrappers. In the cafeteria, to avoid Sangwoo, Jaeyong eats food with a random group of students. Jaeyong sees Sangwoo eating lunch with Jihye, and overhears his nickname 'Sangchoo', meaning lettuce. Sangwoo tells Jihye they are close. On the walk out of campus, Sangwoo is annoyed that Jaeyong graffitied his game advertisment with the words 'claimed by Jaeyong', and tells him to go away.

At a bar, a man gets drunk, and is upset and angry at Sangwoo. The drunk man throws water him, so Sangwoo threatens to call the police. Jaeyong comes to his rescue, and sends a dart at the drunk man. He takes Sangwoo's hand and runs out of the bar. At the apartments, Jaeyong realises he doesn't have his bag and his phone is out of charge, so asks if he can use Sangwoo's laptop. Sangwoo reluctantly agrees and gives him a 10-minute limit inside. Jaeyong comments on how organised Jaeyong's apartment is and uses his laptop. He also tells him to wash up. Once Sangwoo finishes his shower, Jaeyong is struck by how attractive Sangwoo looks and comments that he looks better without his cap. Sangwoo realises he's been cut and helps to put a plaster on it. Sangwoo thanks him for earlier with the drunk man.

Jaeyong's laptop crashes, so he interrupts Sangwoo's date with Jihye, asking him to fix it. Sangwoo obliges but had to delete the majority of the content. They walk home. At school, Sangwoo turns up late and Jaeyong is surprised he isn't wearing red. They are forced to take part in French conversation practice. At first, Sangwoo suggests talking using notes, but eventually, they talk. They decide to create a romantic script together. Jaeyong asks if he's been in love, and Sangwoo believes love is a delusion. He also compares dating to being a beta test before marriage. Jaeyong falls asleep, and Sangwoo decides to draw on his face with a marker, but only manages to make a dot. They perform in front of the class, wearing more traditional clothing, and wigs. The clothes they wore for the performance, were in fact stolen. They return them back, but are nearly caught in the process. Jaeyoung pokes Sangwoo's face, and moves closer together, almost kissing. Jaeyoung whispers if he would like to watch a movie, but Sangwoo runs away. He is unsure how to process his feelings.

Back at school, Sangwoo doesn't turn up to the lessons. Jaeyoung is concerned, calls his phone, and shouts outside his apartment. Sangwoo reluctantly opens the door, telling him to go away. Jaeyoung admits to worrying, and Sangwoo tells him not to care, and rudely says they aren't friends. This surprises Jaeyong who thought they were on good terms. They argue and Jaeyong leaves. Jaeyoung posts a photo of them together on Instagram, without Sangwoo permission. Sangwoo browses Jaeyoung's Instagram, and screenshots many of the photos, creating a gallery of Jaeyoung photos.

After talking with Jihye, Sangwoo understands his feelings better and visits Jaeyoung's new work. Jaeyoung, however, ignores him. Sangwoo runs outside to see him and calls him 'hyung' for the first time. Jaeyoung hangs up the phone, and Sangwoo asks to work on the game together. Jaeyoung refuses and leaves. Sangwoo left a folder in the restaurant, and Jaeyoung finds it. He visits Sangwoo to give back the folder. Jaeyoung has a change of heart and agrees to continue the project. Sangwoo smiles, making Jaeyoung laugh.

They work on the project more. Jaeyoung stops him from leaving, and Sangwoo asks that if he's going to make physical contact in future, let him know. Jaeyoung is late with the project, so Sangwoo calls him. He answers, and Sangwoo scolds him for the late deadline. Jaeyoung also admits to enjoying the call and preferring it over texts.

They have another meeting for the game. Jaeyoung shows his ideas for the Veggie game, and Sangwoo admits they are good. He also pats Jaeyoung on the head for his good work. At school, they have food with Jihye. Jaeyoung is jealous of Jihye, and they mutually fight over Sangwoo. He draws Sangwoo to his studio, pulling him by the bag strap. He is in shock at how dirty the studio is, and forces Jaeyoung to take out the trash. They walk home after work. This time, Jaeyoung pats Sangwoo on the head. The next day, they work again, and Jaeyoung gets some sleep as he's exhausted. Sangwoo tries to wake him up but instead kisses him.

At the bar, they both drink. They are the only ones at the bar since the shop is closed. Sangwoo has a shot of alcohol and gets drunk. Sangwoo confesses he finds Jaeyoung good-looking, and they kiss. Sangwoo is embarrassed and apologises for the kiss. Jaeyoung admits to wanting to date, but Sangwoo runs away. Jaeyoung pins him against the wall, and suggests he could try a 2-week trial of dating him. Sangwoo asks for time to think. He also asks Yuna about Jaeyoung's past relationships. They see each other again at Jaeyoung's studio and work on the game. Sangwoo asks about Jaeyoung tattoo, and so Sangwoo draws a Veggie Man on Sangwoo's arm. They walk home, and Jaeyoung gives him a small preview of the two-week trial, and holds his hands and hugs him. Sangwoo lies and says he doesn't like it. He deliberates whenever to date Jaeyoung, and decides to ask him out. However, he doesn't after finding out about Jaeyoung being accepted to work at Dex in France.

Sangwoo encourages him to go to Dex, albeit a little sad. Later, they meet outside their apartments at midnight. Jaeyoung celebrates his birthday, getting him cake. He also says he's not going to Dex and wants to help with Sangwoo's game instead. Jaeyoung instead encourages him to go to Dex and rejects Jaeyoung's dating proposal.

After some time, they see each other again. Jaeyoung gives him a backup file of the project and is packed, and ready to leave for France. Sangwoo has a chance of heart, and races after Jaeyoung on his bike. As soon as they meet, he calls him an error, but confesses to liking Jaeyoung. Sangwoo holds his hand and asks to date, no trial run, the real thing. They kiss, and hug.

They talk about Dex, and Jaeyoung calls Sangwoo his boyfriend, making him smile. He interrupts his talking with a kiss. Sangwoo is making a presentation about his game, and Jaeyoung suggests they make changes since his PowerPoint skills are bad. Jaeyoung also looks around his laptop and finds a folder of Jaeyoung photos. He teases Sangwoo, they hold hands and Jaeyoung pins him to the bed, and they kiss.

Quotes
"Also, I'm telling you in advance. Since you did a good job, I'll give you a pat on the head."

- Sangwoo to Jaeyoung during a work meeting.

"Sangwoo? Can I pat your head... for a minute?"

- Jaeyoung to Sangwoo

"Hey, Jang Jaeyoung. You know, you're an idiot right?"

- A drunk Sangwoo to Jaeyoung

"Warning. I'm going to kiss you in one minute. If you want to run away, do it now."

- Before they kiss

Fanon
Semantic Error is a popular Korean BL drama, and so the Jaeyoung/Sangwoo ship is especially popular in BL fandom. It gained some popularity from the original manhwa, however, the ship exploded in popularity after the release of the drama adaptation in 2022. It reached a peak of 10th on the Tumblr Fandometrics, and was also popular in Korea itself. There is some fanfiction, with over 130+ fanfictions on AO3. A ship name hasn't yet been popularised. Occasionally, Sangyoung or JaeWoo are used. The latter shares it's name with a ship from K-Pop group NCT.

The lead actor, Park Jae-chan, is also a member of K-pop group DKZ (formely known as Dongkiz). After the release of Semantic Error, the group saw a huge boost in popularity. In response, the group rebranded to DKZ. A lot of the group's recent success can be attributed to Semantic Error, and especially this ship in particular.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Lists
!10th
 * MARCH 14th, 2022