The First Frost

For a sequel to hidden love it was a lot harder. Watch.

I liked it, but I didn’t love it and I really wanted to.

The cast is fantastic. The story is amazing as it’s essentially a sequel to my favourite hidden Love.. would’ve been nice if it was the same cast however I understand the reasons for the change.

Though it was good, it was excruciatingly slow moving.

At times I was frustrated by her lack of communication, even though I knew the reasons why it was like pulling teeth watching her squirm and not say anything.

I didn’t like her reasons for leaving and breaking the man she loves heart.

The FL mother was a total disgrace and I’m glad they didn’t try and do some weird redemption arc for her after she abandoned her when she was nearly raped by her sister-in-law‘s son. She would have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life and I felt a sense of satisfaction with that.

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A slow-burning healing tale of unconditional love—If that bores you, move on silently.

It unfolds quietly and thoughtfully, asking for patience—but those who stay are met with a deeply felt emotional resonance. Viewers drawn to gradual romance, inward journeys, and stories of healing will find it rewarding. Those seeking brisk storytelling or breezy entertainment, however, may find it dense and unhurried.
Direction & production quality is another level. Director literally blended past and present & kept a leeway for the future. I read the novel, only shortcoming I felt is that, when it comes to the drama, the female lead become little bit more dependent on male lead.

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Slowburn at it's finest

I am a huge fan of the webtoon so obviously i wanted to watched the adaptation. I feel this was done beautifully. Although the webtoon is still ongoing i think i like how they took things in the drama. Sang Yan has been my crush since secret love webtoon. Yes we have Duan Jia Shu but Sang Yan was my bias. When i read the novel and got to know more about him. I was in love.

The entire drama is just beautiful. I don't think my words can express how deep, beautiful and peaceful their love is. It's like this soft warm hug. I cried a lot but I'm happy everyone is happy. Do watch it don't miss out on this.

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I cried so much in the end

This drama touched my heart in the quietest, most beautiful way. It’s all about unspoken feelings, timing, and emotional maturity. The kind of love that never really disappears, even after years apart.

The slow burn here is perfect. No rush, no forced drama — just two people slowly finding their way back to each other. The male lead’s quiet devotion and the emotional vulnerability of the female lead made the romance feel incredibly real.

It’s gentle, warm, and deeply comforting — the kind of drama that makes you feel calm and emotional at the same time.

Love Love love the ML

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oh to love and be loved like theirs

have you ever cried witnessing someone love so deeply it made you question that oh,someone could love like that? love like that exists?Maybe not in our everyday lives, but somewhere—in stories, in fleeting moments, in the hearts of people who dare to love fully. oh to love and be loved like that, isn't wonderful to know that that kind of love they both shared exists maybe not on real life but somewhere...somehow. It’s comforting to think that love so pure and enduring has a place in the world. Sangyan and Wen Yifen, too good to be true but enough to make me believe in love a little more.

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Like 500 days of summer, except ML gets the girl in the end

This is the best modern-day romance CDRAMA so far that I've seen, although I think the title should have been 白月光 （The One that Got Away). The acting, the visual appeal of the leads, the sound/music, cinematography and production quality is at a whole other level entirely compared to other cdramas (especially compared to Hidden Love, the prequel to this story and from the same universe).

Heavily influenced by Taiwanese filmmaking and directed by a veteran Taiwanese director, this series uses an ingenious set of flashbacks as a plot device to tell the childhood love story of the two main leads, Sang Yan and Wen Yifan (WYF) from the female lead's perspective: when they first met, how their relationship develops throughout high school and college, followed by the present when they meet again 6 years later. The end scenes of each episode also show flashbacks from the present and sometimes include the same scene from the ML's perspective. It's from his perspective that the audience realizes early on how much he's been secretly pining for her all along and how he hopes she will come back to him. Even as he acts brusque and aloof to the FL, he secretly yearns for her and does everything he can to stay within her orbit and protect her even as he waits for her to come around to him (he even set up his bar to wait for her).

My favorite arc was the first 10 episodes when they meet each other after being apart for 6 years and become roommates. Their awkwardness as they hide their feelings for each other is both heartwarming and heartbreaking as they inch towards a reconciliation and then more. Her sleepwalking becomes the catalyst that brings them closer together as it reveals her true feelings for him, something she doesn't have the courage to express to him initially (when in truth she had moved back for him). (Sang Yan's sister asks WYF if she ever loved him in high school and she confesses to her that she did, something that must have given Sang Yan further hope that reconciliation was possible).

Eventually they get back together, and my favorite scene (besides the finale with the tender proposal scene and final flashback) is in episode 31 when Wen Yifan tearfully confesses to Sang Yan that she regrets leaving him alone for 6 years and wants to make it up to him by living for 6 more years without him so she can live through the pain he experienced. Rarely do you see FLs apologizing for their actions in a relationship, and her opening up and confiding in him was really a sign of growth and maturity for her character. Sang Yan is very moved by what she says and suggests that she can pay him back in their next lives.

In episode 31, the first flashback of when they first met is repeated, this time from the ML's perspective, and the audience realizes that Sang Yan fell in love with WYF from the moment he laid eyes on her (WYF doesn't know this) and that his aloofness and cockiness had always just been an act. (As his best friend, Su Haoan says, Sang Yan may seem tough on the outside but is actually very vulnerable and easily hurt, while WYF seems vulnerable on the outside but is actually very strong and resilient. )

The soundtrack was released before the cdrama and it has some incredible songs on it, including my favorite from the Taiwanese band, Crispy Band: 雨滴中有你 (There Is You Amidst Raindrops). Other standouts include: 任性 (Willful) by Taiwanese band: 五月天 (Mayday) - Sang Yan's theme song, 像晴天像雨天 (Like A Sunny Day, Like A Rainy Day) by 汪苏泷 (Silence Wang), 看着我 (Look At Me) by 严艺丹, 只在今夜 (Serenade) by 毛不易, My Dear by 张洢豪, 倔强 (Stubborn) by 陈珊妮

Overall rating: 9.5/10 - I deducted for the boring side plots like the annoying news intern and grandpa Su and 2ML/2FL romance that weren't really interesting or relevant to the main storyline and for 32 episodes that could easily have been cut in to half that number had the series focused solely on the story of the two main leads.

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“I've finally caught the shadow that haunted you. From now on your world will only have light.” And now we understand the dream at the beginning. The subtext, children. The subtext ! Subtlety and finesse are... two words from the dictionary.

God, it's beautiful. It's constantly changing, as if someone couldn't accept that we might get bored for even five seconds. All the night scenes are colorful and bright. The light in this series ! The episodes fly by without you even noticing. The same goes for the music ; you don't even notice it. It's mean to say this, yes, but it never stops, so it loses its effect. The moments when the music stops suddenly become unsettling. However, the song whispered in silky vocals stands out.

It's so unfair to see Yifan facing so many trials alone, all those disgusting guys (ordinary ones, let's be clear). We hear about other cases of abusers around her, she has to work on this subject as a journalist, but she's never given the opportunity to talk about what she herself has been through.
We are shown how the family unit takes precedence over the suffering of the victims, which is realistic. A mother who does not come to her daughter's aid, who does not listen to her cries for help or her later requests to be left alone as an adult... Forced to cut off all means of contacting her to pretend she didn't survive the assault, since that's all her mother understands : the right victim is the one who dies. It's a very good choice not to offer redemption to the mother. But on the other hand it's a shame, though, that the series leads a little too easily to the conclusion that, fortunately, there are good guys out there to protect women. (Will we ever get over this ?)

Anyway.

Then I was shocked. What kind of teachers get involved in their students' romantic relationships ? And the family taking over ? Excuse me ? It's even more outrageous when you know the whole story.
And everyone drives a Porsche, apparently. The famous Chinese brand, so inexpensive. Quite normal for Sang Yan, who works at a video game company during the day and owns a posh bar at night. What a hard worker.
I was also surprised by the slapstick humor. Pleasantly so. I didn't expect to see that in this kind of story.

What a beautiful love story, though. I'm talking, of course, about Yifan and her adorable little cat. That brave little creature is so well-behaved, bravo to her, she's the best. The real star of this series.

Meanwhile, it's beautiful how Sang Yan sends messages indirectly and tries to understand Yifan, giving her the choice to respond or avoid the subject ; he is there for her. Without saying a word, he puts protective covers on the furniture to protect her while she sleepwalks. On the other hand, when they're young, this obsession is a bit awkward, but luckily he keeps his distance and is ready to support her.
This young adult couple tortures each other, and circles around each other, repeating over and over how impossible it is to live together, while living together. You're already a couple. Damn it !
Besides that, they are incredibly mature and give good advice about other people's relationships. It's a real running gag.
This attention and listening between the characters is one of the strengths of the show.

However, their friends and the little grandpa, even their coworkers, everyone is so kind and attentive, ready to help, and yet... Yifan suffers alone. She will want to disappear. Leaving her friends devastated, wondering if it's their fault. Far be it from me to accuse her ; this is normal behavior when you experience trauma. I'm certainly not one to judge her. There comes a time when survival becomes unbearable.

The last part of this series is designed to break us into little pieces. And then try to put it all back together again... by refusing to give us the glue for that.
In episode 21, the circular shot in the apartment with their lives playing out over several days in one go, the music rising in intensity... it's as if they want to make us cry. They've succeeded. But I'm not congratulating you, cruel writers.

“Yifan. You deserve the best. Stop saying sorry.”
“There is nothing shameful or humiliating about this. You did nothing wrong. You did the right thing. You protected yourself. You were brave. You should be standing tall, fearless, in the sunlight. That villain is the one who belongs in the gutter.”
“I usually cried all night. But as the pain got worse, I grew quieter, little by little. Until one day, I couldn't even cry anymore.”
I'm so sorry for what happened to you.

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The first frost- we shape each other into our best version✨?

Moonly💕✨
After discovering fantasy dramas, I didn’t come back to modern dramas for a long time. This one however, brought me back to modern dramas again. It all started with two tiktok edits I saw about “The first frost”. I hesitated at first, but, after giving it a try, I realized that it is really different compared to other modern dramas I have seen.
The story starts with two high schoolers, Wen Yi Fan and Sang Yan. They study in the same class and become close friends with a hint of mutual love. They promise to enter the same University but a broken promise separates them. It was until they met again after 8 years when they saw each other again. Their second meeting was a second chance for them continue their unfinished love story…

This drama is all I could ask from a romance drama. Their journey together is simply amazing. Healthiest relationship I have ever seen.

Once they became roommates, all the fun started. Wen Yifan’s sleepwalking definitely helped them a lot! I shouldn’t forget about the guy whom Sang Yan borrowed a basketball from to impress her, literally the main reason they grew closer.
Although the plot focuses mainly on romance, there is a side plot about trauma and how it affects your life.
Wen Yifan was abandoned by her mother, left to her uncle and aunts care. Unfortunately, she was seen as an outsider and they have always been harsh to her. Losing her father and grandmother left her all alone. She was also SA’d by his own uncle as well as men who shared a flat with her. She couldn’t seek any help and felt insecure because all the people who should be close to her left her out and made her feel unworthy. This shaped Wen Yi Fan into a person who is distance from everyone, even her friends who support her wholeheartedly. She felt unworthy to be with Sang Yan but he put so much effort into relationship and made her smile once again. Sang Yan was explained as her sun and it couldn’t be more true. He supported her through hardships and became a man whom she is comfortable with. He gave his all to understand about her sleepwalking and didn’t want her to keep things for herself because it would hurt her more and more. He is a type of character that makes you say “He is unfortunately fictional”. It’s truly difficult to explain how good of a partner he is. He is considerate and caring. My all-time favorite scenes of him are of course his fighting scenes with the people who tried to take advantage of her. Sang Yan changed Wen Yifan so much. She was happy and radiant. Her wings were broken but he repaired them ❤️ There were moments of Sang Yan being so considerate and it gets better every time. Such moments always leave me in awe.
Wen Yifan also changed Sang Yan to his best version. He was unmotivated and didn’t want to study at all – a type of boy who only goes to school because of the person he likes. She gave him hope and he became the man he was today. Just like that a chemistry that is powerful formed between them.

The romantic scenes never disappointed. The hesitation and yearning for each other were done right. Sang Yan flirted first but let her continue and waited till she was comfortable enough to respect her boundaries. He was the only exception ❤️✨

Besides from the plot and characters I want to mention about acting and visuals. Bai Jingting and Zhang Ruonan’s acting is impressive because they were so much in their character. Another thing I want to mention is the intro and outro songs. Intro spoke Sang Yan’s thoughts while outro had Wenyifan’s words to him. I enjoyed how story slowly unraveled with a bit of their past life and their current life. I love how each episode had its title as well as Sang Yan or Wen Yifan’s pov to give us further explanation.

Sentences that simply melt my heart:
- I want to live 6 years longer than you.
- Why?
- That way I can love you for 6 more years. To make up for all the days that I left you behind

- Also, I don’t feel comfortable living with male flat mates.
- What about Sang Yan?
- He…He is an exception

- I know; I have a face that makes people want to commit crimes. But, we are both adults. Can’t you have a little self-restraint?
- I can’t

I enjoyed this drama so much and it is a 10 out 10 with no doubt!!

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Captivating!

I enjoyed every single minute of The First Frost! The love story was absolutely breathtaking—almost unreal, just like something out of a dream. The chemistry between the leads was incredible, making every moment feel magical. Every stolen glance, every heartfelt confession, and every bittersweet moment was so beautifully portrayed that it felt like I was experiencing their emotions firsthand.

The cinematography was stunning, perfectly capturing the quiet beauty of winter and the warmth of their love. The soundtrack complemented the emotions so well, making every scene even more poignant. It’s the kind of drama that lingers in your heart long after the final episode. A truly captivating and unforgettable watch! Highly recommend it!

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