hathor-nim

My mother always said, "Keep living and you will age too."

Glad I pinpointed the statement. 😊I'm always looking for ways to root out overly simplistic statements in my everyday life.

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I think Souta was pretty damn brave to ask for a kiss from Mahiro, actually, given that to this point he has thought of himself as straight.
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I forgot about this scene! I think because Mahiro's reaction didn't make sense to me. The subject of your decades long crush and obsession is making an attempt to connect with you and the reaction was frustrating to watch.

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Souta is facing an existential crisis for which you apparently have no empathy or appreciation. OF COURSE he "should" do what you wrote. But he doesn't exist or act in a vacuum. His choices and actions at this time will determine the course of his life. Have you operated under that kind of pressure? If you have, have you done everything just right at the time? If so I applaud you and ask that you remember how rare your kind of perfection is.
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I'm pan, but you're 100% correct, there is a cultural/social lens I'm not familiar enough with to say what they "should" or "shouldn't" have done. But having had long-term partners of different genders, I recognize the societal pressure they are up against. And also the personal struggle with self-realization.

However, I didn't intend for my comment to place judgement on Souta's reaction. I was more so speaking on what could have happened to clear up the misunderstanding from all parties involved. As I read back, I think my oversimplified statement, "They just need to be brave", came across as dismissive and judgmental and that was totally not my intent. My apologies if I offended you.

I just had to post this here: https://twitter.com/mdsbeanie/status/1671967430502146049?s=20
Next week is gonna be ....whew

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SHE pulled HIM in. Please...she threw herself at him at every opportunity, begging to be his girlfriend.
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You're 100% correct, she DID pull him in. However, just because someone confesses to you, you don't have to agree and accept thier feelings. Both of them are at fault. She also knew Mahiro had feelings for Souta and that Souta in return had some complicated feelings for Mahiro. She should not have inserted herself in a clear emotional mess, but also, Souta shouldn't have given her false hope.

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Honestly, Souta's confused reactions regarding that awful girl and the kid are entirely understandable.
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Absolutely, Souta is understandably confused, but he also isn't taking any initiative to clarify the situation. He doesn't press for clarity or distance himself until Mahiro gives him that clarity after requesting it. Both he and Mahiro need to be brave and just have a frank and clear conversation until they reach a decision. Be friends, try dating or stop seeing each other.

Thank you! I love Man's "Jealous Jeng Face". That episode was so cute and funny to me.

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I think a lot of us in this scenario would feel exactly as Pat feels and try to salvage our own feelings.
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YES! I know I would feel insecure, at least initially. Especially if you aren't accustomed to being around a person like that AND they feel the same way. Like.. "How did I get THIS lucky?!" would be my initial feeling for real. Then I would start investigating to confirm my suspicions 😆... and we'd be lying if we didn't all think that way.

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What does he sees in Pat? What do they share that is so special that he can't stop thinking about him? Did Pat change Jeng in some way?
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I totally get what you're saying here. They hint at some of the things Jeng likes about Pat but its not really well fleshed out. Here are my thoughts:

There should be more emphasis on Jeng's upbringing and how that shaped him as a person. He's a very sensitive and caring person, but due to his social status he is often approached by those looking to take advantage of him. This coupled with his sexuality make it difficult for him to trust anyone. Then tack on the responsibility to head a major company and the pressure to be perfect, he probably feels suffocated.

Contrast Jeng's life experience to Jaab's. Jeng always had to do what he was told. Pursuing his own happiness was out of the question. Jaab was given the freedom to explore and be himself because he is the youngest and not expected to shoulder any responsibility. Hence the reason why Jaab is so immature in how he handles the situation with Jane.

Now bring Pat into the picture. He doesn't want anything from Jeng. When they initially meet, he has no idea who Jeng is. Pat just tries to get to know Jeng, the person. They have coffee and just talk. Pat insists on treating Jeng to coffee after spilling liquid on his shoes. Pat is warm and caring, which was the comment Jeng made in episode 8 after they ran from Chot. Additionally, AFTER Pat finds out who Jeng is, it doesn't change how he treats Jeng. He even criticizes Jeng's approach to management. I've worked with many privileged people like Jeng in my career and sometimes thier skills suffer because no one is willing to be honest with them about where they need to improve or skills they lack. Image how eye opening it would be to be told you aren't as great as you thought you were after YEARS of being told you were the best. Jeng's response to that was to honestly look at himself and start to take steps to change. But Jeng didn't go easy on Pat either. Jeng was always honest with Pat about his abilities and he even pushed him out of his comfort zone. They challenged each other to do better.

I could go on, but I feel like a lot of fluff and filler really took away from the impact Jeng and Pat had on each other and why Jeng was so enamored with Pat.

TLDR: Jeng is obsessed with Pat because Pat challenged him to be a better person and saw Jeng for the person he is instead of his social status and position.

Sorry so long.

I'm not sure why, but your comments always make me chuckle. They are slightly unhinged yet accurate af. 😆 No offense intended.

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I love Pat and all his reactions to the morph in his relationship with Jeng. How is it possible the perfect man for him is 1) hot 2) gay and 3) likes him back? I would be caught up in my feelings and stay in the town of denial for an extended period of time.
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You know what... this is a perspective I haven't considered! Jeng being the total package, completely unproblematic, caring, loving, talented, rich but unpretentious and head over heels in love... if I were Pat I'd be side-eyeing him too like, "What's wrong with you? Where your red flags?". Appearing too perfect is also scary for people.

I think that's why seeing Jeng breakdown crying has us all in a chokehold. The perfect, stoic figure, is human after all.

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I also expounded on reasons PhD dissertations give for why women enjoy BLs (they can feel closer to men, can see men's soft side, can gaze at the male body in a safe space, can see partners on an equal footing since both are male). What's offensive about any of this?
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sidenote: MDL needs markdown language in comments. Anywho...

I would LOVE to read more on this because I've been thinking about this a lot myself. Can you point me to some articles?

Seeing men be vulnerable, soft and caring definitely appeals to the female gaze because we don't see it often in our day-to-day lives.

So much this! This is one show that should have been 8 episodes for sure. I'm over everyone in the story and I just want to skip the end. If I was watching this after completion I would probably skip the last 2 episodes and jump to the end.

I agree with you. The "naked dining" part of the story is all but lost with very little explanation as to why. And Souta pulling Komachi into a relationship is so selfish. But it also shows how selfish and oblivious of others feelings he is. I want Mahiro to move on but I know the story won't allow it.

Also, in the story, Yechan went to the military and they were separated for a year. When he returned he started his own business and didn't tell Yul because he wanted to stand on his own apart from Yul. I wish we could get a season 2. The age gap was clear in the beginning but Yul really gave Yechan a lot of space for self discovery and growth before they became official.

I agree! The actor playing Seonyul at first glance I wasn't sure about him being cast, but this scene and the other scenes when he says "What?" and furrows his brow... so sexy.

I audibly wheeze laughed a that pic. 🤣 Poor Jeng's heart was demolished.

I think you're spot on. His lack of trust coupled with not really believing Jeng could be into someone like him. I love that Jeng's last message was "It makes sense to me."

Thank you for the flower! It's my first one. 😁

The translator said that they took some liberties but not much because of the language barrier. It's basically the novel with all the work stuff stripped out focused on Jeng and Pat's relationship and some translations based on thier interpretation where the translations were lacking. So they also labeled it fanfic. So far it's really close to the story.

It was excessive I agree. I could have taken a partial reconciliation for Jane and Jaab over most of that scene.