Kai

Relax, I'm only explaining the intention behind the ML's actions to you, or rather how it would most likely be interpreted and understood in the Korean culture (and it is a Korean show, after all).

My own opinion has nothing to do with it.

In Korea, being gay is less pleasant than what one would hope for, at least for most people. If you're not headstrong about it & very comfortable in your own skin, it can be a world of pain. Much more so than in the US. And not everybody is like that. Sadly, JM behaved like 95% Korean gays would in that situation.

I'm not saying I approve of it. In fact, I absolutely don't.

What I'm saying is that culturally it's understandable (not that it's going to be condoned by all, after all Korean society is slowly changing and becoming more open to the Western culture). I personally know more than a few Koreans (from Korea, not to mix up with gyopo) who would definitely behave the same way. Hecc, I actually saw them behave like that, and I just visit occasionally. It's widely understood as well. It's not about objective truth either, it's about how JM felt. It's his POV. Had he communicated directly his fears and insecurities, traditionally that would've been considered rude and vulgar, cuz in Korea many would consider it dumping your problems onto somebody else. Which is exactly how they stereotypically picture Americans to be 🤡 Direct communication is a nono.

On the side note, more often than not when people break up with you in Korea they never tell you the reason. And a lot of it is going to be over text (kkt), or you're simply going to get ghosted. Yep, Korean dating culture is brutal 💀

The saving face culture, and its relation to money & success is exactly why Jae Min didn't go to his school reunion - because he was ashamed for not doing well professionally, so he didn't want to have to face his ex-classmates and admit to it, and lose face in the process. The only reason he's let Nam Yi into his life was that he considered him a kindred jobless soul struggling with the same problems in life. So he didn't need to be ashamed in front of Nam Yi. Or so he thought.

But then, suddenly, he was even more ashamed. And that is because in this case Jae Min had been lied to by a guy with money, and in his eyes it reads as being played and ridiculed. It's as if rich Nam Yi was playing house with his boy toy, whereas for Jae Min it was his actual life that he was trying hard to live to the best of his ability. So essentially, in his eyes, he lost face, purely because he allowed himself to be tricked/played like that.

Actually, that need for Korean men to earn enough to be able to provide well for their families, or in a relationship (or even for themselves), is part of the saving face culture. It is considered a matter of honor & their reputation, and saving face is all about that. So essentially, what you are describing is one of the symptoms of the saving face culture.

I give more explanation on that below, but cuz it contains spoilers I marked it accordingly & used a separate comment.

I wouldn't go as far as to say he's been uncomfortable with his sexuality this whole time, but he definitely fed into his insecurities to the extent that was hella annoying.

I agree with you, Choi Jae Min has exhibited absolutely insecure behavior throughout all 4 episodes, but the reason you don't understand why he acted the way he did at the very end is because it's a cultural difference. In Korea there is a concept of "saving" (or "losing") face. He was trying to save his face🙄, even though to people rooted in the Western culture it sounds absolutely ridiculous. Read up on the this phenomenon if you want to understand better.

So from the Korean perspective his actions somewhat make sense, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make for a great ending LOL

It had potential... and then it ended💀

Ok, this suddenly got much better.

Yeah. No. We dropped it after 20min.

I have one big question:

Was this show directed by an emotionally impaired person?

NOTHING made sense in it. Emotions were pulled out of nowhere. There was no development, nada, and suddenly "I have loved you ever since I saw you". Big yikes.

Way to destroy an actor's career.

Disclaimer: Not hating on anybody who's emotionally impaired. If they are that's fine, there are ways to work on it, but there are also probably better jobs for you out there than directing a bl romcom. Cuz the general resulting feeling of this show is that the lights are on but nobody's home.

Uh-oh.. What did I just see. Second-hand embarrassment is real.
The worst part about it is that it's actually not that badly made, the actors are decent & good-looking, but the level of cringe is Himalayas , even for a Thai show LMAO

It's a good start.

LMAO he looks like something really stinks...all the time.

So...like everyone is saying, they re-edited the NC scene. With very little effort. Felt like an afterthought, really.

It flows somewhat better now and makes more sense, BUT when you change the order of takes you have to edit other aspects of the sequence too, such as pacing, color grading or which camera angle you are using now. Cannot just up and move certain scenes around hoping the transitions will still look good. They won't. They are specifically designed, transition after transition. They're by no means random. Especially during the 1st kiss scene, flipping back and forth from the left angle camera to the right angle camera felt extremely unnatural and confusing.

The show is still an absolute must-watch tho.

That's because it's a Korean BL that feels like a Thai BL, is low-budget and the majority of things don't make sense in it. There is no chemistry between the leads, virtually no plot, and no dogs in a dog cafe 💀 (except for one that Mew seems to have more chemistry with than with the guy who is supposed to be his love parter).

On top of that, Mew is like Kristen Stewart of this show: a one (sullen) facial expression actor, only way worse. I'm not even sure it could be called acting anymore... And I liked Mew in Tharntype, so Idk what went wrong here. I don't think it helps their chemistry either that the actors don't understand each other, cuz one acts in Thai and the other in Korean. That itself feels rather weird to watch, especially for a person that understands Korean.

Well that was a fairy tale, if I ever saw one 🙄💀

Despite its (not many) shortcomings, easily the best BL show I've seen so far this year.

A show in which adult men behave like stereotypical teenage girls 🙄
Not that there is anything wrong with being a teenage girl, but bruh... the level of maturity of these dudes is stuck at 13yo.

PG13 - a content (movies/shows etc.) rating meaning that it could be watched by kids under adult supervision.
R-rated - for adults only.

So let me get this straight (pun not intended lol):
So there is a guy you don't really like, who you've been competing with for the affection of the same man. Now you're with that said man, and what do you do? Of course! You imagine a throuple in which your rival is kissing YOU and NOT the guy he likes a.k.a. your boyfriend. Delulu much ?💀
On a side note, if it's just sex...sure I guess. But yeah, this just seems like they don't know if they want to be PG13 or R-rated.

I'm not sure if it's Mew playing in a "Korean" environment (even though this show feels more like a Thai drama set in Korea than anything else) and not understanding Korean, or what, but he falls really flat as an actor here. On a level though...the dude's acting is REALLY REALLY bad. Which is a shame, because I liked him in Tharntype.