Pincolino

I have high hopes for the plot, but the acting is very disappointing.

Well, nobody died. And it seemed both accepted their feelings for each other at the end.

I misread your comment, sorry. It's late where I live, and I'm tired.
I 100% agree with you. I pointed that out several times, that Yuan is too fixated on Qian, and Qian knows that. I thought you meant that Qian is using Yuan for his own benefit, which is not true. Everything he did, he did it, because he thought it's the best for Yuan. It's not his fault, he tries to keep the distance. He was never holding him back. It's Yuan who has this unhealthy fixation.

"What Yuan does is because Qian asked it of him or because it would benefit Qian"
Can you give an example?

Certain kind of topics (forbidden brother love, rape, abuse, obsession) are popular since the beginning of time, especially in the BL genre. But those stories normally lack emotional depths. Since that's my experience, I wasn't expecting much from this story to begin with. Taiwan is especially known for writing forbidden-brother-love stories. I can think of at least 2 History series with those kind of plots.

Yeah, that's true. They said it in interviews.

I'm hooked since ep 3. I really didn't like the actor who plays the younger brother. I thought he will force himself on the older brother. There was something about his looks and the acting I didn't like. I was so wrong! He is stealing the show now. Terrific acting!

It's good. Keep watching.
I don't know how they do it, but the story feels very raw, it's easy to relate to the characters, it's not cringy, not toxic, very emotional, and last but not least the love portrayed is very pure and sincere.
Watching the trailer, I got the impression the younger brother is toxic and obsessive. Nope. He is a love struck puppy. It's a love story, yes, but this is also about family. You feel the affection they have for each other and how they care for each other.

But Yuan is really strong, so Qian raised him right. He wanted him to be strong after all.
I mean ... this rejection was brutal.

I use the spoiler tag since someone complained about me spoiling what the actors say in interviews.
They said that Qian's eyes get softer after Yuan comes back. In some of the promo/trailer scenes you can already feel that Qian doesn't come across as strict, strong and manly anymore. They joked he became "wifey" material, lol.
I wonder what they do with Qian's sexuality, and if they even address it. They put some focus on the abuse, and showed that Qian felt ill after a woman reminded him of his mother. He clearly isn't interested in women, and I would say, he is even a bit awkward around them, his sister being the exception. I would love if they show us how he opens up emotionally and romantically to Yuan bit by bit, but we will see.

Why are you so angry and bitter? And since when is it such a terrible thing to talk about what they said in interviews? It's interesting how the actors interpret the story and the characters. But I will use the spoiler tag the next time.
Seeing Qian's reaction to the kiss, he doesn't want to confront neither Yuan nor his own feelings.
"My gay feelings were buried so deep even I was unaware of them" is 99.9% BS."
Let them tell the story they want to tell us. The promo I posted today (don't watch it, since you hate spoilers) proved my point about Qian not knowing his own feelings. Also, some people lie to themselves until the grave. That's a thing.
"Oh my straight sexual feelings were buried so deep I wasn't aware of them until I was 30?"
Are you for real? There are many people in their 20s confused about their sexuality, especially those who are not fitting into the categories "gay" and "straight".

I really like how they portray Qian's feelings. Hearing that Yuan is gay, didn't make him happy, but until the kiss he never pushed him away. You can feel the affection between them, Qian likes being near him, and it sure does some things with him. There was this scene where he dropped the water bottle when Yuan hugged him from behind. It's very subtle, but enough for us not to be too surprised when he finally gives in :)

I have found this promo on YouTube. At the end there are some scenes that I haven't seen in any other promo/trailer like Qian running after Yuan and Qian's thoughts about his own feelings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsUf-rY1uOM

Sorry, but mentioning History 4 in the same sentence with Unknown is an insult. History 4 was such a trash and fetish story, toxic, with no depth.
I lost all my hope in History after it aired.

Good observation ;)

It's a while since I enjoyed commenting on a series so much, but here I am again:
I really enjoy how they portray Qian's attitude towards romantic relationships. Since he was abused by his mother (hopefully not sexually, but we have seen he was abused physically and emotionally), he doesn't seem to be interested in women, in sex or in romance. Of course, there are people like him in real life, who didn't experience abuse, but are also aromantic and asexual. Since this series will become very romantic and sexual, I assume they make Qian the kind of character who will only open up to someone, when there is a deep emotional connection.
I just wanted to say, that I find it refreshing to see a character who prioritizes his family over romantic relationships. He said to the woman: Sometimes two isn't better than one, implying being alone isn't so bad. So he himself doesn't plan to get married, while telling Yuan "Don't you want to get married?" He is a lone wolf after all, whose life purpose is to create the best life for his siblings (meaning a traditional life). It's really a unique character.

And despite the problematic premise (adoptive-brothers-love) this isn't toxic and sold to us as some fetish story (obsessive lover/ top-bottom stereotypes etc.) to get more views. From the childhood abuse to the problematic love, everything is portrayed in a very serious and emotionally mature way so we can really feel for those characters.

"However, the topic of homosexuality was a nuanced one for them. ... They thought the best way to address it would be to send XY away so he could have more freedom."

I really don't think that homosexuality is the biggest issue here. Qian was planning for a long time to send Yuan abroad, they talked about it in bed. He wasn't happy when Yuan told him he likes boys, but he didn't push him away. Since Qian knows he is the guy Yuan likes, he doesn't even look him in the eye anymore.
The biggest issue still remains that Yuan is in love with his brother/father figure. There was a scene in the earliest episodes with the teacher, who told Qian that Yuan should be more social and participating in club activities. When Qian was sick, and Yuan cared for him, he told him to go out and meet friends. This is a topic that was talked about often, that Yuan is too fixated on Qian. Even Lili, who doesn't know anything yet, said to San Pang that Yuan has only eyes for Qian. I just feel that at this point, both Qian and San Pang think, Yuan's love is nothing else than an unhealthy fixation of a young confused boy whose hormones are out of control. So I assume, they decided to send him away, so this fixation will end, and he will meet new people and see how big the world really is.

I agree with everything else you said, though.

I don't know ... I'm sure he has feelings for Yuan, but I think they are buried so deep ... he himself is not aware of them at this point. I think when Yuan comes back and is an adult, so Qian finally can drop his father/older brother role, he starts to realizing things and will look at their relationship differently. They even said something like this in an interview.

Reminds me of Addicted (hence the title!). It seems some old school popular Chinese novels (maybe even recent ones, I have no idea) are fixated on the concept of obsessive love. I'm not a fan of that, and I'm really glad they are moving away from it.