ASTER

"If someone is under an illusion, you can help them out of it. But if they choose to stay in that illusion, you can’t do anything. This story is exactly like that."

When it comes to the acting, all the actors did a commendable job. The direction, screenplay, and overall presentation were good. The pacing of the story was smooth and the flow felt natural. Its engaging and i enjoyed how everything unfolded.

However, there were a couple of moments in the writing that didn’t sit well with me. For instance, I found it unconvincing when the female lead accepted the male lead as her husband just because the doctor told her that her actual husband's body wouldn't survive. That was her only reasoning? She didn’t take even a moment to process it. It felt like she was simply looking for a substitute “If my husband isn't here, I’ll accept the brother-in-law instead” whether that felt right or not. And the very next moment, she even moved to the same bed with him. As if she just couldn’t bear to be without a husband. It felt rushed and emotionally shallow. If she truly wanted to accept him, it would have felt convincing had she done so when the male lead was trying to win her over by recalling their past memories. That moment would’ve made her acceptance feel genuine and emotionally grounded.

Later, when the female lead becomes pregnant, the writer had the option to officially write her marriage to the male lead (her brother-in-law), but they didn’t take that route.

Now, why did I say:

"If someone is under an illusion, you can help them out of it. But if they choose to stay in that illusion, you can’t do anything. This story is exactly like that."

Let me explain—

Even though the male lead was living as a substitute for his brother, he genuinely longed for the female lead's love, which is fake cause she is loving him cause she thought he is her husband - that fake love is illusion for ML . And the female lead,she knew he wasn’t her husband. The final scene subtly confirms this, showing that she was fully aware, yet still chose to live in that illusion.

Let’s decode the last scene:
When the male lead mom's leaves a letter for the female lead and ML suddenly realizes she might read it and runs to stop her. But she’s listening to music and doesn’t notice. The letter is left unread. When he opens it, it’s blank,a seemingly empty sheet, making it appear as if his mother hadn’t written anything.

But then we see the two sitting together, holding hands, smiling. As soon as the male lead takes a sip of tea, the female lead’s smile fades slightly. That’s a callback(for audience ) to an earlier scene where his mother had pointed out:
“You don’t even know how to hold a teacup like your brother.”

This moment suggests that the female lead noticed that detail, but chose not to react.
This means: She had already read the letter and replaced it with a blank sheet. Because she didn’t want to shatter the illusion she had chosen to live in.

This subtle truth was left for the audience to uncover, it wasn’t visually spelled out in the film. And that’s the brilliance of the ending, it invites interpretation, if you’re willing to look closely.

The story also raises some serious moral questions:

1)Gu Hao Xun : Is it right for a man to pursue a relationship with his sister-in-law while his elder brother is in a coma? That’s deceptive and deeply disrespectful to both the woman and society. If you truly love someone, approach them as yourself, not as someone else’s replacement.

2)Gu Hao Nan : Let’s say the elder brother did share all his secrets with his younger brother, but if he even discussed intimate details of his married life, that makes him downright indecent.

3)Ye Zhi Xia : In the end, when the FL finds out the truth, instead of confronting it and making a conscious decision, she chooses to keep herself in the illusion. That’s not romantic,it’s ridiculous.

overall its engaging good drama all because of presentation and acting .