This review may contain spoilers
Just…ugh. The first couple episodes, I thought the reviews were exaggerating and it wasn’t that bad. But it just kept deteriorating. By the end I was watching at 3.5x speed, I was so bored.
To be honest, there’s nothing egregiously wrong about this. A lot of the time, when I dislike a show, it’s because of toxic relationship dynamics, consent issues, or other outright events in the show that piss me off. That’s not the case here. The couple is relatively green flag, and nothing bad really happens in the show.
But that’s the problem. Literally nothing happens in the show. There were two overarching plot lines - someone stealing designs and embezzling from the company, and the past life dreams. Both were so lackluster and anticlimactic that they felt like side plots and not the overall storyline. Both storylines drag for too long and resolve too easily. I think if they had played into the secret relationship aspect of things and had actual consequences for being together, that would have been a much more interesting storyline.
The dream storyline was just worthless. First of all, it didn’t even make sense. This woman (Lin) loved a man (Sun) who loved her sister, but the sister loved someone else and ended her engagement with Past-Sun. Past-Lin tries to kill her sister’s lover (for reasons?) and ends up killing her instead, so Past-Sun rips off the necklace she gifted him and locks her up in a cave. It ends when Present-Lin gifts a replica of the necklace to Past-Sun, therefore freeing Past-Lin and everyone lives happily ever after. Except why would Past-Sun want to free the woman that killed the woman he loved? Why did he forgive her so easily? And Past-Lin says that she and Past-Sun are destined to be together in the next life when she’s freed, so she clearly learned nothing. And none of that storyline paralleled the present storyline whatsoever. So what was the relevance? It would have been better if they just cut it altogether and stuck with the office rom-com concept.
Also, the CRINGE. I cannot tell you how many times I had to pause and just do something else because I couldn’t bear to watch. Khun Dad, for one. I find the term “daddy” gross enough, let alone straight up “dad”. The poses, the dialogue, the interactions…just everything was so goddamn cringy and also unbearably awkward. The pose Sun does when Lin opens the hotel door, the one-sided foot massage on the first date, their first kiss attempt, the dancing…please kill me. Like even in the special episode when they’re supposed to be effectively married, they were still awkward with each other. If it wasn’t for the cringe and awkwardness, this would have been so much more bearable.
Lin’s outfits were tragic. I have never seen more ugly clothing in my life. His high heels were particularly awful. His shirts and pants were ill fitting and his make up was so strong that I just kept wondering why his lips were so pink. The sparkly date outfit in episode 1 was a real choice. It was giving 14 year old on first date that picked something sparkly from the department store clearance rack. Also, it was a jewelry company but every single piece of jewelry was ugly as hell.
And the nepotism and rich-people-privileges were outrageous. Sun just gets handed the entire company when he wasn’t even working there before. His brother was secretly working as an intern, but when he’s discovered, he suddenly gets to take charge of the entire department. Sun was constantly throwing his money around — dates and trips and gifts that frankly would have made me feel bought and not wooed. Sun gets son-of-owner privileges because he can up and disappear for a week with no consequences, and Lin gets so much boyfriend-of-president special treatment that it’s actually ludicrous. He skips so much work to go out with Sun (basically unlimited PTO), his designs are obviously preferred, he’s guaranteed a job after graduation, he gets selected for work opportunities like work trips, and he gets to turn said work trips into romantic getaways.
There were plenty of stupid things as well. Like Lin saying he was never upset about Sun lying and just wanted to get back at him. Or Sun agreeing to be someone’s fake fiancé but not bothering to explain to Lin in advance. Or in the special episode, where they’re suddenly concerned about costs of clothing and accommodations when they’ve been throwing money around with no concern the whole time. The special episode in general was unnecessary. The finale already felt like a long, extended epilogue. We didn’t need another one.
I also felt that this show was heteronormative. I’m careful when using that term, because it is completely valid for a gay couple to have one masculine individual and one effeminate individual. That happens all the time in real life and isn’t inherently heteronormative. But the issue is when it’s depicted in a stereotypical, shallow way in a fictional series. You’ve got the masculine top that pursues and takes the lead and pays for everything, and the feminine virginal bottom that never returns the favor. Their outfits are very masculine / feminine accordingly. Lin initiates physical affection exactly once, in the finale, and he also takes the lead exactly once, in the finale. But Sun takes back control after like, 10 seconds, so did it really count? And it turns out that Lin is rich as well, and while he offers to split the bill once, Sun pays for basically everything. Why, if Lin is also rich? In the special episode, Sun doesn’t have a shirt and Lin is wearing 2 layers. He could have easily given his over shirt to Sun, but it’s Sun’s job to take care of him and not vice versa, and so he doesn’t. All of those things I could maybe excuse as cliched, bad BL tropes, though. The real clincher for me was when in the special episode, Sun looks at and rubs Lin’s stomach when they’re talking about having kids, as if 1) he can get pregnant and 2) he would be the one to get pregnant just because he’s the effeminate one / the bottom.
Also, it started off so overly chaste and ended so overly explicit. I mean, Lin was so extremely virginal. It’s said that Sun is around 30 and Lin is 8-9 years younger, but what 21-22 year old acts that overly innocent? Him puffing up his cheeks when trying to kiss for the first time, what even was that? He shies away from even hugs, let alone kisses. When they make it official, they do a forehead kiss instead of a real kiss. AT 30 YEARS OLD. They exchange couple rings before they’ve even kissed, and Lin gets shy after they do kiss. By episode 5, they’ve basically exchanged one peck and a few hugs and that’s it. But then it goes from hugs and cheek / forehead kisses and one solitary peck to a full on NC scene, no middle ground or build up in between. Then in the finale, we get a stimulated in-pants hand job, and in the special episode, we see crotch groping, nipple touching, and visible tongue kissing. The switch up was insane. I didn’t even feel like the NC scenes were particularly good. While both were both active participants, even if Sun took the lead, they felt overall mechanical, and just contributed to the overall awkward vibe that the couple had.
In terms of boundaries / consent, this was relatively green flag, especially considering it was a boss / employee situation. There were many instances of asking for verbal consent, even including hugs and kisses, and of taking no for an answer. When Lin says he’s uncomfortable, Sun respects it, apologizes, and backs off.
But that’s not to say there weren’t still issues though. On their first date, Sun spies on Lin taking a bath. They make it out to seem like Sun’s a good guy for moving on relatively quickly, as if it was acceptable for him to have been watching at all. There was also one scene where Sun takes off his shirt and kisses Lin’s knee while he’s on a call. Given their dynamic at the time, where Lin was uncomfortable with even hugs, I’d say Lin was probably uncomfortable. And afterward, even though Lin verbally consents to a hug, he seems uncomfortable anyways and keeps pulling away / trying to escape.
The boss / employee dynamic didn’t really bother me because they met before working together and Sun immediately told Lin to talk to him normally and act normal around him. So the power dynamic was instantly dissolved. When Lin’s mad at Sun for hiding his identity as the company’s president, Sun does chase after Lin, but he’s not super aggressive about it. Realistically, it’s sexual harassment because Lin indicated disinterest and Sun persisted despite the inherent power dynamic, but in relation to other BLs, at least he wasn’t forcing the issue to the point that Lin wasn’t able to say no. But that being said, he does manipulatively arrange a trip to Hong Kong with just him and Lin when Lin is still upset and seemingly disinterested, and Lin didn’t have a choice in the matter. So maybe that negates the whole “was able to say no” thing I just said.
The second couple (Sam / Yo) was more questionable. Sam follows Yo home, says he’ll tell everyone about Yo’s mom if he doesn’t give him something and then says the something he wants is Yo, outs their relationship without Yo’s consent, and is pushy about their first kiss.
Also, Lin’s friends spy on Chan / Juldis, non-consensually record them making out, and use it to blackmail them. First to get a ride, and then to prevent them from spilling about Sun / Lin’s relationship. Juldis was meant to be an asshole and comedic relief, but I actually thought their relationship was the sweetest out of all the couples, even though they were the fourth couple and barely got any screen time. I liked that Juldis was an ass to everyone but was so sweet to Chan, and their relationship dynamics were the healthiest and most consensual.
To be honest, there’s nothing egregiously wrong about this. A lot of the time, when I dislike a show, it’s because of toxic relationship dynamics, consent issues, or other outright events in the show that piss me off. That’s not the case here. The couple is relatively green flag, and nothing bad really happens in the show.
But that’s the problem. Literally nothing happens in the show. There were two overarching plot lines - someone stealing designs and embezzling from the company, and the past life dreams. Both were so lackluster and anticlimactic that they felt like side plots and not the overall storyline. Both storylines drag for too long and resolve too easily. I think if they had played into the secret relationship aspect of things and had actual consequences for being together, that would have been a much more interesting storyline.
The dream storyline was just worthless. First of all, it didn’t even make sense. This woman (Lin) loved a man (Sun) who loved her sister, but the sister loved someone else and ended her engagement with Past-Sun. Past-Lin tries to kill her sister’s lover (for reasons?) and ends up killing her instead, so Past-Sun rips off the necklace she gifted him and locks her up in a cave. It ends when Present-Lin gifts a replica of the necklace to Past-Sun, therefore freeing Past-Lin and everyone lives happily ever after. Except why would Past-Sun want to free the woman that killed the woman he loved? Why did he forgive her so easily? And Past-Lin says that she and Past-Sun are destined to be together in the next life when she’s freed, so she clearly learned nothing. And none of that storyline paralleled the present storyline whatsoever. So what was the relevance? It would have been better if they just cut it altogether and stuck with the office rom-com concept.
Also, the CRINGE. I cannot tell you how many times I had to pause and just do something else because I couldn’t bear to watch. Khun Dad, for one. I find the term “daddy” gross enough, let alone straight up “dad”. The poses, the dialogue, the interactions…just everything was so goddamn cringy and also unbearably awkward. The pose Sun does when Lin opens the hotel door, the one-sided foot massage on the first date, their first kiss attempt, the dancing…please kill me. Like even in the special episode when they’re supposed to be effectively married, they were still awkward with each other. If it wasn’t for the cringe and awkwardness, this would have been so much more bearable.
Lin’s outfits were tragic. I have never seen more ugly clothing in my life. His high heels were particularly awful. His shirts and pants were ill fitting and his make up was so strong that I just kept wondering why his lips were so pink. The sparkly date outfit in episode 1 was a real choice. It was giving 14 year old on first date that picked something sparkly from the department store clearance rack. Also, it was a jewelry company but every single piece of jewelry was ugly as hell.
And the nepotism and rich-people-privileges were outrageous. Sun just gets handed the entire company when he wasn’t even working there before. His brother was secretly working as an intern, but when he’s discovered, he suddenly gets to take charge of the entire department. Sun was constantly throwing his money around — dates and trips and gifts that frankly would have made me feel bought and not wooed. Sun gets son-of-owner privileges because he can up and disappear for a week with no consequences, and Lin gets so much boyfriend-of-president special treatment that it’s actually ludicrous. He skips so much work to go out with Sun (basically unlimited PTO), his designs are obviously preferred, he’s guaranteed a job after graduation, he gets selected for work opportunities like work trips, and he gets to turn said work trips into romantic getaways.
There were plenty of stupid things as well. Like Lin saying he was never upset about Sun lying and just wanted to get back at him. Or Sun agreeing to be someone’s fake fiancé but not bothering to explain to Lin in advance. Or in the special episode, where they’re suddenly concerned about costs of clothing and accommodations when they’ve been throwing money around with no concern the whole time. The special episode in general was unnecessary. The finale already felt like a long, extended epilogue. We didn’t need another one.
I also felt that this show was heteronormative. I’m careful when using that term, because it is completely valid for a gay couple to have one masculine individual and one effeminate individual. That happens all the time in real life and isn’t inherently heteronormative. But the issue is when it’s depicted in a stereotypical, shallow way in a fictional series. You’ve got the masculine top that pursues and takes the lead and pays for everything, and the feminine virginal bottom that never returns the favor. Their outfits are very masculine / feminine accordingly. Lin initiates physical affection exactly once, in the finale, and he also takes the lead exactly once, in the finale. But Sun takes back control after like, 10 seconds, so did it really count? And it turns out that Lin is rich as well, and while he offers to split the bill once, Sun pays for basically everything. Why, if Lin is also rich? In the special episode, Sun doesn’t have a shirt and Lin is wearing 2 layers. He could have easily given his over shirt to Sun, but it’s Sun’s job to take care of him and not vice versa, and so he doesn’t. All of those things I could maybe excuse as cliched, bad BL tropes, though. The real clincher for me was when in the special episode, Sun looks at and rubs Lin’s stomach when they’re talking about having kids, as if 1) he can get pregnant and 2) he would be the one to get pregnant just because he’s the effeminate one / the bottom.
Also, it started off so overly chaste and ended so overly explicit. I mean, Lin was so extremely virginal. It’s said that Sun is around 30 and Lin is 8-9 years younger, but what 21-22 year old acts that overly innocent? Him puffing up his cheeks when trying to kiss for the first time, what even was that? He shies away from even hugs, let alone kisses. When they make it official, they do a forehead kiss instead of a real kiss. AT 30 YEARS OLD. They exchange couple rings before they’ve even kissed, and Lin gets shy after they do kiss. By episode 5, they’ve basically exchanged one peck and a few hugs and that’s it. But then it goes from hugs and cheek / forehead kisses and one solitary peck to a full on NC scene, no middle ground or build up in between. Then in the finale, we get a stimulated in-pants hand job, and in the special episode, we see crotch groping, nipple touching, and visible tongue kissing. The switch up was insane. I didn’t even feel like the NC scenes were particularly good. While both were both active participants, even if Sun took the lead, they felt overall mechanical, and just contributed to the overall awkward vibe that the couple had.
In terms of boundaries / consent, this was relatively green flag, especially considering it was a boss / employee situation. There were many instances of asking for verbal consent, even including hugs and kisses, and of taking no for an answer. When Lin says he’s uncomfortable, Sun respects it, apologizes, and backs off.
But that’s not to say there weren’t still issues though. On their first date, Sun spies on Lin taking a bath. They make it out to seem like Sun’s a good guy for moving on relatively quickly, as if it was acceptable for him to have been watching at all. There was also one scene where Sun takes off his shirt and kisses Lin’s knee while he’s on a call. Given their dynamic at the time, where Lin was uncomfortable with even hugs, I’d say Lin was probably uncomfortable. And afterward, even though Lin verbally consents to a hug, he seems uncomfortable anyways and keeps pulling away / trying to escape.
The boss / employee dynamic didn’t really bother me because they met before working together and Sun immediately told Lin to talk to him normally and act normal around him. So the power dynamic was instantly dissolved. When Lin’s mad at Sun for hiding his identity as the company’s president, Sun does chase after Lin, but he’s not super aggressive about it. Realistically, it’s sexual harassment because Lin indicated disinterest and Sun persisted despite the inherent power dynamic, but in relation to other BLs, at least he wasn’t forcing the issue to the point that Lin wasn’t able to say no. But that being said, he does manipulatively arrange a trip to Hong Kong with just him and Lin when Lin is still upset and seemingly disinterested, and Lin didn’t have a choice in the matter. So maybe that negates the whole “was able to say no” thing I just said.
The second couple (Sam / Yo) was more questionable. Sam follows Yo home, says he’ll tell everyone about Yo’s mom if he doesn’t give him something and then says the something he wants is Yo, outs their relationship without Yo’s consent, and is pushy about their first kiss.
Also, Lin’s friends spy on Chan / Juldis, non-consensually record them making out, and use it to blackmail them. First to get a ride, and then to prevent them from spilling about Sun / Lin’s relationship. Juldis was meant to be an asshole and comedic relief, but I actually thought their relationship was the sweetest out of all the couples, even though they were the fourth couple and barely got any screen time. I liked that Juldis was an ass to everyone but was so sweet to Chan, and their relationship dynamics were the healthiest and most consensual.
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