denryion

Consent / domestic violence:
- Several instances of non-con touching framed as flirting or in a comedic light.
- Several dubcon/noncon kisses (both sober and drunk).
- One scene where one character shoves the other in the chest out of anger several times, even though he’d just been shot.
- One scene where one character gets angry, grabs a fistful of the other’s hair and forcefully kisses him.

Problematic things:
- Referring to one character as the “girlfriend”.
- Normalized corporal punishment from grandparents.

Kiss / sex scenes: no sex scenes, the farthest it went was shirtless making out in bed

Notable good points:
- Both characters took care of each other. It wasn’t one-sided, with one person in charge of protecting and taking care of the other person. Both characters took the lead in the bedroom, and when they got engaged, both characters got rings. I liked that they were equals.
- Final episode was just dedicated to them being happy together. Too many series wrap up too quickly and we don’t get to see them happy for long enough after all the angst.

Notable bad points:
- They live together, are in a relationship, and are presumably in love, but they don’t even sleep in the same bed.
- The couple earrings were weird, especially considering they were originally gifted to track and bug the other guy, but they kept wearing them even after everything was out in the open.
- Second couple got together in the final episode. I honestly didn’t want them to get together, considering one was hung up on his ex for years and only finally let him go in the final episode.

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Sweet relationship. Boss was cold but not cruel, with a softy interior.

There were a few scenes with good consent: asking for consent prior to kissing and stating that he’d take no for an answer, respecting a “no touch” boundary when he’s upset, and accepting no for an answer when physical affection is rejected.

There were scenes with poor consent as well, though: locking Cher in the car and refusing to let him out to force a conversation, dubcon kissing him when he wasn’t completely comfortable to provoke some type of reaction from him, and demanding answers about his feelings in a tone like a parent scolding a child. There was also a scene where Boss gets upset and shakes Cher, to the point that Cher says he’s hurting him. He also hugs and refuses to let Cher go during that argument, even as Cher struggles to push him off. Boss also grabs and pulls Cher along to get him to come instead of just asking him in some scenes.

The relationship was overly chaste. Very tame kisses, and the type of relationship where mentioning sex or asking for a kiss on the cheek in public is scandalous. Cher kept rejecting Boss’s affection. There were so many scenes where Boss would say something sweet or say that he loved Cher, or would hug and cuddle Cher, or would ask for a kiss, and Cher wouldn’t reciprocate whatsoever. He’d shrug Boss off or respond with a sarcastic comment. Boss would be so head over heels and meanwhile Cher would be questioning if it was really love or not. It was frustrating.

In terms of the story line, there were two things I didn’t like. First, the whole Tian story line. She’s a girl Cher used to like but she rejected him and later committed suicide after being raped by her step-father and getting pregnant. I didn’t like the set up that Cher always had and always would love her. They were kids, at the time, and they could have written it off as puppy love and instead portrayed their relationship as friends or family that he’d always love. Honestly, they could have cut the whole him liking Tian part out altogether and still had the exact same story line. As it is, I didn’t like feeling like Boss was the second choice. Also, in the end, the mom who knew about the 3 year long persistent rape by her husband of her daughter and did absolutely nothing is forgiven. And the step-dad’s fate isn’t addressed.

Second, the break up was so unnecessary that it made Cher look selfish as hell. Boss’s mom tells Cher he doesn’t deserve Boss and that he should back off. So he does. He chooses to leave and better himself. What does “better himself” mean? Winning a gaming championship and graduating college. Both of those things would have happened anyways even if he had stayed with Boss. Neither of those accomplishments had any impact on the mom’s opinion of their relationship. Cher left Boss for the second time after promising over and over to always stay by his side. He didn’t tell Boss that he was coming back. He was happy and functional during their time apart, while Boss was falling apart, and Boss just immediately forgives Cher. I didn’t believe any of Cher’s promises of “forever” in the finale after he’d already promised and broken that promise a million times during the series.

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I really, really did not enjoy this. Dropped at the beginning of ep 7.

One character is rich and living of mommy’s money and one character is poor with little family. The first few episodes gave off sugar daddy / gold digger vibes, the way all the time spent together and all the “wooing” was transactional in exchange for financial favors and free meals.

Sant is a live streamer, and boy does he have the most obnoxious, annoying live-streaming personality ever. Extremely, extremely cringy. The school dentist play they put on for kids at the school was also incredibly cringey and I don’t know why they made us sit through the whole thing.

As far as I watched, there was some boundary-crossing and mild manipulating. Touching their face in their sleep, pretending to be hurt to hold their hand, lying about what your doing to crash them hanging out due to jealousy, saying he’ll have to sleep in your bed if he’s staying over because the couch is being cleaned, saying you’re looking to get a specific dental treatment in order to spend time with a student doctor that needs to do said treatment as course work (side couple). There were also childish games of playing hard to get and acting like you don’t like them when you do, and also a weird mild-bullying dynamic, like a five year old that can’t process their feelings so they act mean to their crush.

Jay was really annoying when pestering Sant about not eating so many sweets. Let him live, damn. And Sant was unnecessarily mean. I lost track of the number of times he said something a long the lines of “Who’d want to date someone like you?” Like even after they’re friends, even after Sant is starting to feel something for Jay, he’s still being an asshole for no reason.

There was a full 2 episode jealousy arc between Sant, Jay, and Jay’s childhood friend Captain. It wasn’t the jealousy arc itself, but the way both Sant and Jay reacted to the situation that made me drop the show.

Captain shows up and shows an interest in Sant. Sant actively plays into it, consistently flirting (or being extremely friendly, at the very least) with Captain and pretty much completely ignoring Jay. He consistently actively choses to hang out with Captain, often without Jay, when given the choice between the two.

Meanwhile, Jay is obnoxious with his jealousy. While Captain takes no for an answer when Sant says no to doing something Captain suggested, Jay insists on crashing every activity Sant does with Captain. He’s constantly showing up and sticking around when he wasn’t asked to, and won’t take a hint to leave either. Captain was also sweeter and kinder to Sant than Jay, in my opinion, and he actively helped Sant’s career.

Jay and Captain fight over Sant like he’s a toy and they’re literal dogs having a pissing content. They literally agree to “compete” and let Sant choose the one he likes more. Like it’s some sort of game.

And Sant, when presented with the choice, has to actively think for multiple days before he chooses Jay. When Jay asks to go on a date, Sant literally forgets to respond, then turns him down in order to go to an influencer party with Captain. Jay settles for scraps because he has no self-respect and says they can see just the second half of the movie after the party. The event runs over and Sant ends up bailing early, but he still misses the entire movie and Captain was the one who gave him a ride to Jay. This was shown as a sweet gesture, since Sant left the party early, but Sant literally just chose the party over Jay, then stood Jay up and rolled up with Captain afterward. And if anything, it showed that Captain was sweeter than Jay because he prioritized Sant’s desires and helped him get to his date with Jay, whereas Jay tried to intervene every single time Sant and Captain tried to hangout together.

And on the date, Sant essentially asks Jay to confess his feelings and refuses to do the same himself. Afterward, Sant suddenly debates whether he should choose Captain instead of Jay since Jay abruptly got up instead of confessing since Sant was refusing to voice his own feelings. He has zero commitment or loyalty. It got to a point where I think Sant and Captain would have been better off together since Sant was so clearly more into him, and I don’t know why Captain suddenly ceded to Jay when Sant showed him so much more interest than he ever showed Jay, and Sant hadn’t yet definitively made up his mind.

Honestly, Sant doesn’t deserve Jay. Jay is always trying to be nice to Sant because he likes him, and Sant never does a single thing in return. He doesn’t even choose to hangout with Jay over Captain and doesn’t follow through on his promises when he does. He doesn’t confess first, call first, or make the first move ever. He wants to be pursued without doing anything himself. Is he even into Jay or is he just an option that’s available? Does he just get off on having two men chase after and do things for him, and like the power of having a choice? If Captain hadn’t backed out of the competition for Sant, would Sant have even followed through with Jay?

Even after the whole date fiasco, where Sant was talking about choosing Jay, he suddenly leaves for home without telling Jay. He has time to tell his best friend, but no time to text Jay. I’m pretty sure if I keep watching for a few more minutes, Jay is going to show up at Sant’s home because the man has no respect for boundaries or himself.

I stopped watching at that point. I have no patience for Sant being selfish and not giving a damn about Jay, or Jay continuing to chase after a man who so clearly does not give a shit about him.

Also, side note, but they kept talking about “tomboys” as if a tomboy is equivalent to a lesbian. You can be a masculine woman or a feminine man and neither mean you’re gay. Your gender expression is not equivalent to your sexual orientation.

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This was super cute and super sweet.

The boss was a bit cold at the beginning, but never cruel, and was ultra sweet once he started to like the employee.

The relationship was mutual - no reluctance and avoidance that made the whole relationship feel uncomfortable / dubiously consensual (even despite one character being a virgin). Both characters were equals within their relationship, despite the power dynamic at work, and both took the lead, took initiative, and took care of the other at different times.

There was lots of casual physical affection, and it didn’t feel overly chaste or sanitized like KBLs often do. All proper kisses, and one implied sex scene (with a cut to the morning after). The movie version includes a shirtless make out in bed scene before it cuts to the morning after. I felt it could have done with an ending kiss in the finale though.

There were three things that kept me from giving this 10 stars: the ex-drama, the employee’s default behavior of running away when things get hard, and the consent issues.

For the ex-drama, the employee had an all-consuming crush on this guy back in college, but the guy never reciprocated and it turned out that he had dated the boss for a while. He’s now a friend and business client of the boss. This really bothers the employee, to the point that they almost break up when the boss doesn’t understand why it’s a big deal. To be honest, I don’t understand why it’s a big deal either. If he was truly over him, why would the hurt over the ex wanting the boss instead of him in the past still have any bearing? I wanted a more definitive statement to show that the employee was truly over that guy because I didn’t get the impression that he was. After the conflict is resolved though, the ex never shows up or is mentioned again, so that was good.

The employee has never been in a relationship before, so it makes sense that he doesn’t really understand healthy conflict resolution. But after the first fight around the ex, the boss tells him that they’ll work through things together, just don’t run away. But in the end, when the employee doesn’t get a full time position, he does the same thing and shuts down. They’re not explicitly fighting, but he avoids the boss for several days while still having time to work on a project with the other intern and to look for jobs. And he didn’t even seem unhappy about the lack of contact. That annoyed me, especially since it was in the finale, because it felt like a lack of character development. That would been the perfect moment to showcase the employee confiding in and leaning on the boss. When the employee apologized for shutting down again, it felt like a hollow promise since that seems to be his default response the minute things get emotionally difficult.

For consent, there were definitely a few times at the beginning that read like sexual harassment, as well as a few dubiously consensual moments. Because their relationship was developed in the workplace instead of outside it, because the boss made physical moves without clarifying anything verbally (even ignoring the drunk scenes and power dynamics), and because the employee kept calling the boss “Department Head Kim” for a while into their relationship, the beginning did feel a bit like sexual harassment. Also, the boss kisses the employee’s cheek when the employee is drunk, he carcasses his hair while both are sober in the office, and he kisses the employee for the first time while the employee is even more drunk on another occasion. There’s also a scene where the boss is annoyed the employee is avoiding him, so he grabs him by the wrist and yanks him a bit aggressively to get him to talk.

That being said, when the boss makes a move to initiate sex and the employee tells him to wait, he does stop and they discuss before proceeding. The employee is the one that decides to continue and the boss doesn’t pressure or coerce him in any way.

Also, it’s really minor but the idea that the video thanking the company that the employee and his co-intern made after not getting full time positions would 1) go viral, and 2) make the company regret not hiring them was a bit ridiculous. The video was super cringy and not dissimilar to a student project. It would have been more believable if they hadn’t actually shown the video they had made and left it to the viewer’s imagination.

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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.

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This was a campy, over-the-top, soap-opera level, over-dramatic series. Don’t take it too seriously, and don’t expect too much. The dialogue is bad, the acting is terrible, the editing is inconsistent, there are plot holes and inconsistencies galore, and the entire premise is ridiculous. Don’t try to make logical sense of anything, because you won’t be able to. But all the same, it was still fun to watch.

Given that the show is meant to be ridiculous, I’m not going to criticize all the ridiculous things that happened. But I will say that I wish it hadn’t been executed as a rich people dick measuring contest. Natee’s family kept calling him “poor” when he’s probably still in the top 1%, and Phakin would respond by buying something way more expensive than the family could afford. So it turned into one upping each other’s richness instead of a love-over-money thing, which is what I would have preferred. They invited a bunch of rich CEOs they had no personal connection with to the wedding, and wow those wedding rings were UGLY. Rich people need to learn big diamonds don’t make pretty rings.

Consent / boundary issues: Irene (arranged fiancé) attempted to rape Natee via spiked drink. Phakin had his employees keep tabs on Natee, which is how he knew he was at the club and in trouble. While drugged, Natee was inappropriately touching himself and Phakin, and I felt Phakin took a touch too long to step away. He also helped Natee shower apparently, because Natee woke up naked. Not sure why that was necessary. Phakin also made a joke about showering together immediately after they got married that made Natee uncomfortable. When Natee walks in on Phakin in the shower, he stares for way too long before exiting. When Natee is upset with Phakin after discovering his true identity, Phakin hugs him without checking for consent but gets pushed away and doesn’t persist further. When they’re having fake sex to fool the family, Phakin grabs / chokes Natee’s neck and that did not appear to be pre-negotiated. Natee hugs Phakin from behind, saying that’s how his mom used to hold him, but really it’s just an excuse to touch him, because he starts feeling up his abs and moves his hands down towards his crotch before Phakin stops him.

There’s one kiss at the end after they get married, and one NC scene where they’re pretending to have sex to fool Natee’s family. There’s no actual lip-to-body contact in that scene (Phakin kisses his finger instead of Natee’s mouth and only hovers his lips over the rest of his body), but it was fairly steamy for a shorts series. Phakin ties up Natee’s hands with a belt (pre-negotiated) and also grabs / chokes his neck (not pre-negotiated).

I’m not sure if it was a subtitle translation issue or them being heteronormative, but they referred to Natee with feminine words such as “wife” and “madam” even though he didn’t identify as a fem gender. They also used “her” to describe a fem male character that wasn’t indicated to be transfeminine.

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This was really great. My only complaint is that it was so short, and that I wanted a bit more closure at the end.

The pacing across the overall series was perfect. I think the progression of the two characters falling for each other was great. In typical KBL fashion though, the actual content feels like it’s playing in slow motion. It’s perfect at 1.25x speed. The acting, from both leads, but particularly Shi On, was pretty good as well. It’s short, and the love story is simple without tons of conflicts, but it was well executed. The dancing was good enough to be passable for the story they wanted to tell. They were clever with the camera angles and cuts, and what was shown wasn’t mind-blowingly impressive contemporary dance, but it wasn’t so bad that it detracted from the story or anything. And props to this show for no dead fish lip presses! Nothing super steamy, but multiple real, proper kisses all the same.

My primary complaint is that I didn’t feel all the loose ends were tied up in the end. Hong Seok was being forced to go to Vietnam. Did his boss just completely let go of that after hearing Shi On’s confession? She was cold and uncaring the whole series so I don’t know why she changed her mind. Is she going to let him quit like he originally wanted to, and if so, what’s he going to do now? And what was her deal anyways? She was inappropriately caressing Hong Seok’s face sometimes, and that was never explained. What happened to Shi On’s mom? Is the end of that story line just that she abandoned him and we’ll never know anything more? And what about Jung Hoon? Is he not going to have any reaction to losing the audition to Shi On? And the show ends right when Hong Seok comes back to Shi On. They hug and kiss and live happily ever after I guess. I needed like 5 or 10 more minutes to see them actually happy together and see some semblance of what their happily ever after would actually look like.

No consent issues, but some minor boundary issues. Their first meeting, Hong Seok ties up and carries Shi On away over his shoulder — he’s a debt collector and Shi On was running. Following that, Hong Seok signs as the guarantor for Shi On’s debt, which Shi On plans to pay off by getting the lead role in his audition. Hong Seok starts entering Shi On’s house uninvited, essentially moving in, trailing him around, and micromanaging him, including force-feeding him and preventing him from working instead of practicing. Shi On says he’s uncomfortable with this, but it’s not really acknowledged. Hong Seok also demands that Shi On answer the phone whenever he calls. Hong Seok is very grabby — there are multiple scenes where he grabs Shi On by the arm to prevent him from leaving.

But overall, both consent and respect of boundaries were relatively good compared to other BLs. When Hong Seok starts staying over, he never presumes or insists that he sleep in the same bed as Shi On, and instead sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor, even though the heat isn’t working. When Shi On tries to hold Hong Seok, and also when he tries to lean on his shoulder, Hong Seok immediately rejects him and Shi On immediately backs off. When Shi On first kisses Hong Seok, he gives him ample time to stop the kiss before making contact. When Hong Seok stops them and says it can’t happen again, Shi On listens. When Shi On says he wants to be alone that night, Hong Seok listens. I also appreciated that despite the creditor / debtor dynamic, there were no power dynamics between Shi On and Hong Seok. Shi On was confident and assertive, not afraid to voice his opinions, stand up for himself, or say no, and he was often the one making the first move.

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Really, really good. The story, pacing, and acting were all on point. The relationship was very green flag and sweet on both sides.

I really enjoyed the fact that both partners were complete equals. Both of them take care of each other, both of them pay for things, and neither of them are domineering or controlling. Although Thap took the lead early on since In was inexperienced and had never been in a relationship, by the end, In was also initiating caring gestures and both emotional and physical affection. In the second NC scene, Thap tells In that he took care of In last time, and tells In to take care of him this time. And at the end, In comforts Thap emotionally after Kan’s betrayal.

The only thing I would say I wished there was more of was In doing small gestures to care for Thap. Thap was always doing small things, like bringing an umbrella to keep In out of the sun, putting his hand on the car frame to prevent In from hitting his head, helping with his hand injury when he noticed it was acting up, etc. I wanted to see more of that minor, day-to-day type care reciprocated from In.

There was a brief period at the beginning of their romantic relationship where In was shying away from from Thap’s affection (which I didn’t like since it can read like dub con), but he gets over it relatively quickly, and Thap always backed off when In told him to. There’s one scene where Thap is taking off In’s shirt to give him a sponge bath and In grabs his shirt sleeve, so Thap immediately backs off and turns away so In can take his own shirt off. That kind of fine-tuned non-verbal consent is top-tier.

There were a few scenes that involved crossing boundaries, but it was overall a very green flag romance compared to most BLs. There are two scenes where In is hysterical / upset and keeps telling Thap not to touch him, but Thap keeps grabbing at him anyways. And there was one scene where Thap blocks In up against the wall and puts his face really close, supposedly to check if his hair was wet (a typical BL flirting move, basically), but In seemed uncomfortable. And also there’s the brief period where In was shying away from and seemed uncomfortable with Thap’s affection right when they’re first getting together.

There were scenes on both sides where one character wanted the other to do or not do something because they wanted the best for the other person. A lot of the time in BLs, this comes off as controlling behavior. Like forcing someone to do something that you perceive to be in their best interest, regardless of their own thoughts or feelings on the matter. That’s not the case here, and that was incredibly refreshing. Help, support, and care were offered, but not forced.

When Thap tells In to get unsweetened soy milk to avoid sugar or to blow dry his hair so he doesn’t get a cold, he does not coerce, manipulate, guilt, physically maneuver, or otherwise force In into listening to him. In is fully capable of and does say no if he doesn’t want to listen. They also have an actual conversation about boundaries (!!), during which In tells Thap to stop nagging and Thap agrees. In also wants Thap to run away and to not make his presence known to the public because he’s concerned about Thap’s safety. Again, he gets upset and emotional given the severity of the situation, but he does not force Thap to do what he says. And they have actual conversations - Thap agrees to run away and be more considerate about his safety, but doesn’t want to stay hidden away from the locals and In doesn’t force him to despite not liking it. There’s a mutual understanding that despite the concern for each other’s wellbeing, In is still going to help the people in his visions even if it puts his health at risk, and Thap is still going to help people that are hurt even if it may publicize his location and put his life in danger. There’s no pressuring or guilting or demanding each other stop something important to them in the name of “caring”.

I really valued the communication. They discuss and agree on boundaries, and there are apologies and adjustments when those are broken (like Thap fixing In parents’ furniture unknowingly after agreeing not to touch his stuff). They have an actual conversation about the feasibility of a long term relationship given their differing beliefs.

The ending was also great. There was pretty much a full episode left to give them a proper HEA and wrap up all loose ends. So many BLs only have a few minutes at the end where the couple is finally together and all the conflicts are resolved, and it often feels rushed and unsatisfying. That’s not the case here. I really enjoyed the 2 ring proposal. I didn’t get why they had Thap forgive Kan though, and I also didn’t understand In’s career because he graduated college but is a fortune teller that no longer does readings…so how exactly is he making money?

The one thing I didn’t like was the ex drama in episodes 7 and 8. Thap and Wan dated back in college, and Thap hasn’t dated anyone since, although he seems completely over him both mentally and emotionally. When Wan comes back, Thap is not shy about saying he’s dating In and shutting him down. But they’re realistic exes, so they’re kind and friendly to one another, and they have the longest ever closure conversation about the downfall of their relationship, the mistakes they made, and well wishes for each other’s futures. I just didn’t want to see all that, given that In was simultaneously having a breakdown due to his own inferiority complex.

Speaking of, I understand In’s discomfort with the ex being the one to help Thap when In couldn’t save him (by donating a rare blood type), with Thap’s mom saying Thap and the ex should get back together, and also with the ex posting a very couple-y type photo on Instagram. But Thap had just gotten shot and In didn’t come see him at all, even if he did go to the hospital and stay outside the room. He essentially abandoned Thap emotionally immediately after he just got shot to prioritize his own feelings, and that wasn’t fair.

The only thing that fell a bit flat for me was the kissing. There are a couple NC scenes, mainly just shirtless kissing and a cutaway with implied sex. They’re not very steamy, but they are sweet. And there’s a lot of overall physical affection, including casual kissing, which I felt solidified the couple. The problem was the actual quality of the kissing. Either the actors weren’t opening their mouths wide enough, or they weren’t matching each other’s mouth movements well, because the kissing looked really bad on camera. Simultaneously chaste, like they were trying to open their mouths as little as possible, and like they were trying to eat each other’s mouths (and not in a good way). The second couple had much less screen time and not much kissing, but they knew how to kiss for the camera.

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Dropped after episode 8 due to abundant consent issues. Yejun laid out clear boundaries that he didn’t want to kiss while standing in, but Jaehyeon tried to go in for one anyways. When Yejun runs away, Jaehyeon gets in his face as if he’s going to kiss him again and then whispers in his ear about whether he’s tempted. And Jaehyeon touches Yejun hair. It’s made worse by the fact that Jaehyeon personally picked Yejun to stand in because he likes him. Jaehyeon grabs and hugs Yejun without consent and uses the excuse that he’s preventing classmates from seeing him. When Jaehyeon hurts his leg, he guilts Yejun into nursing him and makes Yejun feed him even though his hands work perfectly fine. Jaehyeon watches Yejun sleep and kisses his cheek. All within the first 8 episodes <2 min episodes. There was absolutely nothing sweet, redeeming, or entertaining present to make me want to keep watching.

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This series just glorifies abusive relationships. I know boy love series like to normalize the seme-uke dynamic, controlling / possessive / jealous dynamics, dubcon / noncon, stalking / harassment, and even domestic violence. Honestly, my question is, why? There’s a scene right at the beginning where one of the characters criticizes the use of queer characters as comic relief, and says that it’s an outdated representation of the queer community. And yes, that’s absolutely true. But how can you criticize that in one breath and then contribute to maintaining the status quo in an industry built entirely atop queer stereotypes and the idea that safe, sane, and healthy queer relationships are the exception, not the norm? Isn’t that an inherently homophobic concept?

Is it crazy to want to watch a sweet, romantic queer couple where there’s no unnegotiated dom/sub dynamics, where the feminine one isn’t automatically shoo-horned into the submissive role and the bottom role, where personality and looks aren’t conflated with sexual top/bottom preferences? Where every physical interaction is not just consensual, but enthusiastically consensual, and the word “no” is respected? Where no one is controlling and overbearing and domineering, taking away personal agency and choice, and then calling it being “caring” and “worried”? Where it’s not acceptable to stalk, harass, and sexually abuse each other, or to break each other’s boundaries? Where there’s no gaslighting and love bombing used to justify and redeem abusive behaviors, not just to the characters in the series, but also the audience?

I watch Asian BL dramas because the western industry simply doesn’t offer the same sheer quantity of queer romance shows. But sometimes I see the level that abusive is normalized and romanticized and wonder if it’s worth looking for queer representation if queer representation is going to take this form.

The way both Lian and Yi act in this show is downright disgusting. Are they parents or romantic partners? Even if they were parents and not romantic partners, I would still call them overbearing and controlling to an abusive level. Let’s pretend they were parents for a second. Would you be okay if your parents hired people to watch you, keep tabs on you, and report back to them? Would you be okay if you got in a fight with them and went out, and they proceeded to track you down and watch you from the corner? Would you be okay if you, as a grown college student, were forced to keep a curfew? If it’s not acceptable for a parent to do it, it’s certainly not acceptable for a romantic partner to do it.

Lian and Yi both talk to Kuea and Diao like they’re children, and Kuea and Diao are quite literally scared of Lian and Yi. They tiptoe around them and keep secrets because they’re afraid of their reactions. They both feel the need to be “obedient” and justify their partners’ controlling behavior as being caring and loving. Lian says, “I’m not angry yet but I will be soon,” like a parent talking to a child acting out. He regularly talks and scolds him in this parental manner, and when Kuea gets upset, Lian acts like he’s just a child that needs to be consoled because he’s a little upset that he didn’t get what he wanted and ended up throwing a tantrum. Kuea’s parents even ask Lian to track and update them on his schedule and grades and to be his literal guardian. Keau isn’t “allowed” in the club owned by Lian. And when he’s drunk in another club, Lian tracks him down and physically forces him into the car despite verbal protests and physical resistance. Meanwhile, Diao is scared of Yi finding out he skipped class, has to answer “check in” calls, and has to drop everything and rush home if Yi says he’s waiting for him to come home. He has to explain and answer for his actions, like where he is and if he’s drunk and when he’ll get home and why he’s at a club and why he lied about his whereabouts (because you’re a controlling dickhead, that’s why). The characters may or may not explicitly phrase things as commands, but the fact that Kuea and Diao feel the need to conform because they’re scared of the reaction if they don’t is in itself controlling. If you feel like you have to tiptoe around and answer to someone, you’re being controlled, not cared for.

And we’ve already got the non-con going in full speed too within the first two episodes, because Keau is so black-out drunk that he doesn’t even recognize Lian, but Lian takes that as an opportunity to pin him against the wall, to touch his face and caress his hair, and to kiss him for the first time.

And Kuea and Diao have no self-respect either. Both of them are willing to give up their sense of self, their free will and personal agency, and give up quite literally everything to kneel at these men’s feet. I mean Kuea breaks off his engagement to Lian in one breath, but is still wearing his ring, not cutting his hair because Lian likes it, and begging Lian to love him “just a little” and to “just pretend” while drunk in another. Have some self-respect, please. I could have gotten behind the premise if Kuea stood up and said, fuck this man who doesn’t love me and who I have to change my entire self to be around, but no. He doesn’t commit to officially breaking off the engagement or cutting out Lian whatsoever. I understand that part of the character development in this story is about Keau learning to be himself, but would he be willing to do that if Lian also didn’t want him to do that? He really needed to commit to living for himself and his happiness and not Lian’s. It’s really frustrating watching Keau and Diao constantly justify Lian and Yi’s behavior, like talking about how Yi loves and cares for Diao and therefore looks after him, as if acting like an overbearing and controlling dad is ever acceptable behavior. They both were playing into and justifying these unhealthy dynamics by encouraging each other’s relationships instead of encouraging each other to leave and love themselves.

Plus, the age difference is creepy. Kuea was an infant when Lian was probably around 10. There would have been a significant period of time where Lian was a grown adult and Kuea was just a child. Whether or not you want to classify it as grooming, it’s creepy. I wouldn’t even date someone I knew of as a child, even if we never personally interacted and only later met as adults. And Kuea has waited his whole life for Lian. It hasn’t been confirmed in the two episodes I watched, but I have a strong suspicion that Lian isn’t a virgin and hasn’t been waiting around for Kuea despite their lifelong engagement.

Speaking of, the engagement made no sense. They say Lian is self-made and came from nothing, but his family was close to Kuea’s and were in business together. They were constantly hanging out in rich people places in all the flashbacks. His family was clearly well off and well connected, so I question the “self made” claim. And what was the purpose of the engagement? I thought it would be to seal a business deal or something, but there was no real reason given.

Honestly, there are very few BLs that feel fully comfortable for me to watch. Mostly it’s about tolerance level. How egregious are the problematic elements, how often do they occur, how long do they persist, does it end after they get together or is this just the overall vibe, etc. In this case, the problematic elements are really extreme, are consistent, define the relationship dynamics, and from what I read in spoilers, persist all the way through the show. I just don’t have the mental fortitude to watch this kind of abusive shit be glorified, no matter how great the actors’ chemistry or how hyped the NC scenes may be.

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I was a bit hesitant about this show because of the love triangle aspect. I can sometimes tolerate love triangles if they’re one sided and the lead doesn’t reciprocate, but I don’t usually do well if the lead is into someone else. The love triangle aspect in this show wasn’t that bad. By ep 3, Zo realizes that what he feels while interacting with Nita doesn’t match what he feels while interacting with Joke. From that point on, Zo is only really focused on Joke. By ep 6, Zo realizes that what he felt for Nita was admiration, not romantic feelings. There are no romantic moments with Nita and it never feels like Zo is betraying his feelings for Nita or that he’s still hung up on her.

Joke was a bit domineering and overbearing at times. In the first episode, he invades Zo’s personal space and gets up in his face for no real reason. When Zo is drunk, Joke manhandles him and doesn’t let him leave — trying to “take care” of him, but doesn’t give him a choice in the matter. It’s not caring for someone if that person doesn’t get a say or choice in the matter. There are times where Joke grabs Zo to keep him from leaving when Zo is telling him to let go. There were points where Joke would invite himself along when Zo was trying to go somewhere alone, or insist on giving Zo a ride, or refuse to leave Zo alone when he’s clearly trying to avoid Joke, or even show up to his family’s home uninvited after Zo told him he didn’t want him to come along…all portrayed as romantic, but again, it’s not romantic when Zo doesn’t get a choice. There was a point where they were discussing a story in which Aphrodite’s lover got killed and she was too late to save him, and Joke says that if it were him, he never would have left his lover alone for him to have been in danger in the first place, and Zo thinks its very romantic, but that kind of reflects his attitude as a whole. He’s always there, whether you want him there or not.

There was one scene where Joke was insisting that Zo eat something that he didn’t want to eat because he wanted Zo to try new things. Zo’s friend blows up on him for being pushy, and I so appreciate Zo calling him out and telling him that he needs to respect boundaries even if he means well.

The consent was good as a whole though, despite Joke’s overbearing-ness. Joke tells Zo he can wait until he’s ready many times. He reassures him that he can stay the night and that he won’t make a move, that he cares about his physical safety. He tells Zo to take it slow and that there’s no rush when Zo is about to kiss him but is still unsure of his feelings, and Zo takes the opportunity to backoff. When Joke asks to cuddle Zo, Zo turns over in silence, and Joke double checks that silence means “yes” before holding him. When Joke wants to kiss Zo, Zo says “not here” since they’re in public. Joke says there’s no one around and Zo agrees, but looks uncomfortable, so Joke only kisses him on the nose and backs off.

I didn’t feel like Zo adequately showed that he was as into Joke as Joke was into him, or properly reciprocated Joke’s level of commitment, care, and affection. Even after they got together, Zo often dodged and didn’t reciprocate verbal affection like “I miss you” and “I love you”. He often rejected physical affection like hugs and kisses. Joke was always, always there for Zo, and was always going out of his way to do small things to care for Zo. I don’t feel like Zo really reciprocated that daily-small-ways-of-caring part of things. When Joke is getting stalked, he’s still the one protecting Zo from being caught in the cross fire, not the other way around. In the finale, Joke is having a hard time with his family, but Zo isn’t aware because he’s dealing with his own family issues. But Joke is always aware when something is wrong with Zo, regardless of whether Zo voices it or not. When Zo is dealing with his family issues, he tells Joke that he needs to focus on his family and that their relationship is a distraction. It was always Joke pursuing and Zo pushing him away, Joke making grand gestures and Zo accepting them, Joke asking for physical affection and Zo granting it, and I wanted more reciprocity. Joke always took the lead, and I wanted Zo to take on that role sometimes too.

As far as the whole “hidden agenda” aspect of the shows go, I don’t think Joke truly justified getting involved with Zo with ulterior motives. Even when Joke makes his final apology that Zo accepts, he was saying things like “don’t you feel sorry for me”. He never really acknowledged that what he did was wrong, and said that he did what he did because he loved Zo. He just says that wouldn’t lie again, and Zo accepted that, but it didn’t seem like he thought what he did was wrong. Pat’s (Zo’s friend who colluded with Joke) apology was much better in my opinion because he explicitly acknowledged that was he did was wrong and apologized for it. Joke should have acknowledged that what he did was wrong and why.

Other small things: When Joke is tutoring Zo on pursuing Nita, he tells him to change is posture, change his clothes, change his eating habits, etc. But then he tells him not to take her on a rooftop date because it’d be changing himself. If anything, the opposite is true. Doing a one off activity that your partner enjoys but you don’t is much less “changing yourself” than everything Joke suggested Zo do. When Zo and Joke make up after Joke’s hidden agenda secret comes out, Zo punishes Joke by saying there would be no kissing for a month, when it’s really toxic to use physical affection as a form of reward or punishment. Also, the last few episodes were just focused on family drama surrounding a desire for validation, and were pretty boring.

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Bad, overall. First of all, this is 100% love triangles and ex-drama. I minded less because the two leads only have feelings for each other. It’s just other people that one-sidedly like them. But 3 people in love with Daonuea? Seriously?

Khabkluen was a piece of shit. Seriously.

First of all, he’s as emotionally stunted as a rock. He’s liked Daonuea the whole time. He liked him before Daonuea confessed to him back in high school, but rejected him for absolutely no reason. But he lets Daonuea believe he has a girlfriend. He runs after said “girlfriend” and prioritizes her when in the middle of an emotional and important conversation with Daonuea. He refuses to answer when asked what he’d do if he had to choose between his ex and Daonuea. He refuses to verbalize his feelings when Daonuea tells him he likes him or makes it clear that his feelings haven’t gone anywhere. He tells Daonuea to date someone else then gets upset that he does. Like…what? All this drama created for no reason. What was the reason, motivation, or logic behind not verbalizing a single damn thing when he had every opportunity and no obstacles? Daonuea is upset and ranting at Khabkluen, he’s emotional and needs a response, a conversation, something…and Khabkluen just stands there in silence like a brick wall. ALL THE TIME. The way I would actually go insane.

Second of all, there is zero consent. Daonuea is upset in the bathroom, and Khabkluen comes in and kisses him, multiple times, non consensually. Daonuea shoves him away, multiple times, tells him no and is vocally upset, but Khabkluen keeps going in again and again. If you didn’t know he’s supposed to be the lead, you’d think he’s the villain that the lead is going to step in and save the other guy from. That’s not all though. He later non consensually kisses Daonuea again, stops when he’s shoved off, but then goes in for a non consensual hug where he’s once again shoved away. Once they get together, he goes in for a surprise kiss so Daonuea has no time to say no or react, and he jerks back in response. Then he reveals that he KISSED DAONUEA IN HIS SLEEP because Daonuea had said he liked Khabkluen while sleep talking. Wtf??? Typhoon also noncon kisses Daonuea and gets punched by Khabkluen for it, but honestly, the scene wasn’t all that different from what Khabkluen himself did. We get a couple consensual pecks / dead fish lip presses in the finale, but that’s about it.

There’s more, because when Daonuea is upset and storming off, he chases after him and tries to stop him from leaving by grabbing him and standing in front of his car. When Daonuea is shitfaced, he chooses to sleep with him in one twin bed when he could have easily slept in one of the 3 other beds.

Not to mention that back in high school, he was in a long term relationship with a girl and dumped her after gaining feelings for Daonuea (who he’d never actually spoken to, btw). Just the act of gaining feelings for someone else while in a relationship is infidelity of some sort in my mind.

And him and his ex, they’ve got some kind of weird, way too close to be just friends but also not romantically involved, relationship. The ex clarifies that they’re just like siblings now, but I’m sorry, if I’m in an emotionally tense conversation that is going to determine whether or not things are going to work out with the love of my life, am I going to 1) pick a call from my ex-girlfriend, 2) run out to immediately meet her and make said love of life wait, 3) tell said love of life that they’d have to adjust to my and my ex’s relationship and that asking to choose between them is ridiculous?? Granted, the reason he ran out was because the ex has been a victim of DV, but I promise you that no matter how much I loved any of my friends, I wouldn’t react in that way and put the supposed love of my life so far below them in priority.

Honestly, people were annoyed and Daonuea for dating Typhoon but I don’t blame him. He only gave him 24 hours, he didn’t pretend to be happy or loving or anything other than the miserable person he actually was, and he was upfront with Typhoon about his feelings for both him and Khabkluen. And Khabkluen had just made it abundantly clear that his ex was a bigger priority to him.

I will say, every character in this show takes rejection well. If someone says they’re not interested, they accept that answer unless they’re explicitly given reason to hope for otherwise. No stalking or harassment to be found.

I really didn’t want to keep watching after episode 6 but I powered through. The HEA came too easy after all that manufactured angst. I didn’t enjoy the HEA after all the bullshit, especially the abundant noncon.

The finale set up for the second series in the same universe, featuring a guy that’s very hung up on his ex-girlfriend who just got married. He still has her as his phone wallpaper. Needless to say, I won’t be watching.

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