vanwarren

Listen... If "Wooju Bakery" can finally see the light of day after being advertised 525,600 years ago, ANYTHING is possible.

I'm starting to think that Hong is a mystical sea turtle of sorts (since sea turtles seem to be a theme throughout this series) that took the form of a human. I find it rather strange that he looked the exact same age that he is in present-day as he did in the flashback for the epilogue where He Xiang Yong was clearly a child.

The way that both Chu San and Liu Yi are willing to do anything to protect each other is actually quite beautiful to watch, especially with such a gritty plot and cinematography. From Chu San walking into an active murder scene with his ONLY priority being to ensure Liu Yi's safety in episode 8 to Liu Yi literally willing to risk his life and his turf to rescue Chu San from Fatty Seven. Neither one of them cares about what happens to them as long as the other is safe, and while Chu San may have verbalized it in episode 7, Liu Yi's actions conveyed it throughout this final episode. The smile on his face as he was being taken in by the police to me confirms that Liu Yi feels as though he'll be okay knowing that Chu San is finally safe. Zhao is an incredible actor, and the way he portrayed the pain in Liu Yi's voice while frantically searching for Chu San was masterful. Liu Yi spent the majority of the series falling for Chu San without fully realizing it before Dong Dong called him out on it, and once he did, he tried his best (and failed) to hide the jealousy he felt whenever he saw Chu San in the vicinity of someone he viewed as a "love rival." The fact that he learned English out of the sheer jealousy that he felt seeing Chu San interacting with "Jason" (Guang Ming) will always be hilarious to me. It seems as though when he's either by himself or in certain scenes with Dong Dong, Liu Yi can speak on and "feel" his feelings for Chu San more freely from smiling at the scent of Chu San's blanket to blushing after noticing the heart that Chu San drew on his bandaged nose. Even in conversations with Dong Dong, he seemed so happy to have someone outside of an underling who genuinely worries about his safety and wellbeing. While I haven't read the novel, I've read various comments on MDL and across social media to know that this series didn't cover EVERYTHING in the novel; so I'm hoping that Season 2 will be announced soon. For now, I'll rate this series a solid 9/10, and my rating MAY change depending on whether or not Season 2 gets announced.

*SIDE NOTE*

I feel as though the revelation of Guang Ming's connection to the cop that was murdered (and seemingly the work partner of Jia Hua) should've surprised me more than it actually did, but I had a feeling that Guang Ming had a hidden agenda for approaching Jia Hua for their one-night stand that was a bit more personal. What happened to Tang Jiaqi (the cop AND Guang Ming's brother) explains Guang Ming's distain for "law abiding cops," and why he's such a vengeful character. Now that it seems like Jia Hua may be willing to work with Guang Ming for the sake of solving the murder of Tang Jiaqi, I'm DEFINITELY going to need a Season 2. Also, I'm still convinced that Xiao Man (Liu Yi's sister) is the one who murdered Qing Long after finding out the answer to who he truly loved (which happened to be Liu Yi). Lastly, I enjoyed seeing Chu San utilize his manipulative tactics to convince the gang members to unstrap him from the bomb by "showing them how to make money." His ability to think on the fly in such a dangerous situation is respectable.

There better be an announcement for Season 2; because the way they ended that episode (coupled with the fact that it was only FORTY MINUTES) was crazy work.

After catching up via binge-watching, is it wrong for me to say that I'm more interested in the story of the second couple?

Liu Yi is in the advanced stages of "gay panic." In episode 6, he was avoiding Chu San after being kissed, and now he's become visibly jealous of anyone he views as a "love rival" regardless of gender despite the fact that he's yet to come to terms with the fact that he has feelings for Chu San. Because neither Liu Yi nor Chu San know that Guang Ming (a.k.a. "Jason") is a cop, I wouldn't be surprised if Guang Ming ended up putting Chu San in danger just to get to Liu Yi (I haven't read the novel, so I have no Idea what may be coming next). The act that Chu San came out of the gate running game on Liu Yi not even three minutes into the episode is insane; and the fact that Liu Yi was gullible enough to believe it is even more insane. Chu San was throwing EVERYTHING at the wall to ensure that he could get close to Liu Yi from attempting to "tackle" him and take him down to staring at his favorite body part of Liu Yi's while he (Liu Yi) was showing him the technique needed to jump steps. In regard to Dong Dong, I actually like her character; and I like that she was the first to clock the fact that both Liu Yi and Chu San have feelings for each other LONG before this episode aired. As she keeps reminding Liu Yi, the only reason he was able to survive the incident with Xu Ying was because Chu San had gotten in contact with her prior to everything that had happened (which raises the question of how exactly does Chu San know Dong Dong since there hadn't been any interactions between them prior to episode 4). Since Dong Dong knew about Chu San's backstory, she may have been able to deduce that Chu San was falling for Liu Yi in a similar fashion to how his mother fell for someone involved in the underworld (who I assume is Chu San's biological father). Also, based on how much he had started talking about Chu San, staying over at Chu San's place, and even going as far as to cross through enemy turf just to make it to Chu San's graduation ceremony, I don't think it was too difficult for Dong Dong to realize that Liu Yi also had feelings for Chu San. While she didn't have to out Liu Yi as a virgin, it was nice to see Dong Dong taking the time to vet Chu San in her own way to ensure that he was serious about his feelings (it's good to know that Liu Yi actually has someone looking out for his best interest whether he knows it or not). With only two episodes left, episode 8 kinda NEEDS to be the start of Chu San and Liu Yi's boyfriend era. This series DESERVES a season 2.

*SIDE NOTE*

I don't know why, but I have a feeling that Qing Long was actually killed by Xiao Man (Liu Yi's sister) after finding out the answer to who he TRULY loved (Liu Yi), and perhaps she didn't want to live with the guilt(?). Despite her mental illness, Xiao Man DID have sparse moments of clarity. Before Xu Ying was killed, he told Liu Yi "You'll never know how Qing Long died;" which to me implied that Qing Long was killed by someone else.

There'd better be a season 2; because the story for this series doesn't deserve to be rushed in the final two episodes. Thankfully, this episode was much longer than the other episodes tend to be. This entire episode had me dying of laughter. Without spoiling anything, Chu San is an absolute MENACE!!!!!

As parents, they shouldn't have had to be TOLD to console their child who's literally breaking in front of them. Also, I didn't particularly care for his mom's dismissive and condescending tone toward Qin when he's trying to explain himself. It shouldn't matter if she and the dad are "feeling bad" for what Qin is calling them out on because what happened to Qin as a child WAS their fault for hiring the woman that abused their son and neglecting him to the point where a psychiatrist had to tell them that their son was being abused. BOTH parents were doing everything to avoid accountability for what Qin went through, and quite frankly, it was just disgusting to watch. The fact that Qin called for Duang instead of his parents simply proves that he views DUANG as his protector because he knows that Duang will do whatever it takes to make him feel safe without question. Going back to episode 6 where the rival basketball team deliberately injured Qin, Duang was justifiably angry and ready to fight for Qin. Unbeknownst to Duang, he unofficially became Qin's protector in Qin's eyes in that moment (which is probably what subconsciously triggered Qin to hug Duang in that episode). Duang was the first person to stand up for Qin when he was hurt (whether physically or emotionally), and THAT'S what solidified Qin's love for Duang. I like the fact that Qin finally had the chance to meet Duang's family and discover where Duang gets his personality from. I'm intrigued to see how this series will wrap up with the final episode, but yeah, Qin's parents are STILL terrible people; and no one can tell me any different.

While I'm glad to see that Qin finally got what he wanted from his parents, his parents are STILL terrible people (I said what I said).

As a parent, you FIRST instinct should always be to protect your child; especially if you're interjecting someone outside of immediate family into their lives. Also, it shouldn't have taken Qin's parents THAT long to check the security footage at the house after noticing drastic changes in his demeanor. Even if you "trust" whomever is looking after your child, if you're financially blessed enough to be able to afford security cameras in and outside of the house, you should still check the security footage just to be safe. And another thing, what TF do you mean Qin's parents DIDN'T press charges against that woman when they had VIDEO EVIDENCE of her abusing their child? The fact that they simply fired her without getting the authorities involved just gave this woman a pass to get hired by another family (that may not be nearly as financially abundant) and continue abusing other children. If Qin's parents weren't going to protect him by having his abuser thrown in jail (where she belongs), the LEAST they could've done was make the attempt to comfort Qin after everything he went through as opposed to pretending it never happened because they deemed him "too young to remember" what happened to him. Even if that were somehow the case, their first instincts AS PARENTS should've been to protect and comfort their child. I'm glad to see that Qin seems to trust Duang with his emotions enough to be THAT vulnerable with him about something that traumatic; and I'm glad that Duang was there to help Qin release the trauma from his past (btw, the final scene of Qin's childhood self letting go of his hand to allow him to finally heal was beautifully done), which also included Qin finally being able to cry after years of not crying after being hurt post-abuse (whether by his parents or by Tiw). In regard to the budding relationship between Jamie and Mars, while I understand the fact that they're both "playboys," I'd like to see how their relationship progresses outside of mutual physical attraction. They clearly want to be boyfriends, but it seems as though neither of them want to come out an admit it for fear of "looking weak" or something (I probably could've verbalized that better, but hopefully I got my point across).

*SIDE NOTE*

This may be a bit off topic, but it's a nice change of pace to have seen Pepper in a BL series where he ISN'T a glaring red flag character.

Qin's parents are terrible people, and I'm going to explain why.

Despite the fact that the kissing scene turned out to be Chu San's wet dream, it was easily one of the best kissing scenes I've seen in ANY BL series. Although I get the feeling that Liu Yi knows subconsciously that Chu San has feelings for him (and he has feelings for Chu San), I find it comical that he's (Liu Yi) completely oblivious to how horny he makes Chu San without even trying. Chu San is honestly lucky that he woke up from that dream before Liu Yi woke up; because I'm not too sure how Liu Yi would react to laying in a cum-soaked sheet even if he's falling for Chu San. It's gotten to the point where being around Liu Yi alone is enough to arouse Chu San, and judging from the frantic scrubbing of his sheet coupled with his feeble attempts to "keep his distance" from Liu Yi, Chu San isn't going to be able to control himself for much longer. In regard to Liu Yi's feelings toward Chu San, the part in today's episode (episode 5) where he tells Chu San that the reason why he seemed happy was because he finally found a place that felt safe may have been a part of Chu San's dream, but if it wasn't, that sentiment has already been reinforced in episode 4 where the ONLY place that Liu Yi could actually fall asleep and get rest was in CHU SAN'S bed. Also, a part of me thinks that Liu Yi lied about his most recent injury because of how he got it by getting jumped by a rival gang on his way to Chu San's graduation ceremony with the bouquet of sunflowers. He may not have wanted Chu San to blame himself for his (Liu Yi's) most recent injury like he did for the torn tendons in Liu Yi's arm. I haven't read the novel, but I could see Liu Yi learning about Chu San's true origin/backstory could serve as the catalyst for pursuing Chu San romantically as opposed to an underling. Overall, to me this series has elements of both "Kiseki: Dear to Me" and HIStory 3: Trapped (IYKYK). I'm excited to see their "boyfriend era."

*SIDE NOTE*

We all should've known that the kissing scene was a dream after seeing that Chu San's hands didn't IMMEDIATELY reach to grab Liu Yi's butt while they were rolling around (that seems to be Chu San's favorite body part of Liu Yi's).

Before I get into my thoughts for this episode, I just have to say that the name for this series makes more sense after watching this episode.

In response to your last statement, more often than not, that's typically an indication that a person like that has ALWAYS been a red flag that's been lying dormant until they've been triggered. Lavid KNEW that his father was a terrible person after witnessing him (his father) literally hold his sister at gunpoint, yet Lavid still remained "loyal" to his dad.

How Tf is Lavid a licensed psychiatrist when he's proven that he allows his emotions to completely cloud his critical thinking skills? I can't believe I'm about to say this, but for him to be a licensed psychiatrist, Lavid may be even dumber than Ken. It seems as though I was half right in my theory of Lavid becoming a villain in this episode, but I didn't expect Ken to successfully murder Likhit due to the fact that Ken has been shown to be incredibly stupid (which apparently triggers him into a murderous rage given how gruesome Lalit's murder was). I do wonder if the final scene was meant to serve as an explanation for how Ken was finally captured, or to setup the plot for a special episode or a season 2. Initially, I didn't think that the masked man who confronted Ken was Lavid due to the fact that Lavid was shown incarcerated in an earlier scene coupled with the fact that the masked man didn't really look like Lavid at first glance. However, after rewatching the final scene and the scene with Lavid in jail, I did recognize the voice; and given how this series likes to inexplicably jump from past to present, it would make sense that the final scene may have been meant to tie up loose ends and explain exactly what happened to Ken. Regardless of how he may have helped capture Ken, my initial comment stands; Lavid pissed me off this ENTIRE EPISODE!!!!! Like... He lured Vier to the warehouse (who in turn was used to lure Kelvin to the warehouse) in a conspiracy to kill them both just because Vier wouldn't be with him(?). HOW THE FUCK IS HE A LICENSED PSYCHIATRIST?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I honestly needed Ken to die in this finale, and quiet as it's kept, Lavid could've went with him.

*SIDE NOTE*

Am I the only one who thinks that Fort and William (from LYKN/GMMTV) look like they could be brothers?

First, let me start off by saying that Lavid pissed me off the ENTIRE EPISODE!!!!!

This episode seemingly confirms that Qin had wanted to be with Duang since high school and didn't immediately reject Duang's confession because he was most likely waiting for Duang to shoot his shot. Also, episode 1 kinda hints at this seeing as how Qin does seem to stare directly at Duang in the audience during his performance. While I'm glad to see that Duang and Qin are finally boyfriends, I feel as though Qin has to fully unpack his childhood trauma and take the necessary steps to heal in order for Duang to have access to ALL of him as a partner. Although it was heavily implied that Qin was abused as a child while his parents did nothing to protect him thinking that he'd be "too young to remember," and I do believe that Qin is more than justified in distancing himself emotionally from his parents, I hope that he doesn't allow that to have a negative effect on his relationship with Duang. What I enjoyed most about the NC scene and everything leading up to it is the emphasis on CONSENT. Neither Duang NOR Qin did anything without getting the okay to do so whether verbal or nonverbal, and in the realm of Thai BL in particular, and that should be acknowledged (because I don't know why, but in my experience with watching BLs, Thai BLs specifically tend to gloss over acts of SA and r*pe when it pertains to a same sex male couple/characters). Lastly, it isn't lost on me that Qin has yet to visit Duang at HIS (well, technically his brother's) condo; so I'm excited to see how that will go since the preview for next week shows Qin at Duang's doorstep.

I have a feeling that Vier's rejection of Lavid will eventually turn Lavid into a villain and help his dad attempt to take revenge out on Vier and Kelvin (because despite Ken holding Likhit at gunpoint, I wouldn't be surprised if Ken was the one who was actually shot for the simple fact that Ken is just THAT dumb). For a psychiatrist, Lavid seems to allow his emotions to severely cloud his critical thinking skills. Any psychiatrist would be able to realize the extreme level of Stockholm Syndrome that Vier has coupled with the fact that he genuinely loved Kelvin prior to everything that went down between them. Also, despite not wanting to take over the family business, something about Lavid gives off "pick me" vibes. He seems to still yearn for validation and acceptance from his dad to the point that he's willing to disregard the fact that his father is a terrible human being (to put it nicely) that literally held his sister at gunpoint. If Likhit is willing to do that to his OWN DAUGHTER, logic should tell Lavid that nothing would stop his father from committing other atrocities against people for his (Likhit's) benefit; but because he allows his emotions to cloud his critical thinking skills, he disregards the glaring red flags. In regard to Vier, there's something about how he moved in the earlier episodes that didn't really sit right with me. Although he was the one who got Kelvin out of jail, it felt a bit predatory of him to get him out of jail in exchange for (what he believed was) Kelvin's virginity in the front of a droptop car, then flat-out tell him (Kelvin) that he used him for sex with no emotional attachment. No one stays with a red flag person like Kelvin unless they themselves have red flag tendencies, and as the series progresses, you start to realize that Vier isn't really a green flag character either; especially in scenes where he's being held captive by Kelvin, and he's seemingly enjoying Khun be tortured by Kelvin. I can't wait to see how this series ends.

Poor Liu Yi seems to be completely oblivious to how horny he makes Chu San. The way Chu San was fighting for his life the ENTIRE EPISODE (literally and figuratively) from trying to not awkwardly touch Liu Yi while applying his bandages, to getting hard while he and Liu Yi were hiding from the gangsters in his room just from having their bodies pressed against each other, to fighting his urges while rubbing down the body part of Liu Yi's that Chu San is most obsessed with, to getting caught trying to help Liu Yi hide his blade. When they finally get together, I just know that Chu San is going to break that man's back 8-ways to Sunday. Liu Yi's backstory was heartbreaking, and seeing as how Chu San is pretty much the only person he has left (despite the fact that they're not necessarily "friends" at this point in the series), I could see Liu Yi's attraction to Chu San manifesting as a bit of a trauma bond that eventually develops into a more genuine attraction despite episode 1 implying that he fell for Chu San at first sight. Lastly, I may be wrong, but I feel as though Qing Long developed feelings for Liu Yi after he (Liu Yi) saved his life singlehandedly. It seems like the reason why Qing Long didn't give Xiao Man an answer regarding who he truly loved was because he was actually in love with her brother; and given her mental illness, that revelation may have broken her even more. Regardless of her mental illness, I do feel bad for Xiao Man for the simple fact that the only thing she's truly wanted in life was to be genuinely loved (which is relatable for the average person to an extent). I only wish that the episodes would air on Fridays AND Saturdays like the first two episodes. Waiting for weekly episodes is torture.

It's implied that the same people who kidnapped Vier are the same people who killed Lalit at the request of Ken (Kelvin's half-brother and Lalyn's "husband") after he escaped from the closet that Kelvin locked him in when he knocked him unconscious. I feel like the FULL explanation will come in the final episode.