This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat. The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
Xxx became orphan as a child and was adopted by his mother's best friend, who treats him with love and kindness. She has her own son Tae Seong who is similar age and the two kids form a close bond and somehow grew apart over years despite living in same house. Tae Seong is now a handsome and very popular school student in the last year whereas xxx is timid and gets bullied by other students. In the school final year when they eventually happen to share the same class, Tae Seong finally witnesses xx being bullied and starts to protect him. Eventually the two boys start to warm uptown each other and turns out that they both had feelings for one another but neither of them wanted to create a situation which could lead to awkwardness since they share same house and xxx did not want to be ungrateful. Tae Seong's friends notice this closeness and tease the two teenage boys about it. Yet, everyone still believes their relationship is only platonic. Even Tae Seong's mom thinks they are just good friends, almost like brothers.But eventually they confess their feelings to one another and start a secret romance and decide to hide it till college. After school, they end up going to sam university so they get a house together and start living together. Tae Seong's friends eventually find out about them and one day even tae Seong's mother sees them kissing together. She is heart broken and summons Tae Seong to not take this forward since their relationship may not have any future. He refuses and gets even more protective of xxx. When xxx finds out about this, he reaches out to the mother and explains him how they both truly love each other and are very sure of their relationship. The dup eventually get the blessings and are happy together now that they don't have to hide their feelings and relationship from anyone.
From a story point of view, the show has absolutely nothing new to offer. Two childhood friends, who discover they are secretly in love with one another, confess their feelings and eventually get together, with just a slight bit of hiccups. But overall the path is smooth. The two actors shares plenty of romantic affection, such as kisses, hugs, cuddles, and cute flirtations and I loved al those cute scenes. It does have some cliche scenes as well, which by now it feels like, we have all become used to them, like girls screaming over Tae Seong when he is first introduced, or xxx lurching over the bread that Tae Seong is eating and is oozing cream (what the fuck was that scene). But despite these tropes, I enjoyed the over simplicity of everything. Sure, the characters could have been better flushed out and for me, the cute chemistry of the couple did it for me. They did what people in relationships do: hold hands, give small and quick pecks on the lips, and give random hugs. It was nice. I could understand how the lonely xxx could fall for Tae Seong and vice versa. It was an interesting trait to show how over a period of tie Tae Seong becomes more and more protective of xxx and wants to be with him all the time to make up for all lost time. Thankfully the show addresses the fact that maybe it all started as sympathy but now it is all pure love. However, one big thing about the story that I wish they explored, was the problem of the two of them growing up as brothers. It’s no secret that Tae Seong had like xxx ever since they were kids, but I don’t feel like they explored their relation-dynamic enough.
Overall, I personally enjoyed watching this show and had a constant warm fuzzy feeling about this rather simplistic show. Just the right amount of length and an almost fairytale like ending did it for me. Hope you enjoy it too. (7.5/10)
Comments
I wanted to read the manwha it's based on but I moved on something else and totally forgot. Thanks for the reminder Golu!