I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
We meet Yuha, a young boy who does odd jobs here and there to keep afloat. He lives with his older brother Taeha, who runs a bar. He is not his real brother but they were both alone as kids and grew up together with Taeha taking good care of Yuha. Yuha wants to become independent. His odd jobs include nude modeling, toilet cleaning and pretending to be someone's lover. During one such incident, his paths cross with Min U. The guy works in a IT company and is tired of his family connecting him with girls and his reputation in office as anti social. He hires Yuha to pretend to be his boyfriend so that he can earn more respect and his family can get off his back, which works to a great extent. Seeing Yuha buy snacks with another boy doesn't go well with Taeha, who has secretly harbored feelings for Yuha. Yuha's closest friend Jaemin meanwhile likes Taeha but can never confess his feelings. Just when everything is going ok between Yuha and Min U, enter a villain girl, CEO and close friend of Min U, who gives an offer to Yuha to pretend to be her boyfriend for much larger sum. She also manipulates Taeha into leaving Yuha alone. This is where the whole series gets messy for no reason at all. Anyway senses prevail, Min U realizes that he is really falling for Yuha and wants him in his life for good, the girl realizes how stupid she was to play such games and through Jaemin's love, Taeha now will learn to live without Yuha but with a new love.
The adorable show started off really well. It was light hearted, with young very good looking leads and just fluffy kinda show. When Min U hires Yuha, their chemistry and the scenes where Yuha pretends to be his boyfriend in front of t if friends and then with family were cute to watch. You could also see how Taeha is clearly in love with Yuha who has no idea about it. Everything was going fine till the makers decided to just bring the plot crashing down by bringing in the sweet but manipulative girl. It was just not necessary. There was already enough drama that could have been added with the four characters. This show needed to stick with its charming and comforting tone that was really working very well for me. The casting feels polished as every character has a likeable quality, even in their quirks, and there’s a familiar comfort in their company. I found myself immediately drawn to the main leads, whose clashing personalities are quite appealing to me. When it comes to looks, I felt Taeha was absolutely gorgeous. Even though he was not the main lead, he is strikingly handsome with a beautiful smile. The short episodes of the series was a huge plus and thankfully no side character stories were added just for the heck of it. Overall, I would say that this series was a good light and cute watch, where I found myself even chuckling at few times. The 3-4 scenes where Yuha poses as a nude model were nice and cute to watch. The passionate kisses in the last episode were icing. (6.5/10)
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