From the moment that I saw the trailer and mv for this drama, I just knew that I had to try it. The chemistry between the leads, Tong Xi and Lin Nan Yi, felt so strong the second I saw clips of them together in the music video and trailer, and the music was so catchy and sweet. AND THEN the moment that I tried it, WOW I was sucked into their story. The OST is also soooo good! And no one is dubbed!

Let me explain in detail below:

Although you can expect what cliches the story will be using and what might happen next (with this story being old childhood friends reuniting and all), there was never a boring or cringy moment. It felt so new even though I know these tropes and have seen them in many other dramas before. The casting may be the reason for this because they finally cast main leads who are not a tall male lead and a much shorter female lead with a short bob hair cut. The female lead is also not a poorly performing student and the male lead, not a smart and aloof person. This drama finally put two students in high school (main leads) who are equals in academics and not having the typical character development lines (as deskmates, enemies). With the different types of male and female leads we are given, the story felt much more engaging and new even though the tropes were still the same old ones. And yeah, although the main leads are not exactly unique either, they felt new (with Nan Yi being a manhwa writer and Tong Xi a ballerina tomboy). The supporting roles also played a large part in this, by having hilarious little arguments and chemistry that is unlike the supporting roles I have seen in other youth dramas. They added to the main leads' story and made everything feel more real and grounded. All of this made the story feel like I could actually see these types of characters in a small island like this somewhere. SO, even with some tropes and forced cliche moments (ex: rain scene and when Nan Yi came back), it was still fun to watch.

With such casting choices, the cliche moments become more cute and sweet instead of feeling so cringe and overused. It feels like a new idea and more creative (though it doesn't seem like it is on the surface level) that makes you want to keep watching. This makes each episode so so so so so enjoyable to watch and I felt so sad each time I finished an episode because I knew I was getting closer to the end of their story. There are still some moments where it is very obvious that the writer is trying to force a trope, but the characters make it so easy to look over it (ex: the rain scene where Nan Yi is standing in the rain downstairs at Tong Xi's house). The fact that this happens is really the magic of this drama. This is the first time where I watched a youth drama where I expected the tropes and it didn't bother me for even one moment because I just loved seeing the cast on screen. I couldn't help smiling and having my heart flutter for all of them when normally for other dramas, I would just roll my eyes. At the end, I even wished there were more of those cliche scenes just because I want to see the main couple and supporting couple more!

The acting is also pretty good for such new rookie actors/actresses. The main leads and supporting characters carried their characters well and delivered the emotions above my expectations. It was my first time watching everyone in this drama and they all did great. Although they can definitely improve, I think they all brought their characters to life, particularly Lin Nan Yi, Tong Xi, Tao Zhu, and Wang Yi Ming. Any scene with any one of them were so fun to watch, especially with Wang Yi Ming. There were some more side roles (Ni Xiao Wan's parents, some kid actors) that were weak at delivering lines, since they felt like they were just reciting their lines and forcing the emotions to the viewers, but they don't take away from the story.

Finally, the story discusses very real concerns that high schoolers have. For example, Tong Xi and Xiao Wan's desire to be liked and attempts to lie to create a fake image of themselves. Or, Tong Xi's struggle to decide what she wants to do in the future (since ballet is not her dream). These are all very real problems that kids in high school deal with. Even as you get older, these are concerns that people likely have because we all wish to be liked by others, to fit in, and to know what we truly want for ourselves. It was nice seeing these in the characters and watching their journey.

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE THE TITLE OF THE DRAMA! The writer did well to connect the entire story to the mint plant and the main leads' 'engagement' to each other when they were kids. It was cute to learn what the mint plant means in flower language and how this is Tong Xi and Nan Yi's story.

BUT one regretful thing is that there are only cute eye contact or smile scenes between Tong Xi and Nan Yi! No real dating or skinship scenes at all! They only had 1 hug and 1 handholding scene (which wasn't even a close up of them) which is so sad since they look so cute together. The writer only gave a lot of cute Nan Yi smiling secretly at Tong Xi, or them two smiling at each other.. :( So I feel like I didn't get enough of this couple. The side couple at least got a peck on the cheek but nothing for the main leads!

SO PLEASE GIVE THIS DRAMA A TRY BECAUSE YOU WON"T REGRET IT!!!!!!!! YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH TONG XI & NAN YI!