2gether (2020)

Why so hyped?

Okay!!! I finally watched it and will write my honest review on this series. Me as an amateur Thai BL series watcher, I don't understand the hype about this drama. Maybe because I watched other BLs series such as "I told sunset about you", "Kinn Porsche", " Bad buddy" "The Untamed" or"A tale of 1000 stars" before I watched this series and therefore it has set high standards for me.

The worst thing for me about this series was the story and the chemistry between leads. I mean okay there was shortage of romantic chemistry between the leads here but even though if it was aiming to establish itself as a partial BL and bromance series, It failed terribly. I am not saying that there needs to be more intimate scene ,to make a series better. I always look for the narration and the acting. I mean let's take an example of the chinese series " The Untamed" or "Advance bravely" . These shows made me feel all the sizzling chemistry of the characters in every scenes that have left an imprint in my mind forever.

Also, the idea of the story seems to be intresting and would have been great if done with good execution and acting. They could have been given a better development of the story for the side couple. I also felt a bit of the plot to be slightly homophobic in the story at its initial episodes when Green was portrayed as an annoying character and Tine avoided him. Also the double standards of Tine being annoyed by Green pursuing him , by constantly following him and trying out different tricks and Tine doing the same thing with Sarawat. I mean even though it was supposed to be fake ... I have left no words to say. Just why???

Talking about the leads Both Bright and Win are good actors (considering the other projects) but the visuals and acting here did not aid to make the audience feel the emotions and compassion. Their chemistry was on and off with some awkward moments. I believe this is because the makers of the series did not invest time in workshops and thought the visuals are enough to make people's heart flutter(which seems to be true ,considering the hype).

Overall, it's a okay series and you can watch it for the Mesmerizing visuals of both Bright and Win ( Like come on !! I am really not complaining, they are beautiful)
But other than that , shouldn't expect more.

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Oh dear. I really shouldn't have bothered.

I'm going to be honest - I read too much about this series before I watched it to give an unbiased review. I read a lot of comments on the MDL page, I read comments on the YouTube videos and I read a lot of speculation about why this series went off the rails the way it apparently did.

After watching, I'm halfway convinced there was no other way it could go.

The whole premise of the plot was overturned in the first half of the series, leaving it nowhere to go. The story started as a fairly standard one in BL - Young man A (Tine) is being pursued by Young Man B (Green). Young Man A has no interest in B because he's interested in girls, not boys.

Which he declares multiple times an episode whilst also making a point to ogle girls he considers pretty and try to date them. Because he's not interested in boys. No sirree. Not at all.

Young Man C (Sarawat) just might be the exception. He's the traditionally masculine, very handsome and talented young man that A recruits to fake flirt with to drive B away. Young Man B, as is the case with most Thai BL's, has a high pitched voice and feminine mannerisms and is, well, a raging stereotype.

Kudos to this series, though, for avoiding the colourism usually present in Thai BL - B is as light skinned as the rest of them. Now if only one of the leads was darker skinned, it would've completely subverted the trope which would have been even better. Baby steps, I guess.

Then it turns out, as we find out about halfway through the series, that Green hasn't really been pursuing Tine seriously. He had recently broken up with his boyfriend Dim (the president of the university music club that Sarawat and Tine belong to) and was using Tine to make Dim jealous.

Now, if this had happened later in the series, it might have worked out better, but it happened so early that the series had about six episodes to try and fill in and the writers couldn't seem to figure out exactly what they wanted to do. They could have given a bit more time to the side couples, instead of wasting the acting talents of Frank and Drake by having them appear for five minutes every episode.

No, instead we get this mess that just irritated me.

Here's the thing: when Sarawat agrees to fake flirt with Tine to chase off Green, he declares he's going to actually flirt with Tine. And then he says he's not. And then he says he is. And then he says he was joking.

And it continues on like this for most of the episodes. Poor Tine, who you can see is beginning to develop feelings for Sarawat (even if he has Wei Wuxian levels of obliviousness about it), doesn't know whether he's coming or going because Sarawat is....well, tbh, I'm not sure what Sarawat is doing.

It *looks* like he's playing shitty mind games with Tine, but I suppose it could just be his insecurity over actually getting the chance to be with Tine.

Then we get to episode 12 and everything goes to hell-lite because Sarawat forgot himself and Tine's, for some reason, lost all his confidence. Has anyone seen that, by the way? It was around for about six or seven episodes and then slowly slunk away somewhere. If you do see it, send it back would you?

Tine catches Sarawat in an embrace (a very clearly one-sided one) with his "friend" Pam and jumps to conclusions and gets very upset and runs away and cries, and then runs outside (where it is now somehow night even though it was daylight five minutes ago) where he runs into Mil and collapses.

Sarawat comes along whilst Mil is bundling Tine into his car to take him to hospital and he forgets himself completely and doesn't just get into the car (which he would've done two episodes ago.) He doesn't visit Tine in hospital, (presumably because he's still forgetting himself) and ambushes Tine outside of it and *still* doesn't just get in the car before Mil drives Tine away.

The ending consists of Sarawat singing a song for Tine and asking him, in front of all the extras they could hire for this mess, if Tine trusts him again. It's the perfect setup for a kiss. No, really,. Since the end of episode 2, Sarawat has been the one doing all the flirting (and then denying that he's flirting but, you know, you have to have something to deny doing in the first place, so it *counts*) and Tine's been acting all shy and coy.

This would have been the perfect moment for Tine to initiate something. To take charge. To lean in and kiss Sarawat and then say his line. And does he do that? No. They re-unite, happy endings all round, and do they kiss after that? No. Sarawat has been obsessed with grabbing Tine's 'boobs' for the last 11 episodes so maybe he sneakily does that? Yeah, no.

These are the two most chaste young men I've ever seen on a drama series. "If you keep looking at me like that, I'll kiss you til you drop."

Yeah, right, Sarawat. You kissed him a grand total of: once.

And he didn't drop.

I guess double high-fives are the new kissing?

In summation (because this got really long and rant-y but I'm not sorry because this had the potential to be so bloody good and it was ruined) - don't bother. Bright and Win 's acting isn't bad, though they are outshone by Frank, Drake, Toptap and Mike, and the soundtrack is great, but this show got lost in adaptation and whoever wrote this should just stick to original material and not ruin any more books.

If I sound like a bitter old person, about this it's because I am.

Bah! Humbug!

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The best BL drama out there

This is that one drama that made me want to watch even more BL dramas. What I don't get is why are people criticizing it . I mean it does have a plot that is kind of overused and predictable but what matters is how it has been executed. Whoever decided to give Bright and Win the lead roles deserves an award. They played their parts as Sarawat and Tine so well that I found myself falling in love with the characters, this is very important in drama's because if the person who's watching doesn't get attached to the characters they may later find themselves dropping it. The acting was *chefs kiss*. Another thing that I loved was that things didn't happen all of a sudden we saw Tine starting to realize his feelings and then later accepting them. On the other hand, we saw that Sarawat despite his attitude to Tine when Tine approached him had liked him for some time. Then we see Tine struggling because of his insecurities thinking he wasn't good enough for Sarawat, and how Sarawat after finding out tells him that it doesn't matter in his eyes Tine is flawless. Another reason I kept watching were the friends of both, they were such crackheads now that I think about it. Also the side ship with was so cute. Lastly, the music was fantastic , the music always added a lot to the atmosphere and was always played in the right situation. Writing this makes me rewatch it for the 4th or 5th time I think

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Full of clichés, but realistic at the same time

The plot is definitely not the most innovative one, but something about this drama is overall charming. Starting with the brilliant cast: Win and Bright are born to act together, the chemistry was INSANE from episode 1.
The plot is just the same old story: two guys meet in university, one of them is in love, the other one just need to figure out he's a lil bit gay. They go through some drama, end of the day. I think the strenght point of this drama is how natural and realistic the dialogues, the actions, the thoughts of the main characters are. Like, what's going on there (or at least most of it) could happen in any university. I loved how the writers portrait Tine insecurities about himself and people around him, and how Wat, being a shy and introverted person, menage to understand him. And this is cute af.

If you're into fluffy and cute drama, easy to watch, this is just your tea.

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Sweet, Fluffy Drama That Reminds Me Of My First Love..

2nd Edit After Watching It 2nd Time!!
***
My score might surprise or even mocked by most of the people here who felt utterly disappointed with how the show had gone through in the second half. But believe me, I was a non-BL watcher (before watching The Untamed ofc, lol), as I just tipped my toe in BL world as of last month, this drama really really made me squeal out of the mainleads cuteness!!

Here's a cup of my thoughts :
❤(About SarawatTine's relationship)-After watching this the 2nd time, I just realized that they really represented high school romance in a campus setting. Their unmature mindsets & actions reminds me of my own love story back then. I gotta admit tho, despite all the ridiculous misunderstandings between them, I can relate the butterfly feels you had with your highschool sweetheart..it felt awesome tbh..
I know now why people often said that their relationship went flat line on the 2nd half of the drama. It's because they're each other fist real love guys!

Even tho Tine has went out with countless girls before, but being with Sarawat made him change for better or worse. He-for the first time felt the insecurities by loving & being with Sarawat. He had to come up with the reality that he's not straight, had to face the backlash from Sarawat's fans & first love & he even felt insecure with himself, plus he's trying to getting used to receiving love from his partner as I saw it he literally felt deeply overwhelmed with how fast his relationship has been going..It's normal & relatable af..It's heart wrenching to see how Tine ALWAYS WENT SICK every time he had fights with Sarawat. He's indeed truly madly deeply in love with Sarawat even if he didn't said or showed it out aloud. I think Sarawat might be The One for him as he was able to bring up Tine's side that even he didn't know exist before..

For Sarawat, I think he's just not used to being with someone else beside himself. Remember before meeting Tine, he liked to just cave in & enjoy his own company. He always saw Tine as his 'star'-far, brightening, warming but unreachable. He dare to flirted with him, but when the situation turned to serious tone, he still needs to learn how to cope with couple problems.. I think When Tine finally became his boyfriend, he also felt the awkwardness of finally being with his crush & he just didn't know how to show Tine the love that he deserved..Well damn, Tine is his first boyfriend, it's understandable that he still felt shy, couldn't comprehend Tine's feelings/not sensitive yet, decided to cover up something bcs he thought it's not a big deal or not finished yet. His actions were not simple mistakes, but still understandable..The only solution to their problems are communication & trust. Thank God, they made the sequel, bcs if not, I may not rate this drama this high!!

They may start with instant attraction/insta love at first sight, but their real relationship took time to actually happened. The overall flirting process was *chef kiss*. You might enjoy the drama the most, bcs of this. Even tho they really had limited time of showing skinships/intimate scenes, I still felt their chemistry. Honestly guys, we gotta admit that not every BLs have to have s*x/steamy scenes, right? Even tho the production team did cut most from those scenes that actually might help with easing their stiffness, but I agree with a principle : just bcs you date someone, it doesn't mean we have to made love with him/her all the time. Maybe the production team just wanted to focus on the main love plot..Idk..

BUT, I must add that I finally felt something different in the 2nd half of the drama. I think that the director should be in charged with how stiff they are in some of the episodes..Like the one where Sarawat just 'slapped' Tine's head while he said that he couldn't stay mad with him, felt more like bromance than romantic relationship. It should be Sarawat petting Tine's head/neck. And another one would be the infamous hand clap at the last episode. It should be Sarawat gave Tine a kiss from the stage. Imagine that! How epic & romantic it'd be.

Their body language still showed the awkward vibe of two straight actors trying hard to act up as couple. But hey, they honestly has tried their best to act up the script and those small moments/gestures (eye contacts, shy smiles & blushes from Tine esp, sexy glares from Sarawat, etc) and I appreciate that..

❤Those pickup lines tho!! Welp for all of you BG drama lovers like me in the past, it's time for you to get to know BL world. Really, The Untamed was the one who first introduced me, but this drama was the one who made me realize what I've been missing on all this time. At some point, you will not get the same high excitement when you watch BG dramas. Damn, Watt's pick up & flirty lines still made me fan my self. He is one of greatest king of pick up lines in any drama history. The way he delivered them with those sexy glares made my legs go weak.

My favourite line would be "If I have a boyfriend, I will shower/worship him with kisses from his head to his shadow"..Damn, where would you find sexy and hot pick up lines like this in BG dramas??

❤They wanted to show another side of BL dramas, as they wanted to focus more on fluffy, lovey dovey sweet romance. I don't really mind tho, for a new BL lover like me, their scenes are more than enough to please my eyes and heart..

❤Loveable characters like Green (love his whole vibe, strong & confident character, loving & forgiving nature), Mil (love his way of showing love and despite the initials heat, he showed that his morals is admirable), Man (as the ultimate matchmaker for his bestfriends. You can't help wishing to have a supportive friend like him in rl).

❤I love how they decided to show that the mainleads relationship IS NOT PERFECT. Bcs in rl, all of these things happened. I knew it bcs I went through it. For example, when you passed on the honey moon phases, you will eventually had insecurities around your partner, or feeling oblivious with your partner's feelings or even wanted some space. It can't be helped and it's normal, as long as they are able to work things out in the end, and they did! Just take the good things from what you watch, don't mock the actors or even the script..I have watched far far worse relationships than mainleads, that clearly screamed toxic, dangerous & red flags.

❤Great osts!! I really love the musical pieces. The sweet and almost nostalgic melodies from Scrubb's / mainleads songs really brought your past memories. I love "Everything" & "Sarawat" (in the sequel) the best!

"Sarawat" 's lyrics really did bring myself to tears. We all know Wat's undying love for Tine, but for Tine as a former straight guy who only had eyes for girls, the whole relationship with Wat was utterly new and foreign yet soothing him. It frightened him at some point, as he knew that Sarawat was far from his ideal type, but he also knew that the only true joy & happiness will only come from Wat..His journey of finding, realizing and holding on to his true love was what really made me tear up.. :")

What I don't really like :

(-)How they wanted to romanticize the trope of turning someone that is clearly as day a straight guy into gay. Even tho I didn't felt any red flag in Wat's actions, but I admit that in the first few episodes I felt cringe on how Green always pestered on him even tho he clearly showed no interest (but bless Green for his sweet & forgiving heart tho), how Watt's being overly jealous & possessive even tho at that time Tine was not his partner or even how Man literally stalked and pushed Type to like him in return.

(-)HOW LITTLE TINE'S FRIENDS BACKGROUND STORIES! Like they actually really complemented this series with their comedic and legendary dialogues, but sadly they really were there as side character that ONLY support Tine's actions. The only reason they showed up was for giving Tine love advices or chasing up on girls. They need justice aka more stories that they deserved (they're one of the biggest reason why Wat & Tine can be together)

(-)THE CHOPPY TRANSITION. Damn, this drama actually had big potentials in the plot line & casts, but our production & editing team really had the nerve to make the relationship seems stiff and almost laughable in some scenes as the transitions were not smooth at all. From cinematography stand point, I'd rate it 6/10.

(-)LITTLE AMOUNT OF PARENTS SCENES. They really needed to address how their parents would actually reacts on their sons's relationships (both Wat & Tine's parents). Bcs even if Thai is more open to gay couples these days, it can't be helped that a lot of families really condemn this kind of relationship.

(-)Lastly, I really wanted to know why Type was crying on the Meditation trip. He was shown holding on to a photo and crying looking into it, but sadly we never knew the reason why..

Overall thoughts : Try it guys!! You will not disappointed if you see it as a whole (don't focus on the last two episodes, but try to pretend that the spinoff was the missing piece/continuation of this series).

It's another simple, sweet, fluffy and heart warming drama, it's cliche but it taught you that when you fell in love it was just love that really matters. Tine & Wat is the example of despite being gays, but they only had eyes for each other. It's same with BG relationships, it just happened that they are both boys.

Would rate it 9/10!! ❤❤

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Fully expected to hate, but it was fun!

After what I have read about 2gether, I thought I would end up clowning it, but here we are. I actually enjoyed it. It was light and fun and dumb, sure sometimes stupidly silly.

BrightWin do not have the kind of chemistry that makes you fall to your knees and beg for more moments, sometimes they just seem like really good Bros who happen to share a bed.
Win was actually pretty decent in his role considering his little experience at that point. Bright's acting repertoire seems to be blinking and squinting like 2/3 of the drama, but I do believe he got better lol
I have seen far less interesting chemistry in a bl though, so it was fine.

All the singing though ... I could have lived without but they are in the music club after all.

The friends together are a riot and fun, I often found myself laughing and enjoying myself.

If you like a little bit of fake dating au with emotionally constipated characters and really dumb friends, you will enjoy it!

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Still I can't get over this drama and brightwin...❤️

This drama is something that made me to be a part of brightwin fandom.I gave it a try because my friend told me to...I don't watch it's trailer and just started watching it on around aug 2021..and actually i am not fed up with BL series.And it's my personal opinion that I love this drama so badly and that's the reason I couldn't get over it after all these days..Each episodes gave me butterflies and I was so eager to know what the next episode will be..Both the leads acting is so good and that is to be praised...If you like to watch it,give it a try.That's all I would like to say...
Thank you?

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I was surprised...in s good way!

OK, I might get lynched here, but here we go! I just watched this and to be honest, due to all the negative comments, I was expecting something so much worse. I had a lot of fun watching these dorks work together. Even though their interactions are kinda awkward (it was supposed to be like this since they are both experiencing new things), the chemistry was there. Hear me out. Tine was falling in love and also with a boy for the first time, and Sarawat was experiencing love and expressing it for the first time as well (we never knew if he liked girls before or boys). I didn't see their relationship forced because, like I said before, it was kind of supposed to be like this to go with the story. However, the way they looked or smiled at each other was always so sweet and warm. I also watched F4, and they were kinda the same in their own characters (awkward). Their acting can definitely improve. Also, not everyone responds the same way when they are attracted to a person. I mean, there are so many factors that can influence this that if I continue this will take a while ^^. That is why I don't think "their awkwardness" was because of their sexual orientation. It does not matter if they are or aren't gay in real life; they are actors, and just because you are gay or straight does not mean you will end up or will like your fellow actor/actress. Remember that. They are actors, and that is their job at the end of the day. If later they discover they also like each other and end up being friends or more, that is apart from the series.

For a BL to be good, it does not have to have a lot of kissing or sex scenes. If they are there, then it is definitely a plus. However, it is not required. And also, we have to keep in mind that we are talking about a gay couple, and unfortunately, not everyone is so open about it, and this director was straight and apparently not that fond of it. (hence the lack of these types of scenes). However, not all couples are the same, and each one of them has its own unique dynamic. We have the more shy ones and also the more IDGAF types of couples xD, so we cannot expect the same all the time in all the BL's. Also, that script?they can only do so much!

Mind you that I come from watching, Together with me, Manner of Death, Tharntype and KinnPorshe. So I know what a good kissing and romance scene is, but not all of them are the same nor require the same dynamic. It is true that this one had a lot of stupidity, and cringing/cliché scenarios going on for a while (Mile and the whole Pam thing for example? so unnecessary) but at the same time since they were feeling all this for the first time I guess I understood, when you fall so hard for a person, sometimes you do stupid things ?‍♀️, unfortunately. I agree it could have been better written. However, it was the development that they had as individuals and as a couple. That is what love is supposed to do for you; it changes you for the better, and I saw that here in both of them. Their acting is a little rough, like I said. Yeah, that is true. However, they are young, so that can improve with time. I really see them as a great duo, with bromance, yes, but also with love, and that is the goal at the end, to have a partner that you can be yourself with, that is your best friend but also your lover, I think they managed to portray that connection and character development here. I don't know what you guys saw, but to me, Tine's eyes and smile every time he saw Sarawat getting closer to him or just looking at him, it was as if he was melting. Not only him, though. I mean, their stares and smiles were what got me. Also, they are dumb and dumber together, LOL.

Anyway, this is my unbiased opinion since I did not come because of the hype or where the pandemic was starting. I came here after watching a lot of BL's and some of them right now are the best of the best, and for me, this wasn't so bad, I really enjoyed it. Like I said before, I was scared of all the negative comments and was expecting the worst, but their awkwardness, shyness, and silliness made it funny and enjoyable for me. I will be watching still 2gether to be able to give my complete feedback. However, I do hope we can get to see them in more mature roles together as a couple again because, for me, they have a unique and sweet connection.

If you got this far, I thank you for your patience and hopefully this was a little useful/clarifying if someone felt the same as me before watching <3
 

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I couldn't give this one to high of a rating even though I liked it...

1st thing first... the chemistry between Wat and Tine was pretty good, you could see their thoughts (in a way) from their longing stares, the shy looks they gave, they were successful in giving so many feelings by just looking. The story was a simple story, lighthearted, funny and romantic. The story was moving smoothly, didn't feel too rushed like some can.

The acting was good for the most part they all did a good job. There were a few mess-ups but nothing really to write about, besides others have that I saw. :)

Now for the negative things about why I didn't rate this to high.

The whole best friends coming in acting like she can just come in and push Tine away and get Wat for herself, that WHOLE thing DID NOT need to be there AT ALL! There was no point in it at all. They just wanted something else in there for a problem that they had to over come, which they didn't have to because it should not have been to be there.

I know not all BLs need to have the hot scenes in order to be good and all, but come on, what couple NEVER kisses, cuddies, holds hands or anything couple like? All Wat ever did was pat his head? Come on, that is nothing! There were scenes where it would have been good for them to kiss. Their relationship just seem like they were really good friends who loved each other. It could have been so much better if they made it out like a couple and not just friends.

The music, I guess it fit, I just didn't really like most of the songs in here, but that's just me.

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Looking back on this show now that my life doesn't actually depend on it

Some minor spoilers, mostly pondering on character aspects.

So I watched 2gether as it was being released and I can say with confidence that I'm not the only person who depended on this and a few other early pandemic releases to keep me going. This show has had so many profoundly positive impacts on me, especially in introducing me to Scrubb which has become a precious part of my musical support. That said, I think we may have jumped the gun on this one, my friends.

It wasn't bad. I see accusations of it being a bromance rather than a romance which I disagree with. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the show is that the relationship goes at its own pace, even if that is slower than others. I felt the lack of, shall we say, "intense" romantic scenes was to the show's benefit both story wise and for the actors themselves. Tine is not a character that is overly physically affectionate; him immediately jumping into an intense physical relationship isn't in his character. Not to mention Wat's never being in a relationship. If they did go fast, it would have felt forced. It might be the Ace in me, but I love when shows don't feel the need to insert those more explicit scenes. Not all relationships look the same and after this full rewatch I still felt the romance there, felt the love.

That said, it wasn't bad but it also wasn't a masterpiece. There are times when the acting or line delivery is awkward, times with messy audio, times when the characters do dumb things and fight over even dumber things. Like most dramas, 99% of the problems would be solved if the characters would just take a moment and discuss things. Eventually, they usually manage to do just that after a stressful amount of unnecessary antics.

2gether wasn't bad and it wasn't a masterpiece, but it was still alright. It was fine, above average even. I think if you like the fake dating trope it's a good choice for you. The music theming is also a high point. Even if you've never heard of Scrubb, they have a sound that immediately brings a feeling of tenderness and nostalgia and that is the feeling that Tine and Sarawat also conjure when they're together.

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I will kiss (stare at) you till you drop

I had a hard time rating this drama because I binge watched first 10 episodes and they were cute. Nothing too complicated but still entertaining.

Sarawat is cute with his flirting and jokes. Tine is a dumbass but he is a funny dumbass.

Then ep 11 happened and somehow it started going downhill and their lack of chemistry was more visible.

I understand that people show love in different ways but they were too awkward for two people in love. They seemed like very good friends and that's it, nothing more. They had more chemistry when they were chasing each other than when they were in a relationship.

When they moved in together, I stared at the screen and felt nothing.

Then we got the Pam plot because a girl in a bl must be evil. She disappeared as fast as she appeared so I don't see why adding her was necessary.

For the sake of drama? Well, the drama wasn't entertaining.

And the worst of all, they break up in the last episode, get together and give us a half baked happy ending. It's happy but I stopped caring.

We also have characters disappearing for a long time, to the point I forget they are in the story. One example - Green, they started fake dating because of him but he suddenly disappears in the middle of the story.

I hated the plot with Mil and Phukong, it feels like Phukong is a replacement for Tine. Also, why would you like your brothers enemy that's chasing his boyfriend. Have some self respect. I liked when Phukong took revenge for Sarawat but that didn't last long since he continued to chase Mil later.

Overall, it started cute with a lot of potential but ended leaving a bland taste in my mouth. I can't even say this drama is bad, it's just meh.

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