I originally started this drama almost a year ago as this was one of the first dramas I had ever watched that made me fall in love with Chinese dramas. And almost a year later, I decided to finally finish it. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with this drama that made me stop watching a year ago. I was actually mad at myself when I found out that I stopped watching this drama at ep 33 out of 36, but a few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to finish this drama, and the only way to do it was to start from the beginning (hence the 10/10 rewatch score.)

When I first started getting into dramas, I somehow found myself only watching high school / college romance ones, but as I started exploring more into korean and chinese dramas, I strayed away from this narrative. So when I decided to rewatch this drama, it added a lot of nostalgia which ignited the love I had for these kind of dramas.

And I could go on and on about the things that I loved about this drama, but that would take super long and I doubt anyone would want to read my research paper. But I can say this: I loved the story of comeback and love in this drama. From the moment Yibai and Yun Duo met, it was an instant connection, even though it took them until ep 26 to finally confess. Their relationship was natural, and very innocent, yet passionate. I loved how they encouraged one another to reach their dreams, yet it took them a little bit to find the perfect mix between encouraging, yet finding their place in one another lives. Yun Duo, from day 1, knew that Yibai was special and no matter what, she would help him reach his dream of being the world's fastest swimmer, but because of that, she was willing to sacrifice her relationship with him, thinking she was a distraction. Yibai, on the other hand, was supportive of her dream, mentally, but didn't know how to express that to her in a way that she would feel supported. It honestly took until Lin Zi to call him out on it for him to realize. But once they finally confessed to one another, it seemed like nothing could tear them apart. Unfortunately, once that happened around ep 30, the drama seemed to take a turn and it seemed that QQ and Yangyang as well as Little One and Ouyang became the main characters in this drama. I think that is one of the things I didn't enjoy about this drama, not enough for me to not recommend it to anyone, but enough for me to be like, what happened to our main characters. Not only did the drama turn a little more intense because of Yibai's past catching up to him, but both Yibai and Yun Duo seemed to mature and change. Don't get me wrong, I am always happy for character development especially when in the beginning, both mains seemed to be kind of ditzy, but this is one of the only cases that I was ok with it. Even though they were both a tad air-headed, they were both very motivated people. Yun Duo, even though has lived through hardships, seemed to live in her own little bubble where everyone was always nice and would never do anything bad. Yibai had gone through hardships, worst than most, but his lax personality rubbed me a little in the wrong way that kind of left me with more questions. Don't get me wrong, Yibai has become a household name (in my house) for being "YaBoi" throughout the drama and especially the end, but he seemed to be so chill about things in his past that should have been important to ask questions. Such as Little One's disappearance. 4 years ago she was the main suspect in your suspension, and she "goes to study abroad" after this whole incident happened as well as after you rejected her feelings, saying that she was a little sister to you, yet in those 4 years, you didn't think it was weird that you both had 0 contact. Seems like ya'll were fake friends to me. It all seemed fishy to me. The 4 of them (Yibai, QQ, Ouyang, and Little One ) were best of friends in high school, yet after this incident, only Yibai and QQ remained friends. Then throughout the drama, QQ never seemed to care about Little One even after he found out what happened to her. Also, QQ and Ouyang never reconciled at the end. Makes me think QQ was just that guy in the group that everyone hungout with because he was Yibai's friend. Confused me.


I do believe, though, that QQ was my favorite character in this drama. He was quirky and straight to the point, except when it came for his romance with Yangyang. Plus, I admired the bromance he had with Yibai, but LOVED even more the friendship he had with Yun Duo. It seemed to me like he was acting the role of her big brother throughout the drama. Even though Yibai and him are "brothers," he was always protective of Yun Duo when Yibai did something stupid. Plus, after watching this drama, yes I am happy that Yibai made his comback, but I honestly thought that QQ was one of the strongest swimmers and I think that he would easily be on the national team along with Yibai and Ouyang. But one of the things I didn't like about him was how he treated Yangyang. Yes, they did get their "happily-ever-after" at the end, but to be honest, I didn't...care...per se. They definitely had more of a friendship relationship, which is cool, you want your best friend and partner to be the same person, but it did seem a little bland to me. The second time around when I started from the beginning, I skipped through all their parts. Happy they got together, but also, it's meh to me.

I also liked Lin Zi, but homie was a weirdo from the get go, always making moves on Yun Duo and catching her off guard, but to be honest, what didn't catch her off guard. It became a thing where she would react to everything with a surprised look. Especially all her open eyed shook kissing scenes. Weirded me out. But Lin Zi was cool, but just went about everything in a wild way. I see his good intentions...sometimes...but terrible execution. His ending was a little weird to me, but I also really disliked Cheng Mei so that doesn't help. Like the last time they had a conversation, he had told her if she didn't turn herself in for what she did to Yun Duo, he would make her life hell. Then we get this ending and I'm like, Lin Zi, please find someone better. But the drama also left "their" story open ended so I guess I can't be too mad? But also speaking of open ended endings, I thought Ouyang, even though a jerk, deserved better than Little One. It almost seemed that she finally gave up on her feelings for Yibai and decided that after all these years that she would give Ouyang a try. Given there was a 3 month time jump, she had some time, but she literally did some wild stuff to Yibai and for him that I think she needs to get some help before starting to get into a relationship with anyone.

I am sad that this drama came to an end, but I know that I will definitely want to rewatch this in the future. I recommend this drama to everyone even though the ending for the side characters were not my favorite, but I think Yibai and Yun Duo's story 100 times over makes up for it. I will also 100% go back and rewatch my favorite Yibai and Yun Duo moments in eps 26, 27, (30sih), 34, and 35. Also, of course, the ending scene in ep 36.

Also*** If you are going to watch this drama, do not watch the ending credits until the last ep. Literally, the ending credits are all important scenes from the last episode as well as major plot points throughout the drama. If you want to be spoiled then go ahead, but I always only watch the beginning credits in the first ep only, and the ending credits in the last. Almost like the opening credits give me a first glance at the drama, but only once, and the ending credits will always give everything away so I watch it at the end of the series.