I didn’t expect to enjoy this drama, but I did. I’m a sucker for friends-to-lovers, with a sprinkling of slow-burn, so I’m as good as dead. 

For starters, I’m rooting for a main character who is not your typical “hot Oppa“ lead, without needing to subscribe to beauty standards in order to be “accepted” by society. I find Tubby Kang so much more adorable before he lost weight because he was truer to himself and less conscious of trying to please others. And his chemistry with the FL before his transformation was palpable.  

Jia Wei and Jing Jing was an accidental pairing that neither could have predicted. They were constantly at each other’s throats, but we all know that all this is just play-fighting and nothing serious. Their banter was so fun to watch, but when push comes to shove, they motivate each other to become better people.  

Throughout the drama, we see both being oblivious, especially in the beginning, and both were also pinning their hopes on other people. To this end, Gao Zhan and the other Jing Jing become receptacles of the MC’s misplaced feelings. Neither memorable for their acting, nor essential to the plot, except perhaps to give platform to the MC’s stories.  

Speaking of the plot, I must say the final episodes did not impress me. It seemed like the writers didn’t know what to do with the material, so they threw a wrench in or two, just to give a conflict that was really petty to begin with. And because of this, these supposedly BFFs became incommunicado for like some years, and you expect me to believe that once they saw each other, all is well in the world? If they wanted to do this prolonged silent treatment as a sub-plot, they must also do a gradual progression on how both came to terms with their feelings, and not just slap a bow with no explanation whatsoever, except for some cringe-inducing finale. This really put a dent on an otherwise good drama.