I wish we could have gotten to see the growth of true Chinese BL screen adaptations so that this isn't the legacy they are left with. Look, even with the poor image quality of the version I found, you could tell these actors were doing a great job portraying their characters. You could hear everything in their voices. Glee. Reservation. Relief. And you can definitely feel bad for the plight they are in, but it's way too fast-paced to really connect with the characters and feel impacted by the story (without the associations and emotions lingering from other productions with similar plots that is, or without the personal experiences being attached to their plight). The pace very much feels like it belongs to a collection of short films, rather than one full-length one, or characteristic of multiple unannounced time skips.

Furthermore, it's just really really hard to root for Lu Feng. Their relationship is so incredibly toxic and harmful. He's headstrong, aggressive, authoritative, and immature. And grand gestures simply can't fix everything. And you'd think that, considering they know the plight they are in, that they would be more careful about their actions in public.

I absolutely adored the music though. And there were some really memorable scenes. Such as the custom couple rings done at the beginning of the movie - that I really wish we see more of in other productions. The surprisingly good amount of communication (not enough to even begin to contradict all that's wrong in their relationship, but it is there). And there were a couple of scenes that remind of my much beloved scenes from Skam and Semantic Error.

Honestly, it could have been a great movie (sequel events aside), if only Lu Feng wasn't so incredibly toxic. But alas, I do understand that it's probably MEANT to be toxic (from what I know about the sequel). I don't think we're supposed to think it's romantic.