Very soild slow burn high school romance, but could be way more better

(If you don't like slow burn romance, coming of age, step-brothers romance; you won't like this story.)
[Update:- WHY THEY DECIDED TO END IT LIKE THISSSSSSSS?]

This is my first ever review cuz English isn't my first language, but mou mou forced me to write this.
This drama made me a lot of emotions, but most of it was warm and nostalgia.
This drama reminds me of the good semi-old high school c dramas, like when we were young s1 and suddenly this summer but way more towards Taiwanese vibes (ofc cuz it's a taiwanese drama).

What i really liked:-
1- the acting, most of the actors showed a very soild steady performance except for some people. but overall the acting was good.
2- the way the director shows the harmony between the classmates was awesome, very awesome actually. It made me feel like that was a real class. how they tease each other, rooting for each other, their friendships, how little pepper had a cute crush on sheng wang, and how gao tian yang liked little pepper but he knew that she liked someone else. even the jealousy and hatred that jiahao had for wang, it felt real, cause sometimes -especially in middle and high school- you would meet (or had met) someone that hated you for a reason or not. it all felt so real, and that's very good.
3- the complexity in SW's and JT's families was good. whether you liked those characters or not, the dynamic between them was good. how JT's mother regretted how she left him and wanted to make up for him but JT had moved on and wanted to assure her that he doesn't blame her. or how JT resented his own biological father because his trauma. or how SW had a close-not-very-close relationship with his dad. It was portrayed very well.

What i don't like/ hate:- (maybe you'll see it a very small thing but it distracted me very much)
1- i hated it how the director was telling us in some scenes "look, JT is taller than SW. It looks like the novel, right?"
I didn't read the novel btw -cuz i don't have money ??- but i know that in novel that JT was taller than SW, i think it's not that big height difference but still. In the first episode, when SW first transferred into the class and met JT for the first time and JT stood up against SW, i rolled my eyes. nothing throws me off like the forced height difference. and in the third episode when JT kissed SW, the dictator made liu dong qin (actor who played SW) for the second time looked smaller against Benjamin (the actor who played JT), it looked and felt really bad.
2- the flashbacks when SW's mother was alive, those scenes felt like the editor chose a very cheap filter for them. it annoyed me a little but not very much.
3- the biggest flaw in this series is teacher jing, not her in specific, but the trio (jing- xi- linzi)
If you -the production team- were aware that when you brings ml actor, this actress will tag along; you had two options:- 1-you stick to original novel plot. 2- if you would change the plot, pls at least write a good script for her and the other two.
You decided to not follow any of the options above and it led to disaster, to the point that a lot of people skipped their scenes towards the end. i won't write any specific scene but at least, couldn't you -screenwriters- made them looked more mature adults? cuz the way they behaving was like a childish, emotional teenagers who can't take any decision.

I watched 11 eps out of 12. The rating now depends on the final ep. Is the rating gonna go up or down? I don't know. but if i update this review, I'll update it after finishing the final ep.

The update:- that final episode.... i swear to god, IF YOU CANNOT WRITE A SCRIPT, THEN STICK TO ORIGINAL NOVEL PLOT!!!!!
It's not even a sad nor an open ending, it's like a normal ep that makes you feel like there's next episode after it.
The 12 ep is so exaggerated, SW's actions somehow make sense to me. He's just realized that he likes his step brother and thinking that what he was doing is wrong so he decided that he gonna switch classes.
JT's actions didn't make sense to me AT ALL, when he knew that SW switched classes, he made me feel like it's the end of the world, like SW had been in lethal accident, like he's in SW's funeral. Why did he act like this when he obviously can just walk upstairs to see him? And they're still in the same dorm, and even if SW decided to move out, he can still move out as well to their home, IT'S NOT THAT DEEP.

now, how bad the final ep is? Let's just pretend that the novel doesn't exist and this series based on original script, if we do that then you gonna realize how bad it is. It's like you have been building a house for the past few months only to suddenly realized that you build a house of cards and a mere air destroy it. That's how the final ep felts. After all this buildups, interactions & feelings only to crumble down and go back to the beginning line. That's not how to end a series especially when you're not so sure if there's a second season or not. By doing this you disrespected the novel fans and the drama fans!!!

There's only two reasons for me so that you decided to end it like that:- 1-that the drama is actually not a 12 episodes drama but more than this.
2- that you decided to change a major events in the original plot, like you decide to not make SW & JT couple when they're teenagers, you decided that when SW switched classes, SW&JT will have a minimal contact and after that somehow JT or SW will travel overseas then after 10 years they meet again. Im gonna be very angry at you if you decided to do that.

However, this episode left a bad taste in my mouth to the point that made me downrate the overall rating.

I hope anyone read this have a good day or a good night or a good sleep❤.

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