I have been transported to another place, another life and I loved (almost) every minute of it. This almost felt like a documentary to me. I felt like I was spying on these two boys and their actual lives. It was so real, no natural. Excquisite.

First, I have to talk about the setting for this series. This small, impoverished neighborhood was such a fresh setting for me (I'm a Westerner, although I have spent plenty of time all over Asia). I loved the glimpse into the everyday lives of these simple people. I longed to go to Auntie's shop and have her make me breakfast, bicycle to the river to fish and even wash out my only pair of underwear to hang on the line. There was such dignity and love in all these details. Incredible art direction, cinematography and direction. Top notch.

The set-up was contrived (step-brothers don't know they are step-brothers), but it was set up well, so you could buy into easily. And when the reveal happened later, it felt like a natural progression and evolution, so you can forgive the conveniences.

The characters are complex. They struggle with their emotions in real time. Not much is forced here (with a few exceptions). I never felt like we fast-forwarded through important moments just to get the boys together sooner. I actually loved the playful teasing and pranking they each performed at the start. It felt fairly realistic and when Bai Luo. Yin sews Gu Hai's sleeves together I laughed a lot. Gotcha! The evolution of their friendship felt natural. Little moments meant so much. Secretly following your crush to school and home again. Sigh.

The actors are incredible. Again, so real, so raw, so natural. Rarely one false moment. At first, I didn't even think Timmy was that handsome. But as time went on and I grew to love both of these characters, he suddenly turned into one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. I fell in love with them both and wanted them to fall in love with each other so desperately. And can we talk about the Dad? First off, Dads are not my type. But I have a crush on Wang Dong. What a sweet, kind character as well. Despite his shortcomings, his love for his son is palpable and his desire to improve their lives admirable. He was so endearing. Great job.

There were a couple of odd/uncomfortable plot points. I felt the "let's masturbate together, everybody does it" moment was rushed. You might want to ease into that, especially when your bro is NOT into it. Worse, the kidnapping and attempted rape seemed to come from out of nowhere. It did not fit Gu Hai's character, to me. Yes he has a temper. But this was borderline sociopathic. I get that he's obsessed but how would you ever expect anyone to accept that. I was surprised it didn't have more of a negative impact on their relationship. That felt like a mis-step to me.

When they finally move in together it was everything I could ever hope for. Naturally, problems arise, but I loved seeing them move into a more comfortable, physical relationship. Unfortunately, I watched this on YT, so I think the sexy scenes were cut, but I didn't really need them. They made it quite clear what was going on under those bedsheets.

I'm sorry it ended so abruptly. I'm sorry we won't see a Season 2. I'm sorry these two have been banned from appearing together as well. They have great chemistry.

But I will watch this again and again. You should too.