Dang is a student in city who is not very good in studies and has already failed twice for university entrance exam. Tired of his antics, his mother decides to bring him to the village to his grandma after finding out that there is this teacher in village who could possibly help Dang study. We meet Son, a young man, who has taken responsibility of teaching younger kids so that the family members can work. While not a teacher by profession, he reluctantly agrees to teach Dang. Initially as expected Dang is just not interested in studying, but as time goes on, Dang and Son become closer and form a bond of friendship, eventually leading to a love connection. Although the show doesn't really spend time on building their romance. The second story is between a deaf/mute girl trying to raise her younger sister meagerly by making hair ribbons. Accidentally, Quan bumps into her and he is smitten by her. He goes to Son to teach him ‘sign language’, so he can learn to speak her language. Son is adept in sign language as his younger sister was deaf as well. The exchanges between these two lead to a more meaningful love. All done with no words, just the beauty of gestures, which proved that sometimes no words are needed to convey emotions. The third story is again between two boys. An, is a rogue boy who goes around stealing in the village and Vi, who has just passed entrance exam but is also shy and quiet kinda guy. Their friendship deepens to where affection develops between the two. Perhaps even seeds of love and forbearance. Vi tries to get An onto a better path in life. But when Vi's mother finds out, she is completely against it and I think eventually Vi ends his life.
I really liked the rural setting of the village and the story. There's a healthy mix of age and gender among the supporting characters, including several older performers, which was also nice to see. The series tries to show us threefold tale of love. One gay, one straight, and one never to be. Sadly, the show has many storylines vying for the spotlight. In addition to the three romances, the background characters have minor subplots across multiple episodes. There's too much going on for a relatively short series, resulting in shallow emotional arcs. The overpacked narrative detracts from the character development. Dang and Son feel bland because they don't have enough focus. A BL drama should highlight the leads instead of making them compete against the secondary couples for attention. For Dang/Son relationship, I would say that one meaningful exchange of dialogues happen between Son and Dang's mother. She is worried that Dang is only son and that he should take family legacy forward. Plus she is worried that straight couples tend to stay together because of bond via marriage or kids but gay couples have no such bond and tend to grow apart more commonly. Son reminds her that ‘marriage is an identity that sometimes binds people legally and socially, but it is not the destination of love.” This 6-8 minute scene was the highlight of the series. I also enjoyed the loving sign language conversations between Quan and the boy who pursues him. It's very heartwarming and you see some pure love there. Besides that, I wanted to connect with the show but it just did not happen. Maybe I was too busy trying to find faults rather than taking a step back to enjoy the fragility of humans. This is a series of love told through ordinary eyes with ordinary people who are flawed, marginalized, and mostly forgotten. Sadly, due to its slight amateurish production and a screenplay that tries to cram too much in its limited time, this may not get the appreciation and love that it likely anticipates. (5/10)
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