#jeng my guy i know what you're trying to say but it is not what you're actually saying

[iguessitsjustme]

I actually spit out my drink

[bengiyo]

Hidden Agenda Ep 7 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Joke began to fray in his pursuit of Zo. Zo's friend didn't like the way Joke pushed Zo to try new food, and Zo also managed to clear things up with Nita. I'm having a difficult time reading Zo when it comes to Joke, but it's encouraging to see him trying to become more comfortable with their intimacy.

I feel like we've been to this amusement park so much lately in BL.

They're giving out headphones at amusement parks now? Goddamn.

I like that Joke pushes himself to do things outside of his comfort zone with Zo, even if it results in yet more vomit.

Title, again! He and Papang are just gonna keep showing up everywhere??

I feel so bad for Zo. I don't get why Puen did this to him, but it at least gives context for why Zo has been so weird.

Yeah, I'm pretty mad about this Puen guy and Zo's unnamed former best friend. Wonder if Title will go 3/3 as a douche in Only Friends.

Just a boy and his tote bag against the world.

I'm going to need to spend some time thinking about the "cool image" thing. It came up in Minato 2 recently as well.

I'm not sure where we're taking Pok and Jeng on this closeted story.

Whoa, what's the deal with Joke's grandma??

Man, I do not like when they have older characters affect disdain that could be read as homophobic to test the prospective partner.

You're not dating? What the hell do you call the last few days, Zo??

He's got grease on his tiddies. You should do something about it.

Why did we go from that emotion drop on the reveal that Nita also wants the Finland prize only to end the meeting with the advisor with the beginning of Love Score??

Now we're having a Zo health scare from overwork?

More vomit? Okay.

This is such a strange dating episode.

I don't trust QR codes for payment.

Suddenly, Puen. At least the introduction earlier is playing out this episode.

Dunk did better in this second scene with Title. The anger in his eyes translated well this time.

I'm okay with Zo finally getting in the same wavelength after confronting a guy who hurt him. At least they can say boyfriends now.

Joong does tension really well.

Zo, my dude, you are going to drive this man wild. Still, glad he finally kissed Joke like he meant it

Oh lord the stalker is back next week.

This show always leaves me feeling a little off. I don't know. I'm struggling.

[shouldiusemyname]

Well I watched episode 8 of step by step, and let me tell you something, I was having emotions. So many emotions... Probably because I insisted on rewatching all the eps this week tbh. (Just a quick warning - this has no linear thread as I am as overwhelmed as poor Jeng 🥹)

First of all Put -

you are one manipulative manipulating person you are. You have been pushing buttons since the beginning telling Pat that you're afraid of being rejected because Pat is now able to say no. Then, the baby shark. Then, saying I love you like that?!

As for his conversations with Jeng - they are the best translated conversations in this show. Jeng is trying so hard to outbitch Put, bless him, but Put is crushing his tiny Pat loving heart.

Now, Jeng. Poor Jeng. I love that he is a gay man, with an ex from a different country. This makes so much sense now! Him running away 2 years ago, leaving the company, going to america. This need to run away is very relatable (especially with frequent visits abroad). I really have no idea if his father knows he's gay, and I can't figure out if Put implying that his reputation will suffer if he comes out, freaks him out because it's a gay relationship or a boss/subordinate relationship. However, Put has managed to shake him.

I said it before about this show, and I'll say it again, I love that this show gives us queers being confident in their identity. All of them are so comfortable being who they are, and it's just heartwarming to watch. As for Jeng, he knows what he wants, he knows that Pat is gay (thank you annoying co-worker), and he is very much in love with him. He's trying so hard to send all the signals, but Pat is trying so hard to ignore his attraction and feeling that he just can't see it. So his insecurities are based on the fact that Pat doesn't look at him the way he looks at Pat.

I loved their taxi ride with Jeng trying soooo hard not to put his arm around Pat. I think it was 4 times that he lifts his arm and settles on resting his elbow on the back rest. He is holding back so much that my muscles are hurting.

I don't know about you guys, but I shed some tears this ep. I was an emotional mess for both Pat and Jeng, and I can't wait to see Pat's freakout next week.

[gg-carboxylase]

Got ahold of Step by Step episode 12. We needed 2 more episodes as usual with these series.

If you've not watched the show, please do. It's worth your time, even if you feel like you're wading thru the first few episodes. It's slow burn. This is not horny hours. This is really office hours.

Spoilers under the cut obvs.

Some meta. Mostly my opinions.

I wrote that paragraph before the Mildly Spicy Bed Makeout. I kind of enjoy that Jeng shooed Pat to the shower For Reasons. At least, I personally infer bottom reasons but that's just me. Still, I would have liked more spice à la Bed Friend, but I'm a thirsty ho.

I'll get this admission off my chest — I'm bummed that we got those really spicy kisses and that's as far as it went. KP and Domundi productions spoiled me, obviously. Did I want to see them fake fuck? Yeah. I'll admit it.

The scene where they were writing out then deleting their text messages was acted to perfection.

Hot take — Ben is the worst ugly crier. We love him anyway.

Jeng is a stalker, he needs to learn to go less hard. He also needed to resign like, 2 years earlier from the company. Good for him though. Dad is hot. Shame he's a homophobe.

I am super over people singing in the shows, no matter how good they are.

I love that Jeng's passion is cooking.

You can tell this is a real Thai show because when they show that green curry, it's real green curry even if it's store bought. It's hard to find good green curry paste over here unless you're in certain places.

Jeng's mom — what was the point of a 30 second meeting. Ben is so good at being nervous and young, he's really a great actor.

The chemistry is off the charts in this episode, good Christ. They obviously had fun shooting the cake scene.

Jeng better have a hell of a savings if he's returning all his shares to his dad and putting his hopes on his restaurant.

The restaurant biz is a bitch. I grew up in the restaurant business and the margins are razor thin, even in famous and successful restaurants. Hopefully, Pat's advertising firm is doing well.

Seriously, again. Needed another couple episodes. Especially with how Jeng's dad tossed his resignation letter.

I know Man said this would be his only BL, but I would really like to see them do another show together. They really got their shit together at the end and it's rare to see a couple that can have this kind of chemistry.

The age difference works really well between them, it's comfortable — which isn't there for a lot of decade+ couples — and there's a lot of plots where this could be used. So let's manifest that.

I have no idea what the fuck Man does for a living, so I'm not sure if he's even free to do another series. Dude has an econ degree, which means nothing (no offense econ folks, you guys are like Swiss army knives). I suspect he's a mini Mile Phakphum, and just sort of exists on the largess of his family and his modeling career.

I very much liked this series. It's definitely in my list of favorites. For me, it started out rocky because I didn't understand what it was trying to do. Looking back, now that I see what the aim is, the path it took is perfect.

Would I have liked more sex? Absolutely, but as I mentioned before — I'm a thirsty ho. These lads get paid more than I make as a clinical lab scientist, spending my day making your doctor look smart. A little bed shenanigans isn't too much to ask.

Alas, I can't complain too much. The kisses we got were A+, top-tier compared to nearly any other series. The physical stuff we did get was also A+. Truly, my complaints are mostly unfounded. We could have ended up with Korean level bullshit.

I'm not going to bother with meta about the story because there's users here that are far better at articulating exactly what I want to say, so troll the tag for them.