Being Addicted

Okay, I have been a little obsessive over this web drama and actually it was from two years ago. I had seen snippets on youtube but maybe because I watched the wrong snippets that it kinda put me off watching as it gave me a wrong impression.

I actually watch different genres of shows because I don't have a specific favourite but I liked those that kept me wanting to watch more of it. It can be in other languages too and of course it would be super useful if there is English subtitles.

When I came across this poster outside a Coach boutique at Raffles City, I was so excited coz that face looked so familiar because I had been watching and re-watching the very show that made him famous. It wasn't a conventional drama but about an unusual friendship forged between two high school students of different backgrounds but who turned out to be step brothers.

It was adapted from a novel written by a woman who, ahem, must have loved all this BL stuffs (look it up, I am not going to define it here, haha!). But to me, it went beyond that because most of the time, it was very heartwarming, between friends and families, and I felt all of the characters were well played from the blur but wise and funny father and two of their other classmates who were squabbling constantly with each other. But when it came to their friend called Bai Luo Yin, played by the guy in the poster, they came together to assist and show their concern. Of course there was a sense of jealousy among them too fighting for his attention. In other words, they wanted a piece of him because even when he at times appeared to have a strong and stubborn character, he was really a good and caring friend but wouldn't tell you in your face that he was being nice to them. He was also full of pride despite his family background and poor status, where his mother left his dad for a better future, and then trying to win back his love unsuccessfully, once she managed to snag herself a wealthy high ranking military officer. Even then, he didn't cave in and stuck to his dad despite his idiosyncrasies and how their house was almost falling apart as they were too poor.

And then in came Gu Hai, a rich boy and the son of Bai Luo Yin's mother's new husband, who came to the new high school to start afresh and as a sign of protest against his father's marriage. He had also blamed his father for his mother's death which he thought was quite suspicious. Through some initial unfriendly encounter in class, Gu Hai started to be fascinated by Bai Luo Yin, who despite being aloof and sleepy most times in class, turned out to be very smart and with a strong personality  He was also known to be the most good looking too. Gu Hai and Luo Yin were often teasing each other and playing pranks in class but Gu Hai said that he was just doing that to him. 

He started to follow him, know a little more about his family background, and then started to inch his way into his life, and also his home life. Despite the initial resistance, Luo Yin or Yin Zhe, as he is affectionately known, started to open up more to him slowly seeing how Gu Hai was not as bad as he seemed to be. 

Even though Gu Hai was rich, he willingly made himself poorer by riding to and fro from school on a bike, when he actually owned cars, one which he then used when he tracked down his girlfriend, and living temporarily in a run down rental room. All this because he wanted to get closer to Yin Zhe and that he enjoyed the company of Yin Zhe's family too, who welcomed him with open arms and valued his friendship with Yin Zhe.

In return, Gu Hai helped the family through his own connections with his family background, which Yin Zhe was against at first, but Gu Hai only had good intentions. Yin Zhe then revealed he know that Gu Hai was rich all along but he didn't know until a bit later, that Gu Hai turned out to be his step brother from the family he despised. 

They fought a little but eventually made up thinking about all the good times they had spent together before this revelation.

I did think that some parts were cringeworthy, like totally unnecessary, but I guess because the show wanted the audience to know how possessive and crazy one can get in trying to 'win' back the love and friendship that he had painstakingly forged between them. Also how Gu Hai, tried to 'flirt' with him, because they shared a bed in Yin Zhe's house, when he ended up staying over every night. Yin Zhe found it so annoying because all he wanted was to sleep and he had to deal with this guy who just can't give him his peace.

But the sweet thing was that when Gu Hai was late, because he was in his car after trailing his soon to be ex girlfriend, he called him to ask for his whereabouts. That was when Gu Hai felt touched that despite being heartbroken, and how Yin Zhe treated him indifferently, he was actually showing his concern when he wanted to.

The show actually stopped abruptly when Yin Zhe's ex girlfriend (also, Gu Hai's ex girlfriend was a psycho too, haha) made a surprise appearance in their class. This was due to China's ban on LGBT dramas. However, it made the characters stars and increased their popularity. And that was how the poster came about too :DDD

Anyway, below is the poster for the show called Addicted if you're interested. But please, come and watch with an open mind or just skip those parts that, well, were a little off, haha.