Noh-Phun Plot Summary
Noh is in what appears to be the student’s lounge area (Friday College kids have money, so of course they have a student lounge with computers and video games). Noh is still shocked at Phun’s proposal.
Look at who is sitting next to Noh in the lounge room? Best Kan! I think he is such an understated beauty. If you don’t believe me, just go to his IG. They never named Best’s character, so I will call him Best too.
At the lounge room, while Noh and Best are playing a video game (is that Mortal Kombat?), the guys talk about checking girls out. They agree to go to Siam Paragon, a shopping complex in Bangkok.
After visiting Siam Paragon, Noh is back at his house. It is night time already. Noh’s mom is doing tai chi. She has servants. Noh takes his shoes off. This is a very Asian thing. If you are not Asian, you will get used to this. Notice that when the boys are in school, a lot of times they only wear their socks, no shoes.
They are showing two guys on TV get engaged. “It’s difficult for girls nowadays. They are so many girls out there but they choose men instead” (OUCH! See my analysis!). Noh looks at the TV and sees himself with Phun getting engaged and kissing him (well, they cut out so we don’t get to see the kiss). Side Note: I think they use that scene in the promo pics.
Phun is chillaxing at home looking at pics of the party. He sees a pic of him with Aim. He just stares at it, with a regular face. Next, he sees a picture of Noh with Yuri and he smiles. Aim calls, he lies and says he was just thinking about her. Lies lies lies.
We see the inside of Phun’s house. Is that a mansion? (Book spoiler: Yes, Phun comes from money. Like, big money. His dad is a politician). Noh arrives at the gates of Phun’s house. They talk about Phun’s proposal. “Is it true?”. Oh, Yes, why would handsome Phun joke about this? Noh makes sure it is not April 1st, and it isn’t so yes, Mr. Handsome is not joking. “I am not gay”, Phun says.
We cut to see them sitting side by side. SIDE NOTE: White’s legs…. Ok, maybe I need to see this scene again. Oh yes, his legs. 😊
Phun explains to Noh that his dad wants him to go out on a date with the daughter of a political ally. His dad will not listen to him but he will listen to Pang, Phun’s sister. Pang is a fujoshi obsessed with Yaoi manga. We get a quick flash back. Can I say I LOVE FUJOSHI PANG in Season 1? SIDE NOTE: White sitting on that couch with his sweat pants on. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. I have to thank the BL gods that he got casted as Phun. (We fudanshis and fujoshis frequently thank the BL gods for many things like this. I also thank the BL gods for letting me see White in sweatpants and for letting me see White all wet. You will know what I am talking about later in the season).
Noh can’t understand Phun. Phun tries to explain that if Pang sees that Phun has a boyfriend, she will talk to their dad. “Why me?”, asks Noh. “If the boyfriend is cute, it will be easier” NICE ! Phun is one of my favorite Semes. He can be sassy.
Now they go over the different options (e.g. boys from school) Phun has other than Noh. There is a guy called Shane. Who the hell is Shane? I think the subs are bad. This montage is terrible.
One other option besides “Shane”, is the Angels’ gang of katoey. I will talk about the use of kathoey in the analysis section below.
Pang doesn’t like kathoey man, just gay man. Note: Netflix translation says transgender man not kathoey. The most accepted translation for kathoey is ladyboy, effeminate gays.
Finally, Pang shows up. Pang asks who is Noh. Phun introduces him as his boyfriend. Noh Is not too happy about it.
This is a classic scene. Phun and Noh sitting side by side. Noh tries to get away from Phun but he keeps cornering him on the sofa (Noh is so homophobic!). Pang brings snacks for the boys. She takes pics of them. Pang ships them hard.
Phun says to Noh that his thighs are so big and he slaps them. It is super cute. Later, it turns out he was actually not talking about Noh’s thighs but the snacks (I guess thighs sounds like something else in Thai).
“How is P’Noh going back?”, Nong Pang asks. Pang wants P’Noh to stay. P’Phun agrees. (In Thai, you add P (as in pee) to a name if you want to show respect, like if someone is older than you, you would refer to them as Pee. If someone is younger than you, you will use Nong.)
Side note: When they stand side by side. Phun is taller than Noh. Captain is will grow taller than White by season’s end.
We see Noh showering. Trivia: In 49 episodes, this is one of the few I can remember (perhaps the only one) were we see Captain bare chested, and only for barely a second or two. We do see a LOT of White bare chested. I have always wondered if this is because Captain felt self-conscious about his body (?).
Next, we get an important tidbit about Phun and Noh. While Phun is a bit messy (not as bad as Om according to Noh), Noh is super clean. I love when Noh says to Phun, “Of course [my room is clean]. I love to be clean.” . I love that he says that right after he showered. Did Phun showered?
Side note: Just realized here we get to see the bean bag where Noh will sit during the kiss scene, one of the most iconic, and famous, scenes of the show. Well, I say that because it is also one of the few scenes that made me cry in Season 1.
Phun finds Pang outside of their door listening. She is such a shipper. I love her.
Side Note: White is so skinny here but I love how he looks with that white shirt on profile. He is skinny but has such a nice body. Can you tell, I like White a lot? That man is sexy x sexy.
Phun lays in bed next to Pang. Pang and Phun have such a cute dynamic. I don’t know why they couldn’t keep this dynamic throughout the season. Pang asks Phun, “Have you broken up with Aim? She is not a good person!”. (Cultural note: Did Pang just prayed or did a wai or both before going to bed?)
I am trying to read Phun’s expression’s here. Granted, White was a pretty novice actor back then but I think that you can tell by his expressions here that: a) he doesn’t like Aim. b) He didn’t do this to have Pang talk to his dad.
Once Phun leaves, Pang pulls out a Yaoi manga comic and starts reading it. Fujoshis say they tend to read manga when no one else is looking.
Noh and Phun go to bed. Phun turns off the light. Does Noh suspect some ulterior motives? He sets up a pillow fort between him and Phun. Pang walks in, and Phun rolls over to get on top of Noh. Oh, Phun!
Convent girls
At the convent, Jeed is joining the drama club (or is it dancing club?). Nan asks if she is OK about what happened at Aims party. Nan is a good person and I think this is meant to reinforce that. Nan says to Jeed, “Susu na!”. (Cultural note: Keep your eyes open for this very common Thai phrase. “Susu” literally means, fighting. The “na” at the end is a very informal way of ending a sentence. Thai people usually end their sentences with ka or krap, which often sounds like a real soft K that is IMO slightly aspirated to sound like a Ha or Hap, as the R is also often drop in informal speech. )
Guess who is in the Drama club? Grace! I smell drama in the drama club. Maybe it is the dance club but they call it drama club because Grace brings the drama to it. I love her bitchiness and meanness. I don’t know why but I just like her. Maybe a part of me wants to be mean like her? LOL
Jeed impresses everyone at the drama club. Side Note: We don’t see below their hips. Are they really good dancers or do they only move their arms?
We cut to Siam Paragon. Why is Jeed hanging out with Grace? Talk about poor choices. Anyway, no-name-friend of Grace is really impressed by Jeed’s dance moves and Grace feels compelled to point out that no-name-friend is not good at dancing. “We are close friends so I can treat her like trash” or so Grace says to Jeed when Jeed ask why she is being such a mean bitch. Ok, the conversation didn’t go that way but it is close to what happen, trust me. After this, the conversation switches to where the girls live and Jeed seems nervous and (probably?) lies about where she lives.
The girls spot a group from Friday College. Those preppy, hot boys from Friday College, LOL. The girls are all over them (They are basically me at that age LOL). BTW Can you spot young Toptap from 2Gether The Series? He is one of the three guys they are salivating over.
Apparently, Grace had tried to hook up with a Friday College guy (they are a hot commodity, even though the majority of them are gay, oh well). She is now making excuses for why the guy didn’t get back to her. I love her comment here, “The guys are so suitable to be breeders”, Oh Grace, are you secretly a gay man? Side note: What the heck is the ISO standard for men they are talking about?
The conversation now shifts to Grace trying to apologize for being a mean bitch at Aim’s party. She has a hard time saying it. Actually, I don’t think that counts as an apology. Jeed, choose your friends carefully, please?
Noh’s gang shows up. The gang teases Khom, the new boy in school. They dare him to go and ask Jeed out. They change his name to Sharp because apparently that’s a cooler name than Kohm.
Khom goes to Jeed. “Can I have your facebook?” (So 2010s).
I love that Best is getting all excited and checking Jeed out on facebook. Why can he play such a believable horn dog? Well, he is the real thing. No, I won’t stop teasing him about that porn video.
We now see Khom arriving at his house. It is late at night. Two kids are playing in front of his house. This are just some random kids that live on his street. We never see them again. I think we get this scene to remind us that Thai boys from very little are expected to have girlfriends. We also learn Khom lives with relatives, he is from the countryside, and much poorer than Noh. He calls his parents who are still living in the countryside. He also has a blackberry. He is definitively poor.
Mo is in her apartment building. She went to visit Golf. Golf is so cute. They have a conversation in the stairs. Mo is worried about her parents finding out from Golf parents that she is living with her boyfriend Moan. “Gentleman don’t go back on their promises” she reminds Golf, “If you do, you are gay” to which Golf replies “I have started to like men now” Dang! Could he get a gay storyline? (Spoiler alert: He doesn’t).
Quote: “If we are in a situation that we can’t escape, we should face everything that stands in our way” (Buddha’s teachings)
Analysis
This episode gives us some crucial Phun and Noh relationship milestones. This is the episode that they become fake boyfriends. It is the first time that Noh spends the night at Phun’s.
This is the episode in which Jeed and Kom meet and in which we get a hint that Golf may be into Mo.
This episode also introduces the Angel’s gang. The Angels are the kathoey or ladyboys at the school. Kathoey are considered a third gender in Thailand. The use of the term for transgendered people is a bit controversial: many transgendered individuals use other terms. In general, kathoey refers to effeminate gays. The kathoey are presented here as a contrast to the masculine lead characters, Noh and Phun.
Similarly, consider the contrast between the female and male characters. Jeed is embarrass of where she lives, so she lies about it. Kom is pressured into lying about his name, but only because the gang thinks it is “cooler” to be called Sharp. Two lies, two different reasons. Also, note that the girls are interested in the boys because they have money. Female characters in BL are shallow, mean, bitchy and/or materialistic. Grace exemplifies everything that is wrong about female characters in Thai BLs.
Phun explains that Pang is not interested in Kathoey. Yaoi is not about ladyboys but about men who fall in love with other men. Again, there is a contrast drawn here between ladyboys who are effeminate and undesirable and masculine gay man. Kathoey are the butt of jokes here. They are not taken seriously.
Noh’s mom remarks that girls now have a harder time because men are choosing to be with other men. I am not sure if this is meant as a joke or not but the use of the term “chose” is problematic. While in the West it is widely accepted that being gay is not a choice, it seems that in Thailand, people still think that it is a choice. Will Phun choose Noh or Aim? Will Noh choose Phun or Yuri?
Noh is very homophobic. He continuously pulls away from Phun everytime Phun tries to get close to him. This is a common trope in Thai BL: Ukes are notoriously homophobic while Semes are more assertive (i.e. Krist vs Kongpob in SOTUS, Tine vs Sarawat in 2Gether, Duen vs. Bohn in My Engineer). I am not sure why this is, but perhaps it has to do with the fact that the Uke/Seme dynamic reflects the gender biases in Thai society: the woman is chased by the man and the woman is the one who is “choosy” and occasionally pushes the man away. Ukes take on the role of the woman and Semes take on the role of the man.
I am going to say the central theme in this episode is lying and true intentions. Every couple seems to be facing a decision in which lying is easier than telling the truth. Kom lies about his name to Jeed. Mo asks Golf to hide the truth about her living situation to Golf’s parents. Phun asks Noh to lie to Pang about them being together. There are also individuals who lie to protect themselves, Jeed lies to Grace about where she lives. Phun lies to Aim when she calls and he tells her he is thinking about her (he was thinking about Noh!). Kom lies to his parents about having to hang up to study.
The episodes ends with a quote from Buddha’s teaching: “If we are in a situation that we can’t escape, we should face everything that stand in our way”. You may as very well add: “Don’t lie, face the situation!”. I think that’s the lesson here.
Quote of the episode: “If the boyfriend is cute, it will be easier”. I love anytime Phun tries to make Noh blush.
Best scene: The couch scene is cute. I love seeing Phun try to be cute with Noh.
Runner-up best scene: Phun in bed with his little sister. It is super cute. Besides, I love how sexy White looks in that scene.
Episode rating: 3.5/5. This is an improvement from the last episode but the acting is still a bit meh.
PD Why does White look so sexy here?
The looking glass 