Note, there are two versions of this series. The one currently available on YouTube for free is an edited version. The one available on paid platforms (e.g. IQYI) is an uncut version. Here I have labeled scenes that are NOT in the YouTube version with the label [Scene in the uncut version] .
Synopsis
[Scene in the uncut version] Cold open: The IQYI version opens with Noh at a beach. He is taking some pictures of the water. He sees an Instagram post from Phun, who is at the same beach. He looks to his right and sees Phun. Did Phun just materialize out of thin air? Its Phun Birthday, so Noh wishes Phun a happy birthday. Noh leaves, but not before Phun takes a selfie with Noh walking away on the background. On a voice over, Noh explains that 2 years later things would change forever between them.
[Scene in the uncut version] Flash forward two years later, Noh and Phun get ready for school. We see a split screen of Noh’s and Phun’s daily routine. . Noh’s maids (Am and In) have to wake him up, make him breakfast and drag him out of the house. They even put him on the scooter, and he leaves with his eyes still closed. Phun on the other hand, is clearly better off. His house is larger. He is also more organized. He wakes up (without help), gets breakfast and boards a car that takes him to school.
Fi and Phun are the School Prefects and student council President and Vice-President respectively. Phun stops a senior from bullying some junior students and also helps the elementary school kids get off their taxi-bikes. In a random moment, Phun and Noh lock eyes. Phun gets a lollipop from one of the kids he helped. This is in contrast with Noh and Ohm who just stole their friend’s food.
We get some exposition dump by way of a breaking news clip being reposted by a Friday College student: Mr. Pawit’s, the son of a politician who was caught in a pyramid scheme, has fled the country. Cut to the Friday College classroom and we are quickly introduced to Dong, Ken, Pong, Palm, Khom, Keng, Ohm and Rhodkeng. Some of the boys are texting each other about the case. They say the guy who fled, Pao, is a Friday College student. His girlfriend is behind the whole thing.
The teacher says if they score more than 70% in the final, they don’t have to take summer classes. The boys are all frustrated because they don’t think they can get 70%. Apparently all of them are pretty dumb, except Keng, who wears glasses to let us know he is smart.
After class is dismissed, Khom walks outside and says he wants to jump out the school second floor. Noh stops him. This is all played for comedy. Noh leaves to see Ohm, who is freaking out about something and is waiting for him at the music room.
[Scene in the uncut version] Noh runs into the Barbie’s gang who are doing a live stream. He dances with them. They seem happy.
On his way to the music room, Noh bumps into Earn. Earn is doing cheerleader stuff with Pete. Oh, the heart break.
At the music club, we meet Ngor, who is getting the eye daggers from the rest of the boys at the music club. Ohm tells Noh that they have 4,000 baht (~$120 USD) left in their music club account. Here we get quickly introduced to the rest of the music club gang: Art, Knot, Pao, Ben, Phumi, Film, Per and Mam.
Phun is at the student council’s room texting his dad, who is concerned about what happened to Mr. Pawit and is worried that Phun’s girlfriend will get him in trouble. He tells Phun to go out with “Mr. Thian’s daughter” instead. Noh asks Phun to review their budget. Phun shows Noh the numbers are correct. He asks Noh who sign the budget. It was Ngor! Noh can’t believe his music club is broke. They have already ordered some drums and now will not have money to pay for them. Meanwhile, Phun’s dad keeps sending messages to Phun. Suddenly, a light bulb seems to go off in Phun’s head, and he asks Noh to be his boyfriend. Noh responds with an obscenity.
Later, back home, Noh and Ohm facetime about what Phun said at the student council’s room. Ohm tells him that he knew that someone with Noh’s “Chinese looks” and “fair-skin” would be targeted. He then reminds Noh that Phun has a girlfriend.
[Scene in the uncut version] Noh arrives at Phuns house. One of Noh’s servants, opens the gate for Noh and asks who he wants to see.
Noh goes to see Phun at his house. He asks Phun to explain what he said earlier. If he has a girlfriend, why does he ask Noh to be his boyfriend? Phun says his family doesn’t like his girlfriend and want him to date another girl. He explains to Noh that his dad will listen to his sister Pang, but Pang is a fujoshi and she will only help Phun if he can convince her that Noh and Phun are dating.
Noh mentions the Barbie’s gang. In exchange for him helping, he will give money to the club. Pun introduces Noh to Pang as his boyfriend.
Pang interrogates Noh and Phun. How long have you been dating? 1 month. What does Noh like about Phun? Without misssing a beat, Noh says, MONEY. He later tries to fix it by saying how handsome Phun is.
Pang convinces Noh to spend the night. Pang seems like the kind of girl that always gets her way! Phun grabs Noh by the hand and takes him to his room! Sweet!
Phun’s room is bigger than most Bangkok apartments I have seen on YouTube. Noh asks Phun if the reason his parents want to find him a new girlfriend is because of what happened to the guy who was on the news. “Being rich must be tough?”, Noh says. Phun answers that whether you are rich or poor, if family doesn’t understand, “it is tough on everyone”.
[Scene in the uncut version] Pang enters bursts into the room without knocking. Phun jumps on top of Noh. This apparently tricks Pang. Phun gets the bed ready. They sleep on the same bed, but Phun puts a big pillow between them. They fight for the blanket. Phun smiles.
The next morning at school Noh is wearing Phun’s uniform so he tries to avoid his nosy friends, but they catch up to him and quickly notice he is wearing Phun’s uniform.
[Scene in the uncut version] At the school’s cafeteria, Noh confesses that he stayed at Phun’s house. Yuri calls Noh. The gang jokes that’s his true love. Yuri asks where was he last night. Noh answers at a friends house. They agree on a “date” (more like Yuri is pushy). While Noh was busy talking to Yuri, Ohm eats Noh’s food.
[Scene in the uncut version] We are introduced to the convent girls: Jean (lit. Chinese), Nan, Yuri, Lee and Aim (lit. Sweet). Noh shows up to meet Yuri at the restaurant and is surprised to see Phun. He sits next to Phun. Yuri complains that she already had a sit reserved for him. Eventually Lee moves so Yuri can sit next to Noh. Phun whispers to Noh if that is his gf? Aim asks Phun if Noh and Phun are close. Phun proudly says that Noh slept at his place last night and is even wearing his uniform. Yuri orders food for Noh. Aim is an influencer. After the dinner, Aim wants to keep hanging out with Phun but Phun tells her its getting late and her mom would get mad (at him or her?). She is sad until Phun promises her he will take her out shopping the next day and buy her anything she wants. Noh takes a picture of the Taxi’s license plate. Phun says he doesn’t need to do that because he uses an app. Phun tells Noh they need to go back to his place to get Noh’s bike.
Noh goes to get his bike from Phun’s house. One of Phun’s servants is cleaning it. Noh wants to do it himself. Phun and Noh take over and the servant leaves. Eventually Phun and Noh get more wet than the bike. Water fight! Soap fight! They end up falling on top of each other. No surprise Phun falls on top of Noh. [Pang sees them and she has the equivalent of a Fujoshi heart attack] Noh goes back home with Phun. Phun walks back home? We see him smile while he walks away. Meanwhile, Noh seems happy.
[Scene in the uncut version] Next morning, Noh brushes his teeth. Noh eats grilled pork for breakfast. His mom sees that he has a rash and tells him to next time let his dad wash the bike for him. BTW This kitchen has a lot going on. Subway tiles, industrial look, with a 60s checkboard pattern and Scandinavian style chairs? Who thought this would look good?
Next morning, outside his house, Noh discovers he has a rash on his arms. He also realizes he left his watch the night before at Phun’s. He calls Phun, but Phun is in bed sick. Noh goes to see him, with the excuse that he needs his watch. Phun has a similar rash, but his looks worst. Was this soap radioactive? I hope one of the sponsors is not a soap brand, because I am losing faith in Thai’s soaps. They don’t seem safe according to this series. Noh puts ointment on Phun’s rash, a gesture which Phun reciprocates. Noh decides to ruin the moment by pinching one of Phun’s nipples.
Ohm calls Noh. He answers it, but fearing being found out, Noh hangs up. Noh suspects Phun has a fever. He tries to check Phun’s temperature, but before he can check him, Phun pulls him and they end up spooning in the bed, with Noh being little spoon (of course). Noh tries to get out, but Phun tightly cuddles him. Noh gives up and smiles. Phun smiles. Shake plays in the background.
Memorable Quote: “Whether you are rich or poor, if your family doesn’t understand, it’s tough on everyone”- Phun
Analysis
You should watch this on a paid platform. The uncut version, available in IQYI (Episode 1 is free) is a full 21 minutes longer and includes two key scenes: the dinner date with the convent girls and Noh and Phun meeting at the beach 2 years earlier.
This series is helmed by Cheewin Thanamin, who was also involved in the OG. The script is written by Indrytimes herself, so this is a very faithful adaptation. The pacing of this episode was excellent. The cinematography was great. It seems the production values are on par with a modern Thai BL series, which is the minimum we can ask for from this adaptation.
A lot of time in the episode is spent contrasting Noh’s chaotic life and Phun’s calm and cool demeanor. Their morning routines are a total contrast, with Phun waking up on his own accord, having breakfast in a gigantic table by himself and being driven by car to school, versus Noh being dragged out of bed by the maids, eating breakfast on the go, and getting on a taxi-motorbike to go to school. We also see how Noh and his gang steal food from each other and constantly tease each other. Noh is chaos. Phun is serenity. This is also in play when they meet at the beach, with Phun dressed like he is ready to step into a fashion shoot and Noh wearing simple clothing. Phun is also a prefect at school, and he helps the students, while Noh is mostly concerned about getting food in the morning and not being late for class.
This version of Love Sick is giving us very clear hints that Phun likes Noh. At the beach, Phun smiles after he takes a selfie with Noh on the background walking away. Clearly, he did this on purpose. When Noh asks Phun to make a wish for his birthday, Phun smiles and silently wishes for something. I can bet money that his wish is for him to get closer to Noh! Phun also smiles after dropping Noh off at his house. Unlike Progress, who sometimes seems to smile without context, Almond only smiles at key moments, indicating these are deliberate and serves as cues to understand that underneath his cool demeanor and stoicism, Phun has feelings (for Noh).
The acting here is pretty solid. Progress still needs to learn when he should smile and when he should avoid smiling. He also needs to be careful with his eyes, as he sometimes looks around as though he is trying to recall his next line. Although we saw very little of Pete and Earn, I have a feeling that these two actors will do well. The few seconds they were on screen, and with almost no words spoken, I could tell there was bit of jealousy bubbling underneath. Pete likes Earn. Earn seems to be interested in Noh. Yes, I know this from the OG, but even if I didn’t, the acting in that scene made this clear.
As I am not a native Thai speaker, it is hard to know how good these actors are in terms of how they deliver the lines. However, I like to think that after watching BL series for so long, and listening to interviews and BTS videos, I have a feel for the natural cadence of spoken Thai. I have been taken by Almond’s great control of his eye movements and facial expressions, but someone did point out to me his delivery was stiff. I have re-watched some of his scenes and I do agree his delivery is a bit monotone and he sounds like he is reading the lines. Progress on the other hand sounds natural. This may be an intentional choice to make him sound less emotional and more in line with the Thai BL Seme archetype (cool, aloof, or cold).
I didn’t care for the parents, nor did I care for the maids. I love Jennie Panhan and I hope her character gets a bit more fleshed out, but for now these adults are all pretty cartoonish and forgettable. The only thing I liked about any of these scenes was picturing Noh’s dad in a soap fight with Phun’s dad. Now that would be fun and memorable.
I think my favorite scene was the ending scene with Phun and Noh spooning in bed. The fact we see Phun smile makes it clear he is doing this on purpose. The fact we see Noh smile means he is enjoying it. I also thought Noh telling Pang that what he loves the most about Phun is his money was very funny and memorable. The most memorable line in the episode however, came from Phun, when he said that “whether you are rich or poor, if your family doesn’t understand, it’s tough on everyone”. I think this is a hint that this Phun is struggling to come out. He basically has a “fake” boyfriend (who he wants to be his real boyfriend), so he can convince his sister to help him keep his dad from setting him up with a girl, and this way he can keep his “real” girlfriend, who in reality is just a beard aka fake girlfriend. Confusing? I think that’s the point! Based on this line, I predict we will have a real coming out scene and I hope it is emotional, because I love a good coming out scene!
I liked that they introduced the characters names directly. It is also nice that they are using very clear and standard Thai fonts, which makes it easier for learners of the Thai script, like me, to read them. I only wish they didn’t have this many characters introduced on episode 1 because it is easy to forget their names. I think it would have been better to introduce only the music club boys in this episode and introduce the rest of the gang in another episode.
Will the Playboyy cast make an appearance in this show? I am going to make a bet that at least one of them will do a cameo before the ending of this series.
This episode is titled “Noh”. Will we get character-centered episodes? Will next episode be about Phun? Will we get episodes about Pete or Earn? I guess, we will have to wait and see!
Overall, I give this an 8.5/10. I am taking 1 point off for Almonds stiff delivery of his lines and Progress constant smiling, taking half a point for not properly recreating the scooter scene and another half point for giving us too many characters too quickly. I am adding half a point back because Almond is a cutie pie and he is really killing it as Phun. If he can keep growing as an actor (like Ohm Pawat did), he is going places.
Compare and Contrast With The OG
- Episode 1 covered the first 4 episodes of the OG. I think the next episode will cover 5 to 7. If this is correct, we may see some goldfish on goldfish action either next week or the week after.
- I enjoyed the scooter water fight in the OG better than in this version
- I love White, but I like this Phun better.
- The actress who plays Yuri is great, but Pineare had a certain quality to her voice that just made her so unique and makes her irreplaceable. I think I liked OG Yuri better. Same goes for Pang and her screams
- Unlike the OG, Phun asking Noh to be his BF doesn’t come out of nowhere
- Phun’s room is much bigger here than in the OG. Will they be watching TV and drinking before the famous love confession scene?
- No goldfish. At least not yet!
- Pete and Earn are beautiful here too. The guy who plays Pete is one of the oldest cast member. I think he is 19. He is very handsome.
- I liked the dinner scene with the convent girls a little bit more in this version.
- Noh and Phun cuddling at the end was pure gold. It was an improvement over the OG
- Phun leaving Noh’s house and smiling was adorable.
- I love how they condensed the first episode into one scene in which we get to see that Phun likes Noh. We also get introduced to Phun as this cool guy, who is always sharply dressed.
- The Angel’s gang is now the Barbie’s gang. They seem happier and less cartoonish than in the OG. Noh even dances with them. This is a positive development!
- The servants in Phun’s house seem like regular folks, but the servants in Noh’s house are real clowns. It makes me a bit uncomfortable seeing poor people portrayed in such a cartoonish way. At least, this time is not solely based on colorism. And both characters are trans/lady boys.
- The use of the Shake OST has been very effective here. I hope we also get to hear the song Past by Gunsmile. That was such a classic LS song.
The looking glass 