Frayed-at-the-seams - Procrastination At It’s Finest

No!

Tang Yi and Shao Fei soulmate au

A short Drabble based of my other two part soulmate AU for Jack and ZhaoZi.

Tang Yi never gave much thought to his soulmate words. There was always something more pressing in his life, such as looking after Hong Ye, managing the business, of working on his cooking. After Mr Tang gave him a home he simply didn’t bother with the idea of a soulmate. He had all the happiness that he needed.

But then Mr Tang died and he found himself stuck in a hospital bed recovering from a nearly fatal bullet wound to the chest. At first he was so consumed with his grieving emotions and thoughts of revenge that he hadn’t really noticed the man come through the door. The doctor at his bedside had glanced up at the visitor before leaving the room, his departure making Tang Yi adress the man. He was young, probably around his age, with short cut black hair and a expressive face. His eyes were red rimmed and it was clear he had been crying. For a moment Tang Yi wondered why the man had been crying before he recalled the other body. The female officer had also been murdered with Mr Tang. She must have been close to this young officer.

“Do you know who shot you?”

The question caught Tang Yi by surprise and he felt the scribble on his forearm heat up. Refusing to think about the consequences of the reaction of his words, he schooled his face into a calm expression.

“No” he stated clearly. He watched as the officer’s eyes widened as his hand flew to the back of his neck. But before he could speak the hospital doors flew open and a small guy poked his head through.

“Shao Fei”, he called as the officer turned around. “The boss wants you to head back to the station. Says they need help going through Tang’s files”.

Shao Fei groaned and turned back to glare at Tang Yi. “I know that you know who shot you, no matter what you say”, he said stubbornly. Tang Yi was just noticing how big Shao Fei’ ears were. (He’s on a lot of medication. Sue him) “I promise you that I will figure out the truth and bring the people responsible to justice”, Shao Fei continued. Tang Yi tilted his head in challenge, meeting Shao Fei’s gaze. “Let’s hope you get there first then”, he muttered just loud enough for the other to hear. The pissed off expression Shao Fei gave him almost made him snort. The guy just looked too ridiculous with his monkey ears. As Shao Fei left the room, Tang Yi was left considering their encounter and hoping that he would not have to deal with such a loud impulsive officer again.

Unfortunately, Shao Fei didn’t get the same idea.

For four years the officer pursued him. The guy seemed to pop up everywhere and it was getting on Tang Yi’s nerve. He was too busy trying to turn the company legal to pay attention to the stubborn policeman. Every occurrence consisted of Shao Fei asking questions and Tang Yi responding with cool dismissals and negative answers. He half wondered, whenever he gave Shao Fei a thought, why the officer even bothered? He would even turn up when off work! He had to admire his persistence.

As time drew on, Tang Yi started finding benefits to Shao Fei’s chase. Leaving anonymous tips at the station about a secret meeting between him and various other gang leaders was a easy way to get his enemies arrested. Besides, Jack’s descriptions of Shao Fei’s face every time he realised that Tang Yi was not there were too good to be true.

The officer was the best to tease. His face was so expressive that Tang Yi just couldn’t help annoying him just for the reaction. Cuffing him to the elevator with his own handcuffs was by far the funniest. Shao Fei had looked so frustrated and angry that Tang Yi has to fight back a grin. But despite this teasing and the continued persistence Shao Fei, neither men discussed the subject of soulmates.

That is until they were kidnapped and hiding on some mountain side.

It was Shao Fei who broached it first. He was quietly watching the fire Tang Yi had made when he spoke. “Did your words ever react?” He asked. The question surprised Tang Ti who paused his action of poking the flames and turned to face the other. Shao Fei looked tired and his face had a slight vulnerability that Tang Yi had never seen before. He was not meeting his gaze, eyes fixed on the fire in front of him and Tang Yi could see the blood on his sleeve where his tie was wrapped around the wound.

“It’s just”, Shao Fei continued after a minute of Tang Yi not responding. “When mine heated up, it caught me by surprise. Its on the back of my neck so I never really paid attention to it. It was a complete refusal anyway”. Shao Fei shifted, voice becoming sad. His shirt collar moved and Tang Yi could just about see the neat word ‘No’ inscribed at the base of his neck. Tang Yi didn’t say anything. After a few minutes Shao Fei headed inside the shelter, leaving Tang Yi with his thoughts.

The first time Tang Yi felt the urge to kiss Shao Fei was when he was looking for his lighter. He was so afraid that he had lost it somewhere on that mountain that when Shao Fei turned up with the lighter in hand, Tang Yi was shocked by the sudden urge to kiss the other senseless arising in his chest. As he always did, he ignored the feeling and thanked the other.

However, the more his ignored his feelings, the more they seemed to rise. It was particularly bad when the puppy like officer invited himself to stay over under the excuse of ‘protecting’ Tang Yi. Especially since the self sacrificing idiot kept on getting himself injured for him. Although, his flustered expression when Tang Yi gave him a back massage was hilarious.

But then Shao Fei got shot protecting Hong Ye and Tang Yi was consumed by a sudden fear of losing the annoying policeman. He hadn’t even realised that he had began to care for him until the threat of losing him was too much. Every time he returned to the hospital, he was struck by feelings of care and admiration for the man in the bed. At first he ignored the feelings until Shao Fei would look up and greet him with a smile that Tang Yi couldn’t help but return.

So when Shao Fei asked him to walk with him up to the hospital roof, Tang Yi happily agreed. Watching Shao Fei overlook the city and drink in the fresh air left a warm smile on his face. When Shao Fei turned around and pulled him into a kiss, Tang Yi responded before he could even think things through, kissing back with so much hunger that it caught Shao Fei by surprise.

As they finally pulled away, Shao Fei rested his forehead against Tang Yi’s. “I have been pursuing you for four years Tang Yi”, he grinned. “Can I assume that this is an answer to my confession?” Tang Yi smiled at Shao Fei’s proud puppy like expression. “Yes”, he answered. “I accept your confession”. Shao Fei laughed triumphantly before pulling him in for another kiss.

Time of Fever VS Unintentional Love Story

The Issues I had with the Plot and Characterisation.

(Will include spoilers for both dramas).

Time Of Fever VS Unintentional Love Story

While both dramas were written by the same person, they each have different directors and as such, they have very different feels.

With Time of Fever being the prequel drama to Unintentional Love Story’s second couple, Donghee and Hotae. The short series/movie has many things that differ from the second drama. Some of which make sense and some which don’t.

These are my thoughts on the similarities and differences.

Plot line

While in Unintentional Love Story (which will be referred to from here on as ULS to save me typing too much) Donghee and Hotae are the second couple and therefore get much less screen time compared to the main couple, the viewers are still shown snapshots to their backstory that make their tangled and messy relationship have some sort of sense on screen.

In ULS we are introduced to Hotae by Donghee. It is clear from the get go that the pair have a tangled relationship.

As the show goes on we a granted glimpses of their past to explain why they have such a tangled relationship. It is show than Donghee was abused and kicked out of the house by his father. We are also informed that Hotae’s house is where he would go for refuge. His friendship with the slightly younger man having persisted through childhood. Donghee calls Hotae’s mother ‘Auntie’ in a way far more familiar than the other locals. Even without Time of Fever we know that they are closer than their first meeting would have us believe.

Yet despite the moments we are shown, it is unclear what happened between them to cause the rift between them. We know that something happened, probably something romantic that crossed the lines of their friendship, yet it is unclear in ULS and the pair do not have enough screen time to explore it further.

This is where Time Of Fever comes in, I assume.

Here Time Of Fever confuses the plot points we are already given.

The only way I can think of Time of Fever (TOF) matching the backstory scenes shown in ULS is if there is a time gap.

In the beginning of TOF Hotae is at his father’s funeral. The death of his father being the cause of his and his mother’s return to the sea side town they left two years before, and back to their old house. The same old house where Donghee seems to have been living in by himself for a while now. It is unclear precisely how long.

The fact that he is staying in Hotae’s childhood bedroom, with their belongings mixed together before Hotae has even moved back yet gives them a level of closeness beyond what was shown in their flashbacks in ULS.

The only way I can think of both shows fitting together is if the flashbacks in ULS were set when they were 15/16 and before Hotae moved to Seoul for two years. It would explain their closeness and also fit in Hotae’s absence and the affect is has on Donghee (which I will expand on later).

If Donghee was abused through most of his teen life for being gay and then kicked out of his home before Hotae moved away, then it must have been around his mid teens.

That means he was probably living in Hotae’s empty childhood bedroom for around two years by himself.

Which is just tragic to think about.

I can guess that Donghee had feelings for Hotae before he moved as well. Both shows mention them being childhood friends.

Then Hotae moves back and the events of TOF happen. Donghee’s feelings grow too much and he flees to Seoul, only to return years later. Hotae left behind with a broken heart and a bitterness at being abandoned. That would explain some of their troubles in ULS, especially if Donghee has only recently set up his coffee shop and Hotae was still adjusting to having him close. It would also explain the keepsakes of memories from their teens together that Donghee keeps in his cafe in ULS, which were not even mentioned or touched upon in TOF. (I wanted to see the part where Hotae wins him the watch again).

While both plots can fit together, they don’t fit together well. There are plot holes left unexplained and changes within the characters that do not make sense. That leads me onto the next section.

Characters

In the beginning of ULS Hotae is abrupt, almost angry with Donghee. We later discover that this is due to jealousy over Donghee’s friendship with Wonyoung. Once this is discovered he warms up and takes on almost a puppy-like devotion to Donghee, following him around like he is the light to his inner moth.

Hotae has this charming boyishness to him. He is impulsive, stubborn and a bit of a bad boy. He has tattoos and his relationships always seem to end with his girlfriends smacking him with their bags.

Between the two shows, his personality in fact does not change. He is the same in his twenties as he was in his teens. In fact, TOF portrays his start into serial dating very well. He dates out of a need to try and smother feelings for Donghee. He does not actively pursue these girls, in fact he drops them the second he has the chance to spend time with Donghee, but he goes along with their confessions and dates almost like a way to pass the time. He does not really care about them but more out of a need to conform. To maybe figure out within himself why he yearns for Donghee so bad.

TOF also explains why his character hasn’t changed. He felt abandoned by Donghee, someone he loved, less than a year since his dad died and he had to move again. While not as prevalent as the romantic main plot, TOF does a wonderful job of subtly building up this sense drowning within Hotae. Despite his cheerful persona he portrays to Donghee and his mother, the moments without Donghee are sullen and almost drained. He only smiles with Donghee.

He is a teenager, probably only around 17/18 who has had to deal with a lot of life changes very quickly. This is especially visible in the scene where he cries when he doesn’t win his first swimming match since he moved back. He is cheered up by Donghee and the plot moves on but his internal struggle with change is brought up again in episode 6. There he ruins the art room where he and Donghee would spend time. He destroys the room out of grief for being left behind and exclaims that he won’t change.

So he doesn’t and by the time we get to ULS he is still motor the same. With a few more tattoos and a motorbike, and a few part time jobs. Yet he didn’t go to college and he failed his last year of high school, which would have happened after Donghee left. He stays in the same seaside town and does what he has always done.

It is only with Donghee back in his life that we start to see him open up again. The more Donghee allows him back into his life, the more Hotae begins to change. He begins to learn Spanish and he grows to be friends with Wonyoung. This is a rather large change because in TOF it is clear that he has no close friends other than Donghee and in ULS it is unclear whether he had any friends prior to the start of the plot.

So when it comes to Hotae, TOF only expands on the character first portrayed in ULS. The viewers are given more of an understanding of his trauma and how much his love for Donghee drives him.

(It makes me want to give him a hug).

However, with Donghee TOF was not as clear.

In ULS Donghee is introduced as sassy, fiercely independent, stubborn and kindhearted. He seems to be the clingy, slightly annoying friend who would have your back in a heartbeat, judging by how he interacts with Taejoon. They have a banter that has a familiarity that must have taken years to achieve. (Especially with such a guarded introvert as Taejoon). It is truly a shame that we do not know the backstory of their friendship.

While Donghee is comedic yet a loveable friend character to the main couple in ULS, he is different with Hotae. He is also rude, bickering with him and pushing him away like a feral cat hissing and stretching at any sign of someone coming close. In ULS he avoids Hotae’s flirting and affection like it is the plague, actively cursing him out and telling him off.

So why in TOF is he so quiet?

That was the part that confused me the most. He went from apparently being a wallflower in TOF, who only studied and pined over Hotae, to an independent and confidant gay man in ULS. As a teen it seems he was filled with internalised homophobia and fear over his feelings for Hotae. So much so that he runs away to university in Seoul.

So what changed??

In the flashbacks in ULS, which I theorised earlier as happening before TOF canon, he is shown to be as confidant and verbally abrasive at any sign of affection as a teenager as he was as an adult. He talks back, he wrestles with Hotae and he plays around with him.

Yet in TOF he is quiet. He does nothing more than study and he barely touches Hotae first.

The only explanation I can guess to his abrupt character change would be due to the trauma of his abuse and the fear of his feelings for Hotae.

It would make sense if he retreated into himself when Hotae moved away. Two years can be a long time and that can explain why Hotae does not comment much on Donghee’s character change when he moves back. Other than a comment or two about how Donghee doesn’t smile anymore, he doesn’t seem to notice how Donghee seems to be too silent and submissive.

I can only theorise that his time at university allowed Donghee to connect with other lgbt people and deal with his internal homophobia and self hatred. That the years between TOF and ULS allowed him to grow up and return to the personality he had before.

Because if my plot theory is wrong then his characters in TOF and ULS seem more like two different people than the same person.

When Hotae kisses him in TOF Donghee avoids him for days and make him sleep on the couch. He barely says anything.

Yet when Hotae merely gets in his personal space in ULS, Donghee smacks his arm or pushes him away with a curse and a scolding.

It seems too much of an abrupt character change to me. I really hope my headcanon is right and that Donghee managed to regain some of his behaviours before he was abused. That would be happier, that he managed to rediscover himself despite the trauma.

Either way, I still love him.

I love both dramas and their dynamics in both.

If you have read this far then I apologise for rambling on for so long.

I love these dramas for both their differences and their similarities. I just wish the plots added up a bit more. Instead of answering my questions Time Of Fever only seemed to give me more.

I love Donghee and Hotae and I really need to see them have a happy ending. (Wishing for a third drama where they actually get together. ULS ended hopefully for them but I need more).