Disclaimer again: This includes spoilers from future episodes so if you haven’t watched please do so.
WhyRU – Fighter/Tutor Introduction and International Links
We left off with Tutor very frustrated at the abrupt ending to the make out session with Fighter. He hear someone knocking on the door. He answers the door, ready to have it out with Fighter, but to his surprise it’s his older sister Tongta. He wasn’t expecting her, but he is so happy she is there. He brings her luggage inside and they settle in on the couch to chat.
This is what he claims to have been doing…..well he was tutoring Fighter, but not about English. Couldn’t resist. 😁
It has been a while since he has seen her, and he’s quick to ask her if she got a job? She tells him that she has. He asks if she is going to move in with him. He would love to spend more time with her. Tutor really misses his family. As she hesitates, he soon understands that she hasn’t gotten a job in Bangkok. She is moving to Germany to take a new job there. Tutor doesn’t like this, and proceeds to be disappointed and pout a bit. This scene is a good one to get into Tutor’s behavior and how he is different when his walls are down.
I love how he turns away, his lips forming a pout. He’s miffed his sister didn’t tell him earlier. With her, he doesn’t have to pretend that everything is fine. He can act a little more childish with her.
Spoiler Alert: This is from the their arrival at the hotel during the beach scene, and it doesn’t reveal too much, but if you want to be completely surprised don’t click on this.
[su_expand height=“0”] F : “Tutor..” the sounds were so low and soft as he putting his fingertips on Tutor cheek.
F : “What do you want to eat later?”
T : “I want to sleep.”
F : “I’m asking you what you want to eat not what you want to do?”
T : “I want to sleep first then eat should I say it again.” He feel annoyed.
F : “Now you sounds like my aunt.”
T : “I’m behaving like this just with certain people P Fight.”
F : “Define certain people.”
T : ‘My parents. My older siblings, and..”
As he moving himself unconsciously towards the warmth of someone. “Like this, are you happy now.” He start to mumble.
F : “………………’
T : “I’m happy there’s another person added too.” he still murmuring.
F : “I’m happy.” As he looking at the person who now seems to fall asleep. Despite his mouth still murmuring words. Then he moved closer, way a little more. Also pulled Tutor in. “Very happy..” [/su_expand]
He acts like this with Fighter as well. Especially when it’s just the two of them together. Like when he grumbles as he rests his head on Fighter’s shoulder as they share a cab home. He knows Fighter will be tender, treat him gently and let him do what he wants.
But in the end of the conversation with his sister, Fighter knows that she has thought it out and made up her mind. He gives her a hug and smile to let her know she has his support. She’s tired from travel, but wants to talk to him. She’s a good big sister who knows when her brother is bothered by something. She tells him they will talk tomorrow because she can see that something is weighing on his mind.
The next time we see Tutor and Tongta, Tongta has made dinner for them, and they share a meal with easy companionship. We see how much Tutor has missed his family. Also, I swear, this is all Saint. Bunny likes to eat and you can tell how much he’s liking the food in this scene. This is an older sister playing with and pampering her younger brother. This is like who he used to be, before he was on his own and worried and stressed about his families money situation.
I’ve separated this scene, from the next because I feel they have different vibes and different meanings. Tongta brings a present for Tutor before she leaves. The words behind the gift are quite beautiful. Her words are meant for Tutor to hear, trying to get him to understand that everything needs love, even something tough, to grow.
He begins to understand. But when he looks at the Cactus, he doesn’t see himself. He sees Fighter, who never had love, compassion or caring. Even though he’s tough on the outside, he needs someone to give him tenderness and caring to help him become stronger.
This next scene is one of my favorites in this series. Tutor has been getting texts from Fighter wondering if they were still going to do meet at his condo to study. Fighter is wondering why Tutor wont text him back. Fighter tells Tutor if its about the other day, he would like to talk about it. I feel that Fighter is ready to talk about his feelings with Tutor. Tutor flashes back to the scene where Fighter asked him to figure out what his feelings for Fighter were. He asks Tutor if its ok for him to come meet with him and talk about it. Tongta comes to find Tutor, then we have this heartwarming scene.
I can’t say enough good things about his sister Tongta and what she says to Tutor when he opens up to her. Tutor asks her the meaning behind a kiss if you had feelings involved. She seems surprised that he was so worried and stressed over a kiss. Her words to him are deep. She could have just dismissed his concerns, saying a kiss is no big deal. But she says to him, a kiss can be just a kiss, but if you want my help finding a reason for it, it could be several things. “A kiss could be teasing, it could be want, it could be desire. It could be because it feels good. It could also be love.” This is so deep. I wish someone had said this to me when I was younger. There is no judgement in her voice. She doesn’t imply that want, desire and good feelings are negatives at all. She’s trying to help him understand his feelings.
What she says next sticks with me. When you can’t stop thinking about the kiss, that means it’s special. And those good feelings can turn into love. My heart is full when I hear that. She’s telling Tutor that because he can’t stop thinking about it, the kiss, and that person are special to him. He then blurts out what if its the same gender as you.
She pauses for a moment. You can see she didn’t expect this question. But she answers him honestly and with her full love and support. She says to him “You need to step away from what society thinks is the norm. You should open your heart to love regardless of age, gender, or status.” She tells him to open himself any part that is closed off and be receptive to love. This is so powerful. I don’t think I have ever seen this easy, positive portrayal of coming out in bl shows. There are no tears, no angst, just positive acceptance and reassurance. Beautifully done. I also want to tell anyone who is going through this themselves, that my dm on twitter and my email is always open. I give out free mom hugs to all my LGBTQ+ babies and I’m here to listen, love and support you. Now back to Tutor. Tongta wants to meet Fighter, so she teases Tutor she will message him to send her off the next day. Tutor grabs the phone and sends off a quick text to Fighter asking him to meet them at the airport.
I love how she teases Tutor and Tutor is quick to not call Fighter his boyfriend. The look on Fighter’s face is pure meet the parents anxiety. He doesn’t know what to expect so he’s on his best behavior and he’s a little worried that Tutor wanted to introduce him to his sister. Tutor’s nerves get the best of him and he rushes off to the bathroom, leaving Tongta and Fighter alone together.
This is where Tongta tells Fighter to stop being so nervous. She also tells him she knows about his relationship with Tutor. This really surprises Fighter, because he himself is not sure what their relationship is. She tells him that its an unclear relationship but she can guess. Fighter looks both relieved, and a little worried. He’s not sure what she’s going to say to him. Will she warn him off, tell him to leave her brother alone?
Instead, she does something that I find even more incredible. She asks Fighter to take care of her little brother. She says even though he appears to be tough, he’s really not. And that since she was leaving, Tutor would not have anyone by his side. She asked if he could be there for Tutor, and tell him he will never leave. Fighter smiles at this. He knows his feelings for Tutor. He won’t leave him. He loves him. Whether he says it or not, he knows Tutor is the only one for him. He agrees. She then asks him if he wants to know a secret about Tutor. We know Fighter. He always wants to know more about Tutor. She tells him Tutor loves the beach, and that Fighter should take him there so they could figure out and make clear their relationship. (Episode 9 here we come!)
Tutor comes back. He tells Fighter to move so that he can sit next to his sister.
Tongta is all us fan girls/fan boys/. How Saint and Zee are in their own little world and the rest of us look on and think, hello, do you notice we are here? 😁
Then we get the sad departure scene. It really hurts me to see Tutor and Tongta try to be brave when they separate. Then she rushes back to embrace her brother, to give him one more giant hug, and cry before departing for Germany. Then we see Tutor crying quietly while looking out the window. I’m going to put two clips side by side for a comparison.
In the first scene we see Tutor crying, trying to comfort himself with words he longs to hear. He tries to tell himself that things will get better, then he does something that breaks my heart. He puts his head down on his arms and folds them around himself, he is giving himself a hug, trying to be his own source of comfort. In the second scene, we finally see he has someone by his side. As he is crying, mourning his sisters departure, Fighter stands by his side. As Fighter reaches out to calm him down, he throws himself into Fighters arms, desperate for warmth, comfort, and reassurance. Tutor instinctively knows he can get these things from Fighter. Fighter smiles softly as Tutor embraces him, Tutor turned to him for comfort. He didn’t push Fighter away. As he rubs Tutor’s back he comforts Tutor, reminding him softly that he will get through this, and that things will be alright. He gives Tutor everything that Tutor needed in that moment. The way his voice is so gentle as he says “Trust in P, na” makes me so soft. Its such a sign of how much he loves Tutor. As Tutor pulls back Fighter gently wipes his tears away. I am sure that this is the first time Fighter has ever wiped anyone’s tears or held them like this. His soft spot is Tutor. He would do anything for him. He says to Tutor, lets go home. Tutor agrees and says there is something they need to talk about. Fighter agrees and they leave.
Next is the rooftop scene. This scene is in my top five scenes out of any movie or series, and not just bl. It’s so beautiful, emotional and iconic. I’m going to put in the whole scene because I couldn’t cut it. It’s too powerful. Then we can unpack it in terms of significance. Enjoy.
We pan to the rooftop at night. It the two of them. Tutor is standing at the railing, looking into the city in the distance, the soft lights glowing, thinking about his sisters departure. He’s trying to sort out his feelings. Fighter is standing quietly next to him facing the opposite direction. He’s not speaking, nor is he crowding Tutor. He’s letting Tutor take his time and sort through his feelings. He understands Tutor needs to think and process his feelings. He gets Tutor. Finally he puts his hand on Tutor’s shoulder to ask if he’s ok.
Tutor turns around. We can see that he’s stopped crying. He has a calm expression on his face and he tells Fighter he’s ok. He says he’s ok with Tongta’s decision to go to Germany because she was doing what was the best for their whole family. Fighter seems impressed as he compliments Tutor. You are becoming so clever, you worked that out so quickly. Tutor then thanks Fighter for standing with him, for helping him through this tough time. Fighter says its ok. There is hesitation on Tutor’s part then he says P’Fight, lets go home. He is emotionally and physically exhausted from crying and trying to process his grief. He’s not ready to have a talk with Fighter about their relationship. Fighter puts his hand on Tutor’s arm and asks him to wait. Tutor takes a deep breath and steels himself for the conversation, then he turns back to Fighter.
Fighter doesn’t want to wait. He’s been waiting for so long. He needs to know if Tutor feels what he feels. He knows its not really fair to do this while Tutor’s guard is down, but he pushes forward anyway. He looks at Tutor’s eyes and asks him. “Do you think that I have feelings for you?” He really wants to know if Tutor knows his feelings yet? He’s shown Tutor how he feels, have his actions come across to Tutor? And what does Tutor feel for him?
Tutor is so wiped out and contemplative that he doesn’t take offense at the question. He places his hand on Fighter’s hand and answers honestly. “I don’t know what you feel. The person who feels things should know their own feelings.” He says “I have heard there is a theory on how to test the feelings of the person in front of you.” Tutor responds questioningly “How do we do that?” This next part is so sweet. Tutor smiles gently at him and says “I forgot to tell you that when you like someone you can’t say no to that person. Do you still want to know?” Tutor testing out Fighter’s feelings. If Fighter says no, then he definitely doesn’t like Tutor. But Fighter says in his way. “Ummm” Which is Fighter speak for yes. Tutor says to Fighter. “If two people stare into each other’s eyes for 10 seconds, the first one to look away has feelings for the other one. If you are both able to stare into each other eyes for longer than 10 seconds, that means you don’t like each other.”
He asks Fighter if he’s ready. He agrees. Tutor puts his hands over Fighter’s eyes. Fighter closes his eyes. Tutor counts to three then moves his hand away. They stare at each other as the countdown begins. Tutor starts with 10, the Fighter follows with 9. They continue to look into each other’s eyes as the countdown continues. I’m going to break this scene down from what both of them are thinking and feeling, in my opinion.
Tutors viewpoint: I’m sure he likes me. Everything we’ve done has led to this moment. He has kissed me many times, he will be the one to look away first. Then I will be sure that he has feelings for me. As we continue to countdown, he seems so steady, he’s not wavering. He’s still staring at me. What does this mean? Maybe he doesn’t like me, but I can’t keep looking. I know my feelings for him. I’ll walk away before he shows me he doesn’t care for me. (When they reach 3 Tutor breaks eye contact and turns his head away from Fighters, a dejected expression on his face)
Fighters viewpoint: This is a false test. I know what I feel for Tutor. My feelings are so deep and wide that I can stare into his eyes forever. That face in front of me is so precious to me. I want to memorize every curve and line of his eyes, nose and lips. But what does he think? Does he care at all for me? (When they reach 3, Fighter leans closer to Tutor’s face, then Tutor turns away with a sad expression on his face) I swear I hear Fighter’s voice in his head saying these words to match his next actions. “Baby, don’t be worried, I am crazy about you. I treasure you, you are the most precious person in my world and I am right here with you. You are not the only one with all these intense feelings. Let me show you how much you mean to me.” All this as his hands cradle Tutors face and they share a kiss full of feelings. They both sink into the kiss, holding each other close, feeling the others breath and heartbeat.
And while this scene unfolds the most beautiful song plays in the background with the lights softly out of focus, shimmering in the distance. It is so romantic. Sigh.
As Tutor pulls back, he’s afraid to ask, but has to know anyway. His voice is soft and a little shaky. “PFight are you sure? About what you did just now?” He needs to make sure that Fighter’s meaning behind the kiss is the same as his meaning.
Fighter’s stare is full of tenderness as he tells Tutor “I’ve known about my feelings for you for a while now.” He then says to Tutor “Can I prove it once again?” He waits, still, not pushing to see what Tutor will do. Tutor leans in and gives him a gentle kiss. I love that he pulls on Fighter’s bottom lip as they separate. Tutor pulls back, you can see that Fighter wants to keep kissing. Tutor smiles gently. Their feelings are mutual.
Fighter says” I can prove it to you more, but can I do it somewhere else?” He says this while giving Tutor a slow once over from head to toe lingering on areas he’d like to be more thorough with. Fighter is such a wolf right here. But Tutor is no sheep, he gives him a smile as if to say “We’ll see.” Cue the animation sequence and credits roll.
Please let me know your thoughts and opinions. And you can reach me on Twitter too.
Twitter: JenHG43
you are truly godsent!!! I love the relationship between Tutor and Tongta and don’t we all love a supportive sister, such drastic differences from Fighter’s dad.
Omg but if you didn’t point out the similarities between the crying + rain scene and the scene where FT hugs TT, i wouldn’t have realised that the things he told himself are almost the same as the things FT told him?! It’s basically a dream come true for him, he finally found someone to tell him that things will be all right and he can finally rely on the person!!
More than that, I love how you interpreted the whole rooftop and looking at each other scene. It makes so much sense now, but I also noticed that at the 5th second or something, FT already broke his stare to look at Tutor’s lips, so I don’t even know why they continued counting. FT HAS ALREADY SHOWN HOW MUCH HE LOVES HIM!!!! Holding the “theory” true, then all the scenes where they stared at each other hits differently. Honestly, the whole scene hits differently with that new ost, it was the right amount of bang into the romantic scene. I don’t think any other scenes I’ve seen in other BL shows can beat this. Top-tier romance, top-tier couple.
What are your thoughts on their chemistry though? These few days I’ve seen people hating/criticising on the lack of chemistry between FTTT and going as far as to attack that their sexual tensions in the show are to compensate the lack of chemistry they have. Not only that, they also said that there is nothing special in the story behind FTTT as there is nothing new to discover about them.
Omg, your comments keep me going. Thank you so much for writing such a great response. I didn’t even realize the five second one, because he was still searching Tutor’s face, but he looked at his lip and inched closer. Fighter was planning on kissing Tutor no matter what the outcome, lol. I’m so glad you appreciate this scene as much as I do. It’s so beautiful.
Don’t get me started on people who say Saint/Zee has no chemistry. or even FTTT have no chemistry. I don’t know if you are new to the bl fandom, but there are a group, a very active group, of Saint haters who find any way to throw shade at whatever work he does. I tend to chalk it up to that group of people. If you want to know more about it, I’ll point you to Psycho Milk’s blog. They do an excellent job at breaking down what Saint has had to deal with since the ending of Love By Chance. They do a much better job than I do about telling you about Saint.
https://psycho-milk.com/2020/03/05/31-days-with-saint_sup-blog-a-thon/
I personally think that the FTTT dynamics share a lot of chemistry. The push pull dynamics they have are set up from the very first episode. You see the way they act, they tease. I love the enemies to lovers trope in bl, but the way they set this up, is brilliant. They set them up as enemies who can’t stand each other, then show you how their relationship started. In the beginning Fighter pulled the classic I’m picking on you because I like you. I honestly think they would have ended up in a relationship earlier had Hwa not entered the picture. Whoever says their chemistry is bad needs to ask themselves why they don’t like it. Maybe they don’t like that type of story? To my eyes, it is actually a quality of chemistry not found in many bls. I can only name a few that have quality chemistry and good follow through.
Like I absolutely adore the chemistry between Pete/Kao from Kiss Me Again/Dark Blue Kiss, but they suck at kissing. There were only two good kisses amidst a lot of bad ones. And this is coming from a polca or TayNew fan. The chemistry between Korn/Knock in Together with Me is absolutely my gold standard of couples chemistry. There was friendship, friends to lovers, and so much passion and tenderness. If you haven’t seen it, please do so.
thanks so much for reading 🙂
Oh man porksatan again?! Damn I read up on it when I got into WRU because I was curious why he was at the receiving end of so much hate and I was so angry that someone as young as him had to go through this much (i am still in disbelief that this sweetheart is one year younger than me, i feel like i need to baby him). This Love By Chance series really screwed him over, I just wish he hasnt done it tbh, and its because of this drama that I am afraid to watch LBC and also I heard a lot about how awkward porksatan is (the lack of chemistry thereof).
I never once thought they were enemies though, like one of your earlier reviews, I think they both misunderstood each other, seeing how during TT’s orientation, he chose FT to admit him in and the way FT stared at him during that beautiful tying string scene was obvious they both liked each other. The ‘hate’ for each other only came in later when Hwa dates FT (but then again he only dated her because of his dad and the fact that he thought TT likes Hwa). This increased the tension because I guess TT felt betrayed and the fact that he sort of guessed FT is not that into Hwa, and Hwa is a close friend of TT.
Oo I recently watched Kiss Me Again, and I loved Pete/Kao!!! I am starting on DBK soon. But to be honest, I was sold by this other couple in Kiss Me Again (Sanwan/R). I actually heard about the whole incident surrounding TayNew recently, just wondering if you could share abit more on it, if you know?
Thanks for the recommendation on Together with Me!! I’ve heard so much about MaxTul but I didn’t know which series they acted in, so now that I know, I will definitely go catch it!
Best wishes to you and I hope you stay safe amidst this worldwide crisis period!
Yep, those guys. Lol. I love your name for them. I’ve just recently stumbled on that name. Nothing wrong with Perth per se, but he should have told his fans to calm the hell down. That’s where Psycho Milk and I agree on. None of his cast mates stepped up and defended him. That really made me sad. Saint is only four years older than my oldest kid. (Yes, I’m old, lol) But i have to say the way he handled everything speaks to his personality trait that I admire the most, his positivity. He refuses to send out bad vibes or hate/shade on others. He remains focused on sending out positive energy to his followers, and tbh his attitude has made me look at Buddhism is a new light. He is very devout, and is vocal about it. I’ve been dealing with a very difficult problem at home, so it has helped me live in the moment and focus on positive rather than negative. I will be grateful for this outlook, I feel its given me peace.
As for the hate to love, I should have clarified. I meant the trope, WhyRU likes to do things with a wink and nod at the bl stereotypes. So even though they are the “enemies to lovers” trope that you see in shows like Kiss Me Again where Pete Kao loathed each other, they aren’t really enemies at all, but two people who misunderstand each other. We know that Fighter has always liked Tutor, and Tutor definitely flirts with Fighter after the initiation. Another few examples of tropes they put in the show, lets look at Mii2, we have Saifah, the tall one, the engineer, the cool guy, and his opposite, Zon, small, mousy and nerdy. But as the show unfolds you realize they are more than that, Saifah loves romance novels, Zon isn’t great at school and loves to sing. They aren’t stereotypical in any way.
You will enjoy DBK but you will get frustrated halfway through. As for the issue with Tay and New, i can only speculate a few things. Earlier in the polca fandom, some people began harassing Newwie’s girlfriend on social media. Most of us polcas are here for their friendship. They’ve been friends, close friends, for like 7 years. Just look at all the shows on YouTube they have been on together. They bicker like an old married couple and we love them for that. Newwie and gf broke up. DBK was filmed. This was an ending to their show. Newwie got a new gf and a new movie, we polcas are happy when he’s happy. Tay apparently distanced himself from Newwie and Newwie is a bit mad about it, as he kind of said in an interview. But we don’t know whats happening and why. We just know they used to post a lot of content together or tag each other in IG stories and they don’t anymore. (again, speculation only…..we all just want them to hangout together and be ok again.) I feel that they, dont know if its new or tay, but they don’t want to cause problems with their relationship. They still support each other, like Tay went to see the premiere of Newwies movie and talked about how much Newwie had grown as an actor. The other day we see that they were in the studio with off, win, and bright, but during that time they never appear in the same shot. Probably more than you wanted to know, but I love my dorks so much. Also you will love SunMork from DBK.
For Together With Me, please watch because their chemistry is off the charts. Just a fair warning though, the first seven seconds of episode are steamy af, so please know it’s definitely not safe for work or parents, lol.
Whoever is saying Zaintsee have no chemistry is willfully denying reality…
I just discovered Together With Me and, man, that is how you do an intro! The first 30 seconds blew my mind. It’s not the best BL out there but 1. Yihwa is queen and 2. Korn/Knock set the standard for sexual chemistry between two guys. I love love LOVE SunMork but they were more romantic than full on “let’s bang”, the only couple that can be rightfully compared to them from that point of view is TharnType (loved the couple, hated the series).
In my personal opinion, Fighter actually looked away first. Let me explain why:
If you pay attention, the objective in this test is to stare into each other’s EYES.
Just before the countdown reaches number 5, Fighter looks AWAY from Tutors eyes to admire his LIPS instead. Technically that means fighter looked away first… am I wrong??
He was always gazing at Fighter’s lips, but I think they meant that the first person to actually look away from the other person is the one who has feelings. Fighter knows he has feelings for Tutor. It’s not even a question in his mind, he just needs to know Tutor’s feelings. Actually in the book Tutor gets to zero, smirks a little then gets kissed like crazy by Fighter. In the book, Fighter is pretty clever. He tells Tutor they need to do that (kissing again) so they can prove their feelings and also do *that too that we’ve never done before* as a way to be sure of their feelings….Fighter is hungry and clever. So Tutor gets exasperated and they go home. That’s how it plays out in the book. I really think Fighter just wanted to kiss Tutor, and was going to no matter whether Tutor looked away or not, but he really wanted to know if Tutor liked him, so he stayed where he was and kept his moving his eyes between Tutor’s eyes and Tutors lips.
You have made a great contributikn to the Tutor-Fighter dynamic by pointing out details that many failed to take note. It made me appreciate the efforts of the whole series team more.
I think Saint and Zee being hands on about their character development is innovative as it is a pleasure watching them.
Thanks, I feel as if there are so many layers to this show and I love digging to fins them. As for Saint and Zee, I too appreciate their willingness to really understand the nuances of their character and to adapt their performance to reflect that.
Thank you, i don’t know why I didn’t see this comment until now. I really appreciate all the details that everyone has put into the show. The settings, the music selections, the props, it all works so beautifully together. I hope you read my episode 9 review because even though it’s lengthy there was so much to unpack in this episode. I think for me, the creative freedom the director gave both Saint and Zee to design many of these beach scenes and they pulled it off beautifully. My favorite episode so far, and its not even because of the NC scenes, lol.
💕😊 – Jen