We’ve seen gay love stories dropped into crime settings before, mostly out of Thailand, but this series takes that whole idea somewhere new, and it’s really more of a proper series than just a romance with crime dressed around it. The gang politics and constant jockeying for power aren’t just background noise here, they’re actually woven right into the main plot, essential to the whole thing. It’s set against the backdrop of the chaotic 1980s Kowloon Walled City, and that setting feels genuinely lived in. There’s real chemistry, real tension, and the season ends on a cliffhanger that’s clearly setting up more to come. This first season runs 9 episodes, each landing around 50 minutes. Since there’s honestly a ton going on, I’m mostly going to zero in on the romance here.
At the center of it is a relationship between a gang leader with a softer side and a student who’s seen as practically perfect, the pride of not just his family but the whole neighborhood around him. It’s obvious pretty early on that the student’s drawn to the gangster, and true to BL formula, the gangster’s the one who has to wrestle with actually accepting his own feelings. He ChuSan is sharp and quietly driven, desperate to break free from a life dominated by triads and corruption. But Xia LiuYi, a guy climbing fast through the underworld’s ranks, drags him into a scheme he wanted no part of. As things get more tangled and the power struggles ramp up, the two of them shift from being forced allies into actual partners chasing revenge together. He ChuSan brings the calculated, loyal financial mind, while Xia LiuYi is this fierce enforcer with an unexpectedly gentle side, and together they fight through a lawless city where falling in love ends up being the riskiest move either of them makes. That might sound like a small summary, but there’s a lot packed into this show. Xia LiuYi’s climb up the ranks, the truth about his family, and how He ChuSan’s family, including his doctor father, end up caring for this new gang leader, all of that forms the backbone of the story. On top of that there are rival gangs circling, a second gay romance running between a cop and someone else, and the ongoing struggle both leads face trying to reconcile their feelings for each other with their own sense of morality and principle.
Our sheltered student spends a lot of the show trying to stay clear of the underworld entirely, but there’s this constant pull dragging him back in. He’s drawn to Xia LiuYi almost immediately, even when Xia LiuYi’s still a low ranking nobody before getting pushed into a leadership role he didn’t ask for. What really makes this show click is the contrast, Xia LiuYi’s vulnerability against He ChuSan’s surprising inner strength. It flips the usual dangerous guy meets innocent guy setup on its head in a way that actually feels new. Even once Xia LiuYi’s running his own triad, there’s something about the way he carries himself that makes him feel less threatening than He ChuSan does. The two of them are clearly, deeply in love, and that pull between them is impossible to miss. Even with all the violence surrounding them, the show still makes room for humor and unscripted feeling moments that keep the characters feeling human instead of just tragic.
The chemistry between these two is undeniable, and the actors deserve full credit for pulling that off. I’ll also say, both leads are ridiculously good looking, I actually found myself telling a friend just how attractive the two of them are. Even when Xia LiuYi can’t fully articulate what he’s feeling, his devotion to the man who’s captured his heart comes through clearly. And that love gets reciprocated in ways he doesn’t see coming. I know I’ve mostly stuck to the romance angle here, but there’s so much more happening in this show that it’s genuinely hard to cover it all. I’m skipping most of it mainly because I came into this for the love story, not really the gangster plot, and on that front, I walked away satisfied. The way it ends, with He ChuSan in the hospital and Xia LiuYi likely facing arrest, leaves plenty of ground to cover in a future season. Overall you get solid kissing scenes, good intimacy, real chemistry, and two genuinely stunning leads carrying it all. by the way: Did anyone else feel that the dubbing of the show was a little off! (7/10)
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