Everything Hurts: Bromance Ep 7 Recap

This week on Bromance, love is pain and pain is real.

This is a partial recap, only because I only watch this show for Zi Feng and Ya Nuo scenes. But I mean if you really want to know the full deets, here’s a quick summary of what I got from my speed watching: Nana’s dad is Uncle Tian and she still has an illness. Ah Chao likes Zi Han. And also surprise surprise Ah Chao is fool (but we shall get to that in a minute).

I constantly have to remind myself that I do like this show. I just like it in spite of many things. Like how Ya Nuo threw herself at Zi Feng last week and all we get in terms of continuity is Zi Feng’s inner monologue of “Why is my heart beating so fast?” I mean are you not going to address the fact that it is mighty odd for a guy to throw himself at you?

Instead the story steam rolls ahead and we’re quickly introduced to main antagonist Han Sheng. Fine, Zi Feng can do the heavyweight reflection later. For now we get to enjoy Han Sheng provoking the fiercest of Zi Feng and Ya Nuo’s protectiveness:

1. “I hope you really do understand loyalty.” – Zi Feng delivers this thinly veiled threat when Han Sheng promises that no one’s going to harm Ya Nuo again. Supposedly because he is a ‘loyal friend’. 
2. Zi Feng trying to get Ya Nuo out of drinking. 
3. Zi Feng rushing to look at Ya Nuo’s scalded hand. 
4. Ya Nuo side-eyeing the two the whole time. (Also can we talk about how Ya Nuo manages to look manly while shelling prawns like a good wife for Zi Feng??)

I may be in the minority but I’m really enjoying Zi Feng and Han Sheng’s frenemy status. That one moment where he offers his hand to Zi Feng and they down a glass of wine is great because it speaks of a less complicated past, but where seeds of rivalry were planted. They clearly have a long history and there’s so much potential for depth of character. Of course I’m not keeping my hopes up because writers seem hell-bent on making Han Sheng as stereotypically slimy as possible.

Hands up who wants Ya Nuo to see these pictures? 

Meanwhile Zi Feng’s in so deep in his hell hole of love and affection everyone and their pet dog knows it. Heck, even he knows it. Seeing Zi Feng go through the emotional wringer was both the worst and the best part of this episode.

He literally can’t control himself any more. He knows he can’t control it any more, thereby admitting to Qing Yang that he can’t help but want to keep looking at and get closer to the other person – Oh, no kidding. 

When Ya Nuo offers to help him tie his tie in exchange for him teaching her how to the last time, just look at his face. That happy smirk on his face. The fact that he’s just openly staring at Ya Nuo’s lips. That he adjusts his face because he’s, and I infer, thinking about how nice to kiss Ya Nuo.

Then this:

I’m not sure which part of the original test included caressing?

And just like that calm and cool manager, don’t-mess-with-my-people mob boss’ son, gets turned into a fumbling idiot who forgets himself and rushes to open the door for his secretary. Love how he’s so nervous around Xiao Qing because he knows how weird it is for him to be sending his subordinate home.

Is it also really odd that I can understand the birth scene? I’ve read comments about people not understanding it. Sure, there’s any number of ways they could have shown Zi Feng and Ya Nuo working together. It’s not the first time they’ve been in a perilous situation. But instead of a fight to the death here’s a fight for life. Ya Nuo is incredibly in the way she calmly reasons with Zi Feng and handles the situation. This confirms the reasoning behind why Ya Nuo’s the target for Han Sheng – Zi Feng’s so much stronger when she’s around. As with the elevator scene, this is also a progression of events. Zi Feng just admitted to Qing Yang that he “can’t be without Pi Ya Nuo.” This scene shows exactly why. He loves her, and his love is rooted in something substantial.

It also puts Zi Feng out of his element. In a fight Zi Feng’s confident. In business Zi Feng is capable. But in a birthing situation? It makes him nervous. This then allows to be vulnerable in front of Ya Nuo, to talk about his past to her. She already knows was lonely, but this is probably the first time he has confessed what he has had to deal with since his father’s disappearance. The moment where Ya Nuo praises him is a tender one. Megan Lai plays this scene with glassy eyes and a sincere tone.

Speaking of her, I love Ya Nuo more than words can say. Ya Nuo’s innocence and vulnerability is so bittersweet. At 25 she’s not the youngest chick on the block, but still, she is young. She is young and she is inexperienced. The girl had always concentrated on keeping up with her parents’ expectations, to be a guy as required of her. Being easygoing she had never questioned it, never rebelled. Up until the last episode she had never considered how guys would consider her in ‘girl’ form. Zi Feng brings out her innocence and her insecurities. No one but Ya Nuo has to contend with lying about her gender. No one has to face the same dilemma, and the way that Megan Lai plays out Ya Nuo’s concerns makes you just want to hug her.

I’m so glad Xiao Qing is there for her. Ya Nuo’s full girlishness is shown through their interactions, and while I adore the steady ‘guy’ Ya Nuo, I also find ‘girl’ Ya Nuo charming. My heart hurt a little when she lay her head on Xiao Qing’s shoulder.

On a side note: The cut scene with Ya Nuo and Zi Han was so beautiful. I see why they cut it, but I’m glad they inserted it as a bonus. Zi Han is so much more than a sheltered little sister and spoilt daughter. Zi Han is courageous – She’s stunningly tenacious, fiercely loyal. Also, Zi Han is allowed to be what Ya Nuo as a man is unable to be – frank. Next to Zi Han, we see clearly how heavy Ya Nuo’s burden is. Her sexual preference dictates that she leaves no chance for Zi Han and we know that it’s hard for her to keep her real identity a secret from Zi Han. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, her empathy and inability to tell Zi Han the truth, she gently holds her in her arms and tells her she will find a better man.

Right, ok. Now on to why Liao Guang Chao wins the award for BIGGEST FOOL IN THE UNIVERSE. With 13 episodes to go I suppose it was inevitable to have some misunderstandings. Ah Chao decides to confront Ya Nuo on liking men (and Zi Feng in particular), not knowing that he’d accidentally pressed a button on Ya Nuo’s office phone which is meant for call transfers to Zi Feng’s office.

Lord above…Zi Feng’s face when he overhears Ah Chao’s conversations with Ya Nuo and thinks Ya Nuo only likes him as a brother!

Finally Zi Feng has time to reflect on all his interactions with Ya Nuo, except now it’s coloured by his interpretation of what he heard.

I repeat…HIS FACE! Lord, someone give the man a hug.

I have to say, they really chose a great location for this scene. The melancholy of the wind blowing against their hair. The cold tinging their nose and eyes red. Excellent.

So cue more heartbreak when Ya Nuo finds him. I love the part where Ya Nuo breaks into a smile when she sees him but it turns into a frown when she remembers how anxious and angry she is.

Ya Nuo erupting in anger is just…she needs a hug too.

The moment when Ya Nuo bursts out a confession is so well played. Her shock, and the uncharacteristic calm that is Zi Feng’s expression when he hears it.

He’s happy to hear that she likes him – but he remembers that Ya Nuo ‘doesn’t like members of the same gender’ and he closes himself up emotionally.

And Ya Nuo, whose sweet girlish smile surfaces when he says “I like you too” is completely crushed when he says “As a brother.” It’s cruel that the writers would use the exact same line to break both their hearts. 

That, and the fact that Baron Chen would use a gentle, quiet tone of voice when Zi Feng promises Ya Nuo that he’d take care of himself. It shows how Zi Feng loves Ya Nuo.

It’s some evil game the director plays, having a close up of Ya Nuo about to cry. It’s also incredibly torturous that this scene would parallel the ending scene in Ep 6.

Whereas Zi Feng decisively hugs Ya Nuo back in Ep 6, showing his acceptance of his feelings for her, in Ep 7, he is completely frozen and unable (perhaps even unwilling) to react to her. At the moment that she lets her head fall on his chest, he’s confused. His looks shows he’s holding back.

On her end, Ya Nuo thinks that she’d be able to get some comfort from him like she used to. To my mind, I think she does what Xiao Qing asks of her, to not let go of any chance to be with Zi Feng. She bares her feelings by her actions once more.

She’s confused as to why he wouldn’t hold her this time, but she stays there…thinking that if she just waited a little more…