Episode 12 really and truly had me on an emotional rollercoaster. I actually had to pause a few time because I was not expecting the emotional baggage this show is giving me right now. Episode 11 left off with Tutor and Fighter breaking up and let me tell you, the break up only gets messier, my goodness!
Things for Tutor and Fighter look like they are going straight down the drain. Tutor is still being secretive about why he is breaking up with Fighter and I honestly hate it. Fighter absolutely bares his entire soul to Tutor in this episode and Tutor just completely destroys him.
Like, I know why Tutor is doing what he’s doing, but he is truly being so hurtful and harsh to Fighter that I honestly felt myself getting angry at him. Because if there is one thing that I don’t like, is dishonesty and a lack of transparency. Tutor was not being transparent. All he kept saying was, “you don’t know the things I’ve been through”. Well, how can he, Tutor, WHEN YOU WON’T TELL HIM! He’s not a freakin’ mind reader and he has no idea that his father went behind his back to speak to you.
Anyways. Let’s get into it.
This episode starts off with Fighter and Tutor ignoring each other; straight up walking past each other like they never even knew each other. But Fighter can’t handle it so when he gets home, he calls Tutor and leaves a message asking if they can talk. If Tutor really wants to end things between them, Fighter thinks he should be told the truth as to why. And I mean, that’s completely fair! He deserves to know why the relationship is ending. He also fears that he might have done something to upset Tutor this much and he wants Tutor to tell him if he has.
So Tutor texts him saying that if he really wants to know why they are breaking up then meet him at the engineering building right now at that moment. Fighter practically runs there because he is so in love with Tutor that he’s becoming desperate and his dignity is slowly evaporating.
Only, he gets there, and what does he see? Tutor all booed up with that stupid high schooler that sent him and Fighter’s photo out in the first place. Like, wtf Tutor? Did he really have to take it this far??? -1000.
The answer is no, he didn’t. It’s one thing to break up with somebody, but it’s another to just be so mean spirited as to try and hurt them the way Tutor is doing in this episode. One could argue that he’s only doing it because of the issue with Fighter’s dad, and if he’s not mean to him, Fighter won’t stop trying to be with him. But I don’t care! A break up is a break up. Tutor needs to stop with this extra stuff. It’s not like Fighter’s dad threatened to kill him. It’s not like Tutor and Fighter are closeted about their sexualities; they are out and proud! So liiikkkeee, Tutor is just really doing too much. But it get’s worse from here.
Of course this pisses Fighter off, so he follows Tutor to his apartment and barges in. They get rough and start fighting but they don’t throw any punches, thank God.
Fighter basically forces himself on Tutor asking him if he remembers all the things they did together, if he remembers what they did at the beach, and maybe he needs to remind him. It’s an ugly scene and yet again, it gets even worse.
Fighter is forcing kisses, and for a while Tutor does kiss him back because he wants Fighter just as much as Fighter wants him. But he ends up stopping and makes Fighter feel guilty for what he’s doing. So Fighter stops too. He knows what he’s doing is ugly and wrong but he just can’t help himself.
They separate for a while, then Fighter can’t help but start crying again. He completely opens up in a way that we have never seen before; even more than when he admitted his feelings to Tutor, even more than when he finally allowed himself to give himself sexually to Tutor, and even more than being the super clingy and cringey boyfriend that will do anything for Tutor.
“From the first day that I met you, I barely even realized it myself, why I had such a strange feeling for you. Until now, I have found my answer. That I liked you since the first day I met you. I tried to step back. But the more I run away, the more I want to approach you. Until the day I opened up to you, and you opened up to me, I was so freakin happy. But why? Is there something wrong? Why won’t you tell me?”
– Fighter
Look at this man! This man is on his knees! He’s crying so much, he’s actually snotting at the nose! He has mentally and emotionally stripped himself bare in front of Tutor.
I hate that Fighter completely lost himself over this. He lost his dignity, his pride, his self-respect. Everything. Because he is so in love with Tutor that he doesn’t care. He only wants Tutor and it’s so heart breaking to see him act this way.
And what does Tutor do???? He roughly pushes him away, tells him he doesn’t love him anymore, and to get out of his apartment. And the final blow y’all…he removes the necklace from around his neck that Fighter gave him and tells him to take it back.
I couldn’t take it after this. It was just too much. Tutor went way too far and my heart completely broke seeing Fighter as a shattered man who gave everything emotionally to Tutor. After Fighter leaves, Tutor cries by himself, but I honestly don’t care about him crying because he is the one causing all this pain.
Fighter’s dad asked Tutor to stay away and offered money which Tutor refused. He didn’t threaten him with death, he didn’t try to ruin his potential engineering career, he didn’t threaten to out him because Tutor is already out, he didn’t threaten Tutor’s family, and he didn’t use physical force. So, really. Tutor didn’t have to do any of this, in my opinion. To me, it just shows that he has no faith in Fighter, that he believes Fighter can’t stand up to his own dad and live his own life.
Minus another 1000 because I really am pissed.
So, the next few days, they don’t speak to each other but they spend a lot of time thinking about each other. Tutor is so worked up and stressed about everything that’s happening that he ends up falling sick and getting a fever.
Fighter, ever the dependable, doting boyfriend, finds Tutor and sees that he’s not feeling well. Instead of going to talk to him, he just follows him for a while, but he soon sees that Tutor is really in a lot of pain. Tutor ends up almost fainting and Fighter runs to catch him and offers to take him home. Tutor goes back to being all mean and rejects Fighter’s help, but ends up accepting his help in the end because he really does feel like crap.
Fighter takes him back to his apartment and takes care of him. Medicine, sponge bath, fluffing up the pillows, the whole nine yards. When he gets up to leave, Tutor has a change of heart and asks Fighter to stay. Fighter is shocked but happy and teases him by saying, “You miss me, don’t you?” And Tutor actually admits that he does.
So they take a nap together and when Fighter wakes up, Tutor’s phone is being blown up with messages from Zon. Tutor has been talking to Zon about what’s going on between him and Fighter. Fighter reads the messages and finds out that his dad is the reason that Tutor is behaving the way he is. So he leaves a message on Tutor’s phone and leaves to go home to confront his dad. And this was a great scene!
It was intense, it was loud (because they were yelling at each other), and it was meaningful. Fighter opened up to his dad and told the truth; that he’s not happy living the life his dad is forcing on him and he hates that he has never even asked him about what things make him happy. Fighter knows that his dad is only selfishly doing it for the betterment of his business because Papa Fighter wants Fighter to inherit his business in the future.
Fighter’s dad even smacks Fighter clean across the face but Fighter doesn’t care because he wants nothing else than to make his own decisions and love who he wants to love. Fighter tries to remain respectful and even begs his dad to let him live his own life. He BEGS, yall! And once again, my heart just broke at how really and truly broken and vulnerable Fighter has been for, first Tutor, and now his own dad.
“About this, can I please make my own decisions? If it turns out bad, I’ll fix it myself. Can I please have my life back, Paw?”
– Fighter
Fighter’s dad is so taken aback by all of this that he doesn’t give a response. He just walks away, angry and overwhelmed with everything.
I hate seeing Fighter like this, but I love that he stood up for himself. He’s fighting to live his own life and to love who he wants to love which is so, so hard when you have overbearing, controlling parents. That alone is worth a lot. +2000
Next we get a little bit of Saifah and Zon. Sai and Zon are also going to take a beach trip but they invite Tutor along because they know how bad he’s been feeling about Fighter lately. Tutor worries that he’ll just be a third wheel but he agrees to go anyway because Sai and Zon won’t take no for an answer.
At the resort, Sai and Zon share a room of course, and Tutor gets his own room on the upper level. And y’all! The first thing I said when Tutor entered his room was, “It would be romantic if Fighter was there waiting for him in the room”. Well he wasn’t waiting for him lol. So, Tutor lays down on the bed feeling all sad.
But, a little while later, when he gets back up, guess who’s standing in the doorway waiting for him for real this time?
Fighter <3
Fighter truly fits his namesake. He does not give up. He is a fighter for real.
And that’s basically where this episode ends. We get a little bit from some of the other couples during this episode but not much.
Japan and Tanthai are slowly becoming a thing. Japan is slowly but surely making it more obvious that he likes Tanthai in return. They actually almost kiss in this episode but Tanthai pulls back in a very teasing way. I think he knows that Japan likes him back, Japan just hasn’t admitted it to him yet. Tanthai even basically asks to be his boyfriend by asking if he could be “someone’s real significant other” but Japan laughs it off and acts like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I actually kinda like Japan and Tanthai and I don’t even know why because they barely even get any screen time. But they are cute enough and kinda funny. +50
Blue and Dew have some development too but I still don’t really know how I feel about their pairing. We knew that Dew had feelings for Blue since the very beginning. But his confusion about those feelings made him very mean and angry and he was originally very rough with Blue. Like, he almost freakin beat him up in the locker room.
But now, ever since Champ, the soccer captain, paired them up and made them spend more time together, Dew has gotten much nicer and even goes out of his way to help Blue sometimes, such as helping him when Blue comes out for extra soccer practice.
Since they are spending more time with each other, it seems like Blue has been spending less time with Champ who was the senior he seemed to have a crush on in the earlier episodes. But Champ only ever treated him like a little brother.
But noooowwww that Champ sees Dew actually being nice to Blue and Blue is looking at Dew the same way he used to look at Champ, Champ is feeling jealous! The soccer boys already know that Dew has the hots for Blue. Blue is the only one that doesn’t know it…yet lol. It’s interesting to see Champ jealous over Blue because he never showed interest before.
But anyway, after some one-on-one soccer practice, Dew walks Blue home (he lives in a freakin mansion!) but Blue doesn’t want to leave him just yet so he stalls and tries to drop hints that he wants P’Dew to come in the house so they can spend more time together. But Dew is playing stupid lol.
Then what does little homie do? He gets bold and just comes right out and asks.
And welp, Dew can’t help himself. In the house, he goes lollllllll. I don’t like their pairing, but I do like how much control Blue had over him in this instance. +20
After writing all this, I think I realize why I don’t really care for Blue and P’Dew’s pairing. Other than Dew initially being a complete jerk, I don’t like how much Blue looks like a child. He seriously looks like a middle schooler to me even though he’s supposed to be a freshman in college. And Dew is supposed to be a third year student. We know this because he’s in the same year as Fighter, who is a year older than Tutor, who is a sophomore.
Blue is adorable. I can admit that. But the fact that Blue looks soooooo young actually makes me really uncomfortable. There is also a very obvious power imbalance. Dew is taller, physically stronger (which he has showcased already), he’s quick to get angry, and he also has more social power than Blue in a community and society that values obeying your seniors. Blue can easily get taken advantage of and that also makes me uncomfortable. This is also why I enjoyed when Blue did have some type of power and agency when he boldly invited Dew inside.
So, I can’t quite support their pairing. It doesn’t help that they barely get any screen time so we can’t see any real development anyway that would make us root for them.
Anyway! Time to tally up the points
Random Points Counter
- Tutor using the high schooler to make Fighter mad -1000
- Tutor completely destroying Fighter’s emotions -1000
- Fighter standing up to his controlling and overbearing father +2000
- Japan and Tanthai +50
- Dew being wrapped around Blue’s finger +20
Total: 70
Not a lot, but I’m expecting episode 13 to make up for that. From the teaser, it looks like Tutor and Fighter are finally going to sit down and really talk about their relationship, and also Saifah and Zon might be taking their relationship to the next level. We’ll see. I’m kind of sad because episode 13 is supposed to be the finale but there have been so many loose ends with couples that have fallen off the radar.
Previous Recaps
Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episodes 5-8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11
Episode links: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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