Y-Destiny Episodes 9 & 10

As Asian BLs become more and more numerous, there are higher expectations for the quality of BLs being produced. Y-Destiny is a BL series with very high expectations from viewers with such a stellar cast of BL actors we know and some new BL actors as well. It is certainly no surprise that the series has received so much attention. However, it’s fairly apparent that some previous episodes didn’t quite live up to the hype, in my opinion. However, this pair of episodes was different. The performances by the leads in this pair were excellent. The steamy scenes….wow! I mean, these episodes could go in the BL series annals as having some of the best steamy scenes I’ve seen. Having watched all episodes so far, Episodes 9 and 10 have been the most exciting and downright well-done, not only the steamy scenes but the content as well.

—Edited by TheFNGee

The first scene opens with Puth talking to his two friends Tues and Masuk. They essentially ask him who he is talking to because Puth’s phone keeps sounding off. To which Puth replies as “Just nice people.” Masuk then asks him when Puth will try to date someone seriously, to which Puth explains that he is someone who does not believe in relationships. He continues, saying that “Well, I guess it’s fun, no commitment, meet when you’re hungry.” (LOL!!!!) – no relationship and all its complications needed. It makes you wonder if something happened to Puth in the past or he just hasn’t found someone to love when he says, “I’m not really lucky in this department.”

As we look into Kaeng, we have seen in the previous episodes that he is a bad boy who loves to have sex and doesn’t seem to be encumbered with feelings afterward. Or it could be that he has feelings for someone who does not love him back – the typical unrequited love story. The encounter of Puth and Kaeng at the bar is intense; I mean, this guy comes in a see-through shirt looking very hot and just sits there and looks into Puth’s eyes with such intensity and seduction. I can tell you now these two actors have amazing chemistry; you can’t help but visualize what comes later.

Between Kaeng and Puth, you have two “playboys” here who have a no-strings-attached sexual relationship. As we can surmise from previous BLs, most no-strings-attached relationships end up with one of the two always developing feelings. In this case, it’s our rich playboy Kaeng, while our other playboy Puth, who says he does not believe in love, develops a crush on someone different from him and Kaeng – the lovely Teacher Payu. Payu, by the way, is cute and is the typical good boyish type, complete with the glasses and speaks softly. At this point, all I can say is that Puth is mesmerized. They have clichéd moments like the printer/copier scene where our teacher is having trouble and Puth comes to save the day. True to BL formula, during this interaction, Puth gets toner on his face, and our good Teacher decides to wipe it off him. These two have sweet and cute moments contrasting the intense and steamy moments he has with Kaeng. They do say opposites attract, but in this case, we have to wait to see if it’s true, I guess. (Seems like Poetic Justice if you ask me.)

What really interested me in this story is how two playboys develop feelings for each other, but they do not know how to deal with or are embarrassed to express those feelings. It seems that Puth can’t push away Kaeng even if he wants to; he is under Kaeng’s spell and is helpless to stop himself. Then again, Kaeng tries to invite Puth to go for movies that are a more “conventional way” of getting to know someone, but that doesn’t work with Puth. This failure results in Kaeng using what he knows best, his body. The final scene of the episode does show you that when they are in class, Kaeng and Puth are texting each other, with Kaeng asking essentially, “Do you want to have sex with me with these glasses, or is this not the look?” Later, in the expected steamy scene, we see Kaeng wearing glasses and a really hot red suit. It’s very obvious that Puth is strongly attracted to Kaeng, however, he wants something more. Presently, he just sees his relationship with Kaeng as purely physical and nothing more. A fact that he keeps reminding Kaeng of every chance he gets.

What bothers me the most is that Puth can clearly see that Kaeng has a thing for him, and Puth just ignores it – my question is why? And why is it that Puth is adamant in not letting his friends know that the two of them have this “thing”? – it piques my curiosity. It’s also heartbreaking to watch Kaeng try everything he knows to show Puth how he feels. Unfortunately, what Kaeng knows best is how to seduce the guy. From this point on, my expectations will be higher because it appears Y-Destiny is getting better as each episode airs. I mean, save best for last, right? As much as this plot of two playboys is exciting!

Episode 10

Episode 10 was a lot of things for me. It had to be the most emotional episode in the YDestiny Series so far. The way Kaeng showed his emotions, you couldn’t help but also want to cry; I had tears in my eyes for a few scenes. There wasn’t any warning on how heartbreaking this episode would be; from Puth being heartless to Kaeng being heartbroken, it was something. There is a saying a person gains strength when they lose their pride. I think that’s true because, in this episode, Kaeng kept on losing his pride, but what is pride when you are in love. You risk it all, don’t you? I thought this episode would be as steamy as the previous one, and boy was I wrong. This episode was an emotional rollercoaster. It taught me a few things that sometimes in life, especially with heart matters, you shouldn’t force things or force a relationship because you will definitely get hurt.

• 

• 

The first scene starts with Puth on the balcony in a daze because he is thinking of Payu, but then Kaeng approaches, and boy, was Puth shocked and uncomfortable. We find out that Kaeng had taken a tutoring job at the same school as Puth and Payu. This event makes things a bit chaotic for Puth because Kaeng invites himself to Puth and Payu’s dinner. That was funny. I mean, the guy was trying too hard here. I guess this was his way of fighting for his love. During this dinner, Kaeng starts throwing these words and innuendos that Puth actually understands, and anyone could see that Kaeng had a thing for Puth, even Puth himself. The tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. So after dinner Payu and Puth exchange phone numbers in front of Kaeng (Ah poor Kaeng), and Kaeng tells Puth that he will drop him off at home. The guy starts texting Payu in the car in front of Kaeng, and Kaeng tries to use what he knows best – his body. He kisses Puth, but Puth is not feeling it. Puth has his eyes open (awkward); that moment was just embarrassing.

• 

• 

I really felt sorry for Kaeng. This moment is when I thought Kaeng should just let Puth go. Kaeng cries piteously, and Puth sees it all, but he didn’t seem even to care. That scene caused me to tear up as well. Next scene, we have Puth, Mon, and Team in class and Puth is sitting there smiling, being cute, like someone in love. Then enters Kaeng and the mood changes. The exchange here was not pretty at all. In the conversation, when asked why he is smiling, Kaeng says, “Who would be in love with me?” with a slight side-glance to Puth. It’s obvious that Kaeng is hiding behind his smile. Puth’s reaction there is just one of indifference, and Puth rises and leaves the room to go talk to Payu, and Kaeng is hurt again. Later that day, we see Puth and Payu walking and holding hands when the camera pans up and focuses on Kaeng walking onto the balcony, watching them. We have a break, and the scene opens with Kaeng in Puth’s room. At this point, Kaeng again decides to use what he knows best – his body. However, this time it is an epic fail that sends him away, and this time I just want to scream at him and tell him to leave Puth and move on. I was frustrated at this point.

Several weeks later, we see our boy Kaeng sitting on the floor in deep thought having flashbacks of when Puth tells him that they should take a break. Kaeng asks him if he’s bored, and Puth tells Kaeng no, and that Puth wants to take a break from Kaeng because Puth thinks he himself is falling in love with the tutor Payu. Kaeng asks Puth that he’d like to know when this happens so that Kaeng can prepare himself. After the flashback, Kaeng gets a message from Puth to meet up, and I guess that was D-day, so in Kaeng fashion, he prepares an elegant dinner to say goodbye. This scene was so emotional it was hard to watch. Puth plays down the romantic dinner setting and tells Kaeng that he is going to ask Payu to be his boyfriend. Kaeng surmising the situation tells Puth that they won’t be together like this again, and Puth responds that they’ll still “be friends,” but without sleeping together. Again, Puth plays on the history of Kaeng’s methods of dealing with the numerous intimate encounters and minimizes feelings. The scene is well-played by both actors at this point. Right now I’m screaming in my mind, ‘What the hell Puth? You know this guy has feelings for you!’

• 

• 

Kaeng confesses to Puth, and Puth dismisses him, essentially saying they can’t be together because they’re too much alike. Then Kaeng tearfully asks Puth for one wish, and that was for Puth to “pretend to be my boyfriend?” Kaeng’s emotions are very raw here, and he even added that they don’t have to sleep together. Puth gives him his one last kiss that was beautiful, short, and sweet. They end up in bed, just holding each other. Then Puth asks Kaeng if he wants sex, to which Kaeng says no, and that he’s satisfied laying comfortably in Puth’s arms which makes Puth smile, and they share a meaningful kiss. That’s when I got the feeling that Kaeng was going to win – it was a sweet moment. The next morning is emotional for Kaeng, that’s all I’ll say. Then the next thing we see is Puth and the lovely Teacher Payu talking. They both agree that they are not right for each other at this time.

• 

• 

Payu isn’t stupid. From his sympathetic reactions, it’s clear that he and Puth weren’t meant to be together at this time in life. Payu suggests that it’s more important for him to concentrate on work. He even says that there’s already someone out there for Puth; something that Puth acknowledges readily. Payu continues saying that this other person is right for Puth now. They part, still friends.

We cut to Kaeng, sitting by himself on a bench on campus. Puth approaches from behind and has some fun with Kaeng. It’s clear that Kaeng doesn’t understand what’s happening at this point. It’s when Puth asks Kaeng if Puth is “your only special one.” During their subtle, but heartfelt conversation, Puth says he doesn’t like smart people, that he likes people who make him “comfy.” Kaeng asks defensively at first “are you saying that I’m stupid?” and then realizes what he has now, and utters a line that’s already become a “meme” online. “I can be stupid, but just for you only.” They end up telling each other that the first time that they got together for supposedly no-strings-sex, we hear that since then, neither has slept with anyone else. They’d actually fallen for each other from the start, but they just hadn’t realized it.

This episode was an emotional rollercoaster, and it got me super emotional. First’s crying scenes were amazing as he is such a good actor, and I can’t wait to see more of him and Takizawa. In fact, they both gave excellent performances and really deserve to have their own series. They have sizzling chemistry on screen.

I didn’t expect this episode to have so many emotional scenes, and seeing the character Kaeng cry a lot really got to me.  Love can surprise all of us at times. I think that these two episodes were just enough as a start for this storyline. I’d like to see it expanded into a complete series of its own.  On the other hand, I wish Kaeng had played harder to get at times,  but they had to cut a lot of things for only two episodes. Episodes 9 and 10 have to be my favorites from the series so far.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. [See our Review Guide]