This is my take on the scenes that lead up to these 2 cuties becoming boyfriends. It is long it is rambly and I needed to get this out of my system before I could think of anything else so here ya go
Pran drawing a heart on Pat's face
This seems like a I heard you loud and clear. Especially after what pat said when auditioning "while your face has taken over my heart"
Pran drawing that heart on Pat's face was him saying "yeah me too your face has taken over my heart too"
Wai the harbinger of chaos, hurt and important insights
Pran asked wai to give his guitar back !!!! We all know the guitar stands for prans feelings for pat. Until now he still kept them hidden but now after what pat said he has realized he is ready and therefore doesnt need wai to keep it anymore. Pran is ready for the next step (the confession) and asks for this symbol of his love to be returned to him.
Just his luck that it happened when pat was over and witnessed it....
Pat is hurt but mama didn't raise no fool
Pat is obviously hurt by pran giving away the guitar in the first place. But he is a smart little fella and he knows what pran asking for it back means. This is why he is not as angry on the rooftop scene as I thought he would be. And he got confirmation that pran is ready from the guy himself on that rooftop.
Pran wanted to confess to make pat take the role. And pat was like nope not like that he literally made the conditions impossible for pran and he knew that pran would never confess in public. Why would he do that ? Hasn't he been waiting for pran to become ready for almost a year now?
Well first of all he is still hurt by pran giving away the guitar in the first place so this is him getting a bit of revenge. And just look at prans shocked face it's hilarious.
But more importantly he did not want pran to confess out of a necessity. He wanted it to be just because they were both ready no outside forces involved just their love for each other. But what he got from pran agreeing to confess to him in the first place was this very important little fact. Pran is ready! he is finally in a place where he can accept what is between them and ready to go the next steps together.
And pat decided right then and there when he got that confirmation from pran that he would be the one to loose this bet. He had already decided to help with the play on that rooftop because when is pat ever going to let a chance to help pran slide ? Exactly never
Pat to the rescue
And the words he choose to reveal that ? "Riam is right here my dear Kwan"
Knight in shining armor right there go save your damsel in distress. He shows pran one last time that he will help him no matter what. He is there for him and will do whatever he can to make sure pran smiles again. And he forfeits their bet tells pran I would rather loose than you being uncomfortable.
And pran swoons. This was the last push and he is now fully ready. Cue curry scene part 2
Becoming boyfriends
Pat tells pran again you are more important than any competition and I will gladly loose if it is for you. And pran challenges him again "when was I ever your lover?" Reminds him I have not accepted yet. But pat is unfazed and replies full of confidence that he will soon be his boyfriend.
Right then and there pran decides this is it this is the moment. He takes the spoon out of Pat's hand and holds it out to feed pat.
Pat is confused at first hesitating for just a second as if to ask "are you sure? Last chance to draw back" but pran stays, he is finally ready. And the elation on both of their faces afterwards is so beautiful. They have waited so long they truly deserve this.
So in conclusion pat lost the bet by not letting pran confess and pran became his boyfriend by feeding pat curry.
I love these 2 and I hope they are able to have a bit of peace and happiness as new boyfriends before shit goes down again. They deserve it.
since we're still in pat pov i want to point out that the reason pat's entry was so dramatic is bc that boy just genuinely perceives his existence as smth that important and i absolutely adore him for that
he was absolutely as angry as he needed to be in that roof scene and anyone who says otherwise didn't watch it hard it enough.
to elaborate:
OKAY, so after the Wai scene, a lot of people (me included on my first watch) were like "UHHH, WHERE DID THE RESOLUTION OF PAT'S SADNESS GO????" and were sort of baffled when in the next scene, it seemed like they were totally fine.
keyword being "seemed."
because Pat is absolutely not okay.
But as I keep saying, Pat is smart. And he's wildly in love with Pran. There's a reason he instigated the bet, and it's not because he doesn't know his own feelings, it's because he's waiting for Pran to feel comfortable vocalising his own. He would have lost the bet months ago, because he literally doesn't care, he just wants to date Pran and love him and be loved back (as proven by the end of the episode).
Sure, he enjoys the secret flirting - seriously that library scene, my GOD - but it's not because of a stupid bet that he hasn't said anything. They both know their feelings already. Hell, they both know about each other's feelings already. But Pran isn't ready to admit it yet, and that's what they're really both waiting for. Pat's known since the moment Pran ran away after their kiss that he'd need to wait for Pran to open up. He knows this, so he waited. And he waited. And he waited.
and then he's hiding in Pran's room - probably not the first time, judging by the way they're bickering before he hides - and Wai brings over Pran's guitar, and Pat realises that he must have given it to him months ago. Realises that after he spent three years hanging onto it with absolutely no guarantee he'd ever see Pran again, and with every possibility that he might get caught with it and his parents would kill him - Pran just. gave it away.
And it's crushing.
Pat knows why, rationally. He knows that Pran is just afraid, he knows he's just not willing to let them be anything yet, he knows he still needs time, but it still hurts. Because he's been struggling to keep his affection for Pran hidden, and he'll show it at the drop of a hat - like the classroom projector dimples scene - but Pran can just give his guitar up, like it's nothing. And Pran doesn't have an excuse for it, at least not in the moment; it's just that he's had so much more practice at hiding his feelings than Pat has.
So when he calls him up to the roof, there's probably a part of Pat that hopes it's to explain. But once he hears about the play, he knows there's only one reason Pran wants him there.
"You tricked me here for what now?" is a Pat-like opening line, in that it seems like his usual playful self if you take it at face value. Except, no it isn't. Pran is usually the one saying stuff like that. Pat is the one always trying to trick Pran into spending more time with him. Pat knows this is a set-up and he's priming himself to be disappointed.
So when Pran says he just wants to see him, it makes him angry.
You can see it in the scoff he does, in the way his expression is a smile, but the kind of smile I do in my customer service job at the end of an eight hour day. The "I can't believe you'd pull this bullshit five minutes from close when we're clearly busy" smile. He asks if the lead hadn't dropped out of the play, if Pran would still want to see him, and Pran can't deny that's why he called. And it's crushing. So when Pran says Toto sent him to ask if he'd be in the play, Pat can't even hide his disappointment.
The most heartbreaking part of this episode is when he nods and says, "Why would I want that?"
Because that's genuine. He's really hurt at the whole situation, and the most genuine moment he has on that roof is that one sentence.
Why would I want that?
If Pran isn't in this 100%, why should he be? Why would he want to be in the play to be closer to Pran, if Pran doesn't want the same thing? It's only after Pran dangles the possiblity of him confessing first that he actually starts to soften, and even then, the fact that he tells Pran he wants him to do it on the projector is still fuelled by anger from the previous scene - he wants him to do it publicly, to admit that he likes him just as much as Pat does, because he's been patient and he's waited and he's done everything Pran asked.
Which is also exactly why he doesn't blow up at Pran here. Pat is still, after all this time, hyperaware of his footing with Pran and how easy it will be to shake. He loves Pran and he knows Pran loves him, but he also knows that Pran is terrified and he doesn't want to say or do anything that will make him run away or block him out again. He's spent so many months just waiting for Pran to be ready to admit his feelings, so he knows he can't screw it up by starting an argument right now. Not about something so real, not about something so close to the things that could tear them apart. so he doesn't get angry, he doesn't ask why - he just pushes his bitterness down and puts on something close to his usual smile, and he lets Pran play him.
and even after all that, he can't resist throwing the bet aside to help Pran when he knows he'll get in trouble. He's still not certain Pran won't run away, but it's enough of a gesture that he's hoping he won't. and by some miracle - it works.
They're dating now.
but those seeds of doubt? they're still there.
and I don't think it's the last we'll be seeing of them.
Okay but can we talk about how much Pat used to resort to the easiest way out? He had much more of a āwork fast, play hardā way of living his life. He got Pa to do everything for him and was very much of a quick validation flippancy to him. He was spontaneous in a way that never held him very accountable. He never worried about consequences.
And then Pran came along.
He changed Pat. For the better.
The Pat we see with Pran is the best version of Pat. Heās considerate, kind, deliberate, pays attention to details, is patient and plays the long game. He thinks before he speaks and is very intentional with his actions. He is playful when he needs to be and serious and supportive when Pran needs that. Heās vulnerable and open and just wants Pran to feel seen, heard and ultimately loved.
when the boy acting opposite pat gets sick all of a sudden and thereās nobody else who knows the role like pran does, so pran has to act opposite pat as his love interest with all their friends and family watching them in the audience who then have to watch them kiss on stageā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦then we will know
Pat always makes a point of adjusting to how Pran is feeling, which is why he notices the door hanger with the sad face and knows to make sure heās gentle with his approach to Pran.
Whatās so revealing in this moment is that Pran immediately rejects the idea of āplayā, which is what they often engage in to show their affection for each other, especially for Pat. In reaction, Pat clarifies that he doesnāt always ācome to playā.
This admission proves that Pat isnāt just in this for the āgameā or ācompetitionā. He doesnāt care about āwinningā or ālosingā, he just wants to be with Pran,
By responding like this, Pat is actually saying āIām here for you no matter what, whatever that looks likeā. Weāve seen this through his actions of helping Pran and supporting him but he wants Prsn to really understand that heās serious about what they have, itās not just a fling or a means to be entertained. Itās something real.
Pat clearly wants to step outside of the āgameā and has only really continued to indulge in it because It seems to make Pran feel comfortable. So Pat can wait for Pran to be done āplayingā, but he wants Pran to understand heās willing to āloseā with him any time.
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