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A Haphazard but Sincere Argument That Ep. 2 of Thundercloud Rainstorm (2025) is the Best 30 Minutes of Television Ever Produced (Part Two)

Part One

Warning: This is a beat-by-beat review of the episode so spoilers are a given.

We left off here, with the sweetest most diabolical bottom you've ever seen saying the only way to make him get over his crush on Jeonghan is to kiss him. (Something that has, in fact, already happened.)

At first Jeonghan looks a bit put out, but he apparently takes this completely at face value, asking Iljo not, "are you kidding?" but whether or not kissing is the only thing that would help. Iljo nods, and pulls his own "sad wet puppy out in the rain who would very much like to be brought inside impression."

And then the show, which is a drama but also is very much a hysterical comedy decides to break the tension again. Given his marching orders Jeonghan immediately gets up and crosses over to abruptly kiss Iljo, earning himself a startled slap.

Thirty seconds ago, they were literally ripping each other's hearts out and now they're here:

I love this show. On some level it knows it can't exist in the realm of reality so it gives us everything. Anyway, Iljo aslo announces that he hasn't brushed his teeth yet and Jeonghan looks so amazingly put upon but allows it and Iljo skitters off to go brush his teeth.

We get a medium close up of Jeonghan being bewildered. Cut to a quick external shot of the home. Cut to this:

First, let me say, I've been binging BLs and I've seen a lot of kisses. All types of kisses, romantic, sexy, awkward, deep, no tongue, all the tongue, etc., and as much as I have enjoyed most of them there are but a small handful that I just want to watch and watch forever, and for some reason this is one of them. Why? I'm not 100% sure I can put my finger on it but I'll try.

To start, we're in media res with this kiss. We have no idea of what the prelude was, nor how long they have been kissing. When did Jeonghan take off his jacket and roll up his sleeves? Why is Iljo on the counter and how did he get there? Has this make out session been going on so long that midway Jeonghan was tired of bending down and picked Iljo up? Did the time it took Iljo to "brush his teeth" leave Jeonghan so riled up the second he saw Iljo he was just on him? Picking him up with no explanation? We will never know and it's a delicious mystery.

From a technical standpoint, I just think the kiss is also shot very well. It's well lit, well-blocked, with a clear, cool black and white color palate. There's no use of slow-motion and you get several angles on the kiss in quick succession, each just pulling focus a little bit tighter on Jeonghan. I think it all works together to quickly convey the visceral sense of this intimacy.

I said in my previous review and I will say it forever but Jeong Ri U can kiss. These are "technical kisses" all lip, no tongue, but he knows what makes a kiss sexy, and for how "neat" and contained these kisses are technically they look like something you could happily do for hours.

And because he's so good at this, even though Jeonghan is leaning on the counter, which appears bored and casual, you know immediately that these kisses are hungry. You see just 11-12 seconds of this and yet you don't doubt for a second that Iljo would look this fucking wrecked by it.

Once Jeonghan pulls away he does this awkward, little horny shuffle of his feet and asks:

Trying to play it cool like hey, remember the only reason I was kissing you within an inch of your life is because I don't want you to like me. I am very unaffected and not vibrating with sexual tension at all.

Iljo answers with this subdued, "Thank you," and once again, this show is amazing comedy. I crack up every time, and that's before Jeonghan is like, "....you said you just need to brush your teeth so why did you shower?"

This diabolical twink, I truly do love him so much. The least manipulative scenario I can give him is that Iljo was in some kind of blind panic once he was behind a closed door and talked himself into thinking he need to be freshly scrubbed "just in case."

But in my heart of hearts he asked for that kiss in hopes of getting Jeonghan to stop wasting time with this "don't like me" nonsense.

Jeonghan's response:

And if this were a strict comedy we would have gotten a spongebob interstitial proclaiming:

Because Jeonghan does not take the bait now. No, he goes to his room, I assume to furiously masturbate, leaving the diabolical twink alone to eat his own terrible cooking. Iljo's deep sigh seems to be pulling double duty here, as he is certainly disappointed his plan to get dicked down didn't work but also, potentially, realizing he has yet again lost the battle of him vs. cooking.

Time operates a bit oddly in this show, but there is no reason to assume the next see takes places the very next morning. Jeonghan apparently spent the entire morning hiding in his bedroom, and once it's finally time to go to work, he comes downstairs and does this cute little thing where he clears his throat carefully before trying to sound super casual about announcing that he is leaving.

Only there is no answer. Iljo has already left for the morning.

Next scene is in Jeonghan's office, and yet again establishes that he is the office loner/weirdo because while the two female members of his team greet him, they do so awkwardly and immediately continue talking only to each other while he eavesdrops.

The topic of conversation? Why that cute little bean working at the coffeeshop downstairs. Turns out they both had a crush on Suhyo, the cafe owner, but the cutie with the not very flattering bangs now has a crush on Iljo, and I'm sure Jeonghan is going to be super chill about it.

I can't say for sure what Jeonghan might have done to Miss Bangs given her crush on Iljo, but I'm willing to bet it would involve a lot of looming awkwardly and saying out of pocket shit, as that is his go to move. Thankfully, the girls give Jeonghan a new target to freak out on, Sunhyo.

Girl 1: But they seem quite close. Girl 2: I know. They don't seem like just a boss and a part-timer. Didn't Iljo just recently start working in the cafe? (I mean it feels like literally just yesterday but again, time in the show works a bit weirdly). Did they know each other before? Girl 1: Right. They came to work together this morning, too.

Uh-oh. Time for Jeonghan to do some awkward looming while saying insane shit to Iljo in public.

The girls and Jeonghan were waiting for the elevator. They greeted each other with a good morning. As far as I can tell, Jeonghan doesn't even bother to clock into work. He doesn't let any of this simmer. Just zero to 60 in no-time flat.

Iljo and Suhyo are mid-conversation when Jeonghan enters the cafe and I like this because while it does establish that Suhyo has some interest and fondness in Iljo, it also shows that Iljo is by and large able to operate like a normal person. Like, yes, in Jeonghan's presence he's able to stop masking and reveal that he is also sad and weird and diabolical just like Jeonghan. But unlike Jeonghan, when in public he talks to people casually and easily. He's lonely, but it's not for lack of access, I don't think. Not like our lanky, brusque weirdo who just walked in.

Unfortunately, if Jeonghan had any plan to be reasonable, the familiar tone of this conversation and the possibility that they were talking about going to the beach together throws Jeonghan into a full tailspin. What does he do?

March up to the counter, order a bunch of drinks, and then he gives Iljo his black card to pay for it.

Jeonghan: Do you need money? Iljo: (Confused silence.) Jeonghan: Tell me if you need more money. (He looks around the cafe and scoffs.) How much can you earn at such a cafe? Iljo: Here's your card. Jeonghan: (Refusing to take it.) You can have it.

One (1) episode earlier, Jeonghan was threatening Iljo to make him move out immediately. He paid for Iljo's surgery but doesn't dismiss the idea of needing to be paid back. Yesterday morning he set out a weird little contract regarding that repayment. Yesterday evening he was begging Iljo to stop liking him.

Now? A few hours later?

Take my money. Take ONLY my money. Need only me.

I love this little freak.

The entire time Suhyo is in full earshot of Jeonghan's pissy jealous fit and Jeonghan seems to think or hope he's being intimidating and the best part about Suhyo is that he is the opposite of intimidated. I really feel for this guy, like yes he has feelings for Iljo and yes those feelings are doomed, but he's also just so normal. Instead of getting pulled into their weirdness he just sizes up Jeonghan and spends the rest of the series being like, "This guy is just WEIRD. Iljo stop letting him be so WEIRD."

(Iljo, faintly, "But it's my fetish.")

I don't know what happens with the drinks Jeonghan ordered. He asks for them to be delivered, and either he gives them out to his team or throws them in the trash, lord knows. The next scene is Jeonghan being frustrated that his "brilliant" show of possession has not prompted a response. (Literally what was Iljo supposed to say?)

So he enters Phase 2 of his jealous fit, ordering Iljo to have dinner with him. At a restaurant in a fancy hotel. That he has shut down just for the two of them.

When next we see Jeonghan he will be guzzling red wine but as far as I can tell Phase 2 of the plan was formed while sober and in control of his faculties. Which means he realized he had a potential rival in Iljo's boss, the owner of a small cafe with one part-time employee, and was immediately wracked with so much insecurity that he dropped a couple thousand dollars to re-assert his dominance. Perfect response. No notes.

Iljo shows up to the fancy restaurant in casual clothes because he had no idea what this freak was planning. Upon finding out the full scope of Jeonghan's freak out, Iljo points out:

Which of course, Jeonghan immediately dismisses.

"It's just dinner."

Ahem-

Jeonghan is downing red wine and refusing to admit he is in some kind of dom spiral that will only be assuaged by watching Iljo enjoys the benefits of Jeonghan providing for him while compliantly follow all of his orders.

Iljo, of course, complies with all of it: "Sit," "Eat," and then "Answer it [the phone]" when Suhyo calls.

Suhyo: Where are you and what are you doing? Iljo: I'm having dinner with Jeonghan. Suhyo: (Yelling.) Are you crazy? Iljo: (Frantically starts turning the volume down on his phone.) Suhyo: Didn't you say it was over with him? Did he force you to go there? [...]

(Please note this entire exchange occurs while Jeonghan is still guzzling wine.)

Suhyo being this involved and informed about Iljo's fucked up situationship does seem to imply that there is some greater amount of time passing than is strictly shown on camera. I'm not sure if it makes sense that over the course of two days and whatever application interview process there was he would realize that there was even anything to be "over."

Then again Jeonghan did march into the cafe that morning and throw a bizarre fit so maybe Suhyo was like, "Hey man what the fuck," and Iljo was too honest and still operating under the impression that Jeonghan was trying to kill whatever was going on between them. (Which might be a little obtuse considering Jeonghan would have just offered you his black card and later said come dinner with me but also Jeonghan was pretty firm on the matter last night.)

Iljo makes this face after ending the call with Suhyo:

Suhyo offers to come pick Iljo up. But Iljo basically hangs up on Suhyo instead of saying "Hey man, if you see me engaging in bizarre, public displays of D/s dynamics with a tall, awkward man who as far as you know is my cousin, don't try to rescue me, I'm exactly where I want to be," resulting in Suhyo, unfortunately, continuing to believe he has any chance of talking sense into this apparently very innocent and vulnerable, but actually utterly diabolical twink.

Which, again, this show is hilarious. And truly he has so many reasons to be making that face but I like to think it's primarily because he realizes he will no longer be able to pretend like he's just a normal guy in front of Suhyo and will instead have to be like, "Do not ask questions you don't want the answer to about what I get out of this relationship."

But never mind all that, the show is about to spend it's last 5 minutes popping the fuck off.

Jeonghan, having polished off at the very least one entire bottle of red wine all by himself, announces that he is sleepy, and thus begins Phase 3 of his possessive meltdown.

Iljo offers to help get them both home, but that's not on the menu for tonight. Jeonghan wants to stay here, at the hotel. It's not clear whether he'd already reserved the room when he booked out the whole restaurant, or if Suhyo calling in the middle of dinner resulted in emergency maneuvers but it doesn't matter and it isn't shown.

They go up to a room. Jeonghan stumbles in with Iljo's help while Iljo (who must have gotten into an elevator, pushed a button, and walked down a hall) plays dumb and asks why they are going inside a hotel room. Gee, I wonder why, buddy?

Once inside, Jeonghan puts on a little more of a show about how drunk he is, complaining about being hot, but where he was stumbling .01 seconds ago he's suddenly pretty steady on his feet.

Mm hmm.

Like yes, he is asking for Iljo to help him with his tie, but wow, does this work as a metaphor for asking Iljo to give him permission to stop repressing. He tried to prevent himself from letting Iljo bear the full brunt of what (I assume) he believes to be his foul, black flag nature, but he's been in a spiral all day and nothing is going to help but laying a full claim.

Asking Iljo to undo his tie is a request for Iljo's consent to let loose, but it is, admittedly, a subtle one. Still, Iljo gives it, pulling the tie loose and setting Jeonghan free. The second that tie comes off, Jeonghan uses it to tie Iljo's hands behind his back.

Just like we saw in the flashback, Iljo puts up a kind of perfunctory protest, but notably he never actually says, no, stop, or even wait, which triggered Jeonghan to pause during their previous encounter. (At least according to the subs.)

Jeonghan doesn't pause, he finishes binding Iljo, pushes into his space until Iljo is on the bed, and undoes the buttons of his shirt. It is absolutely clear what is going to happen, but in the tension and anticipation Jeonghan reiterates to Iljo what he tried to warn him of last night.

"Lee Iljo, I told you, all of your rights belong to me." (Basically, "You can't say I didn't warn you." Or even, "this is exactly what I was afraid I would do.")

Then he asks Iljo, "Am I wrong?"

It's less explicit seeking of consent than before, but it gives Iljo the opportunity to say "I do like you but I don't want it like this." Because Jeonghan still doesn't believe that Iljo is all in on Jeonghan's worst impulses. Well guess what buddy?

Iljo is, in fact, all in.

Jeonghan at this moment is more or less free of any inhibition, and at a baseline level, what he wants is the rock solid safety of possession. He needs to know Iljo is his, that Iljo will not be upset by the darkness in him. He needs to not take that but have it given, and Iljo is absolutely ready, willing and eager to give that to him. And so it is on. Kissing hungrily until the fade to black.

If I have a quibble about the show is that the first three episodes lean hard into this dynamic and center it as the basis of Jeonghan's insecurity and unwillingness to act on his feelings, but later it switches to them being cousins (which they aren't) and the antagonist cousin blackmailing Iljo making things more difficult for them.

Like they give us this jaw-droppingly erotic scene that is not just about wanting each other but wanting each other in this very particular, dark way but later on it doesn't come into play in any meaningful way. And don't get me wrong, I love the domestic comedy we get later on. I love when Jeonghan is unhinged and in love and wants to go on shopping dates and makes angry porridge, but what they do in the first three episodes is just so GOOD and JUICY that I'm sad they couldn't keep the through line up.

But at the very least we got this outstanding fucking episode of television.

If you've read all this, hi, I love you. I was possessed but also I HAD to do this and I'll be happy if anyone can enjoy it, too.

Also I've been making liberal use of tumblr's gif search feature, but please make sure you've

clicked

through

to view

to give these makers some love if you haven't already, I know I'm late to this party.

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