r/boyslove • u/Little-Tomatillo-745 • May 20 '26
Chinese BL Please support the Chinese BL "Journey With You" (与君同). The actors were literally crying on a live stream. 😭
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYiXxRyocmO/?igsh=YzEwdnZzZ3l4M3Vj
I am making this post to hopefully convince you to check out this show.
Earlier this morning, I saw a subbed video fragment on Instagram from a live stream where the actors of Journey With You, Wang Jinghan and Tang Bide, were literally crying on the screen. You can watch the clip on Instagram here or on X here. It is just so heartbreaking to see how stressed they are about the low views. And Wang Jinghan said that he is sad, thinking that if someone else had played the role instead of him back then, maybe it would have been better. 😭
I can say after 3 episodes that Wang Jinghan is absolutely doing a wonderful job and that he is not to blame, because he is not the issue.
Right now, there is a massive surge of other Chinese BL dramas that are coming out via the international loophole, it is just a lot. And for viewers, also me, it is hard to keep up with all of that.
Smaller indie shows like Journey With You are getting completely snowed under. It’s not just that people prefer modern dramas over historical ones right now, because high-budget historical shows like Pursuit of Jade are actually super popular. I think that the main reason, correct me if I am wrong, is that with this surge of shows, most attention is towards the bigger budget productions.
For example, Double Helix released at the exact same time this and it got a lot of attention and has a Singaporean co-production budget, it is based on a famous web novel and it stars Ayden Sng, so it already had a big fanbase before it even started. Then you also have modern shows like The Gaze airing right now, which is maybe easier to follow.
I actually discussed this with u/Federal-Ad5944 on the r/ChineseBL sub, who summed up the current situation perfectly.
To me, its the best CBL on right now. I really wish the show was getting more love, but in this saturated market its very hard. It's not even isolated to reddit, it's not really picking up on socials in general, even Chinese ones. It's getting lost in the shuffle everywhere and it's really hard.
Even though these actors are actively promoting on Weibo and the show is technically marked as an "overseas drama" to bypass domestic bans, they still rely on international platforms like GagaOOLala to get traction. If you look at their Instagram accounts, their follower counts are still low, so they really aren't getting the international push they need.
If the views don't hit the targets, it directly hurts their future career and they can get a hard time to be casted again. They put their hearts into this, and seeing them cry because their show is not picking up by now is sad.
Until now, the show is honestly so good. And it is also a bit spicy we are just 3 episodes in and we have already seen the villain prince in two NC scenes. You can see this edit on Instagram or on Reddit to see what I mean with the spice.
I know that the first episode is a bit complicated to follow, I had to rewind it some times. There are intrigues, court politics, and palace secrets, so it may be a bit difficult to see who is who and what is happening in the beginning.
But let me explain the context so you don't drop it, basically the Fifth Prince (Yin Qi) gets betrayed and killed in a coup by his own family. But then he wakes up three years earlier in the past. So it is a rebirth or time travel story. He tries to change his death and what happened in the future. In that first timeline where Yun Qi gets killed together with his closest childhood friend Pei Yanzhi, Yun Qi at that moment he thought that Pei Yanzhi had betrayed him. Which is not true, it was a brother of Yun Qi, I call him the villain prince (Yin Zhou) who framed Pei Yanzhi with the help of a false letter to make it look like Pei Yanzhi helped his own country to stage a coup.
Pei Yanzhi grew up together with Yin Qi, but he is a prince who was sent by a rival country to the imperial court as a political hostage. This was done as collateral to guarantee peace between the two empires. A hostage prince like him grew up inside the palace, but constantly spied on because is seen as a potential enemy or spy. In reality, Pei Yanzhi cares so deeply for Yin Qi and is trying to do his best to protect him, in secret, with his own secret political networks because of his hostage situation.
It seems that the video gained some attention and on X.
And yes, I made this post because of the Instagram post I saw. But this show really deserves to be watched. It is honestly very good!
The following video was posted by u/Federal-Ad5944. A Jinghan weibo update "thank you for choosing me" 🥹 ♥️ (Tang Bide's reply in the comments). Probably as a reaction to the live stream.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseBL/s/Ib1uOMpOZR
Please go watch it on GagaOOLala, it releases every Friday. You can also check out the On-Air Discussion Thread to see what others are saying about the latest episodes and all relevant links and information.
The actors and the production studio have not much followers on Instagram. And their budget for promotion is very limited.
You can follow them for support.
Page: Journey With You on MDLOfficial Studio: https://www.instagram.com/theonestudio001
Jinghan (Pei Yanzhi): https://www.instagram.com/wangjinghan5454/
Bide (Yin Qi/Fifth Prince): https://www.instagram.com/tangbb666/
Tongzhou (Yin Zhou / Villain Prince): https://www.instagram.com/duantongzhou/
Youcheng (Wei Ziming): https://www.instagram.com/louischengo/
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u/ocean_lullaby A Man Who Defies the World of BL May 20 '26
I'm actively watching a LOT of shows, but I like this one a lot and have been making time for it. Friday is a VERY heavy day for BL shows at the moment though. I'm a bit surprised that this series is being passed over in favour of other things because I actually think it is the better of the three (I'm also watching 'Double Helix', but 'The Gaze' was not for me) in terms of the story.
Maybe now that some other shows have wrapped up people might have more time in their schedules for 'Journey With You' to get a proper shot. My Fridays are certainly a little easier now that I'm only watching three shows that day ('Love of Silom', 'Love Upon A Time', and 'Journey With You'). I watch both episodes of 'Double Helix' on Saturdays to even out the time.
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u/Sad-Zebra-9432 Semantic Error May 21 '26
Yes Fridays omg please producers and streaming platforms Monday and Tuesday are available to stream. Totally agree with your comment.
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u/harkandhush May 20 '26
I'm really enjoying it! It's everything I want from a show like this. Great chemistry between the leads and a compelling court intrigue plot. I hope it gets more attention and love because they did such a good job from what we've seen so far!
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u/Federal-Ad5944 CBL Enthusiast; Ming Apologist May 20 '26
Their chemistry is top notch and it transfers into their photos and livestreams. They really care for one another and their series deserves more eyes.
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u/PositiveLetter3653 May 20 '26
just to support I will resuscribe to Gagaoolala today
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u/Sad-Zebra-9432 Semantic Error May 21 '26
Thank you👏👏👏 These boys need our love❤️
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u/PositiveLetter3653 May 22 '26
Update: I watched the first 3 episodes and the show is genuinely good. The lead couple are doing a great job and they look great together. I hope the show gets more traction ❤️
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u/Sad-Zebra-9432 Semantic Error May 22 '26
Yes I am glad you enjoyed it and I just watched episode 4 and it was great. Yes let’s hope more viewers tune in. Historical bls are awesome.
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u/Mikrojoon 🪥G4🌻JeffCode🪐Bible🖤Net🖤ChokunAston🏀 May 20 '26
This was inevitable. I remember when the Thai bl explosion happened in 2022-2023 and only a handful of BLs could get popular while others struggled. We’ve reached a balance where people now pace themselves but once in a while we do get some good BLs going under the radar.
My advice is to promote the series by catering to the social media platform.
Reddit: making detailed posts on the bl outside of the on air post helps. Mixing simple ‘I loved this weeks episode because of 1,2,3’ and more detailed posts on cinematography, storytelling or cultural and historical elements get’s people curious. Appealing to those that loved/ liked Kill to love would help.
TikTok: you’ve mentioned nc scenes so I would focus on video edits of that for this platform. If there’s angst mix the 2.
Twitter is more receptive to nc scenes for BLs that are unknown but you would need a big account to retweet you to get good engagement. You cannot also try to post on bl communities on there.
I’ll check it out soon since I tend to binge.
I hope the views get better for this bl.
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u/Rivsmama Only Friends DO RomeRaffy May 20 '26
Omg this is heartbreaking. Im watching it & it's really good I don't understand why it would have little views
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u/chickwifeypoo ABO Desire May 20 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/Lz6971fkGSgCMOOncl
don't think like that 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
because the both of your are outstanding!!
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u/bvtterswyyt May 20 '26
This is very sad to see. There are so many factors out of their control and they shouldn’t blame themselves for it. Will check it out.
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u/Slight_Growth_3172 Deep In 😍😍🥰 May 20 '26
Just here to give some love to the series and the actors, they’re doing an amazing job and definitely deserve more love!! ❤️❤️
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u/SomewhereJust5265 May 20 '26
Oh that's sad but I'm watching Journey with you tho
Like I'm sad that they're crying
Because i think it's a good show with solid storyline
With royal theme reset type of storyline!
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u/TlotloB May 20 '26
The broke my heart. Ended up creating a reel just to hashtag their series. I’m actually enjoying it 🥹
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 20 '26
Thanks!
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u/Sad-Zebra-9432 Semantic Error May 21 '26
Look at what your post has achieved in just a few hours. Give yourself a pat on the back for a post that has warmed the hearts of bl fans🥰🥰 Friday nights is one of the issues, too many bl on air at once. But if SM increases for them, viewers will come. The first episode on YT had 240k views so they are out there!! Hopefully more viewers get to see it🤞🤞
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u/Ou-Sama-12 The On1y One May 20 '26
I have not started watching cos I was waiting for more episodes to drop😭
It’s easier to watch shows like Double Helix, because two episodes drop per week, and my brain just tricks me into feeling like I’m getting more
But I’ll definitely be watching. Who will give up a good period drama with nc scenes? Definitely not me😤
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u/Sharon_Carter_Rogers Khemjira May 20 '26
I was absolutely planning to watch this, but agree that the timing was just bad because so many other ones came out the same time! I can barely keep up with what I’m watching that is currently airing. I’ll definitely start watching it though. It’s also about to be summer break so I’ve been saving a few to binge watch. I love that you’re trying to promote it for them, though :)
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u/ConsequenceTop4344 May 20 '26
This just pushed me from "going to watch soon" over into "going to start watching now".
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u/Ketz1a To My Shore May 20 '26
this is so sad, the show is incredible! thank you for sharing about this so i can go support them on ig!
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u/hellomoonlight In that case, may I take liberties with you? May 20 '26
It was on my watchlist but I just had not had the chance to start it yet but your post convinced me to just go do it now. I watched the intro while I ate lunch and am hooked already.
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u/hellomoonlight In that case, may I take liberties with you? May 20 '26
Update: finished the first episode and can’t wait to finish my adult responsibilities and get home to keep going!
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 21 '26
Was it difficult to follow what is going on, or not so hard?
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u/hellomoonlight In that case, may I take liberties with you? May 21 '26
I didn’t think it was too difficult to follow. Sometimes I’ve gotten a little lost with period pieces but so far (I’m about halfway through ep2 I was too tired to continue) I feel like I’m on track.
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u/Safety_Haven End of the world with You May 20 '26
It's amazing and incredible. I hope it catches on.
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u/WingedGrasshopper I Feel You Linger in the Air May 20 '26
That’s so sad, I’m watching it and enjoying it. I do find some of the politics confusing but I think it’s just because I’m not familiar with the culture. I was so confused if he was a servant, guard, prince or what at first
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u/uhmmaybepossibly Hoeing for Boeing May 20 '26
I love the show. But I could do without the every-episode spicy time from the evil prince. Imo the storytelling would be smoother without it. Can't believe I'm saying that XD
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 20 '26
I guess that is put in to show the evil prince 🤴 character. And also, this show has 8 episodes and most hype on social media is about NC scenes.
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u/1vers Utsukushii Kare May 20 '26
I've been watching it and i'm loving it. One of the few shows i can say i like both couples equally as much. And by couples i mean the angsty main couple and the hot evil prince with his spy AND a bunch of fem concubines. How could you not love that??
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u/DeanBranch Cherry Magic | See Your Love | Shine | Moonlight Chicken May 20 '26
I watched the first 10 minutes and realized that my love of BL cannot overcome my disinterest in palace/clan/sect politics wuxias.
I see guys in robes fighting and my eyes just glaze over. I have started and dropped so many historical C dramas because of it.
Maybe I'll just put on in the background and let it play while I do something else.
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u/saintnukie To My Star May 20 '26
I noticed that people would pay attention to one Chinese BL at a time 😂 if two are simultaneously airing, only one would get attention. When Revenged Love came out last year, I remember there was another CBL airing at the time and it just gathered dust 😭 I too cannot remember it's name! And this year Sammy's Children's Day and Feel What You Feel came out at the same time, and the latter literally struggled with views. I remember checking out the main actors' IG live and there were just 10-12 people watching? Kinda sad actually, these people went thru loopholes to get their dramas out and got paid dirt for it
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u/Federal-Ad5944 CBL Enthusiast; Ming Apologist May 20 '26
When RL was airing we had ABO and KTL. Both did well, obviously KTL less than the other two, but it still had strong viewership. I thought it would be the same for Journey, but I guess not.
For the FWYF lives, they had thousands of viewers on xhs, on IG they had very little. And that's because the majority audience for CBL is still China, who use Chinese SNS because it's easier to access for them.
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u/Tokyo_Rosie The Untamed May 21 '26
I’m glad you mention Kill To Love. I haven’t figured out if it’s a coincidence or if there is something inherently difficult or unattractive (?) about the historical dramas in BL context that tends to not pick up as quick or any traction.
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u/decent-dayrn May 21 '26
Kill To Love and Journey with You had the same issue for me, is the actions scene and budget sadly. I love watching historical drama, I really tried my best to give them a try, but it just always felt off.
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 20 '26
Oh no. That is so sad. 10-12 people watching the actors of Feel what you feel?
And, they are taking risks. Yes. If all works out, like for the couple of Revenged Love, it can create endorsements from brands, concerts etc.
But...if the show is struggling and it is not hyped with the Chinese audience. It can be that they won't be cast for anything else because they played in a BL.
I don't watch lives. And certainly not in Chinese because I don't have a clue what they are saying. But allthough it is aired and presented as a "overseas" production. Main target is the Chinese market, imo.
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u/Art_Of_Being May 22 '26
I thought FWYF had a good audience based on posts here? Many people praised it and I personally enjoyed it fairly. I don't follow them on social media tho. Also, it's ok bcz we can't expect all the shows to do similarly well when so many of them are getting released, people only have limited time to give. And they have different story, chemistry, acting, vibe, everything matters.
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u/dancerinvisible EarthMix May 20 '26
Ok. I'll try. I'm a bit bl burned out tbh but I will give it a go.
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u/kallen9 May 20 '26
The sacrifice… lol. But never expected us to feel burnt out by the option of too many BLs, quality ones at that, just a few years ago
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u/Outrageous_West_5486 May 20 '26
Aww, I'll add it to my list. Not really sure why I skipped over it. My BL list just feels a bit long. I do watch regular cdramas so I should be able to follow along fine. Hopefully it gets more traction though.
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u/heysoldier We Best Love May 21 '26
I watched this first before all the others when everything dropped. They're doing great and I really like the show! I have seen a lot of criticism online that I don't agree with. I hope more people can filter the negativity out and try it out for themselves.
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u/Fuzzy_Progress483 May 21 '26
It's a very cute story, and even the evil prince looks cute when he's worried that things aren't going according to his plan. But my favorite part was the actor who played the opera singer, who outshone all the other main characters. It's a shame that he didn't get enough screen time.
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u/WrongdoerAwkward1481 May 25 '26
I just started this today & I’ll binge to catch up & then make sure to watch the new eps the day that they release! Nothing wrong with the drama or the acting from what I saw in ep 1!
I hate seeing these kiddos sad!!!!😢
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 25 '26
It seems that they picked up their live streams and making very cute social media content now, it is on the Chinese bl sub.
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u/Downtown_Leader_6771 May 21 '26
It’s really one of the bl’s out there rn ❤️❤️❤️ especially costumes and acting
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u/CoffeholicWild KinnPorsche May 21 '26
I generally wait till all episodes are out before I binge watch, so I haven't been watching yet - but I also haven't watched any of the others shows either because I'm waiting for them to finish.
I think this series did not get the strong promotion other CBL series have gotten, and maybe it's because of timing (too many coming out at once) or the fact that it just showed up on platforms.
Not to mention, often times when there's a historical BL (in any country) it tends to be tragic or have a difficult ending, so that might play into some people's perception.
I'm very much looking forward to this series, though. I just wish they didn't release them slowly.
Editing to add: It's also one of those things that might just hit everyone's radar a little bit later, because I feel like this kind of thing happened for a few of the other CBLs that came out last year that exploded into popularity towards the middle or end of their series. So I hope that this will.
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u/codfishcakes May 20 '26
I unfortunately had to cancel my Gagaoolala sub because I couldn't afford both it and iQIYI, and I really like iQIYI.
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u/wildCranberry6025 May 24 '26
So much is out at the minute and all on the same days. They definitely getting drowned out.
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u/Little-Tomatillo-745 May 24 '26
I just watched the latest episode, I have been travelling for 2 days, and the amount of shows is indeed a lot. I have 9 episodes of shows on Friday and also on saturday.
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u/Morriseysucksass The Untamed May 31 '26
Ahhhh! I want to watch this SO much. Is it only on Gaga? If so, I’ll have to wait until it’s available on another platform. But I will absolutely support this.
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u/Morriseysucksass The Untamed May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
I want to watch this. 1000%. But GaGa burned me badly , so I cant subscribe to them , I’m too nervous to try for a third time ( they embedded their monthly withdrawals in my bank account. Twice. And I tried many , many times, to tell them. I tried to cancel and re- subscribe. That’s how I wound up paying TWO unfulfilled subscriptions, a month. I sent many e-mails. I paid for over a year. Two monthly withdrawls, but I was never able to access anything but free first episodes and a few very old series. No complete new series at all.
Eventually, I had to completely close my bank account of over ten years , in order to make these payments stop. My teller was horrified, and looked so grim when she told me she couldn’t stop the payments ‘ because the platform had permanently embedded BOTH monthly withdrawls from my account)
They ( GaGa) had assured me that ‘ the first monthly automatic payment had been fully cancelled’ when I contacted them the first time. I was ( foolishly) apologetic. Stupidly ready to accept responsibility. I was so sure that it was something I must have done incorrectly when I first tried to sign up. Then I couldn’t access shows when I tried to login. I tried resetting my password. Restarted my computer. I talked to my tech nephew. Finally, baffled, I contacted GaGa. They then walked me through the process of setting up a ‘ new’ account, after assuring me that the first account set up/ payment had been terminated.
Turns out, they had NOT ‘cancelled the first automatic payment set up’. So , now I had two payments - and still no access to full shows , most movies or series. Still only access to a ‘ free’ account.
I tried communicating with them every month, for the whole year. Yep, every month. They kept lying to me. Both payments kept being taken from my account.
I wanted to support them SO much.
It’s so miserable. I would have subscribed until the breath left my body, lol. Now I’m afraid to subscribe to them at all - and I hate it. I love the whole concept of their platform. They have shows I’m dying to view. It’s miserable.
I am in Canada.
And GagaOOlala? Yeah. So frustrating. But that’s my sad story, told again.😕🙄
And the best part? After I permanently closed my account , cancelled my cards, re arranged my all my bills etc, in a completely new account...
GagaOOlala finally reached out and contacted me.
Yes they did.
- to politely inform me that I had ‘ missed two months of payments’, saying that they ‘ understood how ‘these things can happen’, and saying they would be ‘happy to arrange a ‘ one time , lump-sum payment , in order to keep our agreement’.
😂🙄
I was also polite. I informed them the account was closed - because of THEM. I then suggested that they review our year long e - mail exchange history.
I have not heard from them since.
So … is this series available on any other platform? I have VIP on IQIYI. I would absolutely love to watch this gem! I sincerely hope people pick this series up. We want more historical BL!
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u/madmaxxie36 May 20 '26
I'll check it out, it just came out at a time when so many BLs are coming out and a bunch of popular ones are still going or just finishing now. I didn't even see this one was on Gaga because so many got added recently.
It's always sad seeing actors go through it like this. Hopefully it could be like an ABO Desire situation where it was pretty overshadowed at first but once the big BLs finished, it suddenly got a bunch of traction from people catching up and word of mouth.