and then also acting was what brought teh and oh-aew together in high school, they were the only two who wanted to go into acting in their chinese class.  it was what made them different from everyone else and the same as each other.  now their in the city and they’ve had so many things set them apart (university location, their feelings towards university, their feelings towards home, their friend groups), this was the one thing holding them together in teh’s eyes

a lot of relationships are dependent on finding/maintaining common ground.  if nothing else, it’s scary for them to lose that when everything else has changed already

and of course we already know that teh likes to be in control in all aspects of his life - that he’s upset by this change indicates that he really did build oh-aew into his plans.  their original fight as kids was partly because he hadn’t built oh-aew into his career plans, that he hadn’t thought those two parts of his life would collide, and he had to learn that both could comfortably fit both pieces into the same space, but now he’s having to rearrange this perfectly constructed puzzle

also i don’t think teh is the most socially aware/intuitive person?  the scene in the restaurant has similar vibes to teh randomly asking his classmates if they had ever had sex in itsay - which is not to say teh was totally unaware that he was being a jerk in the restaurant, but he may not have been aware of the full impact his words would have until things started spiraling

none of it makes his hurtful actions excusable, but i think along with his apology and the way he has grown in the way he treats others, his actions are forgivable.  he’s not perfect, but he’s learning to treat other peoples’ emotions with greater care, so i have hope that he’ll continue to grow in that way in the future as well

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