When last we left our cursed student and the man who won’t help him, Paran might have a girlfriend/fiancée/something.
And worse, she’s a nice person!
A quick flashback shows her helping him with that broken cassette and telling him it’s okay to cry about his mom. Shamans are people, too.
Present-day Paran hides his feelings behind sunglasses. Everyone is there for Prim’s students’ performance, at the site of a massacre connected with the Holy Man’s Rebellion. They talk about how it’s a sad piece of history that isn’t taught.
Khem and Jet can sense the ghosts, but don’t feel threatened. Khem also sees Ramphueng, but Paran says she can’t do anything to the spirits here. He doesn’t explain because he’s Paran. But he lends Khem his amulet bracelet from Master Sek.
Then, Paran is hurt by a falling structure. Khem pushes him to get medical treatment, but Prim takes him to get it. She wants to talk to Paran about something, but he’s busy staring at Khem and worrying about him.
Meanwhile, Charn accidentally calls Jet by his past life name
Not a good look, but Jet lets it go.
The performance is beautiful, except for the part where Ramphueng threatens Khem. But Paran doesn’t need to do anything because the spirits of the dead Holy Men aren’t like the ones in the forest. They get rid of her and appreciate the play in their honor.
Prim gets Paran alone, gives him a gift, and says she’s never stopped loving him. She knows he feels different and is annoyed at herself for having these feelings, but asks for a chance. Khem overhears the last part.
So it’s time for him to go on a date with Pong
Khem asks Paran for permission, and Paran acts like he doesn’t care, but also wants to know who is going and doesn’t want him out late. Also, he’ll blame Pong if anything happens to Khem.
Then, he sends Ake and Thong to watch over them. Because something is definitely going to happen.
For starters, Jet charmingly forces Charn into some silly dancing. And Khem rejects Pong before he has to chance confess.
But most importantly, a boxing rival of Pong’s attacks them with magic wasps. Thong reports to Paran, who sends out a magic golden insect to help.
Jet attempts a noble self-sacrifice, but it’s the charm Paran gave Charn that saves them. The group splits up, giving Charn and Jet a chance to get close in the back of a truck.
The wasps attack Khem and Pong, but the giant gold insect shows up to save the day. Khem is fine, but Pong got stung protecting him.
They bring Pong to Paran, who isn’t thrilled to see him
But he’s being less of a jerk, eagerly accepting soggy fair food from Khem.
With Pong there, Charn and Jet move to their own bedroom. Charn builds a pillow wall between them, and Jet asks about Jin. Charn tells him about their past life connection and how he doesn’t understand his feelings for Jet. The wall is to protect Jet, not him.
But Jet also has complicated and confused feelings. But not about whether to have sex or not, that’s a yes. We get a hand-intertwined-means-sex shot.
Paran tends to Khem’s wound, and Khem thinks Paran is mad. But Paran has turned an emotional corner and explains his feelings. He’s mad at himself. Khem came for help and is under Paran’s roof. That makes Khem his. Not really, but also sexy.
Then, he nearly kisses him, but first
Let’s go 20 minutes back in time. The gift from Prim is a cassette of his mom’s song and a heartfelt note about giving her a chance. Paran can’t get the cassette to play on an old boombox.
Then everyone returns, and we’re back to the near-kiss. Unfortunately, Khem’s elbow lands on the play button, and the song plays perfectly. Paran backs away, apologizing and saying he can’t.
Khem finds the note from Prim. Crying, he gives back the amulet-bracelet and says to forget what happened. Paran still can’t find his words.
Meanwhile, we see that in 1947, Da was invited to move to the US, and invited Jin to join her. As Da tries to sneak a kiss, Jet wakes up in Charn’s arms.
Grandma Si isn’t feeling great, but she doesn’t want to do anything about it. Alone, Paran tries to guilt Grandma into health by reminding her she’s the only one he has. Grandma turns it back on him. She thinks Shaman should love, and he’ll regret it if he loses “him.”
Paran tries to talk to Khem about last night, but Prim is there
Paran lets Prim know his answer by telling her to call him Master. Ouch. He admits he has feelings for someone else.
Prim isn’t mad, but disappointed. Crying, she can’t get the boombox to play either until she hits it. When she asks who has his heart, he looks towards the kitchen, where Khem and Pong are laughing together.
In the kitchen, Pong knows Khem brought him there to make Paran jealous. He thinks Khem should be honest with himself. It’s a nasty health drink that gets them coughing and laughing together. I like Pong now that he’s respecting Khem’s personal space.
Our rejected siblings leave, but they still have each other
Khem still doesn’t want to listen to Paran. And Jet tells Charn he wants to be friends. Kinda. Maybe more than friends. But, he’s worried about Khem knowing.
That night, Khem isn’t feeling well, and Paran has bitter tea for him. Paran finally gets his chance and apologizes for suddenly approaching Khem, but he did it because he has feelings for him.
He didn’t stop because of Prim, but because of his Mom. Someone else’s karmic enemy killed her, and, hearing the song, he couldn’t bear to lose anyone he loves ever again.
But now Paran wants to listen to his heart and tell Khem how he feels. He wants to know if Khem feels the same way.
That’s a yes, and Paran goes in for a sweet kiss. Then he banishes a giggling Ake and Thong so he can go in for longer kisses.
But they’re also keeping this a secret
Thong and Ake think Khem won’t be able to hide his feelings. He can’t, but it doesn’t matter because Jet and Charn are so caught up in their secret.
Khem takes an interest in Paran’s bare body, er, tattoos. Paran’s grandfather saw that he was connected to Naga. Somehow. He got the tattoo for good luck.
Khem wonders if others have fates like theirs. Paran thinks not necessarily, but every action we take leaves its mark on someone else. Khem doesn’t even know what he did to cause Ramphueng to come after him.
Paran knows they were all connected in their past lives, and wonders if Ramphueng is causing their paths to reconnect once again.
So it’s time for everyone to see what they can remember
Paran sets up a ritual. Jet worries about what Paran might know about him and Charn, but he only says they were Khemmika’s friends. Jet and Charn don’t admit to anything more.
The ritual is eerie. They hear their past life selves and a baby crying. Khem sees glimpses of Ramphueng doing well, then not. There’s more screaming and crying.
Most importantly, Paran sees Monk Kasem, someone his grandfather and Grandma Si knew. Grandma Si agrees to reach out to him for them. She’s still struggling to breathe, but doesn’t want to do anything about it.
Khem gets Paran to admit he’s struggling because another loved one is sick, and accept a hug.
Monk Kasem agrees to see them, but his train gets delayed
Charn and Jet are waiting at the station, and since he’s not arriving until the next morning, they decide to stay at a nearby hotel.
So Khem and Paran are alone for the night, too. Paran uses Ramphueng and imminent death like a pick-up line, but Khem turns him down.
Paran reads while Khem lies in bed. Khem knows this isn’t the first time Paran has watched over him, and apologizes for causing trouble. Paran says he’s not trouble and he’s always willing to help him.
Khem changes his mind. Considering he may die soon, he invites Paran to his bed.
In a hotel somewhere, Jet watches the fluffy BL Your Sky while Charn reads. They have a better conversation about their feelings and how confusing they are with their past lives. Jet wants time to think, and Charn finds him adorable. Charn is the eager, horny one now, but Jet makes him calm down. We get feet shots, and they worry about poor Khem.
Poor Khem is totally about to get it on with Paran
First, Paran is upset that Khem brought up dying. He’s going to save him so he can live a long life. Khem means so much to him. I’m so glad he’s no longer making Khem cry.
Khem goes in for the kiss and worries if it’s okay. Paran says if it comes from love, it’s always … mostly okay? Then we get sex without a hands-intertwined shot, because their hands are too busy elsewhere!
The next morning, Monk Kasem still hasn’t arrived, and Charn worries about Khem. Khem is busy with a totally healthy, clearly evil Grandma Si. They go to get lotuses.
Meanwhile, Paran eats some food Grandma Si brought for him. It makes him dizzy, and he collapses, bleeding from the eyes and nose. He spits up blood.
On the boat, Grandma Si says they’ll die, and her head goes full exorcist. Khem goes into the water and sees Ramphueng, who lunges towards him.
I don’t like these secrets
I blame Yod for Khemmika’s death, not Da and Jin’s secrets. But I don’t think they helped, and I think they hurt Da and Jin. I don’t want Jet and Charn to make the same mistakes. And I don’t think we, or they, have gotten the full story on their past lives.
I almost feel bad for Paran. He’s terrified of losing people he loves. When Khem went off on his own and nearly died, that gave Paran shock and motivation. The song and Khem’s similarity to his mom made him waver, but Grandma Si’s impending doom pushed him back over again. People die, and you feel pain. It’s unavoidable.
But making Khem cry is avoidable, so I hope he’s all in now. I know he always protected Khem, but it was hard watching him make Khem cry.
So is Grandma Si dead? Did Ramphueng kill her? I wish, even for Paran’s sake, she had tried to do something, anything, when she was sick.
I really liked the scene where we saw Prim and Paran outside the kitchen, and then Pong and Khem inside the kitchen. It was fun non-linear storytelling, so we could understand everything from everyone’s POV.
Looks like now that our couples have mated, things are going to get sad and violent again. Should be fun!
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