When we last left our Tired Nour and Eager Investiga — forget them! Prae was RIGHT behind Ji!
Ken and James cheerfully pull up the red tape
Then they learn Prae kidnapped Ji!
Chita saw Prae grab Ji by the neck and drag him away. He tells them about her giving Ji the Valentine’s sticker, stealing blood, and squeezing his arm with inhuman strength.
In James vision, Chita glows red. Not the usual Nour colors.
Nin gets a call from James, right as Prae shows up to chat with Rain. James tells Nin to get Rain away from her, so he drags Rain away.
Rain is annoyed, confused, and sorta thankful? Then they use drinking fountains near each other and staaaaaaaaaaaaaare.
Then Ken and James spoil the mood with the news.
James calls Prae using Tee’s phone, and she picks up for a moment. After that, they can track her. Couldn’t they before?
Whatever. Very little of their pursuit of Prae makes sense. It’s more like a leisurely drive through the countryside.
But it gives James time to go over the texts between Prae and Tee. They seem to prove that Prae really was abducted while trying to get blood to Tee. Right before Ken and James chased Tee, and he ended up burned to a crisp.
From this, James guesses Ji could be their killer Nour. Because if he killed Tee, Prae is getting revenge, but also can’t kill him. I think.
Nin and Rain are still awkward after that not-friend-kiss
Rain reassures Nin that James, currently on a relaxing road trip with Ken, will get his brother back. Nin feels bad for pushing Rain away, then going to him for support. Rain soothes him and gives him a hug. Good friend.
Meanwhile, James and Ken are slowly getting gas. James reads a text from Tee about what it felt like on the first day of “rebirth”. He asks Ken about his experience. Ken spaces out and says he can’t remember.
Also, James discovers you need to be true loves to become Nour. Ken explains you have to bite into the heart, but if they aren’t your true love, they die.
James wants Ken to bite him to prove they’re true loves. Or not. He asks Ken not to turn him Nour. Ken promises he won’t.
Then they spend an interminable amount of time staring at a rainbow, while James describes it to the colorblind Ken. Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaring.
By the time they’re ready to hit the road again, Prae is moving. Fast, like she’s running. She messages them to meet her on the university rooftop at 9pm. So. They turn around and go BACK.
When they catch up to Prae, she’s on the other side of a metal gate
James can see her rainbow coloring.
Flashback to her in that car trunk. As bad luck would have it, Tee got into that same car while fleeing Ken and James.
In the present, Chita grabs Prae. He’s… maybe changing in James vision? But he’s definitely setting Prae on fire, like he did with Tee in that car. Prae’s arm got burned when she tried to stop him.
Now James recognizes Chita as the Nour who killed his Dad. He screams at Chita, but by the time they reach that part of the roof, Chita is gone, and Prae is very dead.
Ken tells James to get reinforcements while he goes after Chita. James is NOT okay with Ken going off alone. He thinks James will die and can’t lose anyone important to him again.
Ken cries, and James reminds him of his dream for their future. They’re SO intense. I love them. Overpowered by James’ feelings, Ken agrees to end this together. They clasp hands and hug.
Flashback to them stuck behind the metal gate, James sees Ken’s colors … pulsing?
The next day, Ji comes home as if nothing happened
Nin is surprised. Ji is vague about where he’s been. He joins Nin and his mom for breakfast, but after eating a bite, he makes an excuse and leaves.
Nin stops him on his way out and asks about Prae. Ji looks more confused.
At the station, Ken and James discuss going after Chita. They send Phong to the hospital in case Chita gets blood, and Tangme to Chita’s dorm to keep watch.
At work, Ji cuts open a corpse, and the seeping blood makes him hyperventilate. Ken comes in and asks what happened. Ji doesn’t remember anything after saying goodbye to Chita.
Ken shows him Prae’s burned body and is annoyed that the Nour killing Nour was right next to Ji the whole time. He needs to know if Chita reaches out to Ji.
Outside, James deliberately listened to everything and is not happy. He thought Ken wanted to spend his life with him, but he’s not sure that was ever true. This makes KEN cry.
Ken has been happy because of James, but this isn’t his life
Someone else gave it to him, and he has to give it back. Interesting. He hugs James and tells him there’s a place he’d like to show him.
Ji isn’t doing so well. He rushes home and is so thirsty he drinks from his fish tank. Then he tries to slit his wrist. Nin rushes in to stop him and gets cut instead.
Ji loses it, going after Nin. Rain rushes in to stop Ji, but Ji is super strong. Nin starts crying, and then Ji stops. He frantically apologizes as Rain drags Nin out. When Ji calms down, he calls Chita.
Ken takes James to the tree where his true love is buried. Unlike the usual heart-biting to become Nour, Ken did something different and had to bury their body here. We see confusing imagery of brightly lit people that explains nothing.
For other Nour, becoming Nour means being with your true love for eternity. But for him, it cost his true love his life. I dunno, we’ve yet to meet a happy pair of Nour.
For him, eternal life sucks. He can’t eat, sleep, or die. It’s a curse. He’s changed his identity so many times he’s forgotten his own past, who he is, and why he’s still living at all.
James doesn’t understand and never will
He doesn’t think dying will repay the life Ken owes his true love. Instead, he wants to show Ken that living well will bring him peace and help him escape the curse. But when he holds out his hand, Ken doesn’t take it.
Rain comforts Nin by reminding him that Ji loves him and tried really hard NOT to bite him. Nin should try to believe Ji can find himself again. And Rain will be by his side.
Ji arrives at Chita’s and demands to know what he did to him.
Chita explains that Prae killed Ji, and he had to save him. We see Chita crying and biting a dead Ji’s chest. He’s glad it worked, because it proves they’re true loves.
Ji is horrified to realize that Chita killed all those people. Chita thinks they deserved to die, since they were Nour. Ji is different.
But when Ji tries to leave, Chita holds him back, and he collapses on Chita’s bed.
James steals Ken’s car and rushes off to Chita’s
Tangme has inexplicably decided to go in alone, and James probably wants to keep Ken from Chita.
Tangme finds Ji and checks on him. He silently comes towards her, so she shoots him, and he collapses. Chita comes up behind her, telling her Ji is not complete and could die, apologizes, and kills her. Noooooooo! Not Tangme!
Chita feels Ji blood from Tangme like he’s a baby bird. Then it becomes kissing and sex. In the bathroom. This is wild.
That done, Chita wants them to go abroad until things calm down. Then they can return, and Ji can see his family. But Ji is scared of Chita, and himself. And he hates himself.
Chita swears he wants to help him, but Ji would rather die than become a killer like Chita.
Ji flees, only to nearly get run over by James. Right then, James hears Phong find Tangme’s dead body over the radio. James wants to know if it was Ji or Chita, so he knows who to stab.
Chita gets between them, telling Ji to run and James that killing Tangme wasn’t what he wanted. James stabs Chita repeatedly for his Dad.
Then Ken SHOOTS JAMES in the wrist to make him stop. And Chita gets away.
That went from silly rainbow talk to SUPER INTENSE
I’m impressed they made Chita the bad guy, AND he killed Tangme. That’s more hardcore than I’d expect from a BL.
So I got it wrong, Ken was not born a Nour. Not that it’s clear HOW he became Nour. I wish James had asked a FEW more questions.
The whole true love thing is messy and confusing. The idea that… the universe? Nour biology? Somehow knows “true love” feels contrived. On the other hand, for a gothic romance and a theme of love changing people, it works.
Also, it seems like a person can have MORE than one true love? Because someone made Chita. Someone made Prae.
Now that I know Ken’s desire to die is tied into guilt as much as the angst of never dying, I’m with James. Ken should try living again for a while.
I’m not-so-secretly hoping that James is LITERALLY correct, and somehow his love makes Ken human again? To live a natural lifespan? Because being Nour does seem to suck.
But I love that Ken and James are so in love, and it doesn’t fix everything. Ken still has his death wish.
Considering he’s a serial killer, I don’t foresee Chita making it out alive. Although what can kill him? Ji… I don’t see him living happily as a Nour. But we’ll find out soon!
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