Perfect 10 Liners 1×15 Review: Episode 15

Nothing solves a fight like… another fight. While Yotha and Gun are trying to recover the relationship that they used to have, Yotha’s past keeps coming back to kick them in the face. Or ribs, as it were. But surprisingly that seems to fix everything.

Episode 15 picks up just a little bit from where episode 14 left off. It seems that when Yotha was at the bar, he got some advice from Warich. I’m side-eyeing that a little bit (or a lot), because Warich is, after all, part of the reason that Yotha is in this predicament in the first place. The advice itself was also not spectacular. On the one hand, he did need to be careful or he would lose Gun completely. On the other hand, telling Yotha he needed to be more selfish was exactly the problem – he wasn’t considering what Gun wanted, only what he thought was best.

When Gun wakes up, he is apparently cured of his headache and wheedles Yotha into taking him out for food. And props to Warich’s intervention, I guess, because Yotha has gotten rid of whatever hangups he had. He and Gun have returned to the flirt-adjacent behavior they had before this stumble happened. Yotha even blows on the food before feeding it to Gun, and yes, that is actually what happened.

Wow, do these shows make me feel even more keenly just how single I am.

Even Faifa seems to have accepted that this is the new status quo, remarking that Yotha doesn’t even pretend to wait for him to be asleep before he comes in to cuddle with Gun. I don’t think I’ve commented on it yet, but I do so love the relationship between Faifa and Yotha. There are a few scenes that just scream, “someone with siblings wrote this”, and one of them is the bit where Faifa steals Gun’s comforter, so Yotha steals his.

For all that we’ve seen Faifa practicing for the campus star competition, I’m a little surprised they didn’t show us any of it. We got a scene with Faifa telling Gun that the competition is Wednesday and he’d better show up and cheer for him, and then in the next scene, they are all out celebrating Faifa’s win. I know he isn’t the focus of this current arc, but given how much of Faifa’s screentime has been dedicated to this, I cannot believe they didn’t at least show him winning.

But I digress. Faifa’s win isn’t the important thing about this scene, it’s that Warich calls Yotha, and Yotha ducks out to answer the call. Gun witnesses this, and is no doubt starting to wonder about Warich and Yotha’s relationship. Again. (Hell, I’m starting to wonder at this point. What kind of messed-up codependent friendship is going on? It might show growth on Yotha’s part that he’s able to be so friendly with his ex, but Warich is still wearing red flags.)

Now, of course, Warich is calling with an urgent matter, but Yotha would have had no way of knowing that before answering. So I wish they had had Warich have to try a little harder to get a hold of Yotha. I feel like showing Yotha trying to distance himself would have gone a long way.

Despite having been terrified the first time he saw Yotha fight, Gun resolves to go with him as they try to track down Klao, who for some reason is bearing the brunt of Yotha’s stupidity. The guys who went after Yotha in episode 13 are back, and because Klao helped him out, they keep going after Klao. I have no idea why they were going after Klao and not Yotha, but whatever the reason, Yotha is able to find them and join the fight.

Unfortunately, one of these guys brought a knife to a fistfight, and when Gun tries to warn Yotha, they grab him and threaten him. Luckily, Newton brings a gun to a knife fight and chases them off. (Pepper is in two series airing right now, one of which involves hitmen, and yet the show that has him being good with a gun is the slice-of-life college romcom. Make it make sense.)

I will say, massive props to Yotha for literally shielding Gun with his body. And after taking most of the blows, his first instinct was to check on Gun. It looks like this fight has further cemented to Yotha that he does love Gun. Warich’s question to him was, could he go back to life without him. And the guy who grabbed Gun during the fight remarked that they had obviously found Yotha’s weakness. It hammered home the idea that he could lose Gun for good, and that isn’t something that he could conceivably live with. Gun’s reaction indicates that he has arrived at a similar conclusion.

Most importantly, it convinces Yotha that he can’t keep going as he was. He needs to stop the self-destructive behavior. He says he won’t go back to the bar, but I do wonder… It’s still his brother’s bar. The bar wasn’t the problem. I’m curious to see if we see the bar again.

Anyway, Yotha decides that immediately after the fight, when Klao has passed out from his injuries and Gun is still shaking, is the perfect time for him to be like, “Hey, I have an answer to your question now.” Wow, does this guy have a flair for the dramatic.

Of course, the answer to the question is not “I love you” – at least not yet. Yotha tells Gun he’s brave enough to love him, which I can’t help but notice is not “I love you”. But to Gun, who was terrified that Yotha would never feel the same, I’m sure it sounded a hell of a lot better than, “I might never love you”. And it’s enough for Gun to have the confidence to initiate a kiss, which I do believe is the first time he’s done so.

That said, Yotha does eventually tell Gun he loves him. After they’ve finally gone to visit Gun’s family, and Yotha has somehow cured Gun of his trauma by the power of his presence. They’re able to be honest with each other at last.

Look, I’m going to joke about the power of love healing Gun’s trauma, because it’s ridiculous. Yotha is not qualified to give Gun exposure therapy, and one nightmare turning out all right does not mean that it’s never going to be an issue again. I can appreciate that they brought up their deal again, about helping each other get over their fears. I like when they bring back stuff from earlier in a show.

But I do legitimately think that visiting Gun’s family does a lot to help Yotha. He told Gun earlier that his tattoo is the date his parents broke up; how much did that affect him, that he literally had it permanently inked on his skin? His relationship with Warich didn’t help, but obviously his parents’ divorce skewed his perception of love first. And so seeing Gun’s family – his loving parents, his teasing relationship with his sister – he at last has an example of a healthy family dynamic.

I’m also going to judge them for deciding to be intimate for the first time in Gun’s parents’ house, instead of waiting until they were back at the dorm and could be alone. Because as much as I love that they’ve finally gotten their act together (remember when I thought they’d beat Arc and Arm? good times), after everything, they could have stood to wait a day or so. (Although, to be fair, I’ve no idea how long it’s been.)

By the way, Yotha’s comment that “I don’t know means yes”? Gross. I’ve really appreciated how much the topic of consent has been making its way into more and more BLs, but that is just an awful sentiment. Yes means yes, and that’s it. Which is another reason I thought it made more sense for them to wait.

As for the other couples, I love to see Pond and Sand continuing to just be super adorable. Sand taking a picture of the breakfast that Pond made for him is just too cute. The shot of Arc and Arm, with their bracelets connected? That was a really great shot. And I still don’t care about Warich and Klao, especially because Warich shows a shocking lack of concern that his boyfriend was attacked. He’s like, “You have to stop fighting!” Never mind that he got jumped by three guys. Clearly his own fault.

With Yotha and Gun’s arc winding down, we’ll soon be back in the present and ready to start Faifa and Wine’s story. I’m honestly super excited for them, more so than I was at the beginning of the series. But I’m looking forward to seeing Gun and Yotha be cute and coupley in the background à la Arc and Arm.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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