Stumbled Into a Gold Mine with The First Frost

It's not a review of The First Frost, lol.

Thanks to a certain drama, I fell into a severe K-drama slump. That’s when I turned to a familiar but not-so-close friend: C-dramas. I had watched a handful of them years ago, but a show called The First Frost, an ongoing series on Netflix, caught my eye. I thought, Okay, maybe it’s a sign. Let’s watch it. And so, I hit play. Wow. Just wow. What a drama. The drama was captivating from the very first episode, and I found myself squealing like a little girl every time Sang Yan (the main lead) was on screen.

But today, I’m not here to talk about The First Frost. I’m here to talk about its prequel (not exactly), which I stumbled upon while I was desperately digging for more content to quench my impatience while waiting for the next episode.

Little did I know, I had yet to experience true joy. I stumbled upon this drama called Hidden Love, which isn’t exactly a prequel, but it takes place in the same universe as The First Frost. Written by the same author, it follows the story of Sang Yan’s little sister Sang Zhi and his best friend Duan Jiaxu.

The drama spans about five to seven years and is one of the most swoon-worthy takes on the “older brother’s best friend” and “she fell first, but he fell harder” tropes. It tells the story of Sang Zhi, a girl who has a crush on her brother’s friend, Duan Jiaxu. They first meet when she is in middle school, and he is a college freshman. One day, Sang Yan brings Jiaxu home, and when Sang Zhi needs help with something her brother refuses to do, she turns to Jiaxu instead. From that moment on, their relationship grows closer, almost like siblings, but deep down, Sang Zhi sees Jiaxu as more than just a brother figure. But, then they lose contact and go on with their lives.

Years later, they meet again in Jiaxu’s hometown. This time, Sang Zhi is in university, and Jiaxu is thriving at his job. That’s when their enduring love story finally begins.

I think this is one of the best dramas out there. It feels like a breath of fresh air with a mature plot, a believable storyline, real struggles, and fully developed characters. I loved how Duan Jiaxu was introduced through Sang Zhi’s eyes in the first episode, it perfectly captured what an innocent crush looks like. Watching how he treated her with such gentleness and protectiveness from the very start was heartwarming. The transition in how he viewed her, from a little girl to a woman, was handled beautifully. Sang Yan, Sang Zhi’s older brother, was also a standout. The way his character was crafted felt so real. The constant banter between him and Sang Zhi was hilarious, but beneath it all, you could see how much he cherished his sister.

Unlike Sang Yan and Sang Zhi, Duan Jiaxu didn’t have an easy life. His father caused a drunk driving accident and later attempted suicide to escape the consequences, leaving him on life support for years. His mother passed away before he even graduated college. Throughout his college years, Jiaxu was constantly juggling part-time jobs to pay off the debts his family left behind. Despite all this, the Sang siblings—far from being spoiled brats—were always there for him, checking in and were ready to offer help whenever he needed it. So that was really nice to watch.

My Rating for the Drama:

• Genre: Romantic Comedy, and Youth?

• Adapted from: Secretly, Secretly; But Unable to Hide It (偷偷藏不住) by Zhu Yi (竹已).

• Plot: 9/10. A well-written, fast-moving story with fully developed characters. Everything makes sense, and I couldn’t find a single plot hole. I finished 25 episodes in 2 days.

• Character Development: 9/10. Every main character matures over time, growing into caring and responsible adults. To be honest, I feel if there were more people like them, the world would be a better place.

• Acting: 9/10. The actors delivered, all of them. No notes.

• Cinematography & OST: If you don’t find yourself humming Forever Star all day, did you even watch Hidden Love? Also, Victor Ma (Sang Yan’s actor) singing an OST? Love it!

• Favorite Character: All of them. But having an older brother like Sang Yan would probably solve 90% of my life problems.

• Most Memorable Scenes:

  • The airport scene where Sang Zhi lets out the big secret behind her online crush and gives Duan Jiaxu the confession paper stars she made as a kid.

  • The scene when they visit Duan Jiaxu’s mother’s grave and Sang Zhi talks about what a wonderful human being he has grown into and how she’d regret missing out on that. I cried. I have rewatched this scene at least seven times.

  • When Sang Yan picked up Sang Zhi from the airport after she secretly flew to Yihe to meet her "online crush," it was such a sweet moment. And knowing that in The First Frost, Sang Yan also went to Yihe a couple of times for his own crush just makes it hit even harder.

  • The scene where Sang Yan visited her during her internship and immediately sensed she was struggling at work. That’s the bond I’m talking about, the unspoken communication and the way he just knows when something is wrong.

• Swoon-Worthy Moments:

  • When Duan Jiaxu confessed on Sang Zhi’s birthday that he wanted to pursue her, it was adorable. Seeing the usually confident and smooth Duan Jiaxu get all shy and stumble over his words made him more likable.

  • Every time he picked her up and dropped her off at her university dorm. Man, he looked hot.

  

• Rewatch Value: 9.5/10. I’ve already rewatched it twice. Might start my third rewatch.

• Overall Score: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖. Such a sweet drama. I’ve been recommending it to everyone.

That’s all for now! Oh, and by the way, there’s another drama adapted from the same author’s book. I’ll try to watch it soon and be back with a review. Stay tuned!

Hyllu-lujah!

Yours binge-fully,

hungryypanda