I just finished watching another drama that I just didn't want to forget - Wait, My Youth.


High school dramas are just so fun for me to watch, specifically those slice-of-life, nostalgic dramas where the story revolves around the lives of high school friends who stayed friends even when they became adults. It felt like I was also watching my own life - recalling memories of the past where life was too plain and simple, where smartphones weren't a thing and we had to make extra effort to achieve what we want, to be with who we wanted to be, and to express what we wanted to feel.


Maybe because I had a very colourful youth, high school specifically, and these types of shows remind me of that. 


Wait, My Youth is a story of high school friends who have gone through a series of life events everyone would have experienced at some point in their lives. But I really liked the romance part of it (surprise, surprise LOL). I liked the love triangle among the leads, and the love story of the main leads itself. (Spoiler alert on the next paragraphs!)


Our main girl, Su Cancan (pronounced as Shan-chan if I heard it right), had a crush with this "most handsome" student in their high school, Li Jiaze. Li Jiaze was indeed very handsome, but what made him stood out was his very charming, innocent personality. Sounded very typical of a drama, but not really. Cancan had a crush on him for about seven years. She attempted to confess to him through a letter, which Jiaze was able to read but he didn't do anything for some reason.

What's most heartwarming for me to know was the fact that Jiaze also liked Cancan for a very long time, but he just kept silent, thinking Cancan liked someone else.
It made me sad. Cancan dreamt of being with Jiaze, it was a dream for her to be loved back by the guy she loved for a very long time. Too bad, timing wasn't on their favour, time let them both slip away from each other, without even meeting halfway in the first place. But, was timing really at fault here? I don't think I ever had a second-lead syndrome as strong as this one!


Our main guy here really is Lan Tianye, Jiaze's best friend and Cancan's deskmate. He's your typical tsundere or "cold-blooded" bad guy who is also very handsome and talented as Jiaze. Everything looked very typical until Tianye started falling in love with Cancan. Tianye watched Cancan showing her affection towards Jiaze, all her failed attempts to win his heart, all her sweet gestures towards him. It was all a torture for Tianye but he endured it all, while keeping his cool and just letting Cancan do all her thing.


College came and they all moved to Beijing. Jiaze knew all along how Cancan felt, but didn't bother doing anything aside from being so good to her.
I also liked the scene where Cancan needed to choose if she would go to Jiaze or to Tianye, that scene were Tianye invited her to watch a concert and where Jiaze invited her to watch his piano performance. Should she go to the guy she loved for a very long time who had finally started to show his love for her, or should she go to the one who had slowly entered into her heart before she knew it?


She chose the latter, and I couldn't be happier.
Sometimes we wait for someone for a very long time and all we think is that we couldn't love anyone else aside from this person. I liked how Cancan said, "I have loved him for seven years... but who said I should only love this same guy for the rest of my life?" Love does fade away with time, at least the love that is not meant for us.


I mentioned I experienced a strong second-lead syndrome in this drama. I don't think I've ever had it. Before I watch a drama, I knew who the male lead would be and will root for that male lead no matter what. I found myself rooting for Jiaze at some point during the drama. I wanted him to get his sh*t together and just let Cancan know how he feels. They kept on saying in the drama that the timing between Cancan and Jiaze were just off, and so they couldn't be together. I think I disagree, I think love was just never in the works for them at all.


Meanwhile, Tianye and Cancan have always been by each other's side ever since they were in high school. It took them a while to realize that they're each other's first love. When watching dramas, sometimes I get bored when I know the leads are already together and I'll just drop the drama. This one, I liked their story even more when they got together.

I liked how Tianye was just so confident about his love for Cancan, and how he never loved anyone else despite breaking up and not seeing each other for many years.
I liked how they Cancan and Tianye got past all the hurt that they felt and opened themselves to loving each other again.


This drama also reminded me of how brave we were when we were young. If you're on your late 20's like me, you probably know what I'm talking about. Confessing your love to someone, telling someone you're mad at them, or just telling whatever it is that you feel sounded so easy when we were young.


There are a lot more about this drama that I probably didn't give justice talking about it here. All the other casts were oh so good. Their strong bond as friends hit close to home. This story reminded me of my high school best friends who are still my best friends more than a decade later after our high school graduation, even if I live on a completely different continent now for many years. I don't see them as often as I want to, but it doesn't make me love them any less. I still love them so much and will love them forever.


If you're still reading this, thank you! It's probably not really a review, this drama just resonated with me so much and hit too many spots that I just really have to talk about it!