Step by Step (2023)

Slow steps with questionable pacing and timeline. Also, let me just add I love Chot.

It's started off great but it fell flat towards the end. From time to time the plot and the timeline feels off and hard to progress. The plot is not consistent at all. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it feels like it's all over the place and honestly I can't quite grasp the time skip. I don't even know what the screenplay writers were thinking like where is the whole in between story, especially of Jaab and Jen??Also Pat and Jeng, they both have one hell of a chemistry but their storyline is seriously slow, like it can not even be called a slow burn. It leaps from 0 to 1000 and then the next moment they are back to 0. What I am trying to say is the pacing is a mess. This series could have turned out to be so much better. It had so much potential but it couldn't live up to it.

However, hear me out, it's not the best but not the worst either; it's worth a try, especially the first half of the series.

The characters are lovable but then again sometimes a little annoying and even rash. Starting with Jeng, his character is most of the times calm, composed, reasonable, a little controlling and hands down his visuals. Also, it was kind of cute how he was so bothered about the manager performance appraisal review from Pat. And Pat is cute especially when he is drunk. He worries a lot and even messes things up but sooner or later he rectifies it too, of course after the damage is done though. Also, he cried a lot, more so, in the second half of the story and I wasn't quite a fan of it. I do get it that the writers wanted to portray him as a pure, upright and innocent person but he came off to be irritating at times. His actions were questionable and his reasonings didn't quite make sense.

The most disappointing part of the series for me was the story of Jaab and Jen. Damn!! Jaab and Jen , in the starting, the tension between them was so clearly evident. I was actually more interested in their story than the main couple's storyline even though I did love the main leads. I was manifesting them and somehow it worked. They ended up kissing and it left me in total awe - I was like 'WOW' but then at the same time 'What just happened?!' Right after that kiss, it just turned into ghosting and then out of nowhere there is Paint. Also, two years gap. Their story is officially a mess.

What I really really adore in this series is the bond between the two brothers: Jeng and Jaab, it's heartwarming. They bond and blend so well. They are effortlessly funny in the right amount and supportive too. Further, the friend circle of Pat is hilarious and also extremely supportive in whatever he does which is both good and bad but I love them especially Chot. Touchwood to the bond that Pat and Chot share.

Chot really is the MVP of this series. He is sassy, confident, funny in the right amount, a reliable friend, an understanding lover and a heart stealer. Also, the office plot in the starting is so on point from the part of not getting the credit for the work one has done to the gossiping colleagues and this kind of really riled me up.

The series is not the best but it's still worth a try.

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A big disappointment

The teaser, the pilot, the trailer... they were all fantastic and hyped me up for the show.
Then the show started and I felt sorry for Pat, poor soul was crying in the bathroom. Then he cried again... then he whined and pouted the entire episode. Now that I am done with that mess, I can honestly say that Pat is the most annoying characte of this year. Yeah I know it is only July, but there isnt any ex girlfriend with evil plans or homophobic dad that slaps everybody, that could be as annoying and irritating. Pat has great ideas, but he is always staring with his mouth slightly open, in silence...

The other characters are great, the ''villain'' becomes a cool lady, EVEN THE VILLAIN IS NICER THAN THE MALE LEAD!!
If you focus on the other characters, you will have fun. Unfortunately you will have to skip like 20 minutes of the male lead whining and like 10 min of him in silence, but those 15 minutes with Chot, Ae, Mr Jeng, Jaab, Jane, will be great!

I feel sorry for Ben. He deserved a better debut in acting. I will keep supporting his work. And his voice is beautiful.

If you feel like watching... then watch. It is a forgettable show with some good scenes.

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Don't get fooled by +ve YT comments/reviews

Read at your own risk because I am about to be rude and realistic :
This series is a waste of time no matter how much you try to defend it. No this is not a mature BL drama. This is not how slow-burn works. Some fujoshis have quite a low bar ughh. Also, please DO NOT compare this to Eclipse which was a MASTERPIECE.
Don't get fooled by reading positive reviews. Skip it if you are not fond of the plain plot.
The only positive things are : Chot's dialogues and Jaab's charismatic looks. Apart from that, Khun jeng was pretty hot.
Nothing happens in the first 7/8 episodes and suddenly everything happens in the last few ones.
Very boring side characters and the main character with basic storylines.
What was more frustrating was Pat. His weird lip movements were straight-up irritating. His indecisiveness and drama weren't cute or mature. He bored me to death.

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I dropped the show

It takes me a while to realize I don't like a show until I'm almost finished with it, and that's excactly what happened here. I used to be excited for the next episode and then it started feeling like an obligation to keep watching?

The issues I have with the show are:
The dialogue is bad and cringey, they baby Pat like he isn't a grown man (like the convo with his parents about their divorce was something that should have happened when they first broke up years ago), the music is bad, its WAYY too slowburn, Pat's feelings are so murky it's still even hard to see when he started liking Jeng and if he really does, the other characters stories are executed poorly, and the story overall just isn't that good.
Wouldn't reccomend unless you wanna feel like you wasted your time.

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JUST STOP!!!!!!!

If your looking for a BL workplace series PLEASE PLEASE go watch Bed Friends or A Boss & A Baby. The story is slow the character development is worse. The side characters are way more interesting. The 2 main characters had no chemistry. Who ever decided to make this show should rethink the people incharge of casting & scripts. I loved the 3 side couples &honestly think they would have developed their stories more because they all had a lovely chemistry.Nothing really happens until episode 8. I have never dropped a show in my life but i found myself fast forwarding through the last 2 episodes & they should have ended it at episode 11 because 12 is just a hodgepodge of randomness.

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Why?

Tried so hard to like this but as it wore one long episode after episode I felt like I was in an endurance race of mediocrity.
Pat has three faces...open mouth breathing, grimacing and then my favorite...trying hard to act like he is thinking. He's a singer not an actor. Give it up kid. Or watch some GMM TV great actors for clues. Your director obviously doesn't have one. Or was saddled with you and tried to fix to no avail. Really the worst BL performance I have ever seen. And I wanted so much to like from previews.

Chot and Jeng are fine and fun to watch and good production values but so long and who cares. The lead actor is so out of his depth and even puffy lips cant save him. Jaab is stunningly handsome but a case of arrested development aided by rich spoiled kid syndrome. Think he read German philosophers to learn to act soulful and sad.

Sorry this is a waste of time. Sorry I did. You are warned.

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A continued mix of annoying and frustraing

Disappointing. The intimate scenes are hot, sure, but the main relationship and story overall left a lot to be desired. Watch the love scenes on YouTube and save yourself the time and emotional frustrations of this show.

The character Pat is annoying and Jeng is frustrating.

Pat is whiny and rude, his character "development" is too little and too late. I personally understand the difficulties with emotional disregulation, but the struggle to manage strong emotions does not excuse thoughtlessness, obstinance, self-centered-ness, and a "oh poor me, everything is unfair" attitude. And "being cute" is not enough to make this character really likeable.

I do appreciate that Jeng tries to evolve the way he behaves with others once it's pointed out to him. The struggle to change something so ingrained was portrayed fairly realistically.

The boss and subordinate dynamic in this show stayed uncomfortable. This is where the frustrations with Jeng's character comes in. (More below)

For a healthy, sweet, and realistic-feeling boss/subordinate BL I recommend The New Employee, a 2022 Korean drama. It doesn't have intense intimate scenes like this show, but I found it overall so much more satisfying!

Generalized SPOILER regarding this show's relationship dynamic & why it was frustrating:
The boss & subordinate relationship is poorly handled by both characters, but especially Jeng, the boss, who is also much older. I was so frustrated that he didn't take any proactive steps to protect Pat socially and professionally. As time went on it felt like Jeng repeatedly purposefully put off thinking ahead and planning for a future where they could both succeed together. Instead focusing on just getting what he wanted with Pat romantically without caring about any ramifications for Pat.

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So frustrated

I am not gonna lie at first it seemed like this drama had potential but Ben's character just kept making me mad. He had 0 character development thorough the story, there was no chemistry for the leads. It left me frustrated. if i could leave it at 0 stars i would. Maybe find a person who has stronger chemistry connection with Jeng's character. I'm in no way trying to be mean but some actors can't mesh well with some people or their presence isnt fitting for the role. It makes me wonder if the roles for Ben and Up were reversed. Up seems to be a better fit for Pat's character than Ben. Maybe it would have came together better.

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Thank God it’s Over

This was one of the worst series I have ever seen. Wny did they make the lead characters so unlikeable? No chemistry whatsoever.

Pat was so annoying. He acted like a toddler. He whined and cried and pouted the whole series. Plus, he has the worst facial expressions. This sweet, young actor seriously needs some more acting lessons and a better script next time.

Jeng made me want to pull my hair out. He was cold and stiff to begin with. Then, when trouble started, he wouldn’t open his mouth! He let Pat walk away for two years and when Pat showed the slightest bit of interest, he wouldn’t say anything and ran away! I’m so over these guys. The only time I thought he was cute was at the end when he was pretending not to know Pat. That should have been in episode 1. To me, their whole relationship through the last episode was super forced and awkward.

This is my opinion but I loved Pat and Put together. It was the cutest thing when they both got the giggles. I was rooting for them the whole show even though I knew it wouldn’t happen. I loved how they showed him putting Pat’s happiness before his in the last episode.

Lastly, what the heck happened with Jaab and Jen? I loved that couple so much but I guess the actor that played Jen had to leave because we never saw him again in the last few episodes. Something happened for sure because that was too weird.

Overall, the story and editing was so bad. They would jump from place to place without any explanation. Ep 12 had two birthdays basically back to back. What? Did they run out of things to do?

I stuck it out in case there was a good ending to this mess. There wasn’t. I’m just am so glad this is over now so I can strike it from my memory.

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This was a great show!

Said no one.

Expectations were high. And you know what? I loved the beginning. It was a great slow-burn. But then it got worse. First of all, what did Mr. Jeng see in Pat? Yeah, Ben (the actor) is somewhat handsome, but Pat's personality is the worst! A little tip for the creators: The main character should be likeable, and we should sympathize with him. I personally hated Pat. He was crying all the time, he was annoying... The question everyone has is - why did Mr. Jeng want crybaby Pat so badly?

Don't worry, I have a ✨theory✨ for you!!! Mr. Jeng's daddy issues are hitting hard, and he needs to get this innocent boy and take care of him because his dad never cared about him. Boom. A different explanation doesn't exist. Does he love Pat because of his personality? LOL NOPE. Does he love Pat because he likes to have sex with him? Probably. Lol. (I mean those lips... Sorry, I have a dirty mind.) Nothing else comes to mind. I don't know why he likes him; well, my theories can maybe explain it, but other than that, it's a mystery.

I did not care about the other couples. Jaab and Jen were a boring couple. Pat's sister and her husband were really cute, good for them. Chot and his boyfriend were cute too. Also, Chot supremacy!!!

The last episode was sooo long. Longer than my crush list (Man and Saint were added to the list after this show, HAHAHAHA.) It was like an office simulator. Literally POV: You are working in an office. No, thank you. I'm disapointed. Will I ever rewatch it? Oh, of course I will! For a million dollars maybe :)

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A WASTE OF TIME

I was excited back then when they have released the trailer of this drama, plus the super handsome boss Man Trisanu so I decided to wait and watch it. As I watch it and I came to episode 8 but still nothing is happening, there are so many scenes that is unnecessary that wasted the time of this drama, I was looking for something about the leads love story but even I came to episode 8 to 9 , I can't find it and even I don't know what exactly it is , it's just missing something.
On the first 3 episodes, it was good and promising , like what's gonna happen to Pat and Mr. Jeng after they accidentally met and that Pat has spilled the milk tea on Mr. Jeng's shoe, but along the way it gets too much boring !
On episodes 9 and 10 the couples love story's trial to overcome was there and at the end they have over come it and able to get back to each other, but seeing the preview of the episode 11, having another trial to overcome where I thought it was all finished ! My heart became heavy watching this drama, I felt too bad for Man Trisanu He is too good looking and did great in acting but the other lead which is Pat is no match for him, for me, I get too irritated on Pat's facial expressions, he is so worried for so many things , he is always making that face that I don't like that much , I am sorry to say this but he made me uncomfortable watching that face.
The gossiping office mates scene or trial is too long, and the man that seems to be one of the shareholders of the company who oppresses Mr. Jeng is too trying hard to be the rival and Jengs father is I don"t understand if he is a bad guy or a friend ! I don"t understand the whole drama at all , the Story is hard to understand and is not on point
The only scene that I like is when Pat and Jeng got to enjoy each other < i believe that is on episode 10 , also I love Chot ! He is my favorite character here, I want hIm to be my friend !
I decided to drop this I cant bear to watch episode 11 and 12 anymore, I don't understand why they always choose to go away from each other.
I don't like the character they made to Jeng , he seems too professional and intelligent in the beginning but they made him too foolish at the end ! and Pat from beginning until the end he is a worrywart, he cannot give the acting that requires his character
i cannot recommend this drama to anyone , this is such a waste of time, I realized I do not like the whole drama at all , If many people watches this still, that probably because of Man Trisanu , he is too fine and he is the one to Saves this Drama.
sorry for a bad rating and review ..

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Too Many Steps

So well all agree Pat didn't deserve Jeng right? Like Jeng is extremely handsome, kind, well-dressed, can cook and rich. Pat was frustrating and annoying often. You cannot be making Jeng cry and not make me angry at you, period. Beyond that, these episodes were way too long for this plot. Like I got bored after episode 5 and this is 12 in total. I didn't mind the work related stuff, but eventually they got boring and repetitive.

I did actually quite like the story arch of Pat's ex still being in the picture, them giving it another shot and it ultimately not working out. I mean poor Put never stood a chance with someone like Jeng as an option, but the actor was paired with freaking Kao in "Lovely Writer" so I didn't feel too bad for him.

If you choose to watch this you'll probably skip through a ton like me. But the scenes that are good you'll enjoy I'm sure! Also what was the point of that side couple? Completely pointless and non-existent by the end.

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