Ron Does Stuff

At the end of the third episode, we saw who’s vamp in the house — Mark, who is doing the Twilight thing of still going to school despite being hundreds of years old. Let’s see what vampiric shenanigans he’s going to get into while in school!

Just like any normal person would, Tong asks Mark why he’s even in university at all? And just like any rich person would — at least an honest rich person who’s not trying to make themselves look ~better~ — Mark says you can do anything if you’re rich.

Tong tries to find out another team to join other than Mark’s, but it’s a lot harder than he thought it would be since he’s coming into the class a month late. So does this mean that Mark was in that class even before Tong enrolled in it? The show doesn’t really answer that at the moment, but Tong at least has a group after Tonkla walks in. Now it’s Tong, Tonkla, and Mark in one group so you don’t have to pay any more cast members than you need to!

At lunch, Tong and Mark sit together, and people can’t help themselves from staring at Mark. Tong wants him to stop, but Mark is saying he’s not doing anything, and Tong is all Regina George going “So you agree? You think you’re pretty?” And Mark is all “No, you think I’m pretty” and check and mate.

Mark isn’t just following him at school though, he’s also at Tong’s student accommodation. If it’s going to be like this anyway, why not just stay at Mark’s fancy digs? At least there you’ll be comfortable!

Mark does leave Tong alone eventually, telling him that he’ll start guarding him from afar again once he’s found a friend that isn’t Tonkla. When Tong hears about a new tenant moving into their building, he decides to meet him and befriend him, only to find out that their new neighbor is…Mark. Mark actually wanted to buy the building itself but the landlord didn’t want to sell, so renting a room it is.

Back at university, Tong’s attempt to make friends through an extra credit assignment flops, so he once again has to rely on Mark. Mark, because he is a vampire whose centuries of life has already divorced him from human nature, doesn’t think anyone will be friends with Tong unless they want something from him, but Tong, as demanded by his trope, has to stand up and assert that there are still good people out there.

Their conversation is cut short when Tonkla asks Tong to bring food to his basketball, where his team is losing badly. And can I just say as someone who comes from a basketball-crazy country? They could have shot the game better.

Tonkla’s team sucks so bad that two members quit, and look how convenient it is that Tong is looking for friends! He volunteers to join the team, but since they need another player, Tonkla’s teammate begs for Mark to join. Mark asks for a one-on-one game first to see if the team is worth his time, which of course leads to skin on skin because sports is gay. It is! And again, I don’t think they know how to shoot basketball scenes but they sure know how to make it homoerotic! Tong wins because Mark just loses his concentration whenever he smells Tong so now he has to be part of the team.

Later that night, Tong and Mark get to band over the band The Pirates, and Tong is being coy about it, but he’s starting to see Mark as a friend. The two of them even go out the next morning to bring Tonkla documents he needs to sign, but the outing soon turns tense when Nakan shows up to ~check on his product~. We also find out that the vampires own the university, which I guess explains how easily Mark managed to get in. What’s unexplained is where Tong went off to while Nakan was there, but I’ll let it slide.

The next day — I think it’s the next day? — Tong is arranging the books in the library as part of his extra credit and wouldn’t you know it, the air-conditioning’s broken. Tong’s gonna be extra sweaty. Of course, Mark is there, and they have a little thing about Pride & Prejudice where Mark quotes a line from the 2005 Pride & Prejudice and Tong calls him out on it. Which I think is hilarious because is Mark is 200-years-old like the synopsis says, then that means he would have been around more or less during the time period where Pride & Prejudice was set.

Of course, the library’s copy of Pride & Prejudice is on a shelf that Tong can’t reach, so it’s Mark who has to reach up for it and of course they end up pressed against each other.

Of course, we don’t get a kiss because this isn’t Century of Love where they make out with their shirts off in the first episode. But Tong does look like he wouldn’t have minded a kiss! Back at the apartment, the show really wants us to think that Mark is Mr. Darcy and Tog is Lizzie Bennet, and okay, sure! Gawin’s American accent does help a lot in the suspension of disbelief because I am a predictable homosexual from the ~Global South~.

There’s also a gratuitous ~back shot~!

The next day, it’s a different kind of tension that Mark has to contend with as Nakan tries to inch himself closer to Tong, even offering Tonkla a job because he liked it when Tonkla danced in the sausage costume. Sure, Jan.

Mark tries to warn Tong about Nakan and the possibility of him hypnotizing Tonkla, but Tong believes that Tonkla would never betray him. I mean, you thought he was a fake friend in the previous epsiode, but okay! Because he wants to put his fears to rest, Mark looks through Tonkla’s phone — boy, you’ve got to put a password or a pattern on it — and Tong catches him doing it, which of course pisses him off. I think the conflict is pretty contrived, but it’s not enough to turn me off just yet.

The next day, Tong is a sulky homo and ignores all of Mark’s overtures and attempts at reconciliation. Tong tells him not to throw money at people and just be a sincere friend but I have no pride or money so if Mark would like to throw some of that money at me I am ready to be his friend.

We get another meh basketball game scene, but it does sorta ease the tension between Tong and Mark because Tong stands up for Mark after Mark gets fouled. Then they run into each other in the locker room with just towels around their waists.

Mark tells Tong that he understands what he should do now, which is to warn Tonkla about Nakan rather than suspect Tonkla himself. They patch things up in the locker room, but unfortunately they do not patch things up taking off their towels and rubbing against each other, but by talking about the problem like mature adults. Boo!

The next day, they’re lounging on the suspiciously empty university field and share tomato juice. But soon enough, Mark finds himself overwhelmed with emotion and plants a kiss on Tong. WELL WELL WELL.