If I need to compliment something, it'll be the cast. They did their best with the material they were given, and Wayne pulled out everything he had for that final episode. Though realistically, Wayne was the only one that had a character with any sort of depth. Xi Gu does little beyond be bullied/harassed by Hao Ting, eventually fall in love with Hao Ting after his persistent nagging and attention, and then die when the writer tries to push a last minute lesson. The second pairing, Bo Xiang and Zhi Gang, essentially serve as sexy fan service. Zhi Gang is given a few notable conflicts and plot threads which could've been interesting to follow, but they're all lazily concluded off-screen in the finale so they're not worth mentioning in any detail or really being paid any attention to. They exist to showcase one or two hot sex scenes. The supporting cast are there to be pretty, and they do that well.

The first 9 episodes present a fluffy romance with bits of sexual tension and few notable or gripping conflicts. Ignoring that the beginnings of the main relationship don't really make any sense, the couple itself is pretty cute to watch. They've got chemistry, and Wayne manages to be charming and endearing despite his character being childish and pushy. Most of these 9 episodes, after the initial bullying stunt, are spent watching Hao Ting go through a series of cliché issues. He fusses over Xi Gu until they're in a relationship, then he fusses with his parents until they accept that he's romantically involved with a boy. Following that, the finale tries to push a "tragic" ending after psyching the viewer out for half an episode with a doppelganger. Given the title, "Make Our Days Count", I'd assume the goal here is to present the importance of living your life to the fullest. But where was this the last 9 episodes? Why do I even have to assume what the writer is going for? Xi Gu's entire character setup, as a poor student that lost his family and spent every day studying, could've been a perfect lead in to this kind moral. Had the drama actually spent time enforcing the theme of living life while you have it, the ending could've been logical and impactful. But the drama spends more time focusing on irrelevant and easily-passed conflicts and the standard BL drama fare than it does actually pushing that narrative, which makes the ending feel entirely out of place and absurd. There is no foreshadowing or introspection that would logically lead to the conclusion. You can write towards an ending like this one while still keeping it a surprise if you're adamant on needing shock factor. And worse, the ending itself was poorly executed. I found myself laughing at the revelation of Xi Gu's death rather than at all emotionally affected by it because it was ridiculously masked and hidden for 20 or 30 minutes.

All in all, this really isn't worth a watch. Was the main couple cute together? Sure. But lots of BL couples are cute together while having more compelling stories, and there's no pay off at the end here to make the "journey" (if I can even call it that) worth the time spent. But again, kudos to Wayne for throwing his heart into all of his scenes. I could've written in depth about this drama's countless other issues, like Hao Ting revolving his life around his boyfriend which was never addressed, but I don't feel it deserves even half the time I already spent writing this.

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