I Hate Phayu (Storm) And I’m Not Talking about the Weather
In Episode 2 of Love in The Air starts with Rain driving back after taking his car back from Phayu’s garage when he gets a call from the man himself.
Rain wonders how Phayu got his number and recalls writing it down on the customer slip while signing the car out of the garage. He calls Phayu unprofessional whereas the biker asks Rain to pay back the repair cost. Phayu suggests that Rain does not have to pay in cash but in kind that leaves the latter wondering. He asks Rain to speak respectfully to everyone around him as a punishment and ends the call.
Rain drives in frustration when he hears the weather forecast on the stereo that warns citizens about frequent storms (in Thai, phayu/paayu). After the call ends, Phayu’s younger brother asks about his chirpy mood but Phayu digresses. At the University, Sky wonders why Rain keeps hiding behind pillars. Sky pokes fun at a visibly scared Rain as they walk inside the building. Once inside, Rain is shocked after he spots Phayu.
The biker tries to drag Rain away but he is hesitant. Phayu tells Rain’s classmates that he was here to collect his fees from Rain. He mentions that he had already collected half of it from Rain and was here to settle the other half. When he is about to reveal that he snuck a kiss from Rain, the latter covers Phayu’s mouth. Rain drags Phayu with him as Sky is left confused about the duo’s relationship.
Rain drags Phayu to the men’s room where the latter corners the student about paying back for the car repair. Phayu is now up and close to Rain’s face as the younger of the two feels overwhelmed. When they hear a noise outside, Rain drags Phayu inside an empty stall. Phayu starts feeling Rain’s body but the latter asks him to stop. The biker asks Rain to politely ask Phayu to stop by using honorifics in his sentence. Rain is adamant about not giving in so Phayu tries to kiss him.
As he begins to cause chaos, Phayu warns Rain about people hearing them and begins to hover his mouth all around Rain’s face and neck. Rain is momentarily lost but eventually gives in by politely asking Phayu to stop. Phayu continues the slow torture asking Rain to promise that he won’t swear at Phayu again. After a few minutes, Phayu lets Rain go and the student rushes out of the stall hastily.
Phayu follows Rain and states that he only did what he did because Rain did not keep his end of the bargain and continued to swear at him. Rain asks Phayu if he was forcing himself on Rain but Phayu pats his head and states that he is considerate. Phayu leaves Rain with a warning asking him to rethink using bad words. After Phayu leaves, Rain cusses him out once he realises her has a boner. Sky finds Rain in the men’s room and is confused about Rain’s reaction.
After a while, Rain rushes to the cafeteria and finds Ple’s brother Som there. He asks Som about Phayu’s weaknesses but Som only has good things to say about the alumni student. Rain confronts Som and the two end up having a fight. Sky intervenes and apologises to Som as he leaves. Meanwhile, Rain tries to warn Ple against Phayu but she also shuts him off as she follows Som.
Sky confronts Rain about his actions but he responds by stating that he was going to teach Phayu a lesson and asks Sky for his help. Sky eventually gives in unknowingly. The episode then moves to a bike race between two racer bikes with the blue biker, Phayu winning over his friend Prapai. It has started to rain and Prapai states that they should be going as he recalls them both not liking the rain. Phayu states that he no longer hates the rain.
The episode then moves back to the same night when Rain interrupted the illegal bike race. Phayu suddenly claims that he was sure it was going to rain soon but on the other hand, Rain wonders if Sky had gotten the right information about Phayu’s presence there from his ex. Rain leaves Sky alone as he barges into the venue. Sky unwillingly follows him as Rain looks for Phayu. Rain is chased by security when Phayu notices the commotion and suddenly intercepts Rain. Phayu takes responsibility for Rain and asks security to ignore the commotion.
Inside his house, Phayu begins spanking Rain. Rain asks why Phayu was doing so as he gets up from his lap. Phayu informs him that Rain would have been in grave danger if it were not for him. Phayu is pissed at Rain and lashes out at him stating him being spotted at an illegal race without permission would possibly put an end to his future. Rain is upset with Phayu and fires back admonishing him for calling Rain stupid. Rain suddenly grabs a hold of Phayu’s face and kisses him with force.
After breaking free, Rain promises to make Phayu fall in love with him so much so that he would never call Rain stupid. Phayu returns the kiss back with the same intensity and asks Rain to bring it on as he leaves Rain alone regretting his mistake. After leaving the room, Phayu thinks back at Rain’s promise and wonders if Rain would have still made the promise had he known Phayu better. Rain regrets his words the next morning as he wakes up in a room in Phayu’s house.
Phayu brings him a change of clothes and the two bicker about Rain chickening out from his promise. He infuriates Rain by giving him small-sized underwear. At the breakfast table, the two bicker about the underwear some more before Phayu asks Rain to finish his breakfast. Rain takes a look at an open architectural project that Phayu was working on for his client. He expresses his desire to work on something like this in the future.
As Rain inspects the project, Phayu sneaks up behind him and looks into his eyes distracting him momentarily. Phayu points out that Rain was wearing the underwear and mocks him about it. Rain is irritated and continues to finish his breakfast as Phayu watches him. Phayu then drops Rain at his house where he instigates Rain. Rain makes a commitment to Phayu saying he will make the biker fall in love with him in a month’s time.
Phayu accepts Rain’s new challenge and asks him to bring it on. Inside his house, Rain wonders if Phayu is making him dance to his tune but he dismisses the thought. The episode ends with a prologue from the night of the illegal race when Phayu calls his boss and backs off from the race that night after Rain caused a commotion on the race track. Prapai is shocked that Phayu is dismissing an important event while Phayu states that Rain is more important to him.
The Episode Review
This episode was so much better than the last and the chemistry between Phayu and Rain is so palpable. Rain’s motive behind wanting to date Phayu is so generic and it is chaotic, I love it. I understand that the makers specified that Phayu was bi in the first episode itself but I hope the show gives us some insight into Rain’s discovery of his sexuality when the time comes.
Knowing how Thai BL dramas usually get, I am sure there will be no mention of it but one can only hope!
I feel like all other side characters on the show are enablers for Rain and Phayu’s romance and I love Sky for how supportive he is of Rain. However, calling your friends out when they are wrong is a great quality in a friend so Sky, Ple and Som really deserve brownie points for that.
I love that Love In The Air is not trying to brush off the toxic mentality of a homophobic character before giving them a redemption arc but actually showing the audience an instance of the homophobia being called out.
Phayu’s life seems pretty non-chaotic for an illegal biker but I hope that future episodes bring in the tension and drama around the race because the show seems pretty slow-paced for now.
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