The “Together With Me” Universe Explained

Hello, hello, my fellow misfits, 

And welcome to another blog of mine. This time I am gonna gush pretty much just over the awesomeness that is the Together With Me franchise. Ever since I have seen Together With Me I have been a huge fan of the entire three series and I usually can’t stop gushing over the awesomeness that is this entire project. 

But, as tastes are different, obviously I run into a lot of people who don’t like Together With Me and have some rather strong arguments on why this show is not good. And while I can totally accept if someone has a different taste than me, I can’t stand it if someone doesn’t like a show because they think (in my eyes) wrongly about the plot or the characters. 

So I thought, why not try to explain a few of these complaints that people have, who don’t like the show. Maybe I can change a few opinions. God knows. But at least I made my own heart a bit lighter by writing down what I think happened in these three series. 

I have collected a few questions that always, always come up when we are talking about Together With Me and I am gonna go through all of them and try to answer and explain them in the bestest way I can. I wanna just say that my opinion obviously isn’t 100 percent the absolute truth. This is just how I see the show and how I understand it. 

But let’s get ready to rumble, shall we. 

Was Korn sexually abusing Knock during their first time?

This is pretty much the first complaint that will come up when people talk about Together With Me. During the first few minutes of episode one we can see Korn and Knock having rather wild sex. The entire thing starts with both boys drinking like crazy and when Korn suddenly kisses Knock, it just takes Knock a second to get on with the program and a moment later he kisses as enthusiastically back as Korn kisses him. 

So where does this entire thing come from that Korn is sexually assaulting Knock here? I guess it’s down to the fact that Knock is drunk and Korn initiates the kiss. So I am guessing people think that Knock was too drunk to give consent. Which I would strongly disagree with. Because both of them were drunk. They both can’t be too drunk as for guys this would end up in no sex at all. Alcohol and sex doesn’t usually work too well together. So from what I would say it looks more like a case of drunken courage was needed to kiss for the first time. Knock was not disgusted or anything when he had to kiss Korn during the game earlier on, so it doesn’t seem to be so much of an issue for him. 

The next argument normally starts then that Knock didn’t really remember much from the night when he woke up. Again something I disagree with. I think Knock knew pretty well what happened. Was he shocked when he woke up the next morning? Of course. Have you ever woken up after drinking and having sex in the morning feeling slightly “what the fuck”? 

I would put him more in that bracket. Also I think one of the reasons why he is so angry is because he has a girlfriend. I don’t think he would have been so angry if he was a free agent.

Well, I am also pretty sure that there is a bit of a morning after regret as well. But again that’s something that can happen. You can have sex with a person and in that moment it just felt like an awesome idea, but in the morning you are wondering what the fuck you just did. But that’s more a case of regret then a case of sexual abuse or assault. 

So was their first night magical and special, planned, discussed through, consent given by everyone clearly before? No, not at all. But just because sex happens differently than that it’s not automatically sexual abuse. So I would say for this one: Drunken mistake on both sides and Knock has a bad case of guilty conscience the next morning. 

This guilty conscience comes for me from feeling guilty for betraying Pleng (after all, he still thinks she is a nice and innocent girl) and also for potentially destroying his friendship with Korn.  Not sure if any of you ever kissed a friend because at that moment it felt like an awesome idea, but not because you are in love with them? This regret afterwards is really no fun at all and I think that’s also one of these feelings going through Knock’s mind. Also I think he liked things with Korn more than he wants to admit to himself. So we have this young man here, completely thrown into a wave of confusion. Of course he might react a bit strange and funny. But do I think Knock was sexually assaulted by Korn? No, absolutely not. 

Why did Knock not leave Plernpleng sooner? 

I think this one is one of the longest standing complaints about Knock’s character. Why did he string along Pleng and Korn like that and for so long, when everyone knows that Pleng is a monster. 

Well, I think this is a little bit down to the fact that in Thailand when a man asks a girl to go out with him it has a lot more seriousness to it then maybe in our western cultures. It’s something I have noticed in quite a few Thai BLs. Like for example Love Sick where Phun feels like he can’t leave Aim because he had sex with her. There is always this sentence coming up about a man having to take responsibility for the woman and her reputation. I am wondering if this might be down to the fact that a woman who has been with a man might be seen as damaged goods or something (like virginity for a woman is still something in a lot of countries of the world).

You can see it in different shows. A man feels like they have to take responsibility and therefore can’t leave the woman. In a way it feels like Korn doesn’t need protecting as he is a guy. He is allowed to sleep with people. But Pleng is a different case. So Knock is trying to make it work with her for as long as he can as he feels that in all this she is the innocent party. And if Pleng wouldn’t be such a freaking bitch, he would be right. She would be the innocent bystander who gets dumped because her boyfriend falls for someone else. And since Knock is usually a quite decent bloke I think this reaction is not too out of character for him. 

And the other side of this coin for me is also that Knock was not even thinking about falling in love with a guy. Korn is different. He knows that he is gay, he has been in love with Knock since he was a child. So for him this entire confusion is nothing. But for Knock who thought he was straight as a rod, this obviously makes things more difficult. And I think in a way he is also allowed to be confused. I mean, it’s not like he is not very open with Korn about what’s going on in his head. He talks about it with him, about his confusion and he even asks online for advice on how to sort the situation without hurting anyone. 

That Knock then ends up hurting Korn is unfortunate. It’s understandable for me, but again, that’s not an excuse, that’s just an explanation. Knock is a young man who has to navigate through a difficult, new situation. The one who managed to sail through a mess like that without putting one foot wrong is more then welcome to condemn him, but I for one can’t do that. 

And the last piece to this puzzle would also be Plernpleng. Because she is not an innocent bystander, but pretty much a manipulative megabitch. So with her being so good in manipulating situations and people, is it really so surprising that Knock finds it hard to just leave? I mean, the stuff that Pleng does is criminal and so abusive. Of course it makes seperating for poor Knock even harder, because him being the naive and sweet puppy he is, he obviously would never think a person could be like that, especially if he likes that person. 

That’s pretty much a character flaw Knock has in general. He is almost too loyal to people, even if they behave like crap towards him. If he likes you and he has made a friend in you, he will pretty much just go through fire for you. I think the later seasons definitely prove that he is incredibly loyal. Otherwise he would have never said yes to this entire fake girlfriends stuff and so many other things. 

Was it out of character for Korn to cheat? 

I think that’s the biggest complaint I always get about Next Chapter. How can they say that Korn would cheat on Knock? After he has been so patient and understanding during Together With Me. He fought so hard to finally get his Knock, so why on earth would he cheat? 

I actually believe that it’s totally in character for Korn to cheat and I think the writings on the wall were there ever since Bad Romance. In psychology there is a theory that someone who complains too much about something often has an issue with this topic themselves. This often is something that happens with jealousy. So oftentimes the people who are the most jealous are so jealous because they are a) extremely insecure in their relationship and b) because they most likely also have a wandering eye themselves. Have you ever heard about the phrase “the lady protests too much”? Yes, it’s pretty much exactly like that. 

And if we look back at Bad Romance and Next Chapter Korn is so insanely jealous that it’s not even funny anymore. One time he believes that Knock cheated with a girl on the public toilet in a club, because Knock left the facilities at the same time as that girl. Insecure much? 

He believes Knock would just go and cheat on him with Cho when Knock never has given him any reason to doubt him, since they have been officially together. Yes, during the beginning period Knock might have been a bit confused about his feelings and about himself. But ever since he started the relationship with Korn properly it was HIM who wanted to come out of the closet. It was Knock who wanted Korn to spend more time with him, to be more like a couple and to just be together. Since Bad Romance Korn pretty much did a 180 on his behaviour towards Knock. 

Suddenly everything and everyone was more important to Korn than Knock and Knock on top of this had to please behave in a certain way as well. So for me Korn actually changed a lot after they got together. I always put that down to him wanting Knock made him a lot more brave than he usually would be when in love. I am not sure how many of you have been in love before, but do you remember this feeling when you fall so hard for someone that you would pretty much tattoo their name on your forehead if that would just mean they say yes to you? And I think that’s what happened with Korn. I think he loved Knock for so long that he just switched off his brain during the chase of getting his man that he just went in a lot harder than he usually would feel comfortable about. 

I think we can see this in Together With Me already in tiny parts. Like that Korn for example is not out to his family or his friends at uni. He is pretty much a closeted gay and he has no desire to step out of said closet. 

And again that’s for me another part why Korn’s behaviour in Next Chapter is totally understandable for me. Because he is not this out and proud gay man that we thought he was in Together With Me. No, he is someone who is struggling immensely with his sexuality and being seen publicly as a gay man. He is so afraid of the reaction of his family (rightly so, his sister and his dad both behaved disgustingly towards him once they found out) and in a way I am not sure if Korn ever made peace with being gay. 

But I am losing my plot a little bit here. I just think it’s important to see what kind of character we are talking about. We have a deeply conflicted, young man here. Stuck right between a rock and a hard place. There is on one hand this awesome guy, that he has loved forever. And this guy is not gay. He is pan. He could have a normal life with a wife and kids if he just chose to. And I think in a way Korn wants the same, but he knows he never can have that as he KNOWS he is gay. Nothing to do about that. But I think Korn always worries that Knock will one day just wake up and see that things would be so much easier if he just goes back to women. He worries that Knock will just leave him anyway. So for him to offend his entire family and potentially lose them all for a guy that most likely is gonna wake up one day anyway and leave him? Well, that doesn’t really sound like a clever plan. 

In a way it’s like Korn doesn’t have any faith in Knock and his love for him. Because Korn himself if having the choice wouldn’t even want to be gay and with another man. He would just be with a girl and be the perfect son his father always wanted to have. So in a way Korn never accepted his own homosexuality and I don’t think that he loves himself an awful lot. So if you don’t love yourself how the hell can you believe in the love of a man who can actually be “normal” with a family and everything? Of course you can’t believe that this is gonna last. Of course Knock will sooner or later leave again. He will cheat, he will be with another person. Because Korn himself doesn’t think he is lovable at all. He feels like he is a cheat himself, hiding behind a different mask that fits depending on the situation. The super student, with tons of authority and admiration from his peers. The perfect son for his father. The strong gay man for Knock and his close friends. But in the end he is nothing of these different masks. He is just a scared boy hiding behind it all. 

So why did Korn then end up cheating? I think it’s because the pressure just got too much. We have his family on one hand that is getting closer and closer to the truth. The thing with the fake girlfriends isn’t really working (oh, what a surprise) and Knock on the other side also starts to put more pressure on him to finally be open and honest. So for Korn the situation is slowly but surely going in the direction of impossible. What should he do? Leave the love of his life to be able to pretend for his family he is the good straight boy? Or does he offend his family to the point where they will disown him for a man that, in Korn’s eyes, is just a hop, skip and a jump away from cheating anyway? 

And in this chaos and pressure Pete comes in. He is charming Korn and bad mouthing Knock. For an evening everything seems so easy and that’s where the mistake is made. I think Korn really on a subconscious level wants to sabotage his relationship with Knock. I always felt that Korn never 100 percent went for the relationship like Knock did. Knock really threw himself into this relationship head over heels and he never looked back once he made his decision (for me that point comes with him going after Korn when he leaves Bangkok to sulk over Knock). Korn on the other hand really stepped back and back. He got more jealous with every passing minute (again, the toilet scene comes to mind. If my partner would accuse me of cheating while on the toilet, then I would say we have a MASSIVE issue) and he point blank refused to even acknowledge Knock in public. It definitely shows to me how freaking much Knock must love Korn to be able to stand this for such a long time. In a way I think both boys love each other obsessively to the point where it’s not even healthy anymore. They just let each other get away with murder pretty much, just because of this want and need to be together.

So yeah, for me Korn cheating was the moment that he needed to really understand what he wanted and what he needed to do with his life. It’s like hitting rock bottom so for me this cheating moment was very defining for Korn as a character. Because he usually is such a strong and ethical man. For him to sink so low… It must really have scared him to the bones and the prospect also of losing Knock in the wake of all this, must have been petrifying for him. So yeah, for me the entire cheating part was very well established and they really were able to draw a red line from start (Together With Me) via Bad Romance all the way to Next Chapter. I think you can really see where these characters fail and how they grow over these failures. It’s for me one of these things why I love this entire show so freaking much. 

If you wanna know more about why I think Korn cheated, then I can recommend you a fanfic that I wrote a while ago. It’s about what would have happened if Knock wouldn’t have forgiven Korn so easily. In there I tried to explain a bit more why these things happened. Because yes, that’s maybe the only criticism I have here. The reasons for the behaviour of Korn and Knock are sometimes not very clearly portrayed. I don’t mind using my own brain to think about a show, but I know that sometimes this can lead people down the wrong path of thinking and they end up thinking that this behaviour is totally out of the blue for Korn. Which for me it was not. But yeah, I think they could have given a few more pointers as to why things were happening. But I can’t really commend Max more for his awesome portrayal. I am not sure if an actor with less range then Max would have been able to pull off this deeply torn apart character that is Korn. So kudos for that, my lovely Maxxin. 

Why did Knock forgive Korn so easily? 

That’s a good question and I think with me admitting that I even wrote a fanfic about him not forgiving Korn so easily it’s clear that I would have wanted Knock to let Korn struggle a bit more. But in a way I must admit that it fits the character of Knock 100 percent. Because as I said ever since Knock decided to go for it he never faltered in his love and affection for Korn. He is as obsessive and in love just like Korn. There is no difference. I know that sometimes people think that Korn is like this holy saint who just loved Knock forever and will endure whatever Knock throws his way. 

For me, Knock forgiving Korn so easily definitely shows that Knock just loves Korn the same way and that he will also endure whatever crap Korn is throwing his way. He loves his man and as I said above, I am pretty sure both of them would excuse the other even if they would kill someone. It’s just the kind of love they share. 

Is that a healthy form of love? 

I honestly don’t know but I would say maybe not. But that’s the thing about the love story between these two. It’s not about it being healthy and understandable. It’s about this love that will conquer in the end everything, sanity and reason included. 

Would I want a relationship like Korn and Knock? 

Nope, I don’t think I could live with either of them. They are both flawed, they both have mistakes and some of them I would have trouble accepting in a relationship. But that’s not the point of this whole franchise anyway, is it? This entire storyline is not about two perfect people falling in love to have this perfect, healthy relationship. It’s about two people who are both flawed and who both make mistakes in their relationship, but who love each other so much that they both want to be better people. They are working through so much during their time together. Sometimes it’s incredibly messy, sometimes it’s almost crazy, what they do. But their love for each other always brings them back to each other and is always the motor for change. Both these men want to be the best they can for their beloved. They both want to give the other what they deserve and even though the way they go about it is not always okay, the outcome I think is rather beautiful. 

So why do I not mind that Korn and Knock are both pretty fucked up and their relationship also is imperfect? Because that’s how life and love works. For me the entire crux of human love and relationship is that love makes us want to be better. We are all so flawed. We all make mistakes and sometimes behave like an arse. We all are not perfect so I don’t think we can expect our relationships to be. But the beauty for me in all this is that love like the one between Korn and Knock wants to make you be better. It makes you work on yourself and it makes you look at your own behaviour in a different way. Love can be the best teacher in the world. Because it teaches us understanding, empathy and compassion. 

So do I think the relationship between these two boys is anywhere near perfect or a good example of how a relationship should work? Absolutely not. 

But what I think this relationship between Korn and Knock is a perfect example of is that it sometimes doesn’t even matter how fucked up and damaged we are. The right person will still think that the sun comes up when we just enter the room and that the love for and from someone can transform us into a better self if we allow it. 

So now we are on page six of my rant about this show and I think I should stop here, because no one will ever read this entire thing if I make it even longer. But one last thing I definitely want to add to my entire sermon. 

I understand that Together With Me as an entire franchise is something that works more for the older fans here. I mean the rating is 18plus and I don’t think that this is just down to the hot skinship scenes. But I feel that maybe if you are not a certain age it will be difficult to relate to the characters. I once was told that Knock was at fault for Korn cheating on him because he didn’t go with him to see Pete. This kind of thinking is just so immature for a grown up relationship that these kinds of views are definitely not gonna help with understanding and appreciating this entire franchise. So I would definitely advocate for people to just watch this if you have a certain maturity. Because it is a complex picture of human emotions and relationships. So maybe a certain level of life experience is necessary to really grasp the meaning behind everything shown and said. But that’s just my five cents about this. So take it with a grain of salt or ignore me completely. Whatever you like. 

But with this I shall finally stop my rant on why I think this show makes perfect sense and why I love this entire universe so much. For me it’s really a study of the human emotional landscape and I just love stuff like that so much. I mean, I studied psychology for a reason after all. And that’s because I am so curious about human behaviour. 

And Together With Me will forever be one of my favourite depictions of what love can do to you and how love can bring you to the lowest lows while also can ascend you into heaven at the same time. Love is the most beautiful human emotion, it can turn us into idiots with a smile. But it also can give us the drive to be better. For ourselves but also for the people we love.