The First Frost, C-Drama review: A profound tale of love and healing —one of the best romances in recent times

I was sleepwalking…but I felt as if I saw the sun. So I hugged it…

In one of the most remarkably profound scenes of The First Frost, Wen Yifan realises she has fallen back into her sleepwalking habits. But she remembers one thing: Walking to a glowing light, gave it a hug and felt the warmth. And in reality, it was none other than her roommate, Sang Yan, with whom, she has also shared a complicated past. The imagery of this scene is quiet, subtle and yet hits cleanly—especially with the almost hypnotic music in the background.

The First Frost, is a journey for both the characters to feel this warmth in their lives again, and through each other. Running in flashbacks, Yifan and Sang Yan meet in school, begin a wholesome, touching friendship over hot noodles and studies. Our male lead is besotted with her from the very beginning and the actor does such a splendid job of it without ever going overboard—from the yearning in his eyes when he watches her practise dance, or hiding her with a jacket during a raw moment of grief, to give her time away from the world. During their school lives, their relationship is left unsaid; it’s the little gestures that establish that it is more than just a school crush. Perhaps it’s their synchronised walks, or Sang Yan’s joyful smile when he sees Yifan practising her dance. 

Yet, Yifan’s life is anything but cheerful: Her father dies, her mother sends her to obnoxious relatives, and a near tragedy aversion scars her so much that she decides to stay away from Sang Yan. It breaks him; he doesn’t learn the reason till much later.

In the present time, they meet, become roommates, slowly forming a tentative friendship, with each trying to work past old, unhealed wounds. And love is, putting protective tapes around each corner of the house so that Yifan doesn’t get hurt during her sleepwalking, making porridge for each other, buying takeout. The relationship takes time to slowly build—and yet, the beauty of the show is that it doesn’t feel so long. It feels painfully realistic—and the confession by episode 18 is the payoff for the wait. Yet, their relationship still has far to go, as problems continue to lurk in Yifan’s life, almost threatening Sang Yan’s own career and security.

Everything is finally wrapped up neatly—after fights, tears, and another excruciating hospital confession. The First Frost is not just a triumph of storytelling, screenwriting and haunting imagery: It’s the actors who carry it forward too. Zhang Ruonan brings a different sort of healing process to Yifan: A suppression of a girl’s most volatile emotions, because she doesn’t know the world will handle it. Yifan appears straightforward, clear and blunt on the surface, not saying too much and neither betraying much emotion, and yet, gradually, you see the soft evolution as she grows more comfortable with Sang Yan, allowing him to see the parts of her that are bruised and broken. She allows herself to cry more—something that she hadn’t done in the beginning—and he notices it, too. Healing is in the way she talks about the past and addresses it to her mother, who abandoned her after her father’s death. This does not imply forgiveness: It just means having a brutally raw, honest conversation. 

As for Bai Jingting, his portrayal of love rivals all other romantic heroes in the genre. It’s in the little things again: His eyes—bitterness, grudges of the past years—yet soft concern, worry that don’t let him stay too deep in resentment for long. Even though he has been nursing anger and hurt for years, he still does everything possible for Yifan—something the Gen Z call, a complete green flag. One of Jingting’s most realistic scenes is the final one—where he is almost shaking, because he is so overwhelmed. The details in this scene were exquisite, with both finally crying tears of relief.

There’s a reason why there’s so much hype around The First Frost. For good reason. It’s a tale that sweeps you into the storm of trauma, healing, and a powerful love that die-hard romantics would seek.