Hidden Love
25 episodes Jun 20, 2023 9.7
Since high school, Sang Zhi has had a crush on Duan Jiaxu. When fate brings them together again, they find a chance to embark on a sweet relationship.
Overview
Since high school, Sang Zhi has had a crush on Duan Jiaxu. When fate brings them together again, they find a chance to embark on a sweet relationship.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 25 episodes
- First aired
- Jun 20, 2023
- Last aired
- Jul 11, 2023
- Episode length
- 45m
- Network
- Youku
Latest episode: S1 E25 Rush. Can't Hide Secretly (Jul 11, 2023)
Specials
9 episodes Jun 27, 2023
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Quiet Rebellion of First Love
I’ve seen this story before. Girl meets boy. Girl pines.
Boy notices. They circle each other in slow motion, trading glances like secret currency. It’s the oldest trick in the romance playbook—so why did Hidden Love leave me lingering in the hallway after the credits rolled, rewinding not the plot, but the way Zhao Lusi’s fingers trembled when she tucked her hair behind her ear?
Maybe it’s because the show understands something fundamental about first love: it’s not about the grand gestures. It’s about the way your body betrays you when the person you’ve been watching for years finally looks back. That split second of panic—do I run, do I stay, do I pretend I wasn’t staring—is the whole story. Hidden Love stretches that second into 25 episodes, and somehow, it never feels like padding.
Gia Lee’s direction is deceptively simple. The camera lingers on hands—Zhao Lusi’s, always fidgeting with her sleeves or a stray thread on her sweater, as if her character, Sang Zhi, is trying to unravel her own nerves. Chen Zheyuan’s Duan Jiaxu is all controlled stillness, a man who moves like he’s afraid of startling something.
The contrast is deliberate. She’s a live wire; he’s a man who’s spent years learning how not to react. When they’re on screen together, the tension isn’t sexual—it’s electrical, the kind that makes you hold your breath because you know one wrong move will break the spell.
There’s a scene in episode seven that I keep coming back to. Sang Zhi is sick, curled up on her dorm bed, and Duan Jiaxu shows up unannounced with medicine. He doesn’t say much.
He just sits on the edge of the bed, close enough that she could reach out if she wanted to. She doesn’t. Instead, she watches him watch her, and the camera stays on her face—her eyes wide, her lips parted, her breath shallow.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.8/10
"A heartfelt and nostalgic romance with standout performances, though its pacing and predictability hold it back from greatness."
Viewers praise the genuine emotional depth and chemistry between the leads, Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan, which makes the slow-burn romance compelling. The series effectively captures the bittersweet nostalgia of first love, resonating with audiences who enjoy character-driven dramas. latestnetflix.com's take is that however, some find the plot predictable and the pacing uneven, particularly in the middle episodes, which drags down the overall experience.
What viewers praise
- Strong lead chemistry The natural and engaging dynamic between Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan is frequently highlighted as the series' strongest asset.
- Emotional depth The story’s focus on first love and personal growth evokes a relatable and touching nostalgia.
- Charming visuals The cinematography and aesthetic choices enhance the romantic and nostalgic tone of the series.
- Relatable characters Many viewers appreciate the authenticity of the characters' emotions and struggles, making them easy to root for.
Common complaints
- Predictable plot The storyline follows familiar tropes, leaving little room for surprises or fresh twists.
- Uneven pacing The middle episodes feel slow and drawn-out, testing viewers' patience before the story regains momentum.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting characters often lack depth, making their arcs feel shallow or unnecessary.
Recommended for
Romance drama enthusiasts Fans of slow-burn love stories Nostalgic coming-of-age viewers Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan admirers Character-driven story lovers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsZhao Lusi dropped to her knees at the airport, and the timeline never recovered.
Sang Zhi flies to Duan Jiaxu's city to confess. She sees him with another woman, holds the face, turns away, then folds on the floor. JayneStars called the clip a textbook crying scene and said Hidden Love broke ten thousand on the charts within 30 hours of the Youku premiere. 
That is the piece of gossip that traveled. Not the novel's title. Not the 25-episode count. latestnetflix.com's take is that a crush that goes public in the worst possible hallway.
Zhu Yi wrote Secretly, Secretly; But Unable to Hide It at 20. Youku aged the pair. DramaPanda noted the production caption, story starts when he is 22 and ends when she is 22, and pointed out that Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan were 24 and 26 in real life when cameras wrapped in late 2022 after three months. The on-screen gap is five years. The book was wider. That math still started a fight. Gulf News later summarized the English-language complaint. The male lead first meets her at 14. Romance waits until she is grown, and a lot of viewers did not care about the wait. Wikipedia lists Zhang Xi Wei as young Sang Zhi. Some watchers said an 11-year-old in those early looks made the glances worse. The show did not get pulled. CCTV still packaged it as sweet romance. Netflix took it on June 29, 2023, nine days after Youku.
Sang Yan got the darker novel. Zhao Lusi did not walk into it.
Victor Ma played the older brother as comic relief. Wikipedia cites Taiwan's Up Media saying he almost turned the part down. Zhu Yi's other Sang-family book, The First Frost, landed in 2025 with Bai Jingting as Sang Yan and Zhang Ruonan as Wen Yifan. Different point of view, different cast. Gulf News reported fans asking why Zhao and Chen were absent, then pointed to the narrative shift and to Zhao's late-2024 post about illness and depression. Youku still tried to bottle the original sugar. In June 2025 it trailed a short-form copy, Hidden Love for You. Sportskeeda collected the X pile-on. Viewers asked if it was a parody. Others said Zhao and Chen had already defined the roles two years earlier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bSa22jqNQ
India Today treated the 2023 binge as a C-drama moment riding the K-drama wave. MyDramaList still ranks it like a comfort object, 25 episodes, 45 minutes, Youku then Netflix. TMDB files the same work as series 210733. Zhao as Sang Zhi, Chen as Duan Jiaxu, Victor Ma as Sang Yan. Status ended. The official Youku trailer sold the secret crush in English subtitles weeks before launch. The kneeling shot is what people still pass around. The age-gap argument is what English timelines still want to litigate. The industry moved on to recasting her brother and cloning the title. The original is the one that stuck.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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