“I Told Sunset About You” tells the story of two boys who used to be childhood friends who had a falling out but are reunited in the last year of high school. The story follows their relationship as they slowly become friends and then eventually start having feelings for one another. This essay will focus on the fourth episode of the show and its portrayal of the main characters’ feelings towards each other as well as their inner turmoil using flower imagery and symbolisms.

Flower imagery can be seen throughout the fourth episode starting from the shot where Oh Aew can be seen laying on a rug with a flower pattern. As he is laying, it is shown through his facial expressions that he is struggling with liking Teh and communicating with him. His feelings are reciprocated by Teh, however they still cannot be together as Teh can’t accept the fact that he likes a guy. This shot is followed by one where Teh also being shown to be in a similar position while laying on a sofa which illustrates how the two guys feeling conflicted about their relationship for different reasons.

The next scene includes Teh and his girlfriend, on a date. It can be seen that his girlfriend is really excited for this date as she picks her outfit especially to be noticed by him and keeps adjusting herself to gain his attention. However, Teh does not reciprocate her behavior at all by constantly looking at his phone checking whether he has any messages from Oh Aew, also symbolizing how he is choosing Oh Aew over her. Referring to a previous scene where Teh notices her bra with flowers, his girlfriend wears the same bra to be noticed by him and gives him the task of coloring in a flower that she drew which looks the same as the ones on her bra. She plans to make him feel embarrassed and play with him a little by pointing out how he was looking at her bra. However, Teh colors in the flower in different colors, showing that he hasn’t noticed her bra at all and hasn’t been checking her out like he used to in previous episodes. She immediately feels embarrassed and covers up her see through shirt that she especially wore for him, showing how she feels stupid about thinking that she would be noticed by her own boyfriend which creates an argument between them.

It is also important to mention that the flowers only appear in the scenes where either Oh Aew or his girlfriend is present. There are purple flowers in his girlfriend's scenes such as the ones on her bra, and there are red flowers in Oh Aew’s scenes such as the ones on the rug. When asked to color in the drawing on their date, Teh colors Oh Aew’s flowers color instead of his girlfriend’s, which is a scene where the flower imagery is used to symbolize both of his love interests.

Through the entire series it can be seen that Teh’s feelings towards his girlfriend starts to shift as he starts to become attracted to Oh Aew. She is not a priority anymore but he is still using her to cling to his straight identity, these scenes of him ignoring her show what their relationship has become.

The next which will be mentioned takes place near Oh Aew’s house on the beach. Teh can be seen wearing a button-up shirt with a flower pattern on it, the flowers on it are red which were previously mentioned to be Oh Aew’s flower color. They exchange long looks when he comes to the house and the tension between them can be sensed clearly as they start becoming more physical by hugging. The scene then moves to them in the water, talking about their struggles.

This conversation can be applied to their relationship as Teh is very hesitant to let go of his regular life as a straight man with a girlfriend while Oh Aew is very open and ready to live as his true self. It is followed by both of them letting themselves sink down and kiss in the deep water. A very emotional scene of them finally letting go and not holding their breath to stay floating but it is still hidden away from anyone else. When they come out of the water, they have a conversation about their relationship and what will happen now but Teh is very closed off to it as he does not want to officially become anything other than friends with Oh Aew because of his fears. Oh Aew is angry that he can’t become his boyfriend even if they have finally let go and kissed each other and cries to him asking why. They end up arguing and both of their hearts are left broken as Teh can’t get over his fear of being together with someone of the same gender as he will be judged for it.

As a response to Teh not being open to being in a relationship with a boy, Oh Aew feels conflicted and struggles to find a way for Teh to be confident about his feelings. He goes and picks out a bra from his mothers closet and tries it on. The scene shows him looking in the mirror trying to pose in a way where he feels confident in this bra. He looks down at himself and checks the mirror again, finally deciding to take a picture of himself. Everything he’s wearing, as well as his phone case, are all red which connect to the color of the flower that represents him. He posts the picture to Instagram but it can be seen that he immediately regrets it as he deletes the picture. Then he rips the bra off of himself desperately which shows his inner turmoil of feeling the need to perform in such a way to be liked by Teh. This scene shows him trying to align himself with femininity as an attempt to be liked by Teh, or rather be openly liked by him as he knows that things would not be so complicated if he was a girl.

In conclusion, these scenes are the most significant symbolisms that showed the struggles of both of the boys as they are having feelings for one another. The characters are coming of age and are studying for the university examination, creating additional tensions in their life while also facing inner turmoil. The relationship between the main characters is shown throughout the show as they start growing closer and closer after not talking for a long time. The story told in episode 4 mainly focuses on their struggles about their relationship, coming to terms with their sexualities and acceptance. Teh is trying to accept the fact that he likes a guy while Oh Aew is trying to accept the fact that the guy he likes is closeted. They both struggle with their own feelings as well as what society expects them to be and the show portrays these concepts with the usage of imagery and symbolism.