You Are the Apple of My Eye tells the story of Ko Ching-Teng,
more familiarly called Ko-Teng,
a young man who was still a high school student in Taiwan in 1994.
He has four close friends at school: Bo-Chun, the pervert; A-ho,
a boy who is more mature than most of his classmates; Lao Tsao,
a cocky boy who loves basketball; and Liao, the comedian who likes to show magic tricks.
They have different characters, but they have one thing in common.
They all liked the smartest girl in the class, Shen Chia-Yi.
Interestingly, the only one not interested in her is Ko-Teng,
who thinks she is just pretending to be smart.
Ko-Teng's four close friends have different ways of approaching Chia-Yi.
Liao often shows his strange magic tricks.
Lao Tsao chose to show off his basketball skills.
Bo-Chun likes to go directly to her house and play the flute in front of her room.
It was only A-ho who always tried to approach her in a normal way.
But of course, all their efforts failed to get them close to her.
In class, Ko-Teng and his friends,
except A-ho, always play games and never listen to their teacher.
Until one day,
they did something gross and even did it in class while the teacher explained the lesson.
Because of that, Ko-Teng gets punished for his unreasonable act.
Not only that, the principal even directly asked Chia-Yi to
keep a watch on him in class so that he wouldn't repeat his actions.
And so that she can do it more easily,
the principal rearranges the seats in the classroom,
placing Ko-Teng right in front of hers.
Since then, Chia-Yi has been annoyed with Ko-Teng for giving her an assignment she shouldn't have,
and she shows it by interrupting him whenever he plays games during class.
Then, when he mocks the drawing of her best friend, Hu Chia-Wei,
she comes to reprimand him,
asking him not to bother Chia-Wei anymore.
But Chia-Yi's attitude towards Ko-Teng changes one day
when a grumpy English teacher asks the students in the class to get their textbooks out.
And if anyone forgot to bring their book,
the teacher asked them to stand up so she could punish them.
Unfortunately, Chia-Yi did not bring her book today, so whether she likes it or not,
she has to accept the punishment.
But just as she is about to stand up,
Ko-Teng unexpectedly hands her the book
and then stands up to receive the punishment.
Chia-Yi doesn't say anything when the
teacher tells Ko-Teng to do a rabbit jump down the hall while lifting a chair.
She is too confused and shocked by his act of sacrificing himself for her.
But apparently, Ko-Teng's generosity was able to make Chia-Yi touched.
And she thanks him after school by giving him math problems to work on at home.
She knows his grades are not good,
so she intends to help him improve his grades.
Fortunately, Ko-Teng finally wanted to take the homework home,
although he initially refused.
And what's even better, he's willing to try all the homework,
although when Chia-Yi checks on them the next day,
she finds many wrong answers.
Thus, she explains the correct way to answer the homework
and asks him to study again at home,
making him feel challenged to get it right.
Ko-Teng even went into sleep deprivation to study.
But all his hard work finally paid off when the teacher distributed the test results.
His grades aren't perfect, but they're pretty good, much higher than he's used to.
Inevitably, his improvement pleased Chia-Yi.
However, that does not mean the study session is over.
The exams are near, and that's why Chia-Yi invites Ko-Teng
to study together at school at night.
Although reluctant, he can't bear to refuse her offer because she turns out to be a coward.
Moreover, news has spread that vampires have been wandering around lately,
so he feels he has to accompany her.
However, while they are studying together, Ko-Teng suddenly says that maybe Chia-Yi
asked him to study together because she likes him.
She dismissed his ridiculous thoughts, saying she would never like a stupid man.
Offended, Ko-Teng challenged her to bet on who would get the
higher score on the exam.
If he wins, Chia-Yi must put her hair in a ponytail for a month.
But if she wins the bet, Ko-Teng will do whatever she wants. Without thinking twice, she accepted
the challenge because she was sure he would not be able to beat her. And so, Ko-Teng started studying
harder to get better marks from Chia-Yi, though they still spent much time studying together.
And because they are often together, their relationship grows without them even realizing it.
Long story short, the students took the exam, and their test scores were announced a few days later.
As one might expect, Chia-Yi's test scores are higher than Ko-Teng's. So, as the winner
of the bet, she has the right to tell him to do whatever she wants. And she wants him to shave
his head bald. Ko-Teng finally does what she wants when he and Chia-Yi are studying together
at school as usual. He sneaked out of class, cycled to the barbershop in the pouring rain,
and shaved his head. She must be surprised at his new look when he returns to school,
finding it hard to believe he would actually shave his head. So, in return, Chia-Yi decided
to surprise Ko-Teng too the next day. She comes to school with her hair in a ponytail,
mesmerizing him and his friends when they see her pass in front of them. But among them all,
it was Ko-Teng who was the most surprised. Chia-Yi wins their bet, and she doesn't have to comply
with his request to tie her hair up. But she still does it anyway. After seeing Chia-Yi's ponytail,
studying becomes fun for Ko-Teng. And he is also more excited to go to school. But one day,
Ko-Teng and his friends run into trouble at school after stealing the class cash.
The school security guard logically suspects the thief is one of the students in the class,
and he asks all the students to write down the name of the person they most suspect on paper.
But the five friends and Chia-Yi refuse to obey his orders because they think it would be
unethical to accuse their friend of being a thief. They then stood up to express their objections,
and an instant later, all the students in the class followed by simultaneously throwing their
bags at the security guard. As a result, the five friends and Chia-Yi, seen as provocateurs, were
punished for standing outside the classroom. This is the first time she has been punished at school,
and she is so upset that she cries. But luckily, Ko-Teng and the others react quickly by comforting
her, making her smile again. Time passed quickly, and finally, graduation day came. Of course,
Ko-Teng, Chia-Yi, and all their friends celebrate graduation happily, and they even go to the beach
together to make one last memory before they go their separate ways. And that's because after
graduating from high school, they started busy taking the entrance exam to college.
But unfortunately, Chia-Yi ends up failing to enter the university of her choice due to poor
test results. While crying, she called Ko-Teng, who immediately felt worried to hear her sobbing.
So, without wasting more time, he jumps on his bicycle and goes to see her hoping to
calm her down by being by her side. Ko-Teng even confesses his feelings to her at this moment.
Although still upset and disappointed, Chia-Yi doesn't say anything in response. She continued
to cry for the rest of the night. In the end, they had to separate after Ko-Teng went to college in
another city, where he would live in a university dormitory. Chia-Yi accompanies him to the station,
and he takes this moment to present her with a dress he painted himself. Not only that,
but he also asked her not to let other men approach her when she was in college. But she
only responded to his request with a smile. And so, they started living a new life as university
students. Ko-Teng is lucky to have roommates who share his interests and hobbies, so they often
spend much free time together. Even so, he always makes time to call Chia-Yi, and their conversation
is filled with exchanging stories about their life at university. They kept on long-distance
calls almost every day until winter break. On this vacation, they went on a date for the first time,
during which they had a lot of fun while showing that they really are the perfect couple.
Yet, they still haven't made their relationship official. It seems that Chia-Yi wants to see if
Ko-Teng really likes her, so she asks him directly about it as they stroll along the railroad tracks.
Ko-Teng, of course, doesn't change his answer: he really likes her, and he's had a crush on her
since high school. But, as if she still wants to be sure, she reveals that she has other aspects
that make her worthy of being hated. Like, for example, she is an irritable person and can even
get into fights with her sister over minor issues. That's why she felt Ko-Teng had overestimated her,
and she still couldn't quite understand why he liked her. So, she wanted him to think carefully:
Does he really like her? Hearing all her words makes Ko-Teng confused. And in the end,
he concluded that Chia-Yi had rejected him indirectly. Then, while preparing a lantern,
Ko-Teng once again expresses his love for Chia-Yi. But when she was about to
answer his feelings, he decided not to hear her answer because he was afraid of being rejected.
He instead strengthened his determination to keep loving her until he was sure she would accept him.
With that, they released the lantern that had their wish inscribed into the air.
When the holidays are over, and the lectures start again, Ko-Teng finally realizes a way
to win Chia-Yi's heart. He had to show his strength to her. And to do so, he organizes
a fighting competition between students at his university before telling her about it,
hoping that she will come to watch him fight and be impressed by his incredible strength.
But contrary to his expectations, Chia-Yi thinks the idea of ??a fighting tournament is childish.
She thought that he would have to hurt himself for no apparent reason. Ko-Teng, however,
doesn't quite understand the meaning of Chia-Yi's words. So, he kept the fight going as planned.
Ko-Teng's wish came true. Chia-Yi comes to the fight because she is worried about him after all.
Still, she was not at all impressed by the fight. So, after the fight, she waited in front of his
dormitory, where she scolded him as soon as she met him. She couldn't understand why he
would hurt himself for no apparent reason and called him very childish. But Ko-Teng certainly
couldn't accept being insulted like that. He snaps back at Chia-Yi, causing them to fight.
Their bickering grew stronger as time passed until she forbade him to come near her again.
Feeling that there was nothing more he could do to change her mind, Ko-Teng did what she wanted. He
turns and leaves her alone, not realizing she is crying behind him. After breaking up with Chia-Yi,
Ko-Teng never contacted her again. He lived his days as usual despite the gaping wound in his
heart. As for Chia-Yi, A-ho finds out that she and Ko-Teng had a big fight, and he immediately
uses the moment to cheer her up. His persistence in approaching her makes her willing to accept
him as a boyfriend. But their relationship did not last long, unfortunately. Ultimately, they had to
break up after Chia-Yi realized she didn't really love A-ho. Then, in 1999, the great earthquake of
September 21 shook Jiji, and the tremors were felt in Ko-Teng's dormitory. Since the earthquake's
epicenter is where Chia-Yi is, he then runs off campus to get a cell phone signal. As soon as he
got the signal, he immediately contacted her, and luckily, she was not affected by the earthquake.
After two years of not speaking to each other, Ko-Teng and Chia-Yi finally start to
engage in conversation again. And he used this opportunity to ask if she had a boyfriend now?
Instead of directly answering the question, she said that she found it difficult to accept other
people's love after having been deeply loved by Ko-Teng. Hearing that explanation, he then
asks why she didn't answer her feelings on the day they flew the lantern, to which she replies
it's because she really enjoys the times when he tries to get close to her. People say love fades
quickly once a couple is dating. So, she decides to let Ko-Teng chase her more. They ended their
conversation for the night by thanking each other. Ko-Teng thanks Chia-Yi for letting him love her,
while she thanks him for loving her. They seem to realize that they are not destined to be a couple.
After Ko-Teng graduated from college, he became a writer and decided to start his career
by writing his life story into a book. Meanwhile, Lao Tsao worked as a car salesman with fantastic
sales figures. Liao became a librarian and still often demonstrates his magic tricks to visitors.
A-ho is in the insurance field, while Bo-Chun chooses to continue his master's studies in the
United States. And lastly, Hu Chia-Wei, Chia-Yi's best friend, who used to be ridiculed by Ko-Teng
because she likes to draw strange things, has become a very successful manga artist.
So, what about Chia-Yi? She contacted Ko-Teng one day in 2005, informing him that she was
getting married. And so, on Chia-Yi's wedding day, Ko-Teng reunites with his high school friends,
and they joke around with each other just like in old times. But just as they were
reminiscing about the past, the lights suddenly dimmed, and things started to get quiet, a sign
that the bride and groom were about to enter the room. Seeing Chia-Yi smiling in a wedding dress,
even Ko-Teng can't help but smile. He is happy that the woman he has loved for the past 11 years
has found her soul mate, although the funny thing is that her soul mate looks much older than her.
Moments later, Ko-Teng and the others take photos with the bride and groom. And since they've all
given wedding gifts, Ko-Teng's friends' joke that Chia-Yi's husband should have allowed them
to kiss her. He unexpectedly allowed them to do that. But with one condition: they must kiss him
first before kissing her. Ko-Teng accepts that one condition without having to think twice. And so,
Ko-Teng lunges at Chia-Yi's husband and pushes him against the table, kissing him passionately as if
he was kissing Chia-Yi. Then, while everyone still couldn't get over their shock, Ko-Teng
turned his attention away from the husband and kissed Chia-Yi. During their kiss, he remembers
how he fell in love with her and ended up crying after arguing with her. He regretted his attitude
at that time. If only he had apologized to her for acting so childish, maybe things would have turned
out differently. Undoubtedly, things will turn out differently because Chia-Yi likes Ko-Teng too.
In fact, when they fly the lantern on their first date, she doesn't actually write her wish on the
lantern. Instead, she writes down her answer to his confession of love. On it, she wrote, "Yes,
I want to be your girlfriend." The film finally closes by showing Ko-Teng's letter to Chia-Yi.
The contents of the letter read: May you be happy, Oh my love. The film ends.