Islanders

Hanrong, inspired by Xianhong’s powerful speech back in high school, later becomes his personal assistant. Hanrong secretly harbors a long-term affection for Xianhong and is a quiet witness of Xianhong’s numerous romantic entanglements, including the group’s GM, Xiaowen.

Xianhong meets Lilian, a young woman who has just returned to Taipei after living in New York for several years. To impress Lilian, Xianhong even sets up a social media account he used to despise. Hanrong notices a change in Xianhong and grows suspicious of Lilian’s intentions as she grows closer to him.

Lilian reunites with college friends at a welcome party. As friends reminisce about the old days, Lilian thinks about Jay, her college crush who quit school to pursue a deep-sea fishing career. Back to the present, the friends are debating career choices when Xianhong unexpectedly shows up, sparking a heated debate on generational justice.

A heated debate between Xianhong and Ax at Lilian’s college reunion goes viral online. Meanwhile, backlash erupts over an edited interview of Xianhong, dragging him into a major PR crisis, which becomes a broader public discussion on the generational conflict.

Xianhong is hit by a series of setbacks, both in his professional and personal life. Through it all, Lilian stands by him, even guiding him about steering public opinion through social media. Xianhong seizes the student movement as an opportunity to connect to the youth, successfully reinventing his public image and regaining popularity.

As the generational debate fades, Xianhong is hailed as a youth advocate. He later makes a drastic decision and asks Lilian to start over with him in Shanghai. Struggling to accept it, Hanrong travels to China in search of answers but returns even more confused. Xiaowen also confronts Lilian in Shanghai, but after Xianhong chooses Lilian, she returns to Taiwan heartbroken.

Xianhong’s actions ultimately shatter Hanrong’s long-held admiration for him, prompting Hanrong to walk away for good. Moved by Xiaowen’s final words in Shanghai, Lilian begins to reconsider her future with Xianhong. On a beach in Hualien, Hanrong unexpectedly crosses paths with Jay again, and a quiet conversation slowly begins to heal years of loneliness and pain for them both.