HONG KONG – Hong Kong is set to debut its first Boy’s Love (BL) web series, Smoke and Ashes, on Thursday, adapting a popular online novel into a gritty tale of gangland power struggles and forbidden romance. The series, streaming on digital platforms, follows an undercover officer, a triads leader straddling both sides of the law, and a counterfeiting kingpin caught between ambition and desire.
Based on a viral web novel, Smoke and Ashes centers on three interconnected characters: undercover cop Mo Fei Huan (played by Kingston Yeung); Xu Lue Tao (Leo Pang), a corporate frontman navigating the criminal underworld; and Sean (Sing Li), the mastermind behind a counterfeit ring. Their entanglements unfold against Hong Kong’s organized crime landscape, where loyalty and love become dangerous liabilities.
The production boasts an ensemble cast, including veteran actress Patricia Ha, who portrays the founder of a powerful syndicate. In the series, she leads “two handsome sons,” a role she described during a press roundtable as pure enjoyment. “I go to work facing handsome men every day—and I get paid for it. What’s not to love?” Ha said. “The young actors are bright and hardworking. They had zero prior experience, so I worried about constant retakes. In the end, I had the most NGs of anyone on set.”
Veteran actor Kelvin Mak echoed the sentiment, praising the casting choices and noting that the newcomers showed no nerves alongside established stars. Ha, who famously starred in the 1984 erotic classic The Bold and the Brave, added that her appreciation for LGBTQ+ stories predates the current wave. “I don’t just watch BL. Back in the day, I worked with a female co-star on a Girl’s Love (GL) storyline in The Bold and the Brave,” she recalled.
The three male leads—Kingston, Leo, and Sing—credited rigorous preparation for their confident debuts. The production team arranged intensive drama workshops, and the actors binge-watched reference material to build their characters. Kingston, who plays the undercover cop, said the numerous action sequences sparked a new passion for fight choreography. Leo, embodying a ruthless CEO, studied Al Pacino’s performances to channel on-screen menace. Sing, the youngest, modeled his role on Aaron Kwok’s performance in Project Gutenberg and thanked his co-stars for mentorship on set.
The series also features two female leads, Zhao Junyu and Xu Yuexiang, who bring additional layers to the rivalry. Zhao plays a shipping heiress; she revealed that she communicated with a Thai actress cast in a small GL role using only basic Thai. Xu portrays the daughter of a mob boss, feigning love for the undercover cop while secretly using him for her own ends.
Smoke and Ashes arrives as Hong Kong’s entertainment industry tests new formats for LGBTQ+ narratives. While Thai and Taiwanese BL dramas have gained global followings, Hong Kong’s foray into the genre—blending it with its iconic crime cinema—could attract both local audiences and international fans of the genre. The series will be available on major streaming platforms starting Thursday.
