Character Relationship Map: Beyond the Dream

Characters

• Yan-yan / Yip Nam (played by Cecilia Choi) — supporting

  Yan-yan is the loving young woman Lee Chi-lok believes he meets and romances, but she is ultimately revealed to be a hallucination. Yip Nam, her real-world counterpart, is a master's student studying...

• Dr. Fung (played by Nina Paw Hei-Ching) — supporting

  Dr. Fung is Nam's dissertation supervisor and the head of her psychology department. After reviewing Nam's proposed research on Lee Chi-lok, Dr. Fung approves it, but later warns Nam against becoming...

• Joe (played by Kenneth Cheung Moon-Yuen) — supporting

  Joe is a social worker at the Give Grace Charity, where Lee Chi-lok attends therapy and later receives counseling from Nam. He helps manage Lee during a tense encounter with the imagined Yan. Lee susp...

• Dr. Simon (played by Poon Chan-Leung) — supporting

  Dr. Simon is the married vice director of Nam's psychology department. Nam begins a sexual relationship with him because he can help her recruit a suitable research subject for her dissertation. Their...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Dr. Fung → Dr. Simon (Professional Department Colleague) — They occupy senior professional positions within the same academic department.

  Both are described as senior figures in the same Department of Psychology, with Dr. Fung leading the department and Dr. Simon serving as vice director...

• Joe → Yan-yan / Yip Nam (Romantic Unrequited Crush) — Joe's unreturned feelings create suspicion during the professional crisis.

  The protagonist speculates that Joe, who has an unrequited crush on Yan-yan / Yip Nam, may have filmed her kissing him as retaliation.

• Yan-yan / Yip Nam → Dr. Simon (Romantic Secret Affair) — Their affair is both intimate and strategically connected to the research project.

  Yan-yan / Yip Nam initiates a sexual relationship with the married Dr. Simon to obtain help recruiting research subjects, then ends the affair.

• Yan-yan / Yip Nam → Dr. Fung (Professional Supervisor And Student) — Dr. Fung supervises Yan-yan / Yip Nam's research and later disciplines her for violating professional boundaries.

  Dr. Fung is described as Yan-yan / Yip Nam's dissertation supervisor and the head of the Department of Psychology.

Story Analysis

A romance between illness, imagination, and professional boundaries asks whether love can survive the need to distinguish reality from fantasy.

Plot Progression

1. A Scarf In The Rain — The protagonist helps a distressed therapy member and becomes attached to the young woman who assisted him. Their neighboring homes create an unexpected path toward intimacy.
2. Love Behind The Door — The young woman seeks refuge from domestic abuse, and the pair begin a romance. The protagonist's concealed psychiatric history and emerging relapse threaten their fragile connection.
3. The Voice On The Phone — A violent corridor encounter and a silent phone recording expose the young woman as a hallucination. The protagonist enters long-term treatment and loses his job.
4. Therapy Becomes Desire — Yan-yan / Yip Nam recruits the protagonist as a research subject and gradually becomes emotionally involved. Her affair with Dr. Simon and secret romance with the patient compromise her professional r...
5. The Dream Breaks — Dr. Fung exposes the ethical violation, and the relationship collapses amid relapse, shame, and urgent treatment. Disciplinary punishment separates the pair before an ambiguous final reunion.