@Fikachu I’m sorry answering your question late and sorry for the long post as well. English is not my native language. I just make it sure that you would understand what I mean and I find it is easier to tell you my thought, then you could get the answers there.
You ask me why Date laughed. My answer is “I don’t know”. We don’t know his thought at all. What I can do is only to guess from the context that might be possible or impossible. Sometimes there are many things happen then when we come to a certain point and look back we would like to laugh. Date might be like that. Anyway when Date told Kade that he didn’t laugh at her. I believe him.
Before the poetry scene there was one of the scenes that I don’t like. That is the scene when Date told Kade back to her room but she said why Mae Ying Jaanwaad who was a woman also still sat there. They had argument in the presence of adults. The way she spoke to Ko Sa Lek including her voice and her manners was too aggressive. She stood up while adults still sat. She didn’t respect Khun Loong who was the host, his guests and Date (her betrothed). If this is not a lakorn and Kade were in Ayutthaya Era I don’t think she would have allowed to join in the conversation again. (I don’t understand why the script writer or the director made such scene. This scene made Kade look not good.)
Date might be still angry with Kade. Although he liked Nam Pla Wan, when Kade asked him if Nam Pla Wan was good, he stopped eating.
In the poetry scene Date still looked unhappy with Kade no matter what she said. At the same time he didn’t like when she talked with Muen Rueng. Besides when Kosa Pan asked Kade if she would like to try. Date said “She never does it. No one knows if she can write poetry or not. But it seems like she can’t.” The way he said seemed like he insulted Kade. But then Kade was forced to do it, his eyes looked worried if she would not be able to do it. After he listening Kade’s Glon, his eyes and mind opened as you said and he could not keep his feeling anymore. He smiled with pleasure. Although he answered Khun loong about Kade’s Glon that it was “Mai Thao Rai”, he turned to see her, smiled and was teasing her by raising his eyebrows a little.
Kade knew that Glon from her study. In general, Glon that is melodically accurate in terms of prosody often used as an example in the textbook or in the classroom. But this Glon not only is correct in order of prosody with good meaning, but it’s also full of consonant and vowel rhyme that makes it more melodic. So it was not surprising that Date impressed this Glon.
One more thing no matter what Kade would intend or not, the meaning of her Glon made the moon in jaanwaad and Date’ Klong became “The Moon in the sky that is easy to find and tired of looking."
The meaning of Kade's Glon is on the page 1011 post 20209
https://www.asianfuse.net/discuzz/t...hai-pope-thanawat-bella-ranee.54464/page-1011
Then when Date saw Jaanwaad’s expression and listened to what she said, he laughed. He might understand how Jaanwaad felt.
******** Perhaps it is not only the Glon made him smile but the Glon also let him know Kade better. At least he knew she was educated. In addition to reading and writing, she also had knowledge of poetry too.
******* I’m sorry I don’t know the word “Mai Thao Rai” in English, it maybe, “it is ok, just ok, just fine” In English subtitle used “not much” I’m not sure if it is correct.
About Jaanwaad I have to guess also.
Jaanwaad was Ko Sa Lek’s daughter that let her had a chance to study. Her parents hired teachers to teach at home. Her skill was so good that she could write up Klong at once and was accepted. In the scenes we don’t know that she suspected there was someone inside Karakade’s body like Date did or not. KaraKade’s image in her eyes still was terrible. She saw that Karakade had changed but she didn’t think Karakade could write a beautiful Glon. She could see that everyone impressed her Glon including Date.
When Kade said to her “Come back to visit us again, Mae Ying Jaanwaad.” (I translate directly from Thai)
She said “(I) haven’t known yet” without looking at Kade. (English Subtitle uses “I still don’t know”)
From her expression, her voice and the context, I don’t think she would hesitate to visit again. She just was in the mood of being disappointed and was not ready to think of the next time.
Your question, why throughout the whole scene, Date kept looking into her eyes.
As you said Khun loong told Date he believed Kade telling the truth because he looked into her eyes. It would be the normal thing that Date knew. When people are talking, they should look at the eyes of each other. But when he was reminded by his father, it might make him more concentrate on it. However, the most important thing that made him keep looking into her eyes was he liked her. When a man likes or loves a girl, he tries to make eye contact with her to let her know he is interested in her. At the same time he could know from her eyes too if she likes him back.
Sometimes when I watch the scene “I like that Glon” I wonder Kade might not only avoid talking about the Glon with him but she also would like to keep away from his eyes as well. What would you do if you were Kade in that scene? (After looking in Date's eyes)