I think the reason he slept with other men was to build connections. Take that creepy dude that was coming onto Minyoung in chapter 8.Even with that other older dude he had a meeting with (I don’t remember his chapter), he mentioned how Minyoung would sleep with people when he was serving in the military. That means there’s probably a whisper network about him in the art/business sphere, about this sort of thing. I especially think this is true because of how forward these two men were when they met him for the first time.
Minyoung himself said that he was gaining power to be able to protect Cheol, so this was probably one of the paths he decided to take. However, he’s never bottomed for anyone except Cheol. I think that’s one thing he won’t compromise on, a sign of his devotion.
at first i thought minyoung has an unhealthy obsession and toxic attachment to cheol. but in flashbacks it seems the other way round. if minyoung loved him so much, why did he go sleep around with other men when they seperated? was it because he knew cheol got married so he wanted to one-up by sleeping with others, bc he resented cheol sleeping with his wife? (i mean, i assume they did, they were married for 10 years!)
it's one thing if minyoung were not in love but a possessive person who wanted ownership over cheol, or wanted him as cut off from anyone else (reminds me of dohun from unchanged man), but here he seems the more same one and cheol is the one who feels like he'll form an unhealthy attachment.