The twink that we see is from Taeui's perspective and our mc is an unreliable narrator, everyone saw xinlu just like how he is rn even back at the camp but mc only sees him as a cute twink until this arc
Gsubdjxdn he was a twinj in Taeui's eyes. Taeui just found him adorable back then with his attitude so he twinkified him somehow, that's why they all thought he's crazy every time he kept talking about how cute and smol and adorable Xinlu was. Also why Xinlu tried to top him back then. The moment Taeui's heart was fixed on Ilay, the halo lifted and we saw the real form of Xinlu, since this story is from Taeui's pov.
Was xinlu not a twink? Did something happen? I need a refresher bcs who is thattt