I'd like to think yeah, he knows he's inlove with jinwoo but he doesn't know or isn't sure if jinwoo likes him in the way he likes jinwoo so the half truths he's mixing in about him liking jinwoo is true (I forgot about the half lies tho) and half lies to further sell the idea that taeyeong is infact inlove with jinwoo (which he is) he's trynna make himself more appealing to jinwoo so that jinwoo would fall for him. While jinwoo can be easily read physically on what he likes, it's hard to understand from the get-go what jinwoo is actually thinking since he always has that poker face
i feel like hes just scared of committment snd vulnarability so hes convincing himself that hes just doing this to manipilaten jinwoo when in reality he has already fallen for him so much. he just cant bear to admit it.
damn i cant tell if hes manipulating and playing jinwoo or if hes oblivious and doesnt realise and thinks hes manipulating or if hes in love and manipulating at the same time