I might get attacked, but I gotta say it

well he thinks ian is going to leave in 3 months anyway. so in his mind, he’s protecting himself by not getting too attached under the impression that ian will leave again like he did all those years ago. + ian was the one who made the terms in the first place.

i get how u feel rly but eunsan’s just ur typical avoidant type trust he’ll get his head out of his ass soon and come to terms with everything but theres a lot more on his plate!!! he still believes partially that ian’s js trying to gain experience and will leave him suddenly high and dry one day, eunsan has internalised homophobia (i think pibi hasn’t touched on the highschoo locker room scene again) PLUS with all the monsters of the past coming back after seeing ian, i personally think eunsan’s just a bit more careful with his heart and i know at the end he’ll look back and laugh at this all prolly :)

YEAH !!!

eunsan def realises this is all unfair to ian, but there hasn’t been an explicit complaint from his side yet so maybe they’ll keep at it till the bomb explodes

yea but from eunsan's perspective ian is so persistent and annoying that you can't really blame him.

Very fair points. Ian did set up this arrangement. But isn't it so obvious, given how much in love he is with Eunsan, that he's hoping Eunsan will fall for him with this gradual proximity? But that's not on Eunsan. He definitely doesn't have to fall for Ian, nor know all of this just because Ian is offering him affection. He has no obligation towards that, and I respect it. But one thing for sure though, is that he knows how much Ian likes him. He himself calls Ian a hopeless romantic. So his casual brushing off and denial towards those same emotions, kinda frustrated me. Protecting himself is a defense mechanism which I also get. But then applying that same logic, he should have refused this thing in the first place to protect Ian as well. So that this man in love with him, wouldn't get too attached. He wants to protect himself, but doesn't mind letting Ian getting his hopes up? All while knowing he's the one in power here? Phrasing it all into a single sentence that 'Ian wanted this first' seems like a very irresponsible way of shirking off any accusation. Indirectly, this seems almost close to exploitation in one way (as harsh as the word is).

ure so so so right, i totally get ur viewpoint, but i know that this’ll all clear up soon

i do however feel that its strange eunsan agreed in the first place, ian’s very persistent but he does listen to eunsan out of respect as an old mentor and as his first love so that’s a bit iffy but love is weird man u do crazy shit

The author thinking how to make the chapter longer, cause if Eunsan accept Ian completely right now, the chapter will no longer than 6 chap
Usually the author will add something inside the story that can hurt and broke the character to make romance more dramatic

Also reader especially Korean reader like to be in love and in pain at the same time
Even ridiculous characters from other BL manhwa get famous because the reader love it, even if it's toxic
The author want to get paid
And at least this author don't want to make both character toxic
Which is what I like

in a way i think they’re both kind of exploiting each other to get what they want. neither of them have clearly communicated what they hope to get out of the arrangement. ian’s been told many times that eunsan won’t like him back, that he’s recovering from a divorce, and yet he initiated a casual hookup with eunsan regardless. as for eunsan, he knows that ian has feelings for him and he knows that ian’s going to leave in three months, yet he agreed to the arrangement anyway. basically, despite the fact that the arrangement goes against their best interests (or so they think), they agree to it because they want to be in each other’s lives in some capacity. but i don’t think the burden of responsibility falls on eunsan. he’s being flippant, but it’s likely because he knows deep down that he has feelings for ian too and doesn’t want to confront them. another situation where everything can be solved through simple communication. it’s irresponsible of eunsan sure, but not solely his fault. also, at the point in which eunsan initially agreed, he certainly didn’t know the magnitude of ian’s feelings, because ian had only claimed he “liked” him at the time. now he may have a deeper understanding, but what’s the point of ending something prematurely if it’s inevitably going to end in 2 months anyway? that’s likely what he’s thinking. this is all my interpretation of course.

THIS! Finally a great summary of it all. They're both so frustrating, and I definitely agree that the burden of responsibility doesn't fall solely on one party. I definitely like how Eunsan is written, and completely understand where he comes from. Although I might lean more towards criticising him because I have such high expectations of him, and he has way many more problems comparably to Ian. As pointed above by other readers, I do feel he has internalised homophobia. Paired with his flippant and avoidant personality, I get more ragebaited by him compared to the annoying and persistent kid on the other end of the scale. But oh well, at the end, they're just humans in some world.