beta
I ship Pan with red-haired guy, and to me, this is a realistic way to move their relationship forward.
I am older myself, and the feelings of distance, regret, difficulties in love, lingering feelings, and etc are very realistic.
Far from feeling disappointed in Pan, to me he seems very mature. When his old flame came back, he gave it a try to see if they could work things out and move forward. When it was clear that it was over, he said so directly and left. That's it. And he's probably pretty sad and grieving about that right now in his own way.
Yes he's jaded, cynical about love, probably guarding his heart just as Yang has. But he's not saying no to love, despite his rather transparent rationalizations for being with red-hair right now. He's hurt and healing, too, and perhaps this relationship will be just the right medicine. People can back in to love, particularly when they have been let down in the past; he seems to be lying to himself a bit about how he feels, but he's not running away. Just mho.
Hot lovey-dovey fluff gives me life!